Today I woke up to a Trix box on the kitchen counter. This is strange because we have a "finish the cereal in the cabinet before you open another box" policy in our home. No.1 and No.2 were called in to eat breakfast. They came quickly and sat down at the counter. I asked No.1 where the Trix came from. He said, "You said I could pick breakfast today." It was clear that I was not clear yesterday. Yesterday I had told him he could pick a breakfast for tomorrow (today). He took that as pick a new cereal. I meant cereal, eggs, pancakes...
In the past I may have said, "You know that we don't open new cereal until the other is gone. Now go put it back!" Today I said, "Oh, I see why you might have thought that, but we still have Cheerios in the cabinet. We won't be having Trix today." We both sort of giggled and ate our Cheerios happy and unstressed.
I went to a baby shower after No.2 and I dropped off No.1 at school. There were kids there since it was a morning shower and I found myself really watching the other moms mother. I was not judging, but looking for things I want to put in my goodie bag of tricks. Mother A calmly retold her child that if she wanted to eat the snack, she had to sit at the table; the child didn't sit; the child didn't get the snack. Mother B rushed to her child who hurt himself, scooped him up, and shushed and bounced him until he felt better, he then remained on her hip nearly the remainder of the shower. Mother C helped her children learn to share and take turns by helping the one pass the toy to the other. Mother D put her little baby on the floor and let him do his thing, checking on and picking him up periodically, but allowing him to explore.
I realize that some of these tricks work for some, and not for others. I for one do not practice attached parenting like Mother B. I do, however, stick to what I say like Mother A. I liked how Mother C gently taught and didn't just tell, and I see good and bad (for me) in the freedom Mother D granted. Either way, I snickered at some parenting styles (not because they're ridiculous, but because I could never see myself doing that), and put a few others away in my sack.
The rest of our day went by and then it was time to pick up No.1. No.2 was asleep, so I left him with Daddy and went to the school. I was in the pick-up zone for just a few seconds when No.1 came in all smiles and happy to see me. I was happy to see him, too, but he was missing something...rather, he was missing everything. The child had left his classroom without any of his stuff!
Earlier in the year, No.1 really worked hard at getting use to the new teacher's system. Sometimes he'd forget his folder, other times he'd forget to turn something in from his folder. Things like that. He had been doing so well the last few weeks, and then today - complete mindless behavior. I asked him where his backpack was. The reaction on his face told me instantly that he had honestly just forgot. I usually get annoyed when he is so forgetful, but today I laughed and we headed back down the hall to his classroom.
His teacher chuckled and said she thought they were meant to be together and that they must be kindred spirits because she's always telling him the same thing she tells herself: It's a good thing our heads are attached to our body's with necks or else they'd go rolling on ahead of us and we'd just keep on walking! We both had a good laugh at that, then he gathered his belongings, and he and I headed home.
I believe that response really shaped the rest of our afternoon before soccer. We had an hour to get homework done, piano practiced, and soccer clothes on. The homework was not hard, but it took a while (I read him a story, he had to visualize it then draw an illustration). Next came piano. I am so pleased at how practice went and he was pretty darn proud of himself, too. Then it was time for soccer. It all ran like clockwork. It was beautiful.
I really saw the phrase "If Mamma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" come true today.
Here's to happy Mommy's everywhere.
And here's to a Better Mommy Me.
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