There is something ironic about me posting this at 11 p.m. since my focus is on managing my time. But I just now took a look at my progress for the week, and I was pleasantly surprised.
My main time-related resolution was to be reasonable about what I can accomplish. And for each day that I tallied my resolutions, I completed that! I didn't tally my resolutions every single day this past week though, only 5 out of the 7 days. But accomplishment is accomplishment.
I still have room to grow. I need to be better about tackling the nagging tasks and using my calendar and to-do lists. I've already started tonight by trying to layout my week with all of my nagging tasks. (Don't worry, I didn't over-schedule myself!).
On the home front, we had an interesting weekend. 3-year-olds are definitely a challenge. Jack loves to push the boundaries, to test us. Saturday was very hard. We had a decent morning doing chores (which Jack loves. He cleans out the vacuum cleaner like it's the most fun activity he's ever gotten to do). But he didn't want to go to hockey skating, and he didn't want to take a nap. And he didn't want to do ANYTHING we asked or suggested. Everything became a battle. Lots of yelling ensued. By the end of the night, we were all exhausted and Steve and I were tired of feeling angry and frustrated (I think Jack was too).
So we embarked on new parenting strategies today. Steve did some researching Saturday night to guide us. We don't like spanking, although we have tried it. We don't like yelling. Neither of these strategies are effective with Jack. So today, we set out to stay calm, redirect, and be patient. It worked pretty well. The hardest part for me is being patient (I know, big surprise). I found that in order to be patient, I have to have the time; I can't be in a rush or running to get somewhere. That worked today since we had nowhere to be.
The other part of this strategy is trying to challenge and engage Jack. That's no easy task. But by simply asking Jack what he was interested in and suggesting a few activities, we stayed busy, and happy, all day. There was play-doh, fixing the engine toy, reading books, watching Fireman Sam, and eating a picnic lunch in the basement at the Handy Manny table.
On the fun side, Jack and Steve went ice skating today. They hit up the public skate from 1:30 to 3 and had a great time. I hit up the library and graded and lesson planned. I also had a good time (I'm serious!).
So that's the update. I know it's been a lot of writing here lately and very few pictures. Let me get my time under control, and then the pictures will return; I promise.
1 comment:
I feel your pain with the 3 year old! Our daycare started getting Nicky to cooperate by giving him choices. It has worked wonders at home. For example, at bedtime he needs to go to the bathroom, brush his teeth, and take a bath (sometimes). So, I ask him, "Nicky, do you want Mommy to carry you to the bathroom, or do you want to go on your own?" He always wants to go on his own, so that usually starts the process. He will then choose to brush his teeth on his own, and he will let me finish brushing after he has had time to do it himself. The tricky part is the bath...by this time, he will want to take his bath alone too, so I usually have to "hide" from him until he is ready for me to let me help. Hide = close the shower curtain or watch in between the door crack.
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