Attitude adjustment

I could learn a thing or two from my four-year-old.

Today, I went to pick the kids up after work, and Travis was asleep when I got to mom's. He'd kind of outgrown his naps, but now that he has to get up and go to school every day, he has picked the afternoon nap back up, at least on school days. So anyway, I get there, have to wake him up, he's a little groggy and definitely grumpy. And, as it turns out, Sophie had knocked over a cup of water earlier, and one of Moose's antlers was a tiny bit wet. Well, this was just too much for Travis to deal with in his sleepy emotional state, and he started crying nearly uncontrollably, going on and on about moose being wet.

So I load everyone up in the car, toss Moose into the front passenger seat, try to console Travis by assuring him I'll get Moose in the dryer as soon as we get home, to no avail and continuous wailing from the back seat. Finally, I exasperatedly flip Moose back into the backseat hoping the kid will just take hold of him and shut up for a minute, wet antler and all.

And miraculously, he does. He said, with tear-stained cheeks and a residual sniffle, "Mom, I didn't even know that Moose would calm me down even when he's a little wet. I discovered something new today. This is the best day ever!" I kid you not. I was astounded. I cannot believe how sweet this kid is. He literally tries to find the good in any situation, if at all possible.

For example, last week at speech therapy, his therapist asked him if he liked pudding. Now, mind you, this is also feeding therapy, so what he eats and how he eats it is kind of a big deal. So when she asked that, I thought, hey, great, something he actually does like. So she asks if he likes chocolate pudding or vanilla pudding, and he says "well, I love chocolate!" So off she goes. She comes back a few minutes later with vanilla pudding in hand and says, "Travis, I am so sorry, we had two big, unopened boxes of pudding and we all thought it was one box of chocolate and one box of vanilla but it turns out it was two boxes of vanilla -- so we don't have any chocolate pudding, I am so sorry! I hope this is okay!" and Travis immediately breaks out into this huge smile and says, "oh, I really like vanilla. I really wanted to have vanilla but I didn't know if you would have any. If you have vanilla I really want it." It's like he really wanted her to not feel bad about the whole thing. She was thrilled and delighted and went on and on about what a good attitude he has.

Meanwhile, I had a meltdown this weekend because... well, I don't even remember why. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with soggy stuffed animals or pudding, but still. I could learn a thing or two from my four-year-old.