The Halloween Isle: A Personal Story

Do you enjoy reading PERSONAL STORIES from our local RDI families? Becca, one of our local RDI moms wrote a great example of what she has learned from being a RDI parent and her experience with her son. Read her personal story below:

The Halloween Isle

by: Becca

            Over the past year I have learned a lot as a RDI mom, and I have watched my 5 year-old son change so much. Last year around this time I would go down the Halloween isle and make my son stand by me and look at everything. He was scared by any of the decorations that looked scary or made noise and it was hard for me to watch. I felt like I needed to “break” him of this behavior so he wouldn’t be scared anymore. In doing this, I would stand in the isle and push all of the noise buttons and make him listen to them, hoping that he would learn to like it.

            After doing RDI over this past year I have learned that I don’t need to “break” my son of scary experiences, and instead, I can create an environment where he feels more in control. I have found that if my son is given a choice, he feels much more comfortable doing anything new. I try to expose him to many new experiences and point out other children who are having fun, but then I allow him to choose if he wants to participate or not.

            Having this new mentality, walking down the Halloween isle at the store this year was completely different. When I noticed the Halloween displays out in the store, I took my son and slowly walked down the isle pointing out what I saw. Instead of pushing any of the buttons or only talking about the scary-looking decorations, I only talked about things I saw and didn’t try force anything on him. I was surprised when we were in the middle of the isle and my son paused for a minute. He then turned to me and said, “Hey mom, let’s try to push this button to see what noise it makes.” I was completely shocked.

            Having this new “RDI mentality” has helped so much in our home and I am finding that we have similar moments to that at the store more often. This summer I felt like my son was a completely different kid as he wanted to try big water-slides, play in the ocean, and build sand castles. Now I am able to look at everything in a new way. Everything last year was a huge fight, and now it is completely different.