Re: Driving in the car with Grandma

On Jul 21, 4:32=EF=BF=BDpm, Ericka Kammerer <e...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Sue wrote:
> > Kids have a way of acting much better for other people than they do
for=
 mom.
> > (mom tested with three kids to prove it) :o) She knows what buttons to
=
push
> > for you and when she gets away with it. If it is someone else, chances
=
are
> > she won't do the same thing as she does with you.
>
> =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD I freely confess to shamelessly
c=
ollaborating with
> my mother to effect positive behavioral changes in my children ;-)
> Things they blow off from me start to resonate when Grandma
> says something or when special events with Grandma are
> contingent upon, say, good table manners. =EF=BF=BDAnd when we need
> the *really* big guns, all it takes is a hint from Grandpa
> and things turn around on a dime!
>
> Best wishes,
> Ericka

It must have something to do with the fact that we are constantly
guiding them in one direction or another, and grandma gets to lean
back and watch and always smile, etc., so that when grandma has
something to say in a flat/serious tone, it automatically strikes a
"something's off" "she didn't like this" thing in the kids. I know
that I can say "Don't touch" 'til I'm blue in the face when at my
mom's house (2-y/o), but if my mom says it, he doesn't know quite how
to read it and just automatically gets weary of testing those waters.
lol. If my 2-y/o did that in the car, my mom would pull over, buckle
him back up and definitely scold him in by saying what I typed prior.
Just saying that in a flat and serious tone would be enough to make
him cry if she says it, as he feels like he is in trouble. They see us
get frustrated, angry, etc. and turn right around and give a hug and a
kiss in 3 minutes flat - they don't know what someone else is going to
do. My aunt always scolds me for getting on him at her house. She
thinks it is okay for him to touch SOME of the nick-nacks (sp?). I
have to explain to her that it is easier if he understands that he
just can't go and touch ANYTHING that he feels like without asking
because he cannot discern between that plastic apple and those blue
glass doves! lol. I don't know how many times I've told her she'd
being doing me a favor if she would just say "No-no.", but she refuses
- a big ol' softy is what she is.