He’s so stinkin’ cute.
But, he’s become a bit of an Eeyore, feel-sorry-for-myself kid.
Which, I confess, gets a bit tiresome.
Don’t let this adorable face fool you.
I hear a whole lot of “Nobody likes me!” “No one ever wants to play with me!” “Everybody hates me!” as he stomps around with a full-on frown.
Logic doesn’t seem to change anything. And, extra attention doesn’t either. We can get him to smile only to see him trying to hide the smile so that we think he’s still upset.
Today, when he started up with this type of talk again, I was inspired to use some creativity to address it this time. And, I was feeling pretty good about that.
“Drew, I love you so so much. I always love you. I’m never going to stop loving you. And, I want you to be reminded of that all the time. So, I’m going to make a sign that says ‘Mama Loves Drew,’ and we’re going to hang it up wherever you want to hang it so that when you see it, you can remember that I love you so so much.”
So, I wrote out the letters for the sign. Drew colored them. I cut them out. And, as soon as Lydia went down for her nap, he and I grabbed the masking tape and went upstairs so he could choose just where he wanted to hang his love note.
He wanted it right at his eye level on his bedroom door. Score.
So, we put it right there for him and everyone else to see. And, with one arm around his shoulders, I ran my finger across the letters and slowly read them to him: “See this, Drew? M-a-m-a l-o-v-e-s D-r-e-w. Do you like it?”
He was quiet for a second.
“There’s one problem,” he told me.
Really? I thought this was the best idea. What could possibly be the issue now?
With a full-on grouch face and arms crossed, “My name has ‘ew’ in it.”
Seriously. That is what the boy said. To which I could not control my laughter.
So much for my supermom strategy.
Guess he could always go by Andy if he really wanted.