Look Out I'm Parenting Here! Getting Through The Day Chapter 4: See You Later Alligator (Part 4)

Look Out I'm Parenting Here! Getting Through The Day Chapter 4: See You Later Alligator (Part 4)
Watch the full episode of, "See You Later Alligator"

Be consistent, short, and sweet

"Now the moment of truth has come. You have to turn around and walk out the door, leaving them behind." says Ted in the beginning lines of this section. This is where all that built up confidence comes to its boiling point. It's like in the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" where Jordan is demonstrating a sales call. At one point in the call Jordan stays silent and states that the first person to speak in a situation like this loses (I actually read his book "The Way of The Wolf" and it was a really good deep dive in his whole system. Maybe eventually we will have discussions about it...). Think about how much confidence you need to have to not say anything at all. Yes you heard correctly, NOT SAY ANYTHING. You are completely at ease and comfortable with what you just said, and have nothing more to add to the conversation. To me, this conveys confidence in what you believe. You do not need to explain anything, you just made your statements, and now its up to the person across the line to make their move. A lot of people will fight tooth and nail to reason with you or convince you of something and alternately it tends to make you more defensive. Remember the ancient wisdom, less is more!

Let us bring the same logic to the final step in becoming the drop off expert. The less you say and do, will make the whole situation seem very routine and this will tend to decrease any drama you might face. If you act like you have been there before, there will be less shock when you get there again. Remember from our previous post, don't make this into a huge event, it is...but it's not. It's like the band-aid analogy, sometimes you just have to rip it off and deal with it.

One point I did not think about that Ted brought up was avoiding saying good-bye. repeating the phrase a few times I think I understood why. In my opinion, "good-bye" tends to mean a permanent action. Almost as if it will be a long time before you see this person again. Instead, advises using the phrase, "see you later". To me, this does not come across nearly as menacing. This way your child will know that at some point in the not too distant future, you will be back. The temporary break up between parent and child is just that, temporary.

Like a champion!