Sunday, October 30, 2011

Great Expectations

Over the summer we were rather lax about clothing, and we were lucky to get the Llama into a shirt let alone any other clothes. The only time he got fully dressed was when were were going out for a walk (rare with the high summer temps) or out to the store. But as the weather gets colder we've been trying to keep him dressed so he stays warm. Unfortunately, he has come to associate pants with going out. So once we have him dressed in the morning he gets really excited, and then really upset when he realizes we aren't taking him out right then.

Things like that have been happening a lot recently, the Llama will get an idea in his head, and get really excited about whatever he expects, and then has a meltdown if it doesn't happen. This is quite normal, but so hard for us. I know how it feels to expect something and get your hopes up and get really excited, and then not have it work out. Its a real downer! We've been working on emotion coaching and delayed gratification, but he's still young and that stuff is still a bit advanced for him, so for now we just let him know we understand.

But I gotta admit it's really hard to see him so sad. I know that sometimes to an adult the things he gets upset over seem trivial, but he's just a toddler and things are different for him; the world is so much bigger and the little things are so much bigger to him too. I know he'll understand and learn how to handle his disappointment, but for now all I can do is hug my little boy because he really wanted to go for a walk, but we aren't going until later and he doesn't understand.

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