Motivationally Delayed Syndrome

I'm going to just go ahead and diagnose Jonas with something that I completely made up. :) It's something I like to call motivationally delayed syndrome. You see, Jonas is very carefree and chill. He always has been. There's a lot of things he just doesn't care about. And because of this, I feel like he lacks the motivation to do certain things because he just doesn't care. Or he might just be really lazy due to my bad parenting (I'll explain further down). Either way, he has no motivation when it comes to those mundane tasks we all have to do.

The reason why I think he has this made up syndrome that I'm totally being sarcastic about, is because this year (ever since Alexis has arrived) he has started doing things that kids his age started doing a good 7+ months ago.

Such as this:

Getting into the car all by himself. I know for a fact that other children his age started wanting to get in the car by themselves a long while ago. I just thought that Jonas didn't want to do stuff like that. But in actuality, I think he just didn't care at the time, or he just figured we would always do it for him. But now he wants to do it by himself.

And it's not just getting into the car that he wants to do by himself. He just barely "learned" (or cared to) open the fridge all by himself. He just barely "learned", or cared, to take off his clothes all by himself. Sometimes after I feed Alexis, I come into the room where Jonas is and his shorts are off. He's never cared to take them off himself before. He also has finally learned to climb up the ladder things at the park as well.

And because of this "MDS", this is why he refuses to be potty trained. He just doesn't care. He has no motivation to go potty by himself (as you can tell he isn't motivated by a bike, even though I know he really really wants one), and I'm going to guess he'll care in about 7 months - just like everything else in his life. Oh silly boy.

Or maybe, perhaps, he has "MDS" because I've always done things for him - my bad parenting. Such as getting his blanket in the morning while he watches cartoons and fill his sippy with milk. Or finding his shoes for him and putting them on and taking them off for him. Or if he asked me to get a toy, or his water, I always did it.

I know, I know...... pretty embarrassing on my behalf. Teaching my kid that the world is going to hand him life on a platter. Maybe it's because I'm an impatient person and I figured I could just do it faster than him so I always did it. Or maybe I just thought I was being nice and doing stuff for my sweet little boy. I don't know why I did a lot of those mundane tasks for him.

But ever since Alexis came into the picture, I've started having him do things on his own. This is also probably why he won't potty train because he has a lot of other things to do/learn right now in order to be a big boy. If he asks me to get his blanket I tell him he's a big boy and can get it himself. Same thing with his water and toys and whatever else. I also taught him how to take off his shoes by himself, etc. Oh the things that happen after a second child comes into the picture. I don't have the time to cater to his every need. And I definitely will not be catering to Alexis's. Don't make the same mistake twice, right?

This is also probably why he's been defiant because I'm making him do things on his own. And trust me, he has thrown 30 minute tantrums because he wants his blanket and I say "ok, go get it, it's in your room", and he wants me to get it instead. He actually threw a huge tantrum once because he was on the couch, the blanket was on the floor in front of the couch and he wanted me to get it and I was across the room not even near his blanket. And he threw a FIT over me telling him to get it himself.

But little by little, he has learned to be a big boy, and after 6 months of teaching him to do things for himself, and 6 months of tantrums, I think he's finally catching on. When he wants his blanket now, he'll go get it and say "look I got my blanket myself". Same thing with his water, and milk, and opening the fridge himself (he's thrown huge tantrums over opening the fridge himself and wanting me to do it instead) and getting in the car, etc.

Either way, I love my boy. These are all just theories, and I love that he's becoming a big boy. He still throws fits over doing certain things himself, but he's learning, and so are we. He has a chore chart now and I make him do lots of stuff on his own. And I make sure to praise him lots when he's a big boy. Good times, right? Love him.

By the way, he was eating his toast one day and he bit it into a gun and was playing with it and shooting bad guys. ha ha ha! So funny! Definitely a boy.