Autonomy vs. Shame

We are definitely in the midst Erik Erikson's psychosocial development phase of Autonomy vs. Shame. At least with Jackson. This weekend he seemed to push every boundary he knew of with great autonomy. It was certainly enough to run me ragged and leave some scars on his friends. Thankfully he carried plenty of shame along with his mistakes, which made me feel a little hope for his future as a functioning person in society. As soon as he knew he was in trouble, he'd run to one of his 10 favorite hiding spots throughout the house. Sometimes I cared, sometimes I didn't. Always I was just tired or finding the balance of policing and injury prevention and letting him figure stuff out on his own. 

I really only got pictures of the cute autonomous stuff. Instances where I tried really hard not to laugh so he wouldn't be inspired to do it again and again.

On my stressed mamma day (Tuesday), I really wanted him to take a nap--for the safety of himself and all those involved in his life. This is what he looked like after an hour and a half of trying. Oh my cute. 

We explored plenty with this little whale. Apparently the whale got bored of all the imaginative water. "And then, the whale went SPLASH!" with arm movements showing me what "the whale" did. Again, desperately holding the laughter in.





The good news was he ate plenty of healthy food this weekend--including most of this can of black beans. He insisted on eating them from the can, in the kitchen, on a chair. Each detail was tied to a tantrum if it wasn't executed.

Allie didn't want to miss out on the fun. I felt like all weekend she was screaming, "don't forget about me!"

We tried many ways to deal with his massive amounts of curious, aggressive energy. We employed a trip to the track (where completed a 400 meter dash with two breaks and no walking), a bowling excursion and a little bike ride. Videos of latter two to enjoy. Sorry-- no videos of the tantrums that happened afterward.