Monday, April 30, 2007
20 things
10 things I love about Isaac
1. He's always needed me a lot. You know, because he's scared of almost everyone else.
2. He's cute.
3. He's such a boy! He loves trains, trucks, buses, heavy machinery....
4. He's sooo busy! He never voluntarily sits down. It totally wears me out but it's fascinating to watch.
5. He loves his baby sister.
6. He's gentle with animals.
7. He loves to be read to and he loves the alphabet. If you know me then you know that this suits me just fine!
8. He can be pretty high maintenance...but for some reason I totally get that. ;)
9. He looks just like me. This is not just vanity (although there's probably a healthy dose of that in there too). He's my first biological relative (that I'm acquainted with) so it's really cool to have someone look like me.
10. He's my baby!
10 things I love about Grace
1. She doesn't need me as much. It's such a relief that I can leave her with other people when I have to!
2. She's cute.
3. She's a girly girl. I can tell already that she's going to like shopping! And she looks so good in pink!
4. Those cheeks!!!
5. She loves her big brother.
6. When she smiles at me, I fall in love every time.
7. She's a Daddy's girl...and I know he loves it.
8. She's a little lower maintenance than her brother. I'm so crazy about him but what would I do with two of them?
9. She's got spunk! Even though she's my more relaxed child, she's no blob!
10. She's my baby!
I'm not actually TRYING to screw up my kid, I promise!
Around here, we use the word "fart" a lot. Yes, this is partly because certain male members of the family happen to do it often (they do) but that's not really my point. I know there are plenty of other, less crude words that we could use. Here's why I say "fart"... BECAUSE I CAN! You see, when I was growing up I was not allowed to use the word... even as a teenager. And I thought it was a stupid rule. So now I say it as much as I want. FART FART FART FART FART! Ok, I'm done. Back to being a grown-up. Sorry.
Amazing isn't it? The lengths that I will go to for the sake of rebellion? Not that I'm proud of that...I've just come to terms with it. LOL! Here's where it comes back to haunt me. My sweet son, Isaac is A LOT like me, except with all that extra "boy energy" (if you have a little boy then you know what I mean!). So that is what I'm up against! Discipline so far has been...interesting.
Last week he was standing on the upside down bouncy seat. This ,of course, could break the seat so I told him to get off of it. He didn't. So I put him in time out. So far, so good. Then, a minute and a half into his two minutes, he started to sing. For some reason, I decided that he wasn't suffering enough and that he really needed to be sorry. So, I came up with a really really good idea (note the sarcasm). "Isaac," I said, "you can get down as soon as you tell me you're sorry. Say sorry to Mama."
This may seem reasonable to you if you don't know Isaac well. It seemed reasonable to me at the time. After all, Supernanny does it, right? Here's why it absolutely wasn't reasonable,
1. Isaac is a perfectionist (told ya he's like his Mama...poor kid!). He has only ever said the word "sorry" once in his life. And when he isn't sure about his ability to say a certain word, he doesn't try. He sometimes says a word and then waits weeks until he's ready to try again.
2. I don't really want him to tell me that he's sorry for doing something when he's really just sorry about being punished for it. I know I'm no Supernanny but after thinking about that a bit, it just doesn't sit right with me.
3. He's at least as stubborn as I am. And if you were to tell me that I MUST apologize or sit in the corner until I do, right or wrong, I would stay in that chair for a WEEK!
I had a lot of time to think about these things over the almost three hours that Isaac was in that chair. That's right, THREE HOURS (told ya we're stubborn)! And I'm sure I don't have to tell you how long that is for a not-even-two year old! Once I finally realized that it wasn't going to work (again, DUH), I still had a dilemma. See, Dr. Dobson says (I think Dr. Phil does too. LOL) that you must win decisively in these situations. So now I had to figure out how to get us out of this without admitting defeat (the same problem that would have kept me in that chair for a week as a child).
So, to be terribly anti-climactic, I gave in. I couldn't figure out how to end the whole thing gracefully so I risked possibly never being in control of the child and just ended it. The parenting experts would be very disappointed, I'm sure. You know what though? I think that giving up may have actually been my best decision of the day. My Dad always felt free to change his mind when he went overboard with a punishment. And I really appreciated it. And you know, I really respected him too.
So, I don't know if Isaac ever learned anything that day (maybe just that his Mama doesn't know what she's doing?) but I sure did!
I learned that from now on, I think I'll stick with spanking! It's a lot less traumatic for both of us!
Amazing isn't it? The lengths that I will go to for the sake of rebellion? Not that I'm proud of that...I've just come to terms with it. LOL! Here's where it comes back to haunt me. My sweet son, Isaac is A LOT like me, except with all that extra "boy energy" (if you have a little boy then you know what I mean!). So that is what I'm up against! Discipline so far has been...interesting.
Last week he was standing on the upside down bouncy seat. This ,of course, could break the seat so I told him to get off of it. He didn't. So I put him in time out. So far, so good. Then, a minute and a half into his two minutes, he started to sing. For some reason, I decided that he wasn't suffering enough and that he really needed to be sorry. So, I came up with a really really good idea (note the sarcasm). "Isaac," I said, "you can get down as soon as you tell me you're sorry. Say sorry to Mama."
