Boobaby and the Wonderful, Fantastic, No Bad, Very Good Day
Posted on March 24th, 2007 in Tips for Doodaddies
How is this possible, you ask, after yesterday?
- We’re still getting our molars in.
- We’re still covered in snot. (It was caked on like a facial peel this morning.)
- We’re still having trouble sleeping, and were up for two and a half hours last night.
But… today, Boobaby’s mood and outlook and overall ability to deal has improved significantly. To what do I credit this miracle?
As much as it pains me to say it, because I hate hate hate most parenting books, the answer is Karp. A week ago, I didn’t even know that 13-month old Boobaby was officially a “toddler”; now, I’m singing the praises of a toddler book that taught me how to turn around Boobaby’s whole aspect on life: The Happiest Toddler on the Block
The deal, basically, is that the first step in dealing with a toddler’s upset is to acknowledge it. I’m hearing the collective “Duuuuuh” from the audience, and yes, I knew that, too: when you’re dealing with a frustrated, angry, sad, preoccupied other person, you start by telling that person that you “hear” them. Good so far.
What Karp taught me, though, is that you can’t use the same language with a toddler to explain that. I’m all for using “adult” full sentences with Boobaby, but when she’s upset, nothing works better than for me to say “MAD! MAD! You’re very MAAAAAD!”, mimicking (to some extent) her tone and mien.
Get the book: Karp explains it better. However, you should know ahead of time that this book falls prey to the same disease that afflicts most other parenting books:
- They’re too darn long.
- They’re stuffed with sidebars and anecdotes that are irrelevant and pandering.
- They take forever to get around to the point.
I have a whole post in mind on this very topic, but suffice it to say that I skimmed chapters one and two and read much of chapter eight. This is a great book. Or rather, it’s a great pamphlet-full of information with 200 pages of baloney packed around it.
The post title, by the way, is homage to a different book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
, a really cute kid’s book by Judith Viorst.
Yeah, I Twitter, don't laugh. 
March 31st, 2007 9:24 pm
Yup. Loved that book. I think I had a post similar in fashion myself.
April 1st, 2007 10:13 am
Nice. I was ready to never read a baby book again — they’re just soooo fluffy — but I’m glad my Park Buddy recommended this one.
Remind me to tell you someday about our friends who burned all their baby books…
Dd.
Trackbacks & Pingbacks
[...] at being restrained and poked with a needle. I did my level best to calm and reassure her, using my Karp, my Boo-Boo-Bunny, a bottle of milk, a snuggly, and lots of [...]
Pingback by On Being Stuck, Both Phlebotically and By One's Foot « Doodaddy — April 23, 2007 @ 3:39 pm
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Pingback by Doodaddy » Blog Archive » Dear Boobaby (Part XV) — May 4, 2007 @ 10:15 am
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Pingback by » Sleeping is the enemy » Doodaddy — May 6, 2007 @ 1:59 pm
[...] high chair in the kitchen, and, astoundingly, it worked. Your mom and I are also practicing the toddler communication skills we learned from Karp: we acknowledge that you WANT something at your level and at your volume, even as we let you know [...]
Pingback by Doodaddy » Dear Boobaby (part XVIII) — August 4, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
[...] have a love-hate relationship with parenting books. I love my Karp, but as I wrote in that review, most parenting books are “too darn long, stuffed with [...]
Pingback by Doodaddy » When I’m In Favor of Burning Books — September 10, 2007 @ 5:23 pm
[...] fully 20 minutes after we arrived at the house and through much Karp-technique calming and old-fashioned hugging and a damp washcloth to the forehead, Boo calmed down [...]
Pingback by Doodaddy » Worst. Tantrum. Ever. — July 25, 2008 @ 4:47 pm
[...] a different approach every five minutes. I comforted, ignored, cooled with a damp cloth. I did my Karp firm and loud and I whispered. I stayed in the room. I left. I came back. I wound up sitting next [...]
Pingback by Doodaddy » The Upside Down Tantrum — October 16, 2008 @ 4:08 am