BEHAVIOR CHANGE

In the last few weeks, Shawn and I have seen some major behavior changes in Dawson. He started becoming very very sensitive, whiny, and mouthy. He even became very nosey. Whenever Shawn and I would have a conversation, Daws would bud in and want to know what we were talking about and always needed to be in the know on everything.

We found it odd at first but figured it was just that he was adjusting to all the changes in his life, new house, new school, new friends, etc.

Well over the weekend, his behavior got worse! He was crying over EVERYTHING and seemed very emotionally distraught and when Shawn told him no about something, Dawson started crying and yelled "Why are you being mean to me, I don't like your act!!" WOW! He's never gotten that nervey with Shawn...........EVER! We knew immediately that something was bothering him.

So, finally, we sat him down and had a talk with him and told him that he has not been acting like himself and we wanted to know if there was something bothering him. After listening to him for a few minutes, it clicked! I knew exactly what the problem was!!!

Dawson's love language has ALWAYS been quality time. He loves when we take time to do something just with him, which I have always done alot of in the past. We have always spent alot of time together watching our shows, playing board games and hanging out together. He also has always done that with his dad. They always hang out and play video games together and they watch football together or go out and toss football.

I realized that over the last month and a half or so, we have not taken the time out to just be with Dawson like he's used to us doing. First we were busy looking at houses, then packing and then moving, then painting and now constantly working on the house and unpacking everything. I have not played a board game or sat and hung out with Daws in over a month or more!!!

I feel really bad about it. But I am so glad I realized what the problem was. I told Shawn about it and a light clicked with him too. So, we talked to Daws and told him that we were sorry for not taking breaks and spending time with him and that we realized he was acting out to get our attention. That opened the door for Dawson to open up and tell us how he was feeling. He said that he missed us and that all we do is work on the house and tell him that we are busy! Oh, that broke our hearts, but he was right.

So, since Daws and I are both off today, I told him that I would do alot of stuff with him in between working on the house. So far, we played video games together and later we will watch Garfield....we love that movie! And then we will play a board game. I need to bring in boxes from the garage and I told him he could help me go thru them and see what was inside.........that made him happy. He has been behaving like his normal self since our talk.

I have always been a firm believer that when we see a radical change in our children, it's usally because of something going on in their lives and if we take the time to look at everything, we can usually see exactly what the problem is...........the key is to take time to listen to our kids. They may not be able to communicate exactly what they are feeling so most of the time it comes out in their behavior.