Tag: parenting

children, gratitude, happiness, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Role Models

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Lately I’ve noticed that T.Puzzle has taken a genuine interest in learning to read.  He is also attempting to write letters and numbers.  He is highly motivated because he wants to do everything his big brother is doing. 

As long as he seems happy to learn these skills, I’m happy to help teach them to him.  In this instance having Full Speed as a role model for reading and writing success is a positive influence on T.Puzzle.

On the opposite end of siblings-as-role-models spectrum brings to mind a story my Mom told me many years ago.  My older sister simply refused to learn how to tie her shoes (for the record, she has since learned and is quite successful at it).  When my Mom asked her how she planned on getting them tied she replied she would wait until I was a little older and I could tie them for her.

Lucky me.

As you can see, there are pluses and minuses to having an older sibling.

children, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting

Go Time

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Full Speed and T.Puzzle graciously congratulate the other team for their win. Good sportsmanship in action.

How do you know how far to push your kids?  If they were given complete control of their lives, especially in the case of my two boys, their days would consist of cookie consumption, marathon viewings of Transformers cartoons and endless hours glued to a computer or handheld electronic device.  So when one of them tells me that they don’t want to go to soccer practice, I don’t take it too seriously.

Looking back to my own childhood and the sports and hobbies I pursued, most of them didn’t ring true for me.  Softball was okay, volleyball was alright and guitar lessons were beyond my scope of muscial ability. 

I have no regrets that I didn’t pursue any of these things for longer than I did.   I did them more because that was what was expected of me and I’m no worse for the wear.  I learned about commitment, loyalty, teamwork and always finishing something you start.  These are good things.

I will continue to hold my boys to a higher standard than they hold for themselves for the forseeable future (with a marathon viewing of Transformers occasionally tossed in for good measure) and hope for the best.  

It’s not necessarily what they pursue with Mom and Dad’s encouragement, it’s about the lessons they learn while they pursue it.

Grab your cleats, boys.  It’s go time!

children, humor, kids, mommyhood, motherhood, parenting, tantrums

When to Fold Up

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We had the best intentions.  It was a family dinner to kick off our weekend.  As we sat at the restaurant, things went south quickly.

T.Puzzle was extra whiny and was having difficulty behaving (to put it mildly).  Soon he dropped his entire cheese covered burger on the floor and choked down his broccoli as if the broccoli itself was trying to kill him.

Mad Dog and I quickly lost patience.

We wrapped things up in haste and headed home.

“When do the terrible fours end?” asked Mad Dog.

“You said it yourself, age five was the true turning point for Full Speed.  We still have a year to go with T.Puzzle,” I replied.

And that folks, is why we only have two children. 

Granted, a third one may have actually been laid-back.

I’m just not the gambling kind.

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Bibliophobia

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Steacie Science and Engineering Library at Yor...
Image via Wikipedia

Bibliophobia.

Fear of books and fear of libraries.

Yes, I have it.

Big time.

Don’t get me wrong, on the rare occasion I visit a library by myself, it is a little slice of heaven in my day.  Silence and books are two of my favorite commodites. 

The fear part comes in when I have to take Full Speed and T.Puzzle with me. 

They love the books.

They don’t love the silence.

They do anything in their power to combat silence.

They are quite skilled.

I’m close to conquering my fears.  After nearly two and half years of Florida living I took the plunge and got a library card.

Yes, it took me that long.  Yes, if you met Full Speed and T.Puzzle you totally understand.

Now all I have to do is find a book on ‘How to Teach Two Strong-Willed, Independent Thinking Boys To Comply To Your Every Command’.

It’s a long shot I know.

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A Dinosaur and a Prayer

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Brachiosaurus animatronic model
Image via Wikipedia

All week long the boys tried to convince me that Mad Dog needed to see the Dino Alive! exhibit at the zoo.  They were convinced he was most certainly experiencing sleepless nights until he witnessed the wonders of animatronic dinosaurs with his own eyes.

We started out our Sunday with a cloudless sky, hope in our hearts and our zoo membership card in the car console.

I told Mad Dog to be prepared.  He was going to need to carry T.Puzzle throughout the wandering path of hidden dinosaurs.  I told him by the end of our last visit, T.Puzzle had his arms and legs locked on me in a death grip, Full Speed was cowering behind me and all that stood between me and the gigantic T-Rex was my steely resolve.

This outing was a little different.  Both boys insisted on walking on their own through the maze of trees and roaring reptiles.  Full Speed compensated his fear by staying true to his name.  He would dart as fast as he could away from any sense of danger.

T.Puzzle, well, he coped in another way.  He chose prayer.  He clasped his hands tightly together as he willed his feet to keep moving.  A step here, a step there and a prayer right here.

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He kept his hands clasped like that through our entire dinosaur adventure.

Cutest four year old ever.