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Works For Me: Just Add Water

Wfmwheader When Adam was three, he was prone to very loud, very long, very intense temper tantrums.  It was a constant battle.  One summer day, when he was throwing a royal fit in the living room, I'd simply had enough.  I picked the boy up, hauled him into the backyard, turned on the hose, and...yep...I sprayed him down.

Needless to say, the tantrum stopped.  And remarkably, that was a turning point in his ability to keep his temper under control.

I tell you this story a) in case you thought I was always a kind and patient mother, b) because I'm thinking that the statute of limitations is up and you can't report me, and c) because it illustrates a helpful mothering tool I've learned over the years:  water fixes everything.

Okay, maybe not everything, but it fixes a lot.  Especially when your children are very young.  Tempers around our house seem to flare a little more easily when the weather is warm, and here are some water-related tension breakers that really work for me:

  • playing in the hose and/or sprinkler
  • gargling contests
  • spitting contests (we're terribly refined around here, as you can tell)
  • mudpies
  • "painting" the fence with water
  • washing the car
  • sending the older kids upstairs for a cool shower
  • bubble baths (this is how I read my Newsweek each week--with Corrie happily playing in the bubbles while I sit in the floor next to her.  It goes without saying, of course, that you should never leave a young child unattended in the bathtub.)
  • "play cooking" with the hose and all my cookware in the backyard

Works for me! 

If you have a tip you'd like to share with Bloggityville, just leave your link below.  WFMW guidelines can be found here

PLEASE NOTEYou must link directly to your giveaway post in my Mr. Linky.  Here's how you do it.   I will delete any links to a blog's front page.  Not because I'm a meanie (first paragraph of this post notwithstanding), but because it's a courtesy to other readers.  Many people read WFMW much later in the week; if you've linked to the front page of your blog, it's difficult for them to find your WFMW post. 

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Comments

Hm ... maybe that's why I linger so long in the shower some mornings!

Thank you for the great tip. Now I just have to untangle that hose ...

You have just gained even more respect from me :)
I won't be calling the authorities.

Great advice. As I am dealing with a screaming teething baby while blogging (parenting at its best!), I forgot my topic. It is shower gifts. Sorry!

I love that!

I write about declaring "schoolyear's resolutions." I'm hosting a carnival next week and I hope you'll join me!

When I was at home a couple weeks ago, my mother set my son up at the sink with some Tupperware containers filled with water and bubbles. And a wooden spoon. He was in heaven!

My girls will do anything to get in water! It really does do wonders when the weather is so hot!

You too? My son had the worst temper tantrums at 3 too. Now he's 4 and out of it thankfully so no need for the hose! But thanks for all the other water tips. It's great cause I live in Singapore where it's hot all year round!

Water is great. It is such a good and unexpected treat to play with. Kids seem to think that playing in water is something very special.

(We are just now hitting the tantrum stage...I may be trying that very soon.)

Well, I wouldn't report you...I'd join you. Water is great for cooling tempers - one time I sprayed my husband with the faucet sprayer in the middle of a discussion that got a little too heated and we ended up giggling and in a water fight instead of a word fight. Much easier to clean up a water fight any day.

I might have to try this with my daughter. What a good idea!

We do the water-play-in-the-sink thing a lot around here. I even let them play in my nice clean dishtubs. so that if they drink some of the water they're playing with, I don't have to worry about it. Lots of towels on the floor and fun for everyone!

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Shannon - I just wanted to thank you for hosting this fun carnival every week. I love reading all the tips (or as many as I can fit in during my day, you know ignoring the children and all) and getting to know some new people.

Duckabush Blog

Ohhh, great tip! My oldest is the king of tantrums. I'll have to try this next time. Thanks!

showers work in much the same way
my bil does that :)

And I thought it was Windex that fixed everything :)

The magic of water has my kids still begging to be the one to wash the dishes. Great ideas. I think my son would like the spitting contest.

You sound like one of those "fun mamas." I need to work on that... I may have to try this out! Reminds me of that paper towel commercial! The sink sprayer might be interesting... nah, too much work to clean up. You see my problem. :)

Oh! I think this is a FABULOUS idea. I'm in the process of adopting and I don't believe in spanking but the youngest (5 year old) has been throwing awful tantrums and physically hurting me. I should ask the social worker if this is okay. I mean I think it's brilliant!

Some fab suggestions here Shannon!! No.4 is on the way (in November, hubby is back off to school (teacher) and I'm simply running out of ideas!
Off to hose them all down!

Thanks for hosting this each week!

Love all these new ideas every week! I can't wait to try out all your water games with Love Bug when we get to the "tantrum stage". I hope we have another year or two before they are needed!

Thanks again for hosting! So many great ideas!!

Great idea for the tanturm. My children's long bath works wonders for keeping my bathroom clean and catching up on my reading.

Great ideas! My babes are all water babies and when they were younger, we found water pistols worked....or plastic spray bottles :)

Polly Pocket dolls and a bowl of water (The pool) is like Christmas around here. Thanks for the tip.

This is my first time participating in WFMW. It's fun!

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