Aha moment!

So 2 nights ago, during bathtime, I had an Aha! moment and it was just reinforced a few moments ago as Matt is doing bathtime tonight. My kids are, for the moment, still getting bathed together in the tub. But when it comes time to start washing hair we always get resistance. And it can be ugly. Which makes bathtime turn into a miserable time for everyone.

On Friday night, I was doing bathtime with the kids (because in our tiny bathrooms really only one parent can do the washing of the kids at a time, so we try to take turns doing our "chore" of bath duty). It occurred to me that there had to be a better way to get them to be more willing in the process. I first asked for a volunteer to go first with hair washing. No volunteers (surprise, surprise.) I declared (much to their surprise) that I would count to 3, if I had no volunteers by 3 then I would pick who would go first and that everyone would lose books at bedtime. If I did get a volunteer, then that person would get to pick the first book to be read at bedtime. :-))))) Hee heee heeeee! Guess what? I got a volunteer! John picked up on the threat very quickly and volunteered shortly after the "one" sound started coming out of my mouth. Kara was very dismayed that she didn't "win" the right to pick the first bedtime book. But, most importantly, everyone was a willing participant in the hair washing process.

Then comes tonight. A few moments ago...both kids in the tub with Matt at the bathtime helm.... He tells them he's going to use the same process that I started last time and before he even got to the counting, Kara says "Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee first!!!" Cue the AHA!!! moment for Mommy!!

I love it beyond words when a parenting trick pans out just the way you wanted it to!! There's not much sweeter than that. Mark one in the column for Mommy tonight. I love it.

Pictures to Come!

So you may have noticed a serious lack of pictures lately on the blog.... Well, I've been trying but the link to upload images to my posts has not been working for some unknown reason. This morning as I fiddled with it a bit, I just found a work-around for it and obviously just got a picture to upload with my other post. So hopefully that will continue to work and I'll be able to post some more pictures of our summer fun adventures. Sorry if things have been a little heavy on the text and light on the images lately!

Kara's Lesson

Yesterday there were more lessons learned around here. This time mostly by Kara. One lesson I learned is that we may be closer to giving up the nap than I would like to believe. On Sunday and again yesterday, Kara spent her naptime in her crib, but not sleeping. She was singing away, happy as could be, but definitely not sleeping. Then comes the second lesson...when she decided she was done, she climbed out of her crib and came downstairs. Hmmmm. Previous experience (a.k.a. John) leads me to think that we may be ready to move out of the crib and into the toddler bed. The timing on this is not great since I'm also preparing to make efforts on the potty training front and get both kids ready to start school shortly. I'd prefer for everyone to be getting enough sleep and be well-rested, happy kids during the day...things are just easier that way...for everyone. I've been trying to convince myself that Kara's transition into the big bed will be easier than John's was (it was almost a year and a half before he was regularly sleeping through the night again after moving beds.) It has to be easier this time, right?

All I can say is thank god for coffee. I may need a lot of it in the coming days. And a lot of patience.

Always Learning

One lesson I've learned during my parenting years is that if you pay attention, you can learn something from your kids every day. Some days I learn multiple things, other days I learn one thing, but maybe it's a big one. Today was a big day for learning around here. Time will tell what the kids came away with after today. All I know right now, tonight, is that my kids taught me two big lessons today.

1. Kara had a horribly cranky, fussy, grumpy day. Starting at the moment I walked into her room this morning to get her out of the crib (she just grunted and didn't want to be touched, but also didn't want me to leave the room...lovely...) and ending at bedtime when she melted down after a tantrum she was throwing resulted in the loss of bedtime books for her. She managed to pull it together enough for a few snuggles before getting into the crib, so at least there was a moment at the end of the day that wasn't filled with her screaming or grunting or crying or making other hysterical noises.

The lessons I learned from Kara today were twofold. First, the quickly approaching age of three is going to challenge every level of patience that I have and I anticipate it being a very very long year ahead for us all. Second, and more important, is that even through the rough spots, there were quite a few moments of her sweet tender side today, and I need to remember to cherish and enjoy each and every one of those every single day.

2. The second lesson was from John. This weekend we went to the pool each day with Matt, who doesn't get to come with us very often. For some reason, I got it stuck in my head that John really needed to work on getting more comfortable with going underwater. The kid has started going down the slide and can swim (doggie-paddle) across the length of the pool, and here I am pushing him to get that face in the water! I realized at the end of the second pool trip that John was getting way more anxious about the whole thing and was never going to be comfortable with the idea, much less be able to do it with me forcing it on him. After he was in bed last night it occurred to me how ridiculous I was being and that I needed to just back off. The summer and the pool should be about having fun and hanging out with friends, which is what we've been doing and loving so far this year. I intend to continue that trend for the next four weeks.

So with that lesson learned yesterday, I started the day off today with John by apologizing to him for my inappropriate behavior at the pool. I told him that there would be no more pushing for the underwater stuff and that he should enjoy the pool and have fun. Go down the slide, swim across the pool, and play games with your friends. And go underwater only if you want to, and only WHEN you want to. It was not exactly easy to give a very sincere and heartfelt apology to my son, but it was so necessary and I felt so much better once I had done it.

Two big lessons learned today. All in all, I love my kids and all the lessons they have to teach me about love and patience and life.

Tennis Camp and More

So this week is John's tennis camp. Not an intense thing, just half and hour of some kids learning some of the basics of tennis. He enjoyed it yesterday, but it was hot. Today is going to be even hotter, so it could be brutal on the courts by 10:00. But our plan is to go pretty much straight to the pool from camp, have lunch there and play with friends until Kara poops out and has to have her nap. Then the afternoon will be more relaxed with the only requirement being to get our bag of CSA veggies.

My non-athletic kid has picked up some athletic interests of late, much to my surprise. He continues this summer to surprise me with his increased swimming skills - swimming the length of the pool, going down the slide unassisted, cannonballs, etc. And now he's signed up to do soccer in the fall, and seems to be enjoying the tennis this week. It's funny to me how much he's doing and enjoying all of it. I can tell he's getting stronger through all of it too, as he keeps trying his skills at the monkey bars at the playground and he's able to do more and more each time.

At this age my focus has been to expose him to lots of different activities and see where his skills and interests land. It's been an adventure, almost bordering on being that mom who is running her kids around crazy without any downtime...but not quite to an extreme...yet. We'll definitely slow down in the fall with John starting full-day kindergarten, giving him time to get adjusted to the new schedule and demands. But it's great to me to see his growing interests in athletic activities and I'm going to do all I can to encourage and support that. I'm just so proud of my little man, who doesn't seem to be so little anymore.

New Blog to Check Out

I have a neighbor and friend who just this week has started a new blog that is really worth checking out - Manic Mom's Monthly Menus. If you are a mom and are looking for new recipes and cooking tips, Erin's site is awesome! I am already excited to try some of the recipes she's got posted. She's a great person and really likes to cook for her family. She's got some great tips and explains how she's adapting a recipe based on cost and food preferences, along with ideas of how she might do the recipe differently next time or alternatives to try.

Check it out and I hope you get some helpful information!