I just got back from spending a few days with my soon to be 3 year-old granddaughter Jolene.  Just the two of us.  I can’t remember the last time I was solely responsible for a very busy, super smart, mischievous 2-year and expert manipulator.  As a mom of 3 adult children, I can tell you it has been a long while.

I was a little nervous and wondered, “Do I have the patience for this?”  I’ve been responsible only for myself for over 40 years and I enjoy my own company.

I set all my good intentions.  I made a mental list of what we would do together and spent some time “day-dreaming” about it.  I did the “One Commands” and prayed for the best!

I arrived in the evening, just in time to prepare an easy dinner of mostly left-overs.  One of the challenges I’ve had with Jolene is she doesn’t want to stay put at meal-times.  She gets up and down and runs around, combining meal-time with play-time. This was something that in the “recent” past would irritate me to no end! 

This time, she had a new friend at meal-time.  A stuffed unicorn her Paw Paw had given her.  Her Mom, being the super creative human she is, had found a way to keep Jolene focused on eating, by having her share her meal with her very hungry new friend.  I followed her mom’s lead, and it worked!

Until…it didn’t.  Between the up and down, back and forth and me trying to cajole her into eating, a memory suddenly popped into my head. Spirit reminded me I had the perfect story to give Jolene a good reason to stay in her chair until she was finished.   

I shared with her the story of my experience waiting tables.  If someone got up and walked away, I might assume they were finished and pick up their plate, empty or not. That happened a time or two when it wasn’t communicated to me they were not done.

As I was telling Jolene this story, her eyes got as big as saucers, and I could see she was hanging on my every word. I knew what I was saying was sinking in and making sense to her. She is very smart and I get she understands most of what we say.  She speaks in full sentences already.

She understood, I wasn’t just trying to control her behavior, but I had a “good” reason for wanting her to stay in her seat until she was finished.  I told her, it wasn’t about her eating every bite either.  I just want to make sure she is finished before I picked up her plate, clear it, and wash it.

The proof that she got it arrived the next morning with her very next meal.  She got up from the table after eating about half of her favorite Grandma G oatmeal recipe.  I asked her with a smile, “Are you finished?”  She didn’t answer me but simply climbed back up to the table.   Leaving a few more bites in the bowl, she jumped down.  I asked again, “Jolene, are you finished?”  This time she proudly gave me a BIG YES.   She got it!

She’s a chip off the ole block!  I can see, “the whys” are going to be very important to her, just like they were to her father…my son.   I remember him wearing out his Granddad with all the “WHYS”.

Next time, I will share with her how to communicate she is finished without saying a word.  I know she will love this.  She loves mastering new skills.

With clients, I tell a lot of personal stories.  Stories let people know they are not alone and they are understood.  “I know what you are going through…”   And, stories are a wonderful way to get a point across.  

I’m practicing story-telling just for the fun of it too.  Who doesn’t love a good story?

I hope you are creating good stories to tell this summer!