112 The Explosive Childhe says you should keep taking it. Maybe he’s had
other kids who got sick to their stomach on this
medicine and he’ll know what worked for them.Adult (Empathy): We were thinking of going to the
movies this afternoon, and I know that sometimes
you don’t want to go because you’re worried
there will be scary parts.
Child: I don’t like scary movies.
Adult (Define the Problem, Reassurance, Invitation):
I know, and I’m not saying you have to go to a
scary movie. The thing is, your brother is really
looking forward to going to the movies and I can’t
send him to the movies alone. Let’s think of how
we could work this out. Do you have any ideas?
Child: We could not go to the movies.
Adult: There’s an idea. The thing is, if we don’t go to
the movies, you’d be very happy, but your
brother would be very unhappy. Let’s see if we
can come up with an idea that would make us all
happy.
Child: We could go to a movie that’s not scary.
Adult: We could. How about we go get the movie
section from the newspaper and see if there are
any movies out that aren’t scary that you and your
brother would both want to see. If we can find
one, then we could still go to the movies, but you
wouldn’t have to worry that it’s too scary. Yes?