Seriously, That Works?

This past week, most days were good days. Teeth brushed, walks and vitamins taken, patience mostly maintained. But there was one day where, looking back, it really felt like Riley was screaming, crying or upset about something for most of the day. That night, after he was asleep I scoured the internet looking for ways to deal with these outbursts. Because by 5:00, if the screaming and crying persist, I am usually at a total loss as to how to handle them.

That night I found several websites with suggestions, the one that was the most intriguing was basically acknowledging what he is feeling. That's it, nothing to add. So yesterday morning when he started screaming because I wouldn't let him play with a pair of scissors, I said something like "You are frustrated because you can't play with they scissors", I might have added something else along the lines of not wanting him to get hurt. The amazing part was, that totally diffused the situation. He immediately stopped crying and we went on with something else. A similar situation happened this morning during breakfast, I acknowledged what I thought he was feeling, and it again diffused the situation. Now if this continues to work, we will have to wait and see.