Just so you know, we have those days too.
Jasper pulls hair.
He pulls hair and it sucks. Most noticeably, he pulls my hair and it really sucks. We’ve tried everything (barring physical punishment) we can think of or read about to get him to stop, and none of it is really working.
Today when we came home from our morning stuff I asked if he was sleepy. He nodded, so we went upstairs. We read our Curious George stories, drank some milk, and I started rocking him in the rocking chair. This is pretty much exactly what happens every day around noon, and it usually goes swimmingly.
Today he started tugging at my hair, and then pulling it. At first, I tried explaining to him that we don’t pull hair, that it hurts to pull hair. After that failed and he kept pulling, I told him it made Mama sad when he pulled my hair. He’s really into emotions these days, and comprehends what it means to be sad and happy. He stopped for a while, looked at me with big eyes, and asked “Mama sad?” I told him I was because pulling hair hurts, being careful not to squarely blame HIM but to blame his action. He mulled it over, and then pulled it again.
He pulled my hair so hard that I actually cried, and then kept crying. I think half because it hurt and half because he was hurting my feelings. While I cried, he continued to pull my hair and started laughing.
At some point he realized I was crying for real and he stopped again. He asked me again if I was sad, and this time I heard myself saying “Yes, Jasper is making Mama sad.” He thought this over, and then gave me a hug. I relaxed, thinking it was over, and as soon as I pulled his head onto my chest to rock him he put both hands on either side of my head and yanked so hard I cried again.
I put him on the bed and called Sean, totally backing away from the situation. I told Sean what happened and said that I didn’t want to physically be around Jasper, and Sean was able to come home. They’re upstairs reading books now. It took around fifteen minutes for Sean to get here, so I let Jasper wander around our room, pulling stuff out of closets and playing with stuffed animals while I checked emails on my phone and read articles about two-year-olds pulling hair. I totally calmed down, and at one point Jasper came to me and asked, “Mama rock Jasper?”
THIS was the big challenging moment, and I wanted to give in very badly because I adore rocking him, but I simply told him “No. Mama isn’t rocking Jasper today.” He sighed, but then went to play with stuffed animals again. I stopped googling and just started watching him, and then Sean came home.
I love that kid, but JESUS.
He pulls hair and it sucks. Most noticeably, he pulls my hair and it really sucks. We’ve tried everything (barring physical punishment) we can think of or read about to get him to stop, and none of it is really working.
Today when we came home from our morning stuff I asked if he was sleepy. He nodded, so we went upstairs. We read our Curious George stories, drank some milk, and I started rocking him in the rocking chair. This is pretty much exactly what happens every day around noon, and it usually goes swimmingly.
Today he started tugging at my hair, and then pulling it. At first, I tried explaining to him that we don’t pull hair, that it hurts to pull hair. After that failed and he kept pulling, I told him it made Mama sad when he pulled my hair. He’s really into emotions these days, and comprehends what it means to be sad and happy. He stopped for a while, looked at me with big eyes, and asked “Mama sad?” I told him I was because pulling hair hurts, being careful not to squarely blame HIM but to blame his action. He mulled it over, and then pulled it again.
He pulled my hair so hard that I actually cried, and then kept crying. I think half because it hurt and half because he was hurting my feelings. While I cried, he continued to pull my hair and started laughing.
At some point he realized I was crying for real and he stopped again. He asked me again if I was sad, and this time I heard myself saying “Yes, Jasper is making Mama sad.” He thought this over, and then gave me a hug. I relaxed, thinking it was over, and as soon as I pulled his head onto my chest to rock him he put both hands on either side of my head and yanked so hard I cried again.
I put him on the bed and called Sean, totally backing away from the situation. I told Sean what happened and said that I didn’t want to physically be around Jasper, and Sean was able to come home. They’re upstairs reading books now. It took around fifteen minutes for Sean to get here, so I let Jasper wander around our room, pulling stuff out of closets and playing with stuffed animals while I checked emails on my phone and read articles about two-year-olds pulling hair. I totally calmed down, and at one point Jasper came to me and asked, “Mama rock Jasper?”
THIS was the big challenging moment, and I wanted to give in very badly because I adore rocking him, but I simply told him “No. Mama isn’t rocking Jasper today.” He sighed, but then went to play with stuffed animals again. I stopped googling and just started watching him, and then Sean came home.
I love that kid, but JESUS.
