Does anyone remember that MTV late night show from the 90’s?
Head banging is Zoe’s new hobby. I imagine it’s a painful hobby, but she doesn’t seem too distraught by it, at least not enough to stop.
Here’s what’s going on. She is a very well behaved kid and very rarely does something that she isn’t supposed to do. However, she doesn’t like it when we tell her no. We tell her “no” to snacks right before meals, things that could hurt her, a second helping of dessert, things that could hurt us, and sweets for meals. And lately, telling her no, it not a pleasant word to say. She’ll instantly throw her whole body on the floor, bang her head on the floor, hold her head from the pain, and cry because her head hurts. Then she’ll coming running to us asking for a consoling hug and kiss because her head is in excruciating pain. It is important to note that we don’t tell Zoe no because we’re mad at her. We’re usually not allowing her to do something, not actually stopping her from continuing an activity. Nonetheless, the head banging continues throughout the day.
Yesterday, Zak asked Zoe what part of the word “no” did she not understand (I never thought we’d ACTUALLY say that phrase as parents.) Zoe responded, “Ohhhh.” At least we now know what part we have to work on.
I was explaining the situation to a friend who has two kids, one a year and a half older than Zoe. She said that our pediatrician (we have the same one) said just to ignore the behavior. We’ll see how that goes tomorrow.
