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I had an interesting conversation over Twitter this past week. Twitter is a website where you can share short sentences about yourself throughout the day while at the same time read about other people’s lives and events that are happening in the world. I love Twitter because I’m a work-at-home mom and it keeps me connected with the outside world. My Twitter friends are sort of like my office cube-mates, since my home is my office.

So, I’d mentioned on Twitter that my five-year-old daughter has learned how to whistle. She can really whistle out a tune too. I love that she’s learned this amazing skill. I know adults that still don’t know how to whistle, and I haven’t a clue how she learned, but she’s been whistling non-stop for days. It’s not something I want her to feel bad about either. I want her to know that I’m proud of her achievement. I do, but I’m going a little insane with the whistling. The responses I received from my Twitter followers varied from hilarious to empathizing, and of course, helpful.

Someone suggested duct tape and then someone else recommended that I take my daughter outside to play. After I finished laughing about the duct tape suggestion, I took a look at some of the options: wait it out because she’ll get bored with it, ask her to play somewhere else, and make a rule about where whistling is allowed. I opted for the ruling of where it’s allowed because that allowed me to stay positive while adjusting the situation. For the time being, I’ve asked her to practice her whistling in her bedroom or when she plays outside. She’s agreeable to this because I haven’t told her that she has to stop, and I can easily tell her to relocate when she absent-mindedly starts whistling for an annoyingly long amount of time.

I love it when I receive helpful suggestions. Thanks, everyone!

I have received an e-mail from a listener whose problem isn’t as easy to correct. Hal wrote in about his four-year-old daughter who kicks the back of his seat in the car on road trips. She’s riding in her booster seat and when she becomes upset, she starts kicking her daddy’s chair. When this escalates, everyone gets upset and a cool down period is needed. This is definitely not convenient for road trips.

My first thought would be to position her booster so that she’s not behind anyone, but that simply may not be a possibility. We actually have a similar issue in our car when my husband is driving because he moves the seat back while I keep it farther forward when I’m driving. When my son begins to kick the seat, I try to distract him with toys or coloring books. I keep a full stock of playthings in the car at all times; paper, crayons, little toys, and of course, kid-friendly music. So, instead of getting angry and having the situation escalate, pack a few distracting items and use these to stop the kicking before it happens by giving her something else to focus on.

You may also want to keep a supply of stickers or other small reward items in the car and let her know that for each 15 minutes she goes without kicking your seat she’ll get a prize. If it’s a short trip, then she’ll get one at the destination point. Make sure you keep the reward out where she can see it so she’ll be more enticed by it. Good luck, Hal!

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This is your friend the Mighty Mommy wishing you happy and fun parenting!