perfectionism

Frances is a perfectionist. It's a common first child trait, from what I understand. She throws the duplo blocks if she has a hard time putting them together, freaks out if she falls down (even if she doesn't hurt herself), says "no it NOT all right!" when she spills something and I tell her it's okay. I know that the best way to teach her that mistakes are okay is to model that, but Mitch points out that it's hard to model when one is in fact a perfectionist. Ah.

So I've started falling down. I do it mostly when we're outside, just plop myself down when she's not looking and say "Oh, Mommy fell down!" or do a slapstick slipping on the ice that ends with my butt on the ground. It has seemed to help, actually. Sometimes when she falls in the snow (which she does a lot) I fall at the same time and then she'll laugh a little and say "Mommy and Frances fell! Both!" When I slip and spill of my own accord she says "I help you Mommy. I hold your hand." It seems as if it's taken the edge off her criticism of herself overall, a great accomplishment.