"Good Boy!"

                                                                            

Babe!

I’m a little mad at you.  You know how you would always praise Jadon when he would do something that would frustrate me/us.  Like, when I leave the Nutella jar on the table and he finds it and smears it all over himself.

Or when he would run away with my toothbrush or rub toothpaste all over the couch.

Or escape out the door and you would yell out to him:  “Go Jadon Go!”

Or when he would eat handfuls of dirt, or rocks.

Whatever crazy thing he was doing YOU would  always praise him with a laugh and smile and say: “Jadon!  You are such a good boy!” You would egg him on. Anyway, Jadon is now starting to speak in sentences and this weekend I picked up on something.  

When I was cleaning the pool he was so eager to get in..  He stood at the edge and pretend that he was jumping in.  As the day went on he got closer and closer to the water.  First it was just the actions of running to the edge and pretending to jump, then he would sit and dip a toe, then splash his hands. Soon he was standing on the top step.  I didn’t mind that he was standing in it, I just didn’t want him to get all the way in yet because I know he needs a few reminder lessons from the survival swim lessons he took at the end of  swimming season last year and I was NOT willing to jump in the water while he figured that out.  

Once his feet were in and he got a good idea of how cold it was I figured he wouldn’t want to get all the way in anyway.  

Well, he bounced on the top step for a little while and then decided he wanted to go to the second step.

“Jadon!  No more steps.   Only your feet.” I reminded him.

He quickly obeyed, until he didn’t want to anymore.  He moved to the second step when I was not looking (but Abi was sitting with him) and then quickly went back to the first step and said: “Good Boy!”

Abi thought it was funny and told me about it and we laughed at how he was recognizing he is being a good boy and obeying my directions.  Soon he was on the second step bouncing back to the first step, then squatting, then sitting, but quickly returning to the first step saying: “Good Boy!”

I didn’t make the connection to YOU praising him for disobeying me until this afternoon.  I was sitting on our bed during a Thunderstorm with our patio door open.  I liked listening to the wind chimes and the trees, but Joshua didn’t like it and kept trying to close the door.

I told him to go downstairs where he wouldn’t hear the noise.  He wanted to wear headphones and watch a Jesus movie.  I got him situated downstairs and Jadon climbed in bed next to me and we watched the rain storm.  Then he got up and went to shut the door.  

“No Jadon!  Leave the door open” I tell him.  He looked at me and hesitated.

“Thank you.  Mommy wants the door open.”  I remind him.

He quickly slammed the door and then said: “Good Boy!”

That’s when it hit me!  If you were in the room that’s exactly what you would have said when that played out. 😂

You’d say: “Oh you’re such a good boy Jadon!” And laugh.  

All those times you did that he never acknowledged your praises.  He seemed oblivious to both of us and our opposite reactions.

Welp!  Today he proved he was listening to YOU all along.

Thanks to YOU, Jadon knows he is a "Good Boy!" 😇

...And I love you for that.

Stay Close! 🤟