Sometimes I get it right. Not often but sometimes. It feels so good! Lately Thing Two has been feeling bad about himself. He tries to punish himself for being "bad" and gets into these funks where he can't seem to find anything good about himself. This is so heartbreaking. Especially as he is my birthday boy (born on my birthday) and can be as sweet as pie! (I actually called him Baby Pie as an infant). Like many of us he has believed a lie and follows its trail.
So what did I do right? Instead of lecturing Thing Two on how good I thought he was I played a game with him. I made it up on the fly. It's called "I'm Good". It worked too! I have to brag because probably 90% of the time I'm beating myself up for getting it wrong. It just seems so rare to actually feel like I'm doing something good for my boys. Hmm...guess I need this game too!
Here it is.
I'm Good Game
To Play:
Each player takes turns saying one thing that is good about themselves until all players have said three things. An adult starts as an example for the first game. There are a few special rules though.
1) This is not a competition game.
2) All responses have to be positive. No one can comment negatively on someones own opinion of themselves and no negative answers are allowed.
3) All three things have to be shared before game ends.
4) A player's turn is not over until they come up with a positive thing about him or herself.
5) The player has to come up with his own good thing about him or herself.
6) No response can be said twice even in a new game. Unless, so much time has gone by between games that responses have been forgotten. (We played this game at every meal for three days and it got very challenging and more rewarding each time.)
Tips: Try to encourage players to come up with something unique and to not copy what someone else has said. Sometimes is might be necessary to have player expand on his or her answer with a specific example.
Enjoy!
Kristen
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