Progress

Porter has been quite a challenge lately. I can't even type into words how much he stresses me out on a daily basis. I find myself wondering if I'm doing the right thing, reacting the right way, handing out the right consequences on an hourly basis.

I think one of his weaknesses is that he gets frustrated very easily. He comes by it honestly... Ryan and I are the same way. He has a tendency to fly off the handle if something isn't going right. I've been working with him on different ways to handle situations rather than hitting/throwing/pushing etc. We've been talking through things and the other day I saw my first peek of progress.

A few weeks ago he had gotten frustrated with his train track. It wouldn't go back together right and he got mad and tore the entire thing apart, pieces strewn around the playroom. After he had calmed down he came to me and asked me for help. I explained to him that we could have avoided the whole mess if he had come to me when he first got stuck instead of throwing his tracks and ruining the entire thing.

The other day he came to me in the kitchen and I could tell he was agitated but trying so hard to hold it all together. He said (copying my words LOL!) "Mama, I need help. Please help me mama!" I stopped what I was doing because I could tell he was really trying to do the right thing and was trying not to get angry. I followed him in the playroom and he told me his cars wouldn't fit right into his garage (I had cut a door in the Velveeta box for him to use as a Matchbox car garage). I was so proud of him for not throwing his toys or getting upset.

Now if we could just work on his reaction to Hudson getting into his things....