Attachment Focused Parenting--Days 13 and 14

I didn't log all their behavior, but a few things stand out.

Saturday, they had a really hard time playing nicely and needed a lot of redirection to stay on task when given small things to do...getting dressed that sort of thing. We did notice that Josiah's medication helped and he was a lot less agressive than what he had been, so that was definitely a big improvement and a positive change.

Sunday, Josiah's Sunday school teacher met Andy at the door complaining that she didn't know what had gotten into Josiah, but he wouldn't listen or cooperate and couldn't do anythign right that day. Class is only for 45 minutes, so that shocked me. The teacher's son is ADHD as well, so she's normally used to him being all over the place. So, that leads me to believe that he really must have been all over and not focusing on anything. Emily said her prayer that she was supposed to learn and earned a prayer card that she was very proud about. I could tell that even in church, she was really trying to sit nicely and not get fidgety and I was very proud of how well that she was doing.

I notice that the littles really struggle with being given direction...they want to argue their point of view when it's not appropriate and they think that they need to have the last word. Josiah and Emily do it moreso than Tracie, but I see Tracie trying her hand at it as well. We tell them once why they need to do it and then we give them time to do it while we walk away. We come back a few minutes later to see if they're doing it or not and if not they get a time-in and then we sit and talk about what happened and why it's important to listen.

I'm still trying to come up with something effective to help out with all the micromanaging that they think that they need to do with one another. I can't have a conversation with someone without them all thinking that they need to have input on the matter, even if it's something that doesn't concern them. I've been trying to remind them that I am talking to ___ and that this is between Mommy and ____ and that Mommy can handle it. This will start an argument on the other end and I will redirect them and say "just say, ok Mommy." Then, I try to distract them with something else.