Message from CDA, Ms. Ludwig
Have you ever taken your child somewhere special, such as the ice cream store and they start to complain, and it really got under your skin...
You may think, we were at the ice cream shop! Shouldn't that be enough to make them happy?
But alas, they were out of their all-time favourite flavour. And even though there were plenty of other scrumptious choices, they just couldn't get over their disappointment.
This would be a great time to talk about the Complaining Bridge.
Here’s what you can say:
“We all complain sometimes, and that’s OK,”. “But when we complain a lot, we start to build a really strong Complaining Bridge.
Pretty soon, it can seem like the only way to get across a yucky situation is by taking our Complaining Bridge.
But guess what you can do instead?”
You can explain that even during bumpy moments, we can look for opportunities:
“Yup. The ice cream shop is out of your favourite flavour and maybe it’s the time you can explore and discover a new favourite flavour!”
Continue to explain that when we look for positives, our Grateful Bridge gets stronger.
Soon, our Grateful Bridge gets so strong that we get used to taking it even during tough moments.
It’s not about toxic positivity. It’s about the ability to redirect our kids’ minds from what’s going wrong to what’s going right.
And it’s what this week’s parenting guide is all about. Take a look!
