Anyone else have one of these? A mule child. On Tuesday I took all the children to the dentist for their semi-annual cleaning. Andrew and Kate went first. After about 15 minutes, the dental hygenist working with Andrew came out and asked for my help. She had polished his top teeth, then sat his chair up and when she put him back down he wouldn't open his mouth for her to finish his bottom teeth. She promised him two toys, offered to let him hold the suction, let him hold a fun toothbrush, and just about anything else she could think of at the time.
So, I went back there and talked to him, pleaded with him, threatened him, and finally ended up putting him in time out on the extra chair while Eliza came back for her cleaning. By this point, Kate was finished, so she was in the waiting room holding Maryanne, and Adam came back for his cleaning. Andrew sat in that chair and I talked to him and tried to get him to agree to get back in the chair and finish his cleaning throughout Eliza's appointment. He just kept saying over and over again, "I don't want to." It wasn't until Eliza was sitting there with her flouride trays in for the allotted time necessary that the dental hygenist was able to coax Andrew to open his mouth and finish his cleaning when Eliza was finished.
How did she do it??? She gave him a little sand timer and told him that he could hold it and watch the sand drop while she finished his polish and flouride. She also changed the flavor of the polish because Andrew said it was the flavor that was making his stomach hurt so he didn't want any more of the flavor in his mouth. So, he got up in the chair and let her finish his cleaning. By the time we left, our one hour appointment time had turned into a 90 minute session.
But, seriously ... this is what Andrew is like all the time. He's a stubborn mule and won't do anything unless he decides it's what he wants to do. At least with Adam I can threaten him with a time out and he'll do what I've asked him to do. With Andrew it is a constant power struggle.
So, everyone with a mule out there .... what have you done that works?
Comments
We have 1 child like that and it's a pain in the rear.
She won't do anything unless it's her idea...
We just try to ride it out and most of the time it's not a big deal.
The other problem with this child is that punishments don't bother her. Ah well...
If you ever figure out what to do, let me know.
I don't know, I guess I just try not to give into her just because it's convenient. I have no clue what YOU should do though because I think you already try not to do that.