S07.E05: Our New Normal

[MrMattyMatt]

We only had cake for birthdays, usually.  Never had dessert with dinner either. I never felt deprived.

[all4mom]

Well, some families make dessert a regular part of the meal, and others don't.  My only point being that you don't switch horses in midstream; if you do, expect to make some waves...  And it's not Will's fault that he expected it (as usual, apparently)...  This only proves what a quick little learner he is!  And he DID end up getting his cookies...  ;)

Edited April 25, 2014 by all4mom

[4leafclover]

Children are creatures of habit, especially for things they really like.  I have been guilty myself many times of giving in to a request for something innocuous just to shut the kid up!  And surprisingly, neither of my children (or grandchildren for that matter) were scarred because of it.  Will is smart and he's probably learning how to manipulate to get what he wants--I'm pretty sure that Jen and Bill will be able to stand their own ground when it comes right down to it.

[shandam]

Jen is just gorgeous but bill needs to be more attentive and discipline Will. He has hit Jen and been really aggressive to her and she is so sweet to the kids she has a hard time saying"no". Will is old enough to know better he throws fits and screams to get his way. Unfortunately the kids engage in too much eating it consumes their day and is becoming a hobby. Jen put away the sweets and don't mention them for a day or so I guarantee you will see both kids become more talkative and express weather or not food is their main focus. Will is too aggressive and doesn't share I see a hard time adjusting to school and to peers for him maybe arrange some play dates. Zoey has digressed her speech was good but due to Wills being babied she has stopped talking as good and uses minimal words. Try to let Will come to you Bill and Jen let him seek you out so he can try communicating better. Stop using emphasis on one word while you are talking. You guys are awesome people and amazing parents. Hugs.

[shandam]

Jen has the same smile she is so genuine and as a mom myself who is battling health problems I only wish I had the strength she has.

[shandam]

I think Jen is parenting correctly, and really needs more intervention from Bill, especially regarding Will's behavior. Will seems to resent Jen telling him to do something. As I said before in my previous post, Will obeys Baba, but not so much Jen. He doesn't even want to kiss Jen on many occasions, yet is always kissing Bill. I think Will needs more one-on-one time with Jen. He is very spoiled and must be reigned in or he will be a very unhappy child with few friends. This is just my opinion, but I have seen this toddler behavior before and unless it is corrected, the child can have major socialization problems! Zoey is really blossoming well and is affectionate with both parents. I wonder if she has achondroplasia like Will or another form of dwarfism because her arms and legs seem more in proportion to her body and her head is not unusually large like Will's. I know sometimes achondroplasia is mis-diagnosed. There is a form of dwarfism called hypochondroplasia,which is a modified form of achondroplasia, and also something called pseudoachrondroplasia, also a more modified form of achondroplasia. I guess we will eventually find out. I love this show and can't wait for the next episode!

Karen you are so right. You really put the behavior of Will in perspective he is really spoiled and I think he doesn't acknowledge Jen as a loving parent he does resent her trying to correct him. Bill thinks its funny and I believe he sides with Wills bad behavior to win his affection. Other children may not be able to accept his aggressiveness and his reluctance to share. Hopefully his bad behavior doesn't rub off on Zoey she seems refined and gentle with her parents. I don't see her cry or fight back when Will bullies her by taking her toys.

[4leafclover]

I remember on the Q&A episode, one scene showed Bill reprimanding Will for biting Zoey and he was quite firm with Will.

[shandam]

Wow I didn't see that episode its good Bill caught the biting and corrected that behavior was Jen there?

[Jellybeans]

Wow I didn't see that episode its good Bill caught the biting and corrected that behavior was Jen there?

I did not see her but that does not mean she wasn't there.

[shandam]

True I just figured if she was there she would have been sure to step in.

[B3RSERK3R]

I have 2 children and through my work I deal with children who are institutionalized on a daily basis. Every child in that situation handles it in a different way because of course, no 2 kids are alike. There are instances of misbehavior and negative attitudes which is to be expected for children in that type of environment. However, Will has been with Bill and Jen for quite some time now, and his behavior plus his attitude and aggression, especially towards Jen is completely uncalled for. He has been in their stable environment for a long time and I frankly don't see much of anything that one could call positive at all. He knows if he throws a big enough fit that he can pretty much have what he wants. What I can't tell is if they don't know how to get the message across to him that he cannot continue down the path he currently is or for whatever reason, can't identify and understand what it is they are seeing. It's always easy to sit back from a distance and judge people, but his actions are truly disturbing and if not corrected soon, will lead him to be put in Special classes because teachers will refuse to deal with a child that obviously you cannot reason with.

 

Another issue that is completely ridiculous is the diaper situation. And yes, he is still in diapers. If you pay attention to the last few episodes, you clearly see the diaper bunched up under his pants plus the diaper waist band. There is no reason for him to still be in diapers. Unless he has some extremely severe learning disability, which they are always trying to vehemently deny, or they are truly failing the child. I noticed a previous entry that someone suggested that when Will reaches school that no child will relate him with cake. That may be the case but you can bet there will be parents that take offense to the Kleins, there are always parents who hate everybody for being different, and those kids will either have it drilled in his/her head that " Will is a spoiled brat that still wears a diaper " or they will hear their parents talking about and repeat everything they hear. Kids at that age can be extremely cruel when they want to be and you can bet it will happen on more than one occasion. Sad to think how bad he will be made fun of just because of his physical stature, but adding that on top could be more than he can deal with. And to put the cherry on top so to speak is his extremely horrible speech. It seems even with the ear tubes procedure and speech therapy, his speech is not showing hardly any improvement. Not to say that he could make significant leaps, but I have seen at that age if it doesn't happen soon he will no doubt be placed in a Special Education curriculum that 95% of the time you don't get out of.

 

Hopefully everything will work out in their favor. My next and final statement is by no means supposed to be rude, but rather see if any of you have a theory as well. I know when they brought Will back from China that they decided against punishment the first few months that they had him, saying that they wanted him to feel like they love him no matter what he does. I find that philosophy to be utterly ridiculous and somehow have to wonder if that may have led to some of the problems they are dealing with today? Of course they wanted him to feel accepted and loved, but you simply cannot treat a child coming from an environment like that. Lots of times when children are in facilities, everything is structured with rules so that the system doesn't fail. When you take them out of the structured environment you can't just all of a sudden not have rules to follow. That idea could very well have contributed to Will's obsession with hitting Jen every time she tells him no. And I agree with a lot of you when you stated that Will does not respect Jen. His disrespect towards her is very horrible and Bill has never stepped in to reinforce her rules when it comes to Will. He needs to step up and follow Jen's lead so that the rules are the same across the board. Hopefully everything will eventually right itself, and soon, because if it isn't they are in for a rough ride.