Play-Learn-Grow-Repeat

From Monday Mom – Neetika:
Haley and I made some new friends last week— a girl slightly younger than Haley and her mother. We went to their apartment for a play date. Their place was small (this is New York, after all) yet very clean, modern and welcoming. The mom is really friendly and the girl is cute, though she was being very shy when we first got there. Whereas Haley dove into all of the girl’s toys that were new and exciting to her, the other girl stuck by her mama for a while. Finally after about half an hour, the girl opened up. I wish I could say that Haley then warmly received her, but that was not the case. Haley did not want to share the girl’s own toys or give her any stickers. Haley tore a very nice pop-up book. She threw a fit when I pried their cat’s water dish away from her. This is how kids act sometimes and the other mom was gracious, but I was mortified.

Luckily, the incident was quickly put into perspective. The next day we went to an indoor play space. Haley interacted with several kids around her age and there were some minor scuffles. However, Haley was not the aggressor. I was thrilled! Other parents were apologizing to me and I told them that first of all, it’s totally fine—and second of all, I’m just so glad that Haley was the one playing nicely for once. When a little boy wanted to take the car Haley was driving and a little girl was shoving Haley a little, I felt much better and not remotely upset. Children, much like adults, have “off” days.

When your child is misbehaving, you feel like every one is staring at you and judging you as a parent. But I think you can’t take the blame for that, much like you can’t take all of the credit when your child is the one acting like a little angel in the playgroup. Now that Haley is coming into her own, I’m realizing what a huge role nature plays in our development. I can try to guide Haley to be polite and gentle, but at almost two years old, she’s going to act up a bit. If adults have a problem with that, either they’re not parents or their kids haven’t yet reached that precocious age. But that’s not my problem! Haley’s not worrying about it, so I won’t either.

From Wednesday Mom – Janelle:
New Years is an opportunity to set goals. Many people have big plans and resolutions. Some succeed and some fail. One of our goals for this year is to get Tate to use the potty.  Several months ago I posted about a possibility of him having an interest in the potty.  Unfortunately, that possibility quickly vanished.  Tate has a special seat, special book and even Toy Story underwear that Santa brought him, but he has expressed no interest in using the bathroom. He will talk about it. He claims to be a “big boy,” but he is still intimidated, I suppose.

We haven’t tried any of the extreme potty training tactics found online. We got Jack to use the potty by offering him dry pants and a sticker system. I do believe every child is different in the way they learn just about anything.  And since Tate has been our more challenging child, it is only fitting that he’s not showing any interest at this point.  I know it’s still a bit early for Tate, but by mid 2013 this house will be diaper free.  The idea of never buying a diaper again is motivating me to get Tate interested in the potty.

Tate surprises us everyday with new words, tricks and drawings.  I’m sure that special day will come when he surprises us with using the potty.   Until then, I’ll be enjoying every moment with our boys, diapers or not.

Happy New Year!