some days you're the bug! Yesterday, I was the bug. I wonder who I need to petition to extend a day to 36 hours as opposed to 24. There's just not enough time to be everything to everybody before the day ends. Especially when your 4- year old is on a mission to drive you nutty. I think I definitely need to find more time to spend with Lauren. Perhaps she's just adjusting to life as the big sister and not the baby. She was especially "busy" yesterday, enough to warrant a new nickname given to her by Doug. She is now known around the house as "Taz". Just in the 14 hours she was awake, she
1. Found a book of matches and hid them in her room.
Matches are always kept well out of reach but a box was apparently not put away after the b-day party on Saturday. Fortunately for us, Anna is very diligent about letting us know whenever anyone around the house is out of line and so a possible disaster was averted.
2. Hid under a blanket in her closet to avoid washing her hands after going potty.
3. Took the phone into the water-filled tub with her to talk to Nana.
4. Dressed herself by pulling all of her drawers and the clothing they contained out of the dresser and onto the floor.
5. Had a marble in her mouth.
6. Put stamps on her feet and drew on her back with marker.
7. Dumped all of the new, unburned CDs out of their container into a pile on the floor.
8. Told me 15 times to "Just get me what I want" even though I told her 15 times that we didn't have what she wanted and would have to go to the store to get it.
9. Poured a cup of coffee into one of my wicker chests and in the process wet a stack of children's books...."The Shy Little Kitten" had to be retired as it was too far gone to be saved. All the others I managed to clean up with only a few coffee-stained pages as a reminder of the trauma.
10. Gave the dog a "bath" with windex and paper towels.
Some days I honestly just don't have an idea how to respond. She usually tells us that whatever it was she did was a "mistake" or she did it by accident. Doug explained to her today the difference between "mistakes" and making bad choices. Other recent "mistakes" include marker drawings all over the doors and walls, stickers stuck to furniture, and worst of all picking Jacob up and carrying him to the couch. I'm not sleeping much and so my responses to all of these "accidents" probably would not win me the "mother of the year" award. I think it's definitely time to pull out my "Power of a Positive Mom" book again and start taking notes! If you have a moment, say a little prayer for us and our Tasmanian Devil/Sweetheart!
1. Found a book of matches and hid them in her room.
Matches are always kept well out of reach but a box was apparently not put away after the b-day party on Saturday. Fortunately for us, Anna is very diligent about letting us know whenever anyone around the house is out of line and so a possible disaster was averted.
2. Hid under a blanket in her closet to avoid washing her hands after going potty.
3. Took the phone into the water-filled tub with her to talk to Nana.
4. Dressed herself by pulling all of her drawers and the clothing they contained out of the dresser and onto the floor.
5. Had a marble in her mouth.
6. Put stamps on her feet and drew on her back with marker.
7. Dumped all of the new, unburned CDs out of their container into a pile on the floor.
8. Told me 15 times to "Just get me what I want" even though I told her 15 times that we didn't have what she wanted and would have to go to the store to get it.
9. Poured a cup of coffee into one of my wicker chests and in the process wet a stack of children's books...."The Shy Little Kitten" had to be retired as it was too far gone to be saved. All the others I managed to clean up with only a few coffee-stained pages as a reminder of the trauma.
10. Gave the dog a "bath" with windex and paper towels.
Some days I honestly just don't have an idea how to respond. She usually tells us that whatever it was she did was a "mistake" or she did it by accident. Doug explained to her today the difference between "mistakes" and making bad choices. Other recent "mistakes" include marker drawings all over the doors and walls, stickers stuck to furniture, and worst of all picking Jacob up and carrying him to the couch. I'm not sleeping much and so my responses to all of these "accidents" probably would not win me the "mother of the year" award. I think it's definitely time to pull out my "Power of a Positive Mom" book again and start taking notes! If you have a moment, say a little prayer for us and our Tasmanian Devil/Sweetheart!
