Turn Your Boat Around…

We have been trying to help Stephen learn how to move past anger into better feeling emotions. Abraham is currently talking about paddling upstream versus going with the flow. When you are paddling upstream you are experiencing emotions and road blocks that don’t make you feel very good but if you can turn your boat around and go with the flow, everything gets quite a bit easier.

When Stephen has been working himself to a major melt down, I have been saying that he needs to turn his boat around and go with the flow and he will feel better. Sometimes, that is greeted by a growl and him running off really pissed or he will yell at me that he doesn’t want to hear it. On the down times, when he is mellow, I have been trying to explain to him about going with the flow feels versus paddling up river. For an almost 6 year old, I really think he is getting it.

Today when I was trying to get him and Jonathan out of the bath tub, I was getting VERY frustrated because they refused to listen to anything I was saying. I will admit, I was getting pretty aggravated and was basically barking at them both. I was supposed to go play Super Smash Brothers with them on the Gamecube, but Stephen barked back at me that he didn’t want to play with me anymore because I was being TOO grouchy. I went into the bedroom and left him to dry himself off in the bathroom. After he said that I barked at him “You guys are making me really mad… WHAT am I supposed to do?!” in reference to being grouchy.

Then with a ghostly type of voice, from the bathroom comes “tuuurrrrnnnnnn your boat arouuunnnddd – goooooo with the flooooowwwwww” Well that instantly stopped my grouching and I started to laugh because that was SOOO what I need to do.

I guess he does get it after all!