Mama Gone Green is a blog dedicated to raising happy children and reducing our impact on the Earth. My name is Taryn and I am the mother of 2 young kids and an environmental studies instructor at a community college in Portland, Oregon. Please join me as I journey through life as a mama, teacher, knitter, photographer, gardener, and environmentalist!

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Yarn Along


Linking up with Ginny at Small Things for this week's Yarn Along.

I have finally been knitting again! Hooray! Over the past week I finished up a birthday present for someone dear to me and have made a little bit of progress on Phoebe's In-Threes cardigan. It feels good to be using my needles once again.

I am currently reading The Explosive Child in hopes that it will give me some ideas on how to deal with and prevent the big ol' meltdowns that Finn is capable of. Finn has SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) as well as anxiety, and over-the-top metldowns can be pretty common in kids who are emotionally lagging. I know that Finn often has these meltdowns in his classroom as well, so anything we can do to reduce them sounds great to me. The book focuses on the idea that when your kiddo doesn't want to do something, if at all possible, you should work together with your child to come up with a solution that everyone is happy with. It makes perfect sense, and is something that I feel like I already do quite a bit...... but then when you think about all of the things that kids don't want to do that need to be done (like getting dressed every morning)... it seems like a lot of talks and compromises just to get out the door each day. But, I am definitely willing to give it a try and see what happens!

What are you reading? What are you knitting? Pin It Now!

7 comments:

  1. Love that green colour.
    Have you read Unconditional Parenting? Your book sounds quite like it, working together rather than demanding control of everything. It does make perfect sense but like you say there are so many things that kids don't want to do that need to be done!!!

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  2. the book sounds interesting. i love that here are so many books out there that talk about working with children instead of just smacking them.

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  3. Hope the book gives you some ideas and insight :) Love your knitting and that green almost matches your blog colors!!

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  4. Phoebe is going to look great in that colour.

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  5. sounds like i need to read that book. sophie doesnt explode at school, but at home it is out of control. this morning was awful. at 12 i would think the tantrums would stop by now :(

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  6. I have a 12 year with SPD and anxiety. A discussion with one professional showed me that he almost exclusively tantrums at home (we do long vacations to visit family - that's the only time he might tantrum away from home). She said that what happens for many kids is that they work hard to hold it together out of the house and can finally LET GO at home. That helped me understand it a little, but they're still incredibly frustrating and stressful for our family.
    We had been seeing a cognitive-behavioral therapist who was great, but she's out of network (and we have a HUGE deductible), so now I need to find someone new. Ugh.
    In other book suggestions, look at "The Out-of-Sync Child" and "The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun."

    I sympathize.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment! I have read the out-of-sync books and did find them helpful.
      I think my child lets go a lot at school (and home) but the school party is tricky because I feel like I have no way to control or monitor it. Oh well, I guess this is all a big learning process. I would love to keep in touch with you- I am sure I will have so many questions as I go through this and it seems like you have a bit of experience. THanks again!

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