3.5

3.5   

The age of my daughter.  The age of the start of my "trying threes" confusion.  The age of more tantrums, sassy talk, screaming, wicked memory, and so much more, do I really need to go on?

I am perplexed.  Dumbfounded.  LOST.  I have no clue how to deal with some of the tantrums I have had in the last week or so.  I am starving for a directory.  For a book to read.  Other parents to give me WORKING advice.  Anything.

There was a situation at a friend's house this evening that has given me one HUGE lesson learned.  Not going into the details of things.  But out of Mallory's actions a friend of hers was hurt.  Not severely-no stitches, band-aids.  But enough to cause the kid to cry.  I right away jumped to conclusions (ASSUMED--which I remember one of my teachers telling me when you ASSUME you make an ASS our of U and ME) without truly listening to either child. 

Thank GOD I have my husband.  When we got home, he took her aside and LISTENED.  Truly listened.  Questioned.  And discovered it was an accident.  I felt like and still feel like an ass.  When I try and wrap my head around the scene, I can see that it makes sense.  I mean she has never acted that way before and she was apologizing when I approached them.  BUT, what I've seen of her these last few weeks has caused me to jump to these conclusions.

She's fine now.  Her bubbly self.  Chatting a mile a minute. And now finally asleep.  Lesson learned:  LISTEN and ASK.  You would think that I would be able to apply my 10.5 years of teaching and dealing with behavior issues in my classroom to my own HOME and child.  Yeah, guess I was in the clouds on that one. 

It amazes me how quickly her personality can change. She wakes up in the morning and she's a real grump but any mention of an animal outside or her favorite cartoon show--and she is happy.  Same with nap time or any other tantrum.  If I distract her, she almost forgets she was having an issue.  Please tell me this is not foreshadowing her teenage years. 

I keep reminding myself she is only 3 1/2 years old.  Trying to understand, figure out, and deal with her emotions and those around her.  Gosh, I can't even deal with my emotions all the time!  How do I teacher== a 3 1/2 year old???  Patience, modeling, honestly, and LOVE.  Sound good?  Cause that's what I'm going with.

Parenting is difficult.  I knew when I signed up for this job.  I never thought it was easy, but I sure as heck didn't think it would be this hard.



Top 10 for the week:

10.  My Little Helper.  Earlier in the week Mal helped me out a lot with chores around the house.  She was SO pumped about doing it.  Everything from spraying the bathtub with water to cooking Peach Cobbler to washing dishes.  The more she's a part of the better she behaves.  I need to remember this:o)

9.  Fruit Flies.  Our house has been invaded by fruit flies.  Advice from a friend for a deadly concoction has caused us to have MANY casualties in our house.  One day I counted 25 or so in BOTH glasses.  I put the glasses away yesterday and realized I was much too eager to think we had ridden ourselves of these pesky annoyances.  Mal helped me make another batch that has filled two glasses on our windowsill.

8.  Play date.  Midweek we had a great play date with new friends.  Play time, lunch, golf cart ride, and picking Concord grapes made for quite the fun time.  Time seemed to slip away before we even knew it! 

7.  Sunday Dinner.  Sunday dinner this week was done by my dear friend.  We enjoyed adult company while the kids played well and enjoyed the outdoors.  Meal was delicious and we had fun.

6.  Malloryisms.
"I make good chili." (Sitting down at our chili dinner she proclaims to all of us)
"Mommy, if you are going to be a witch you will need a sweeper." (Broom)
"I think the caffeine in Nana's drink is making me not sleep." (Referring to Diet Pepsi SIP and nap time)
"Mommy, did we read the page about the cat?"  (Calling me out on skipping a few pages in Mr. Gumpy's Ride--I read AT LEAST 3 books a night. Come on kid, give me a break)

5.  Monday Morning Yard work.  YES, I did yard work on a Monday morning in the FALL.  It was beautiful.  The kids LOVED it.  And so did I.  It's nice to be able to be outside at this time of the year.  And it's even better when the kids can entertain themselves with the outdoors.  Mal's "friend" the Stink Bug had quite the fun time.  She made him a cozy bed, cover up, and little house.  We saw another one today and she thought it was the same one.  So cute.

4.  Clayton's Locksmith Skills AGAIN.  I know.  It's true.  Clayton locked himself in the car AGAIN.  AND Jay was there.  It went like this.  Doing more yard work today.  Put Clay in the little red truck to stay contained due to the fact we were working close to our busy road.  Plus he LOVES pretending to steer.  Car was off.  Windows were cracked.  Oh and I should mention it's an older truck so you have to do everything MANUALLY.  Our little man, locked (no clue really how) both doors.  His smile a mile wide, jumping up and down on the seat, with the keys in hand.  I tried coaxing him to come to me.  No such luck.  I had to step on Jay's knee, stick my hand in the cracked window, and pull the door open.  Will we ever learn???? 

3.  Home SICK.  Mal had a little temp (never reaching over 99.5) on Tuesday so I kept her home from school.  IF I would have worked that day, I probably would have sent her to school.  BUT I wasn't working.  So she stayed home with Clay and me.  I also had:  NO sub plans.  NO calls to fellow teacher friends and to day care.  NO rushing around.  It was bliss.

2.  Clay and Potty.  Clayton has peed in the potty TWICE.  He has an obsession with not having pants on.  And has taken a liking to the potty.  He loves to flush the toilet and watch the water go down.  He will occasionally put little pieces of toilet paper (much, much smaller than his sisters!!) in and almost stick his head in to watch it.  Two days this week he took his diaper off around the potty.  I took FULL FLEDGED advantage of this and put him on the pot.  To our amazement and HIS (such a quizzical look on his face), he went.  Stay tuned.  I think his obsession is more about the actual toilet itself.  I'm worried about him plugging the toilet with odd and random things.  We will see.

1.  Sweet Mallory.  Hard to believe that I would write all those things at the top of my blog and then end with my sweet Mallory but that's how I feel.  I guess I want her back.  Or shall I say I want her sweet all the time.  This week when we were having our before bedtime "cuddle" (we usually just talk about things that are going on, pray, or talk about future stuff) she put her little hand on my cheek and said "I love you Mommy."

Mallory is a lover of little kids, ANY creature big or small, nature, being cozy, dancing, princesses, using her scissors, her room (which she is LOVES to play in now), and her family (even her brother--who she will at times do ANYTHING for).  We will get through this.  I can guarantee you that.  Even if it means more time outs than usual or more early bedtimes or more RESEARCH (from friends and family, and whatever I can grasp hold of).  My sweet Mallory is SWEET.  And SO lovable. 

Here we come week!! Monday is knocking on the door.  And I am ready for a new start.

I hope you enjoy your first week of October.
Mrs. Newell