Rolling Hills

The kid has adjusted exceptionally well to the concept of eating everything at the table. We really haven't had any problems with dinner time this whole week. Of course the weekend is coming and that is the real test. Life with a kid is all rolling hills. Bad hours, good hours, bad days, good days, longer stretches of both. Luckily some of those good hours, days, stretches are full of such amazing, beautiful things that it just takes me breath away at times. Just to have him quietly read a book in my lap while I smell his magical head. When bad times come I remember to be thankful that he is a smart, healthy boy, and well, those pass too.

Still Holding Firm

Today was a pretty successful day with minimal drama (ie: foot stomping temper tantrums). The boy ate dinner at the table with us fairly well, though he did throw food on the floor. This has been a problem for ages so it will take a while to fix. Firm no's worked pretty well and didn't result in any major breakdowns. We CAN do this!

Discipline. For All of Us.

At 20 months old things are getting challenging. The boy is smart, willful, thinks he knows everything and wants to do everything for himself. That combined with mom and dad's laziness (and mommy's growing belly) is the makings of disaster.

Today is the day we buckle down. All eating will take place at the table. Bad behavior will only get one "no" and then we are getting up and doing something about it. So far today (and granted it's a work day so it has only been a few hours so far), we managed to eat dinner at the table in a timely and nondramatic fashion and have only had a few minutes of crying despite several very firm "no's". He does get it, he really does.

This all reminds me that parenting is work, especially with a smart stubborn child. It's HARD work a lot of the time. When we are exhausted after work, that is when the hardest work starts. When we just want to eat on the couch or sit here and wonder what that child is doing and marvel at the naughtiness of it all, that's when it's time to get motivated and get up.

I want to try to keep a record of my successes and failures so I've chosen this spot to do it. This child is the most important thing in the universe and I am going to put in all the effort I need to go make sure he is the person I know he can be. Even when I am exhausted and falling apart, I will get my ass up and try my best.