Dear Mom at Mod Pizza

Dear Random Mom at Mod Pizza,

It was a brutal week. I quit parenting at least 1000 times. My kids wouldn't let me quit though and kept badgering me to keep working and loving them harder.

We saw you on Wednesday night after a harrowing time at the swimming pool. My girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE swim class and I think it is fun too but man, the locker room experience afterwards just wears me out. I'm going to lose my voice soon from all the yelling I do in there.

I called my husband and asked him to meet us at Mod Pizza. It's a good place to take kids for dinner. They can get their own pizza which really reduces the arguments over what toppings to get. We settled in to eat our food when you and your son sat down next to us. You quickly apologized for your son's cough and made sure we knew it was from asthma. I offered my sympathy and you said you had spent the previous night in the ER. Oh boy, I knew that experience intimately. We swapped stories of the ER and shook our heads at each other in exhaustion.

Your son decided to try to leave and as you tried to calmly ask him to sit back down, I heard the exhaustion in your voice. I heard the extreme tired radiate out of you. Then your son did what all parents fear. He puked. He barfed all over the floor.

I felt for you then. I really felt for you on Thursday night when this happened to me. You held it together though. I liked your spark. I liked how you muttered to yourself but took great care of your son. I hope your night got better once you got home. I hope you got a few moments of rest.

I just want you to know that we're all in this together through puke, yelling and laughter. It's hard, this parenting thing but knowing that we're all on this crazy ride together helps. Some days that is the only thing that helps.

Chore Charts for Littles

I've been working with Molly to develop a more cohesive routine with some simple chores. I went to my favorite place on the web, Pinterest and found a ton of chore charts. I selected two to get us started. One is a Morning/Evening routine chart and the other is a true chore chart. We'll see if these work for us. I suspect that they will.

The goal of these charts are to help Molly create a routine while developing some personal responsibility. I would also like to stop nagging her about doing certain things and honestly sometimes I need to be reminded to brush her teeth, etc. I don't expect 100% success and I know I'll have to remind her a lot in the beginning.

Molly helped me put these together and then I asked her where we should hang them for best results. She announced that she wanted them on the bathroom door so that is where we put them. We'll put stickers on the chore chart when she accomplishes her chores. If she fills up most of the sheet with stickers, she'll get a prize at the end of the week. She's asked for a trophy at the end of this week. So yea, a trophy. OK I can make that happen. 

Molly is so excited about her new chore charts that she dragged Scott out into the hallway to check them out. He got a bit excited watching her excitement. I hope this helps us with some of our nightly tantrums about picking up toys, brushing teeth and putting clothing away. 

Reading with Kids

Reading is a big part of our family. I take the kids to the library a few times a month for either story time, to pick up a few books or just to play (they have awesome Magna-Tiles for loan). We have bookcases stuffed with books and pretty much any time the kids ask for a new book, I'm willing to get it for them. 

Over Christmas, we received a few gift cards to the bookstore. On one particularly rainy day, we headed to the store to acquire a few new books. I let the girls pick out a board book each and then my eyes wandered over to the classics. There are a few that I've always wanted to read but never have. I quickly stacked "Anne of Green Gables", "Little Women" and "The Secret Garden" in my arms.  

My Mom used to read a chapter a night to me from "The Secret Garden" when I was a little kid and I LOVED it. I used to beg her to read to me at night, far after I learned how to read myself. I decided to start this tradition with Molly and so a few weeks ago, we dug into "Anne of Green Gables". I've never read the book and am enjoying the story as we go along. The best part is that Molly drifts off to sleep with a smile on her face during our evening Anne sessions. 

I'm excited to keep reading chapter books aloud to the girls for years to come. It's a fun way to explore some wonderful books, full of grand stories and words. I especially love that the stories are long as honestly I've gotten a little bored with some of our board books. 

What are your favorite books to read to your kids? Do you have any reading traditions that I should steal for Molly & Maggie? 

The Color Game

Molly has been having a hard time learning her colors or rather, honestly, she doesn't really care about her colors. Last week, I saw a fun way to teach colors on Instagram and this weekend, we tried it out. It was such a hit that I knew I had to share our new "game" with you. 

I told Molly to find things around the house that are a particular color and off she went. I started by selecting a block from Maggie's block set in green and Molly hunted from there. Once she felt she had found all the green items in the house, we moved on to another color. 

I love this game because you can do it anywhere and it is one of the few things that Molly plays that does not create a HUGE mess. She's very good at messes. The other benefit is that slowly but surely Molly is starting to care about colors which means she is learning about them too. 

Tiny Ballerina

Molly started pre-ballet lessons at the beginning of the month. They were a gift from my Mom along with a dance outfit and ballet shoes. She has been infatuated with being a ballerina, just like Angelina the Ballerina for months. She goes to class once a week and plies around the house every chance she gets. Parents are not allowed in the room during lessons but there is a small video monitor where we can see our tiny dancers. I don't usually get to watch Molly much at all as her sister is usually busy running down the hallway, away from the waiting area. So I was super excited for this week's class which was an in-studio dance recital! We were encouraged to invite guests so I brought my Mom and asked Scott to duck out of work early for the show. 

My tiny dancer & famous non-napper fell asleep on the way to pick up my Mom. Molly was so asleep and wasn't roused by my jiggling of her leg. Traffic ended up being a bit more than I anticipated so we were cutting it close. I dropped my Mom off in front of the studio and then circled to find a parking space. Once parked, I leapt from the car, grabbed Maggie and woke Molly up while yelling, HURRY! HURRY! IT'S TIME TO DANCE! (note: Molly has a hard time being woken up and then having to do something right away. She always ends up crying and wanting to just sit in my lap.)

We scooted inside and I walked Molly down to the rehearsal room. I helped her get her ballet shoes on and right as I was about to hand her over to her teacher, she broke down in tears. I spent some time trying to console her, tried bribing her and even tried being extra firm. None of these worked! Scott arrived and consoled her. Molly began to perk up and I threw in one more last ditch effort, I noticed the girls had crowns and wands! I said, You can have a wand and a crown! She perked up and headed into the studio. Success!

Scott and I headed back to the recital space and found my Mom. We settled in and prepared to watch the show. Five minutes later, Molly came running in, sobbing. She couldn't do it. She was so upset. I was honestly a bit frustrated with her. I was so excited to see her dance and she wouldn't do it. She wouldn't dance with her class! This is where I have a hard time as a parent. I'm excited about something happening with my child and then she refuses to do it. Logically I know I should be the adult and guide her through her emotional times but emotionally I end up so disappointed that I start using poor tactics to deal with the situation. I bribe, I push, I threaten. And none of this works.

And so next time I hope that I'm able to be the adult in these situations and take a deep breathe, push down my disappointment and console my child. Because there are going to be so many more of these situations as the years go on and my role is to provide my children with guidance through emotional turmoil, rough situations and happy adventures. I can only hope that Molly dances at her next recital because it is going to be a big one with a costume and a rented fall. And if she doesn't, I'm ready to smile, hug her tight and quiet my disappointment.