NANA SAYS SUPERHEROES DON'T SPIT!

Children love us. Parents and grandparents and aunts and uncles! The closer the relationship the more we receive raw emotions and behaviours. Last weekend when I was spending some time with two of my grandchildren, they started to fight. While trying to settle the dispute, my little grandson started to spit. Something he does when upset. Rather than the nagging messages- please stop, it is unacceptable, I don't like your behaviour- I took advantage of the fact he had been playing with one of his superhero toys and simply said- " superheroes don"t spit". He stopped, looked at me and his hero toy and guess what- yes he stopped the unacceptable behaviour of spitting! Grandparenting like parenting takes creativity. Use the moment and what is in the moment! Respect the child's feelings because children just act like children! We need to discipline but it can be gentle and meaningful to what is happening now! Hey, grandparents have you come up with some creative messages or ways of diffusing situations? Learning to think before reacting to every negative occurence helps us to maintain our cool with the little people in our lives!