Brendan is not feeling well today. His top, right canine tooth is coming in, as is his bottom, left molar. He struggled when he was getting his first, and so far only molar in. He was fussy, didn’t sleep much and just wanted to be held. I knew as soon as he woke up this morning that this wasn’t going to be a good day for arts and crafts. So I decided to let him choose which route to take for the day.
As soon as he was finished eating, taking a bath and getting dressed, he went straight for his books. I let him choose the order of the books and played off of his lead. I would quit reading to him, only when he tired of me reading. In total we read 112 books this morning. I knew he loved reading, but I didn’t know he loved it so much that he’d intently listen to me read quite so long. Needless to say, mommy’s throat is aching, but Brendan is beyond happy. He hasn’t even cried much due to teething pain.
His next plan for his day was for mommy to hold him while we listened to music. We started with Raffi’s “Brush Your Teeth,” while we brushed his teeth. Then we moved onto to some baby sign language songs. Brendan loves doing baby sign language, it’s really something he excels in. He does his own little version of each sign, but it’s amazing to see his creativity come out. He still wasn’t ready for mommy to put him down, so we sang and danced for another hour until he finally fell asleep.
My hope, is that by letting him choose his own path for the day, it will boost his self-confidence. Self-confidence is very important to the development of imagination and creativity. Self-confidence also leads to a willingness to try new things. I plan to let him take the initiative more often in our daily activities.
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