I recently met a mother of a four-year old, and she was describing her experience of her child’s first temper tantrum in a grocery store. There her child was, kicking and screaming right in the middle of the aisle.
What this mother did next took me by surprise. She sat down, in the middle of the aisle, put her hand on her child’s back and consoled her.
Within a few minutes the child regained her composure and looked around in surprise. Mom was as calm as could be. The child realized there was no point in continuing the tantrum because she wasn’t getting anything that she had wanted. What’s even better is her child never threw a temper tantrum again.
What I love about this story is that the mother didn’t try to stop her child’s reaction, but rather, let her have it without fixing it or making it go away. This allowed the child to come to her own conclusions which were the very ones the mother wanted to teach her child.
When your child learns to play the piano, and learns how to practice, it can be challenging at times to navigate how best to support your child in learning. Knowing when to step in and assist and when to let something play out, is an art.
What have you found works for you at home? I’d love to hear what you’ve learned!
