You may have heard that letting children calm down in isolation helps them learn to self-soothe. The opposite is true. Brain development requires little ones to be soothed by someone else, and from that they develop the neural network to soothe themselves. If they don't develop this neural network in infancy, whether because they are left to cry or for some other reason, they will need your help to develop it during childhood.
The next time your son has a meltdown, see it as an opportunity to help his develop the ability to self soothe. How? The most effective parenting tool there is: Empathy.
Instead of sending his off somewhere to calm down when she starts to lose it, stay with her. Being alone when she’s that upset won’t teach his what she needs to learn. She needs to borrow your strength and calm. Remind yourself to keep breathing, not to take anything she says or does personally, and how much you love her.
Does it seem like she's over-reacting? She almost certainly is. Children store up their big, scary feelings, waiting for a safe place to discharge them. Some children are especially sensitive. Some just have a big "backpack" of pent-up emotion that they need to release; these kids -- like your son -- react with tantrums to provocations that seem slight to us. So while you may not see the reason for such a big reaction, see it as a chance to help your son work through some feelings that she hasn't been able to manage. Usually, once children feel safe enough to let these feelings out, they use every opportunity to cry for a week or so. In between, and thereafter, they're calmer, sweeter, and happier. Letting our kids cry in the safety of our arms or presence is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. And because it transforms our relationship with them into one of deeper trust, it's also a gift to ourselves.
How can you do this? Start by taking a deep breath to calm down. You're disappointed the marshmallows dropped. And now you're probably exasperated at your son's dramatic response to such a minor incident. But you've been showing his those feelings his whole life and it hasn't helped his to regulate his emotions. So let's try something new, which begins with you regulating your own emotions so you can stay calm and comforting with her.
Start by trying to see things from his perspective, and reflect his feelings to show him you’re trying to understand: "Oh my goodness, you didn't mean for the marshmallows to fall on the ground. You didn’t realize what would happen when you threw them. And then I snapped at you. Now you feel so terrible…” (At this point she is likely to wail louder, because your acceptance of his feelings lets his really feel them.)
“I see how upset you are right now. You’re crying so hard. You probably wonder if I’m mad at you, too, and that scares you.” (Now you have to be truthful –you were indeed mad when the marshmallows fell, and your tone of voice let him know it. You also have to get over that, because it really is unimportant in the scheme of things.) “I do feel bad, because I wanted a marshmallow -- but don't worry, I'll get over my disappointment. Your feelings are a lot more important to me than a bag of marshmallows.”
Now you may owe him an apology: “I’m sorry I spoke so sharply when you dropped them. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.”
Could she have walked over with them? Of course. But this is not the time to be sure she has learned that lesson. That’s much later, probably tomorrow, when you’re all calm and feeling good. And all it will take is one question, asked with a genuine smile of commiseration, something along the lines of “Next time you have to pass someone the bag of marshmallows, what do you think is the best way to do that?”
As your son begins to feel understood, she will eventually begin to calm down. By then, you should be hugging him and reassuring him that you love her. That’s when you say something like “I’m so sorry you got so upset. Mostly I want to get back to that nice feeling the three of us had, sitting by the fire together. Do you think you’re ready to calm down and snuggle with me and watch the fire?”
At this point you may be thinking that you’ll be letting your son get away with being lazy and careless in his marshmallow-passing skills, not to mention throwing tantrums. But kids don’t learn by being criticized. They learn to be considerate in passing the marshmallows by seeing our instantly disappointed face as the marshmallows fall to the ground. Adding criticism to that just makes them defensive. Judgment is developed from experience, and often good judgment develops from bad experience. They’re motivated to get up to pass us the bag because they love us, and they’ve learned through experience that the risk isn’t worth disappointing us.
And the tantrums? Kids have tantrums because they’re overwhelmed with emotions they can’t control. They need help from a parent to learn how to regulate those emotions. Because your son didn’t learn this valuable skill earlier in life, it may take him some time – a year, even, of your using this technique every time she has a meltdown. But if you commit yourself to empathizing every single time she’s even a little upset, I guarantee you that not only will she stop having meltdowns, she will become the kind of person who would walk across town to bring you the marshmallows, and who would never taunt his sister when she’s upset.
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