Daily Archives: March 4, 2015

How to Delegate Your Parenting to a Disney Character

#baymax, #empowering, #fun, independence, Kepler, parenting

Delegate: entrust (a task or responsibility) to another “person,” typically one who is less senior than oneself.

I’m a big fan of animated films, and have been known to be moved to tears in more than one that I’ve seen. I love the clever dialogue, and the colorful visuals. It must be a lot of fun to work on such a project. One of my favorites in recent years is Big Hero 6.

Big Hero 6 was the first movie we took Kepler to see at the theater and he loved it. I loved the movie, but loved even more watching his whole-body response to the movie. He laughed, he cheered, he stood up and danced. We went to see it a second time!

Baymax has got to be one of my favorite characters ever. He is a “nurse bot,” and has the capacity to diagnose and treat humans. His halting, gentle voice is always soothing. And he is bound and determined to heal whatever it is that is bothering his human patients.

For Kepler’s birthday, we bought him a 19″ plush Baymax. Baymax’s arms swivel, so he can be very demonstrative, with the right puppeteer in charge.

After the puberty workshop I attended last week, I was newly inspired to do everything I can to help Kepler be as independent as possible.

Getting on the bus in the morning has been challenging in the past. He hasn’t wanted to put on his socks, refused his shoes, couldn’t find his mittens, and so on. More than once I had a bucking bronco on my hands. We have made a lot of progress in being more organized and utilizing the most excellent Time Timer to have a smoother morning, but I had been resigned to putting on his shoes and socks, pretty much forever, myself, until last Tuesday morning when I had Baymax tell Kepler it was time to put on his socks.

“Kepler… Please put on … your socks.” I placed Baymax in front of my face and he spoke to Kepler,  and Kepler listened. Kepler put on his own socks.

Eureka! I realized I had a solid gold parenting tip right here. Since then, Kepler has listened to Baymax many times and he has obeyed. Not only that, but he LOVES it when Baymax hands him his socks, gives him a fist bump, waves to him from the dining room window as he leaves on the bus, tells him to hang up his coat, and reminds him to wash his hands.

I believe that Mary Poppins was right when she sang about a spoonful of sugar helping the medicine go down. Baymax is the sweetest spoonful of sugar, and turns all the medicine into empowering fun. Baymax for the win!

Which Disney character might your sweet little one respond happily to?

A Problem; A Potential Solution — FAT TUESDAY series, Part 2

babysteps, fattuesday

Last Tuesday, I posted about my past and present relationship with food. Today is part 2 of the FAT TUESDAY series, which is focusing on my present and future relationship with food.

There have been baby steps this week, as well as some examples of grace, generosity, and gratitude.

One of my biggest realizations came this morning as I flew from activity to activity. This is what I do with food.

I don’t schedule my eating, or really do much planning. LaRosa’s has made thousands of dollars from me because of my lack of meal planning. I eat when it’s handy. I eat when I think of it. I eat when something sounds good. And I eat when I’m hungry. And then I get to a point where I think if I eat another thing, I’m going to explode in front-loop-colored pieces of anguish. That’s when I draw a line in the sand, go on a diet, lose some weight, absolutely commit to regular exercise.

That’s what I do with my schedule, too. I see so many things that look good. Volunteering, clubs, social events, meetings, lunches. And I say yes and I say yes and I say yes and I say yes. Eventually, my schedule, like my body, gets absolutely stuffed with activities and that’s when I get to a point where I think if I schedule another thing, I’m going to explode in pencil-mark-covered DayTimer page pieces. That’s when I tend to withdraw from multiple activities and go back to something manageable that includes rest and space.

All the activity yesterday and today has been necessary, or important, or fun, or timely. So, it’s not like I’m at a casino spending 20 hours on a slot machine, or binge-watching True Detective.

Without a plan, both my schedule and my eating repeatedly get completely out of control.

Too many shiny distractions keep me overstuffed and overcommitted. Time to get friendly with a plan.