Dealing with Frustrations

Ynigo was playing with one of his toys earlier.  He wanted the toy to stay on its skateboard but it kept falling off.  Ynigo then started to get frustrated.  After trying over and over again, he began to cry.  Children do get frustrated and usually they resort to crying when all else fails.  I understood how he felt but I had to help him deal with his frustration the healthiest way.  I encouraged him by telling him I know he feels frustrated and that I understand how he feels but I had to remind him that he cannot cry and shout everything he gets disappointed or things do not go his way.  Children need to be able to practice controlling their emotions, thus Ynigo had to practice today.  If I just went ahead and fixed his problem for him then he would not have been able to practice this skill and would have lost a valuable a-ha moment (problem solving task).  


I first had to remind him of our rule that he can cry but he cannot shout or wail.  He settled down immediately.  With tears still falling down his cheeks I then tried to encourage him to try to think of a solution...  After just about 1 minute and a half, he then said, "Mommy, it does not stick.  I tried again and again but it does not stick.  Let's put tape."  I trhen hugged him and said, "that's a great idea! I told you, you will be able to figure it out, you just had to think."  A smile then broke from his small face.  


Ynigo was not only able to practice and succeeded controlling his emotions, but he was able to problem solve too!