Seven Quick Updates On The Children

1. Tonight, as we're climbing into my bed to read stories, Jack says, "I'm mad at you." I scoffed, because I was in a Scoffing Mood, but I wanted to say, "I'm mad at you back." Because, as it turns out, being a mother of a two-year-old often reduces you to two-year-old impulses. He was mad because it was me putting him to bed and not his dad, because I wouldn't let him brush his own teeth, because I made him sit on the potty and change into his pajamas. The only new thing in this arrangement is that he actually said it: I'm mad at you. And you know, it's been that kind of week. (I detailed the Fighting! Galore! over at Parenting this week if you want gorier details.)

2. MOLLY used the potty today. She wants to do everything Jack does so whenever I say "Molly use the potty?" she claps her hands like I'm offering her a plate of gourmet chocolates. The last time we tried this she sat there for fifteen minutes, crawled off and peed on the floor. But today there was Proper Potty Usage and we all danced and cheered and then Jack was all, "Wait. How come Mommy doesn't do this for ME anymore?"

3. Because Jack is doing AWESOME at the potty and I would be handing out treats every HOUR. For the last handful of days he's stayed dry, except during naptime and nighttime. Which, I mean, you just have to wait for that to magically happen, right? He's not trained, but I'm hoping he's close. He wears underpants at home and pull ups when we go out and even yesterday when I forgot to badger him about using the bathroom for two hours at a friend's house, he was still dry. GO JACK!

4. Molly said "Ye Ye" today, so of course we had to CALL Ye Ye, even though she might have just been jabbering, but whatever. I was pretty sure it would make Ye Ye's day. And it did. Molly is the only granddaughter in her generation and her Ye Ye dotes like you would not believe. He and Nai Nai are also chalking this up to our introduction of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (because Kai-Lan has a YeYe) and they think this is absolutely marvelous and they are buying ANOTHER Kai-Lan DVD and I can just sit here and go Yay Television! My parenting style is working for SOMEONE, right?

5. Jack ate dinner yesterday AND today. Well, not ALL of his dinner. And tonight he might have eaten dinner at, like, seven-thirty. BUT. He ate what we put in front of him, without asking questions, without picking at it first, without any badgering or nudging or "HEY JACK, DO YOU SEE THE FOOD IN FRONT OF YOU?" Last night he ate chicken and rice (chicken! that was not in Nugget Form!) and tonight he ate spaghetti. And then Phillip and I fell over from shock.

6. Molly has been waking up at 5:30 (or EARLIER) which is responsible, in large part, for the disappearance of my typically sunshiney demeanor. I actually don't think 5:30 is a horrible time, especially if you are one year old who slept ten to eleven hours straight, all the way through, without getting me up at two or three to find your pacifier. It does, however, make for a pretty long day, and I am so wiped. And I don't think Molly is all that happy either. I think she's more tired during the day, even when she takes a long afternoon nap, but like all things Sleep Related I'm not sure if it's a Thing I Must Figure Out or a Thing That Shall Pass. Her brother sleeps till nearly eight and oh, wouldn't it be nice if I didn't have the Crack Of Dawn Children's Television Schedule memorized?

7. When we'd read the stories, said our prayers, sang a song and located our blankie, I picked Jack up and carried him into his darkened room. Molly was snoring. I said, "Are you still mad at me?" and he said, "Noooo!" Silly Mommy! So I said, "Do you love Mommy?" and he said, "I WUV Mommy!" He kissed my cheek without being asked and cheerfully allowed himself to be lowered into bed. So. I'm wiped, but I guess today isn't a total bust.

Comments

[Ashley]

My "parenting style" also includes copious amounts of Kai-Lan and Dora, which means my two-year-old can, among other things, count in Chinese (a skill we can't even show off because we know not a single person who speaks it) and say, "Ayudame!" when she needs help. Also, I think she may know her colors better in Spanish than she does in English.

[Dr. Maureen]

I'm at a friend's house right now for a play date, and she has to put the baby down for a nap. So I'm using her computer. But guess what she just told me! She said she learned a technique from TV where she gave her refusing-to-eat-dinner 3YO an empty plate at dinner and everyone else got food. The 3YO was all, "WTF?" and my friend was all, "Oh, did you want to eat something? What would you like?" and the 3YO was all, "That and that and that!" and boom. Now she eats dinner.

Does this blow your mind as much as mine? It puts the control in the kid's hand, only now she chooses to EAT instead of choosing NOT to eat. I'm totally going to try this, I think, because J refuses to eat dinner most nights and then he is STARVING in the morning and very unpleasant as a result.

[Jess]

Sleep sounds like the worst of all the issues that must be handled with small children. I am not looking forward to it.

[Kate P]

Chicken that is not in nugget form--Jack is really on a roll!

Maybe Molly's waking up at 5:30 a.m. thing is related to hearing the newspaper hitting the next-door-neighbor's doorstep. (My cat started getting me up at 5 a.m. over the summer because of the newspaper delivery.)

[Elsha]

Isn't it sad when you start thinking of 6 am as a GOOD time for your child to get up? I went through that when Kalena was in her "4:30 am is morning right?" phase.