Yesterday I had a "business" lunch with my boss and really good friend (who got me an amazing new present, you all will see a picture of it in the next few days, he's soooo sweet, any guesses on what it is???), and at a table close by I noticed this cute little blonde haired girl (probably about 4-5 yrs old) sitting with "mommy" and this elderly looking lady enjoying their lunch.
When I found my mind wandering sometimes I would glance at this table and imagine myself having lunch with Chynna...such sweet thoughts...when all of a sudden "mommy" gets up to leave and this cute little girl starts really all out crying, grabbing mommy's leg, and screaming "don't leave me mommy"....just broke my heart for both the mom and the little girl, and poor grandma (yes I found out later that was who she was) had to literally peel the little girl off mommy's leg and hold her tight so she didn't chase after mom who had to get back to work, and was being hit/pushed by the little girl to be let go.
Mostly men were in the restaurant at this time, and they were none too pleased about this little girl crying/screaming...and grandma was trying everything to help calm her down. Now mind you the two men I'm with are oblivious to these goings on even though it was right behind them.
So I reach into my humongous purse to see if I have a toy, or something, I can give this little girl to calm her back down....and I find (thanks to my mom) a sheet of stickers. I excuse myself from the conversation at our table and proudly take the gift over to the table of emotions.
"Excuse me sweet girl, but I was at the next table and I noticed what a good little girl you were during lunch and I wanted to give you this little gift for being so very good, and wondered if you would like to have it"....this stopped the crying/screaming/hitting grandma, and she looked at me like I had an arm coming out of my head while holding out her little hand taking the stickers from me....
Grandma explained how for some reason this little girl has been having separation anxiety this week after mommy went to work and how it usually helped by them meeting mommy for lunch but just so happened did work that day. I told grandma it was no problem and how I thought this may help some and again told the little girl how great she is, and then went back to my luncheon.
When I looked over at the table again, I saw a different little girl...she was helping her grandma put the leftovers in the containers and cleaning up her little area, and then proceeding to cover her arm and the front of her shirt with the stickers, and proudly displaying a huge smile!! Grandma thanked me a few more times before they left as did the little girl (to which I told her "no thank you for being so very good for your grandma, she appreciates it")...and I thought to myself, isn't it great when a solution such as stickers with positive enforcement makes a sad situation a happy one???!!!
So thanks to my mom for the emergency stickers, which made a difference in a few people's lives!!
13 comments:
It is amazing what stickers can do. My older students still liked getting goofy stickers on tests and papers.
Good for you for helping out! I guess you'll be keeping emergency stickers in your purse from now on!
Stickers are LOVE in my classroom. I can get some pretty good behaviors and learning happening when I pull out the sticker box. Especially if I am given them out for free!
You'll have the right touch as Mom. The positive comments with saying what the good thing was and not focusing on the icky part. :)
Note to self- buy stickers!
Thats awesome..What a good deed you preformed!!
You are so sweet.....and BTW....I want to see a picture of the new purse! ;)
Yep. You are going to make a great mom. Secrets in the humonous bag. You are ready!
YOU ARE THE SWEETEST EVER!!! Thank you for doing that! So many times people see something like that and are annoyed and have NO CLUE what is really going on in their lives. They just look at the girl and see a brat. You looked at her (and her mom and grandma) with compassion. That is so kind of you- you are going to be a GREAT mom!
(THat actually made me cry it was so nice of you!)
That was so sweet. You are such a love. You made me cry...AGAIN>
Yep stickers are amazing, I toilet trained Thomas with stickers!
He had a sticker book and each page was for something different.
One page for staying dry and using the toilet.
One page for good behaviour.
One page for brushing his teeth.
One page for helping to do a chore around the house.
That was really sweet of you!
You are going to be a GREAT mom!! What a sweet story.
I have to tell you, I am the "Queen of Stickers". LOL
Whenever I would go over my sister's house (when my niece was between 3-5 years old) my niece would run up to me and hold her hands out, close her eyes, and say "Aunt Cheri...did you bring me stickers". LOL
Awww that was so sweet. Stickers can perform wonders you know :- )
So sweet..yeah, we are constantly covered in stickers around here!!
Hi there girl!
I wanted to let you know that I'm hosting a blog baby shower tomorrow for Elizabeth at Dragonfly and Ladybug. Come by my blog if you can. It should be fun!
You are such a sweetie-pie, Dannye.
You are gonna be such a great momma.
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