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What Happens When You Teach Your Kid to Treat Her Brain Like a Puppy
And how the same little trick changed my life too.
It’s time to check homework and I’m in the hot seat. My first-grader is hovering at my shoulder as I look over her math paper.
(If you’re a parent, you know that few things are as nerve-wracking as this.)
And then I see it. A mistake.
I brace myself as I slowly take the pencil and make a tiny little “x” next to the problem.
“AAAARGGGH!” she screams. “I am so, so, so, SO STUPID!”
She balls up her little fist and starts beating it against her head. I cringe, but I’ve been hit by that little fist before and I know she hits about as hard as a cat batting at a mouse, so I’m not too concerned for her safety.
Still, the *clunk clunk* of her tiny knuckles against her skull is upsetting. I mean, after all, I’m watching someone beat on my baby girl. Even if it is my baby girl hitting herself, it doesn’t make it any less upsetting to watch.
[Quick disclaimer here: She did not get this from me.
A) I do not pressure my kids to be perfect. If anything, I try to get them to chill out and quit sweating the small stuff.
