Mom, I get it now.

I'm not sure what it is about exhausting nights of light and broken sleep that make me want to blog. Baby girl had a small, dry cough all night and periodically would wake up groaning for me. I can tell you that Little Remedies Honey Elixer works wonders for those little coughs. So today will be a lazy day inside the house in our pajamas, building towers with giant blocks, reading books, cuddling and watching cartoons….. oh darn ;)

So growing up I remember my mom saying certain things and having certain "rules" that I never really thought anything of at the time. I just accepted it as how it was... I wasn't a difficult kid (only a difficult teen) Well now that I'm a mother myself from time to time I will say something to H and one of those "rules" will pop into my head and it dawns on me! This blog is all about me saying to my mom "I get it now, Mama. I completely get it."

Kitchen is closed after dinner.
After dishes were cleaned and everything put away there was to be no more access to the kitchen for the rest of the night. I totally get it now, Mom! Kids are NEVER done eating! My daughter can fill her belly full of all sorts of goodness and tell me she is done and then run straight over to the pantry and open the door asking for something else… and she's only 1-1/2! I can't imagine having a teenager and two little ones doing it. And after all that work to clean up I'd be ticked if I went back in the kitchen and saw another dirty dish in the sink. I remember going into the kitchen to get a "snack" before bedtime, open the refrigerator door and hear "KITCHEN'S CLOSED!!!" all the way from the other room…. now I get why she had that door installed to the kitchen. I always wondered why Dad never fixed that "creek" it made when it opened ;)

Hyper? Go run around the house a couple times.
I was dumb enough to actually do this when she told me to. I can just imagine what the neighbors thought. But again… I get it, Mom.

Bored? Want ME to give you something to do?
Ha! My thoughts exactly.

Go play outside.
Amen to this. Most of the time she didn't have to tell me twice to go play outside. I lived outside from the time the sun came up until it went down (with the exception of lunch and dinner) My sister was the TV and video gamer though. She had to be told a lot to go outside. It stinks that the world has changed so much in the past 15 years that it's sketchy to even let your kids to walk to the mailbox without worrying they'll get abducted. I'm getting a small taste of this now that Hayden likes to go play in her room, which is upstairs. Sometimes while I'm cleaning, she will head up there and shut her door. I turn on her baby monitor just to make sure she doesn't get into anything but I have her room pretty well baby-proofed. It's a nice little break for me and it's good for her to have that independence.

Let's play the quiet game.
I know exactly why my mom wanted us to play this game all the time. It was always in car rides and I was a very early talker, just like my H. Riding in the car now with H it all makes sense. I'm so proud that she has such a crazy vocabulary and can speak so clearly but, man, my child never shuts up! It's "Mommy, do you see the ___? Did you see the ___ mommy?? Weren't they beautiful? Those were great ___'s mom! Mommy sing Dora! Dora, Dora, Dora the Expuller!" Don't get me wrong. It's super cute and I'm very proud BUT there are times when it's constant and I just want a moment of silence. And that's where the "Quiet Game" comes in. My poor parents… I never won that game. I'm surprised my husband doesn't have H and I play this game on our car rides. He now has me talking nonstop and then a smaller version of me talking nonstop. hahaha

I know this is only the beginning of a lot of stuff for us because H is not even 2 yet and she has yet to let us off of this crazy roller coaster ride of toddlerhood.

Must be This Insane to ride. ;)

1st cup of coffee down and heading in there for my second. Who's with me?


xoxo,

Sleepless in Los Angeles

It's All About Principles.

My husband and I have been battling the "Terrible Two's" since right after H turned 1 last March. Or so we thought... Her actions and behavior goes in waves. Just like her teething (which she is completely DONE with!! WOOHOO!!) Our daughter is unbelievably smart and sweet but she is still a child. As she grows she is constantly learning and if there is one thing that helps me to deal with handling her in these tough times it's reminding myself that how I react to her bad behavior will help to shape her as she gets older.

I have had to seek out advice from close friends of mine, read articles online, and pray to God for patience and guidance in dealing with H. This is all new to me too.

What has been the hardest to deal with, I think, is the stubborn repetition of disobedience. I can scold her time after time to not throw her food down on the floor but she keeps doing it. A lot of times I don't have the energy to keep scolding her so I just give up and that's not what I need to do if I ever want it to get better.

One thing you should know about me is that I do believe in spankings. If time-out works for you, that's ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL but 9 times out of 10 it does not work for us.

A lot of the things I have to get on to her for are not even huge deals but they are PRINCIPLES. I'll be at the playground and H will do something to a kid and I will tell her to say her sorry or something and the parent will say "It's okay! I think he was doing such & such..." I always tell them "I know but it's a principle."

But I can be so lazy with punishment because it does take work. Bad behavior comes so naturally to kids. It is exhausting teaching good behavior but it has to be done. There are certain rules that I am pretty adamant about here in our house when it comes to our daughter.

We eat at the table.
We eat what is in front of you.
You may get down when Mommy & Daddy say you can get down.
We say "Excuse me", "Thank You", "Ma'am", "Sir", and "Please"
You obey Mommy & Daddy the FIRST time we tell you something.
You may not pitch a fit if you don't like something.
You listen when Mommy & Daddy are talking to you.
Good manners in public are a MUST.
You look people in the eyes when they're talking to you.
We share.
We are polite and kind to others.
We love the Lord and We obey His commandments.

Now call me southern or old-fashioned if you want but I bet if some of these things would've been enforced more we wouldn't be seeing so much of Miss Miley Cyrus! And It doesn't matter how lazy I get at times there is nothing that could cause me to scratch one of these rules off my list. I have to remind myself that how I teach our daughter here at home will reflect how she acts in public and how she acts once she is no longer under my wing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It's no easy task. I just keep hoping all my efforts will pay off one day :)

xoxo,

Exhausted in Los Angeles