A day with my little man . . .

I had a Friday this month when my little girl was spending a day with her cousins and so I got the little man all to myself. Normally I would have ran some errands and did some much needed things on my "to do" list but not this day. I woke up feeling a little under the weather so I stayed home with my little man and we played and had fun. I took pictures of our day together and at the end of the day I was left wondering why I don't do this more often with my children. All too soon they will be grown and I will be left pondering the "if I only's". I'm glad I had this day with him - even though I wasn't feeling 100%.

This is what we did:

Played Legos

while watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates

did all of his new puzzles

Here all of them are

played with his cars squinkies

went on a short walk on the greenbelt by our house

stopped to play on the playground - of course!

took some pics of my little man!

played on his new scooter in our driveway

colored

and watched the Heffalump Halloween movie

September 2011

Whirlwind to say the least! I only got 1 book read, only tried ONE new recipe and don't remember doing anything of "real" significance. This month has been dedicated to the art of teaching 2nd grade and balancing the many demands of having a family with young children, working full-time, keeping up a house, etc . . . it's been exhausting to say the least. I really haven't discovered if I enjoy it yet - I definately don't prefer it to part-time work but it is what it is and I need to make the best of it.


Books still reading: Mathilda by Roald Dahl (out loud to 2nd graders), The Strong-Willed Child by James Dobson, Teaching to Your Strengths

New recipe tried: Crock - pot chicken with taco seasoning - great for chicken tacos and my new favorite, chicken nachos

Chade's birthday: PoJos - Rhett did a killer job learning the bumper cars - he did so good at it - my camera died and I was unable to capture the moment but we couldn't believe how easily he picked it up.

Season premeire of some of my favorite TV shows: The Biggest Loser, Survivor, The Amazing Race, The Sing-Off and Person of Interest. We have also enjoyed watching "The X-factor" - because I love to see people who deserve to be singing get discovered - I love seeing dreams come true.

I also began a ladies bible study on Wednesday nights while Addie is in Caravans. It is a Beth Moore bible study on Revelation and it is pretty interesting. I'm learning so much. And Addie LOVES Caravans - she is learning so much about manners and ediquette right now. She is excited to earn her badges and can't wait to get her first one. They also have her memorizing scripture and raising money for the care house in Nampa. - It's a great experience for her and I'm so glad it came to our church.

And that's is about it for September - not many pictures, not many moments - it's been regular, every day life - and it flew by.
.

Another Blog . . .

I LOVE blogging and wish I had more time to do it and poor into it. So - because I have less time I have created a blog for my classroom this year (doesn't make sense does it?) - mainly to communicate with parents and showcase all of the cool stuff we do in class. I am looking forward to using this site as a way to brag on my students, post pics of our "fun times", as well as send out a few notes and reminders. I'm excited to see how it works - I've already had parents excited about it. Come check it out - mrsfranklininmelba.blogspot.com

The Strong-Willed Child

So - I'm in the process of reading "The Strong-Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson and on Saturday morning I was reading the excerpt for "Two to Three Years" and this is what some of it said:

"Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the 'terrible twos' is the tendency of kids to spill things, destroy things, eat horrible things, fall off things, flush things, kill things, and get into things. They also have a knack for doing embarrassing things, like sneezing on a nearby man at a lunch counter. During these toddler years, any unexplained silence of more than thirty seconds can throw an adult into a sudden state of panic."

In a later paragraph he says:

"You must keep a sense of humor during the twos and threes in order to preserve your own sanity. But you must also proceed with the task of instilling obedience and respect for authority."

As I sat there and contemplated what I just read I realized that for the most part Rhett has been a pretty easy child. Other than eating discusting things and falling relatively often due to his intense need to make it from point A to point B in the least amount of time possible, I can say that I felt fortunate that he follows the rules for the most part. Neither of my children are outright defiant - at least not to the extent that was illustrated in some other parts of this section.

And it just goes to show that I should not have wrote Rhett off so easily - he is only turning 3 so why in the world did I think that this fairly easy child has somehow escaped the "terribleness" of the toddler years. And I'm sure that JUST because I read that specific section in this book that morning he JUST happened to take purple marker and color all over his sister's blanket and himself - he literally looked like a purple monster when I found him - stomach and hands compeltely covered in purple. I did find the humor in it fortunately and if I hadn't read that section this morning I may not have - so thank God for that. I did discuss with him the importance of preserving our things and not to write on ourselves or blankets - just paper. And to think that wasn't enough - in the evening he proceeded to take some scissors and attempt to cut some pages out of a book (a book that doesn't belong to us). Luckily I caught him in time and he quickly dropped the scissors and looked at me in the most comical way - he had been caught and he knew it. - Where did this come from all of the sudden? Was God preparing me for what lies ahead this year with Rhett by making me read that section of the book "just in time".

So - I am grateful today for Dr. James Dobson and his intelligent insight into the lives of my children. I have not finished the book yet but am learning so much as I read it - I wish I would have picked it up earlier in my parenting. I especially liked the part later in this particular section that said:

"I cannot emphasize the importance of instilling two distinct messages within your child before he/she is forty-eight months of age: (I think it's important at ANY age) (1) 'I love you more than you can possibly understand. You are precious to me and I thank God every day that He let me raise you:' (2) 'Because I love you, I must teach you to obey me. That is the only way I can take care of you and protect you from things that might hurt you. Healthy parenthood can be boiled down to those two essential ingredients, love and control, operating in a system of checks and balances.'"

It seems that I may need to use this system often in regards to my "almost" three-year old this coming year.