Lesson #72

It is hard to stay angry at a two-year-old for long

Miles is really good at pushing my buttons. For a two-year-old, he is learning pretty quickly to test every limit. Our latest challenge is the transition from crib to toddler bed. We probably should have abandoned the crib months ago but I was grasping to every inch of control I still had over my youngest. He is in every sense of the word, a daredevil. This kid is scared of nothing and is a terrible rule follower. Once he started climbing out of his crib, I knew that it was all over.

We just made the switch last night. After two nights in a row of him getting up at 4:30, roaming the halls unsupervised, I knew we had to surrender. I am still working on how to convince him not to get out of his bed. In the mean time, it is a lot of walking him back to bad, making him promise he will not get out again.

After two returns at the start of nap time today, I found this child standing on the stairs with a mischievous smile, stretching out a slinky. He looked at me with a sheepish grin as I told him he could not get up again. "Okay," he said as he walked back up the stairs.

As hard as I try to be furious, I have to hide my smile at how cute he is. And lucky for him he is so cute. I might have given him away months ago!

Lesson #71

They really do grow up too fast

This summer has tested me in a lot of ways. In addition to juggling summer camps, sports, swimming lessons, play dates and vacations, I am trying to allow for plenty of free play for the kids. They all get a little stir crazy if we have too much time at hoe so I try hard to balance that all out. But the hectic nature of the summer coupled with more together time than they kids are accustomed to, has resulted in many a stressful day for me. In all honesty, a day doesn't go by that I fantasize about the first week of school for Max and Zoey this fall.

Yesterday, I took the kids to a favorite local kids museum. This place is a lot of fun for them but often very hard for me. There are certain areas for toddlers and other areas that are for bigger kids. This makes it challenging to please them all at once and to be safe, keeping everyone in sight. I took Zoey and Max over to the big bounce house and was praying I could keep Miles entertained long enough for the older two to have their fun. Miles ran over to the height chart and insisted on checking his growth since our last visit. To my surprise, this little toddler was exactly the right height to go in the big kid bounce house. He was so excited! The woman working there tried to warn me to have him wait until a few of the older kids got out. Clearly she does not know my son. There was no stopping him and he definitely held his own.

I was so excited at the new freedom we all had at the museum. But when I got home and was telling Josh about it, I felt a little sad. Thinking about Miles not being a little toddler anymore is definitely a hard pill to swallow. I know this is our last child and thinking about these kids all being out of the house definitely fills me with a sense of emptiness. It was just another reminder that I really need to focus hard on the moments of happiness and fun that we are all sharing this summer rather than letting a rough morning take over my mood for the day.

Lesson #70

The soothing quality of a storm is lost on a toddler

I can remember back to a time when a rain storm meant a perfect excuse to sleep in late or call in sick to work. When you are a stay at home mom, that is never an option. Now, instead of snuggling up in bed, listening to the calming sounds of thunder and rain, I get tortured by my kids.



After a long holiday weekend, I was really looking forward to a good night of sleep. That is not what happened. Looking to assert his independence, Miles decided to repeatedly climb out of his crib last night. I am pretty sure it all started with the storm. Something clearly woke him up. All I know is that this child popped out of his room and into the upstairs hallway a half dozen times between 1:15 and 2:30 in the morning. If that wasn't bad enough, Max waltzed in to announce he had an accident at 3:00. Once he realized it was storming, he did not want to go back to bed. Thirty minutes of visits to my room only prolonged my awake time. Fast forward to 5:00 am and Miles was out of bed again, ready to start the day. Ugh!!!! All I can do now is relish the fact that there is no more rain in the forecast until this weekend.

Lesson #69

Poop humor loses something when you are trying to potty train a toddler

Poop, plop, turd, poopy...any way you say it, the end result is the same. Kids reflexively giggle whenever potty talk is involved. There is nothing funnier to little kids than jokes involving poop. And thanks to a very thoughtful gift from one of my husband's co-workers, we are just rolling in poop humor these days. The kids could not believe their lick when they got "doody heads."

The clever little hats are topped with a brown swirl of cushioned poop. They thought it was pretty funny to wear the poop as a hat but even funnier to hide it around the house for me to find. No matter how many times they pull the trick, I am stall falling for it. This is mainly due to the fact that Miles has been known to not only poop in his underwear daily, but to even poop on the floor if he is going commando. This has been an issue since we started potty training a few weeks ago and has reached a new level of frustration thanks to this new prop.

Just this morning, I fell for it again. Max was frantically yelling for me to come downstairs because there was a huge poop on the carpet. Once again, I came racing into the room to find this stupid poop toy on the floor. Don't get me wrong, I was relieved not to have to pick up a disgusting mess. But I am pretty sure this new favorite toy is going to find itself disappearing very soon...permanently!

Lesson #67

Raising a grateful child

One thing that we have really been struggling with is how to teach our kids to appreciate what they have and not to take things for granted. I get so frustrated when my kids expect things to be handed to them and fail to recognize all that we do for them.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I cook a meal and all three kids have nothing but negative comments for me. I never really thought a six-year-old could hurt my feelings. But I was wrong. It also kills me when they complain about not getting something they want. They are so fortunate and do not have the insight to see how blessed they are.

I was having a conversation with my sister-in-law over the weekend. It seems we are both struggling with the same issue. Between the disrespect and the back talking, it is hard to feel accomplished in parenting strategies. We didn't really come up with any solutions to the issue, but it helps to not feel so alone with the problem.

My husband and I try to point out opportunities for showing gratitude. We try to explain how other kids aren't as fortunate as they are and that it is always important to speak with respect. I am not sure that it is sinking in but I suppose all we can do is keep being consistent.

Lesson #68

There is such a thing as too much fun

This lesson goes against everything I have ever believed. If you are not having fun, why bother? That used to be my motto. But after a three-day-weekend of non-stop action, I am pretty sure that fun can really catch up with all of us!

It is not even 7:00 pm on Sunday and I am struggling to convince myself I can make it to bed time. I am EXHAUSTED!!!! The kids are feeling it too. We had a great weekend with family and friends but I think we are all ready for some down time. Disproving the notion that the kids might actually sleep past 6:00 am if they were up two hours past bed time, our kids managed to miss out on about 8 hours of normal sleep over the holiday weekend. Cranky doesn't even begin to describe the atmosphere around here. I am actually looking forward to Monday. 

Lesson #66

Family first

There is nothing I love more than when my brother and his family come in town to visit. The adults all get along great and the kids all love playing together. the ages all line up pretty well with Max and his cousin Jack at age 6 and the two youngest at the age of two. Zoey is right in the middle at four but she finds her place as one of the older ones.

Every time we get together, whether here or in Kansas City, we always have a blast. There are definitely some ups and downs, including physical altercations and hurt feelings. But overall, the kids really do great. It was so much fun this weekend reminiscing back to a time when we just had Max and Jack. They would fight and yell, arguing over toys, space on the couch and pretty much anything they could think of to dispute. It could be very trying at times when those boys would be together. As we sat around the pool, watching all five kids swim and play, it really sunk in how lucky we all are to have such a close family. Even with the shoving and face grabbing between Miles and Jensen, there is so much love between the cousins.

When the gang heads back to Kansas City tomorrow, it will be very sad for everyone. The house will be a little less messy, about half as loud and twice as lonely.