This may seem reasonable to you if you don't know Isaac well. It seemed reasonable to me at the time. After all, Supernanny does it, right? Here's why it absolutely wasn't reasonable,
1. Isaac is a perfectionist (told ya he's like his Mama...poor kid!). He has only ever said the word "sorry" once in his life. And when he isn't sure about his ability to say a certain word, he doesn't try. He sometimes says a word and then waits weeks until he's ready to try again.
2. I don't really want him to tell me that he's sorry for doing something when he's really just sorry about being punished for it. I know I'm no Supernanny but after thinking about that a bit, it just doesn't sit right with me.
3. He's at least as stubborn as I am. And if you were to tell me that I MUST apologize or sit in the corner until I do, right or wrong, I would stay in that chair for a WEEK!
I had a lot of time to think about these things over the almost three hours that Isaac was in that chair. That's right, THREE HOURS (told ya we're stubborn)! And I'm sure I don't have to tell you how long that is for a not-even-two year old! Once I finally realized that it wasn't going to work (again, DUH), I still had a dilemma. See, Dr. Dobson says (I think Dr. Phil does too. LOL) that you must win decisively in these situations. So now I had to figure out how to get us out of this without admitting defeat (the same problem that would have kept me in that chair for a week as a child).
So, to be terribly anti-climactic, I gave in. I couldn't figure out how to end the whole thing gracefully so I risked possibly never being in control of the child and just ended it. The parenting experts would be very disappointed, I'm sure. You know what though? I think that giving up may have actually been my best decision of the day. My Dad always felt free to change his mind when he went overboard with a punishment. And I really appreciated it. And you know, I really respected him too.
So, I don't know if Isaac ever learned anything that day (maybe just that his Mama doesn't know what she's doing?) but I sure did!
I learned that from now on, I think I'll stick with spanking! It's a lot less traumatic for both of us!
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Toddler Cuisine- part 2
You know how sometimes kids start to turn orange from eating too many carrots or sweet potatoes? Because that is a real thing! Really it is!
I think Isaac may turn orange one of these days but if he does, it's not gonna be from carrots, that's for sure! If he turns orange, it will definitely be from too much macaroni and cheese. He calls it "nocheese" (which we find completely endearing) and it's his very favorite food. I'm ashamed to admit that we eat it, on average, about 3 times a week. Eek!
Here's the thing. I never intended to let my toddler eat macaroni and cheese! I like to pride myself on being a little bit of a health food nut (ok so that's more in theory than in practice) and thought that I would only feed my children very nutritious whole foods. But then life happened. And a very very picky toddler happened. You know how they say that it's ok to lay down the law about food because a child will NEVER starve himself? NOT TRUE! My little S.W.C. (strong-willed child) starved himself right down to the 3rd weight percentile for his age. When his pediatrician started to act concerned, I decided to lighten up. At least that's my excuse...er, reason.
Anyway, I guess for now I'll just have to comfort myself with the fact that despite our country's obesity epidemic and related heart disease, we still have a pretty darn good life expectancy! Right? RIGHT???
Can you tell that I have some guilt?
I think Isaac may turn orange one of these days but if he does, it's not gonna be from carrots, that's for sure! If he turns orange, it will definitely be from too much macaroni and cheese. He calls it "nocheese" (which we find completely endearing) and it's his very favorite food. I'm ashamed to admit that we eat it, on average, about 3 times a week. Eek!
Here's the thing. I never intended to let my toddler eat macaroni and cheese! I like to pride myself on being a little bit of a health food nut (ok so that's more in theory than in practice) and thought that I would only feed my children very nutritious whole foods. But then life happened. And a very very picky toddler happened. You know how they say that it's ok to lay down the law about food because a child will NEVER starve himself? NOT TRUE! My little S.W.C. (strong-willed child) starved himself right down to the 3rd weight percentile for his age. When his pediatrician started to act concerned, I decided to lighten up. At least that's my excuse...er, reason.
Anyway, I guess for now I'll just have to comfort myself with the fact that despite our country's obesity epidemic and related heart disease, we still have a pretty darn good life expectancy! Right? RIGHT???
Can you tell that I have some guilt?
Friday, April 27, 2007
Toddler Cuisine
Today when Isaac asked me for another sunchip after he finished the one he was eating, I had to say no. Why did I HAVE to say no? Because we don't have any left. The one he had was from a bag that we bought at Subway LAST WEEKEND! He found it somewhere in our living room. Why is it that the same children who never eat what you put on their plate will eat ANYTHING they find on the floor? I know it's not just my kid. I just read somewhere about parents that actually put vegetables on the floor on purpose so their kids will eat them. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T THINK OF THAT!
Anyway, today I'm just counting my blessings that the worst thing Isaac's ever eaten was a couple of dead ladybugs and not a cat turd like the kid at the park almost ate! Also, he actually enjoys two, count 'em TWO different vegetables........ even when they are on a plate!
Anyway, today I'm just counting my blessings that the worst thing Isaac's ever eaten was a couple of dead ladybugs and not a cat turd like the kid at the park almost ate! Also, he actually enjoys two, count 'em TWO different vegetables........ even when they are on a plate!
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