Why did I think I should tell you that I had this parenting thing down?
The last few days have been rather difficult.
Maddox is refusing to eat.
I remember (pre- my child bearing days) when moms would call and would be just about in tears about this same subject... the moms always had a similar story-- "he will not eat at meals, but then wants snacks all day..."
The answer was simple then: cut back on snacks, he will eat if he is hungry and when he does snack, make sure he has healthy choices.
That is way easier said than done.
He had diarrhea yesterday, from pure lack of substance, I think-- and today he had hard poop, because all the kid wants to snack on is string cheese, yogurt and milk.
(And fruit snacks... but he is rationed to one package a day.)
And raisins... maybe I should push more of these-- to soften that stool a little.
I know his snacks are relatively healthy, but I want him to eat a meal.
An entire meal.
This morning I made him oatmeal, a piece of jellied toast and a 1/2 of a banana.
He ate the toast, with his daddy 'encouraging' every bite.
He maybe ate 1 bite of the oatmeal. (It was even the cinnamon roll flavored, not-healthy kind)
And he didn't touch the banana.
He did, however, ask for a Scooby Doo yogurt 30 minutes after breakfast.
My nurse voice said, "NO! --This is why he is doing this...."
But my mom voice said, "he has had 1 piece of toast, I'm sure he is hungry, yogurt is good for him."
I gave him a yogurt.
Maddox is pushing the boundaries... a lot.
And he knows it!
He puts himself in time-out sometimes...
As I type, I am attempting to ease-drop on the conversation between him and his dad going on in his room right now.
Night #3 of talking with Daddy.
I hear him saying, "yes sir" to his daddy, very sincere-like, as if he is really going to change.
Here's to wishful thinking!
This really rocks my world, because he seriously has not been better in public, than recently.
A perfect night at a restaurant with my sister.
An easy grocery shopping experience...
A fabulous time at the movies, while watching Tangled,
And excellent while Christmas shopping.
I would call him difficult or hard-headed or ornery rather than bad.
Until tonight.
He chooses to do what he wants to rather than what he is suppose to, and knows before he does it that he will face consequences.
Last night we decorated our Christmas tree
We watched Toy Story 3, wrapped presents, sipped hot cocoa, and had a fabulous night....
and then:
He decided to go through the clothes that Po just returned back to us...
Not bad... but definitely difficult.
Tonight, the report I got when I picked him up was BAD.
David called it "rare form"...
I call it really bad.
He threw a plastic fork at my mom...
He threw a plastic golf bay at their tv.
He then came back in and said he was done being ugly and was sorry.
I know the answer is he is two.
This is par for course.
But he is mature enough to have after-thought and apologize without being told to so, therefor I think he needs to act better than this.
I treat him older than he really is. Most of the time he acts older than he really is.
Put him in a room of kids his age, and other people will immediately start talking about his maturity level.
With that said, people expect more from him.
As do I.
Though this stage probably seems more bad, rather than difficult as you read it...
He is sweet and compassionate double the times he is hard--
Like tonight:
He walked up to me, said, "I love you so much Mommy" and then kissed my nose.
He threw a football which hit me and he instantly cried because he thought he hurt the baby.
Or when he fell asleep in my arms, he kissed me on the cheek and whispered good night, with his baby eyes closed.
We have definitely had more difficult stages...
Still, I am ready for this persistent- ornery- stubborn- stage to pass.
I need to re-grasp my end of the rope.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Today was a great day.
Today, while driving up to my moms for some potatoes for my stew, I had a thought:
I'm a good mom.
I wanted to share that, because I think I am quick to write about our difficult times....
And there have been times over the last 28 months when I feel like parenting is a big game of tug-of-war! During those periods it was obvious that my 2 1/2 foot warrior had a better handle on his end of the rope than I did.
But 'adapt and over-come', that's my strategy on parenting.
Right now, I'm good at this.
Maddox is smart and sweet and social and polite, and he is two. With two, comes being self-centered and demanding and sometimes impatient and difficult.
I realized that Maddox's biggest need is to be acknowledged, and that changed everything for us.
That's fine, because I too, want to be acknowledged when I am upset.
If he is acting selfish, bratty, mad, etc... I say, "Maddox, I know you are upset about ______, and you want to throw a fit. That's fine, because mommy throws silly fits sometimes too... but you need to do it in your room.
He goes to his room and within minutes (if that) he will come out of his room telling me that "I'm not mad anymore momma" or "I'm not crying anymore" etc.... and we go on about our day.
It works!
I'll be close to falling in that water again at some point... but for now, I think I've got a firm hold on my end of the rope.
Today is a great day.
Maddox was suppose to stay with my grandmother tonight since my mom is in Austin, but an unexpected phone call at 3:30 changed all of that.
Night clinic was canceled!!
That never happens, but we enjoy the rare occurrence anyhow!
I know Nana was bummed that she didn't get to keep him, and I felt bad for that but secretly still did a happy dance about working from home tonight!
I made the same amount of money, from the courtesy of my couch.
I put on a pot of stew...
Maddox and I played outside...
He loves to be outside!
And I love him.
Today was a great day.
Finally, today is my and my husband's four year anniversary.
