Something just clicked in my child's brain..anyone else ever experience that?

[FoxintheSnow]

Ds just turned 5 in February. Something just clicked in his brain like overnight. It's really strange but also really great. When he was so fussy I always catered to his needs which put me under a lot of scrutiny by family. I started to doubt it myself when his 5th birthday started to roll around and he was still as fussy as ever.

Up until this point he was:

An extemely fussy eater. Only wanting pb&j for just about every meal and would rather starve himself than eat something besides pb&j.

Would only wear one specific pair of shoes since was 18 months old. He's on his 12th pair. As his feet got bigger we just had to keep buying that pair in bigger sizes. I tried several times a year to get him to wear different shoes and it always ended in a mega tantrum

Would only get his haircut at one of those kiddie place where he could watch tv and even that took one parent by his side with lots and lots of coaxing.

Would scream at the doctor's office from the moment we got there

Was terrified of bounce houses.

All of sudden he will:

Eat anything I make for him without much prodding. Pancakes for breakfast, various sandwiches for lunch with healthy snack. Tacos, vegetables, pasta dishes, etc for dinner. Whatever I make.

Wear new shoes. The shoes he always wore gotten chewed up by the dog and I told him he would new shoes. He said ok. We went to Target which I figured he would just change his mind when we got there. Instead he picked out a pair of shoes, tried them on and happily went home with them.

Get his haircut at a regular barber shop without any issues. He just sat in the chair, let the barber cut it and chatted the whole time. I sat to the side and just nursed the baby.

Go to the pediatrician's office and completely cooperate. Then when leaving the office he proclaimed he wants to be a doctor too.

Go to those bounce house places

It's literally happened overnight. I feel such a huge sense of relief, it's amazing. He even said this year he'd try swimming in the big pool! :

[staceychev]

Yay, mama! Good for you for sticking to your guns, too, about how you dealt with your son. I totally understand the pressure when you've got a difficult kid who your family thinks you're catering to.

[seeingeyecat]

Have you ever read Barry Brazelton's (sorry... sp?) book about Touchpoints? He discribes a punctuated equlibrium like patturn of learning and development in which kids seem to wake up with a new suite of skills every few months (or years, as they grow older). Just before these new bouts of learning kids tend to get more distractable, fussy, and need more sleep. Then, suddenly, like a swtich was flicked, they wake up with all these new skills. I think the premise is that the kids are working on these new things beneath the surface, incubating new skills and ideas, waiting for their minds and bodies to build the pathways needed to actually make them real. I've certainly noticed this patturn in my daughter ... and will be very happy if she woke up less fussy one morning.

And, yes, bravo to you for giving your son the mothering you knew he needed. He's lucky to have a parent who belives in him enough to wait the time it takes an not hurry him to grow or change. Accept all the cred you can gather from giving him what he's needed all along!