I could gloat on how great he is...
and patient...
and kind...
and funny.
(as I have done a million times before)
But I won't.
(I don't think affirmation is his love language)
He knows he rocks.
He and I also understand that marriage, like anything else, has highs and lows.
We are on a high.
Rather than boast about it, I'll just enjoy it.
Happy anniversary my love.
Today was a great day!
I'm a good mom.
I wanted to share that, because I think I am quick to write about our difficult times....
And there have been times over the last 28 months when I feel like parenting is a big game of tug-of-war! During those periods it was obvious that my 2 1/2 foot warrior had a better handle on his end of the rope than I did.
But 'adapt and over-come', that's my strategy on parenting.
Right now, I'm good at this.
Maddox is smart and sweet and social and polite, and he is two. With two, comes being self-centered and demanding and sometimes impatient and difficult.
I realized that Maddox's biggest need is to be acknowledged, and that changed everything for us.
That's fine, because I too, want to be acknowledged when I am upset.
If he is acting selfish, bratty, mad, etc... I say, "Maddox, I know you are upset about ______, and you want to throw a fit. That's fine, because mommy throws silly fits sometimes too... but you need to do it in your room.
He goes to his room and within minutes (if that) he will come out of his room telling me that "I'm not mad anymore momma" or "I'm not crying anymore" etc.... and we go on about our day.
It works!
I'll be close to falling in that water again at some point... but for now, I think I've got a firm hold on my end of the rope.
Today is a great day.
Maddox was suppose to stay with my grandmother tonight since my mom is in Austin, but an unexpected phone call at 3:30 changed all of that.
Night clinic was canceled!!
That never happens, but we enjoy the rare occurrence anyhow!
I know Nana was bummed that she didn't get to keep him, and I felt bad for that but secretly still did a happy dance about working from home tonight!
I made the same amount of money, from the courtesy of my couch.
I put on a pot of stew...
Maddox and I played outside...
He loves to be outside!
And I love him.
Today was a great day.
Finally, today is my and my husband's four year anniversary.
I could gloat on how great he is...
and patient...
and kind...
and funny.
(as I have done a million times before)
But I won't.
(I don't think affirmation is his love language)
He knows he rocks.
He and I also understand that marriage, like anything else, has highs and lows.
We are on a high.
Rather than boast about it, I'll just enjoy it.
Happy anniversary my love.
Today was a great day!
I am a horrible challenge do-er.
Day 7
My favorite movies:
I hardly ever watch movies-- literally our date night last night was the first time Lance and I had been in a theater in over 2 years!!
I'm not a huge movie-watcher and I rarely ever watch a movie twice...
Here's a few I would:
The Notebook.
The Blind Side.
Juno.
Remember Me.
Pretty Woman.
Corina Corina.
Simon Birch
Day 8
My favorite place I have traveled:
I got to go on some cool vacations as a kiddo and Lance and I have had a few fun vacations together as a couple, but as for my favorite vacation ever---
I guess would have to be our honeymoon to the Dominican Republic.
It was beautiful.
And fun.
And our honeymoon...
Day 9
Pics of my friends:
I know I left some people out...
but my external hard drive is not in here...
sorry! :(
Day 10
Something I am afraid of:
I don't even want to go into it...
My biggest fear is something will happen to my child that I can't control.
Or worse, something that I could have controlled but wasn't on my game and a mistake happened.
I'm done talking about it.
Day 11
My favorite TV shows:
I rarely watch live tv.
Unless it is sports, or maybe The Talk or Dr Phil that I catch live while folding laundry or something.
Be ready to be dumbed down. I watch mostly things that do not make me think.
My DVR list includes:
The Office
Modern Family
The Real Housewives of.... all of them!
16 and Pregnant
Married to Rock
Teen Mom
I am an entire season behind on Greys-- so I guess I am kind of over it.
My favorite movies:
I hardly ever watch movies-- literally our date night last night was the first time Lance and I had been in a theater in over 2 years!!
I'm not a huge movie-watcher and I rarely ever watch a movie twice...
Here's a few I would:
The Notebook.
The Blind Side.
Juno.
Remember Me.
Pretty Woman.
Corina Corina.
Simon Birch
Day 8
My favorite place I have traveled:
I got to go on some cool vacations as a kiddo and Lance and I have had a few fun vacations together as a couple, but as for my favorite vacation ever---
I guess would have to be our honeymoon to the Dominican Republic.
It was beautiful.
And fun.
And our honeymoon...
Day 9
Pics of my friends:
I know I left some people out...
but my external hard drive is not in here...
sorry! :(
Day 10
Something I am afraid of:
I don't even want to go into it...
My biggest fear is something will happen to my child that I can't control.
Or worse, something that I could have controlled but wasn't on my game and a mistake happened.
I'm done talking about it.
Day 11
My favorite TV shows:
I rarely watch live tv.
Unless it is sports, or maybe The Talk or Dr Phil that I catch live while folding laundry or something.
Be ready to be dumbed down. I watch mostly things that do not make me think.
My DVR list includes:
The Office
Modern Family
The Real Housewives of.... all of them!
16 and Pregnant
Married to Rock
Teen Mom
I am an entire season behind on Greys-- so I guess I am kind of over it.
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