So last year I wrote a very special tribute to some of the special moms in my life. You can go here to check it out if you want.
This year I decided to do a post about some of my favorite mom moments that I had this week...listed in no particular order...
Eden
Eden has been wanting to go running with me so we ran a mile on Thursday. It was the slowest mile I've ever ran. She kept having to find just the right song on her MP3 player. (She liked Love Shack the best) We took a pit stop at a nearby park because she wanted to try doing the monkey bars all by herself for the millionth time. Well after one try she finally did it! And afterwards she did it about ten more times. It was a great mom moment. Oh and she is reading like a Rock Star...I am so proud, as proud as reading tutor can be.
Maya
Maya has been struggling with math. The math curriculum we have is so ridiculous thank heavens they are changing it next year but for now we still have to suffer. So day after day we battle math homework. I tell Maya many times "Quit using my brain...you can do this!" Well after some serious struggles she finished some problems all by herself and was jumping up and down squealing, "I used my own brain!" Ahh, and what a beautiful brain it is.
Camden
Camden...um...every moment is a favorite with this little guy. But today when I was lecturing Maya on the fine points of basement cleaning, Camden was laying on the couch watching me and just started smiling and chatting away as if I was talking to him. I tend to talk with my hands so he must of thought it was a new song or something.
(That story just reminded me about how Maya made me a gift at school and brought it home a few days ago. It's still wrapped sitting in the laundry room. Well the other day I said all I want for mother's day was a clean house, kids that obey the first time and some peace and quiet. That's when Maya reminded me that she already had a present for me. So now you know why we had to have a lecture on the basement.)
Anyhoo... those are just a few of the good mom moments I had this week. Don't worry there were plenty of ugly moments, in fact I'll share this little gem with you...
This morning Eden would not put on her shin guards. There is nothing tricky about them and she puts them on by herself ALL the time. Well she kept telling me that she couldn't do it. So I reminded her nicely how she is big girl and she can do it. Her reply was "NO I CAN'T!" (It was in a snotty singing kind of voice, that totally annoyed me.) I told her again this time in a very firm, not yelling voice, "Yes You Can." She replied the same as before only sassy -er. After that I said in a yelling voice, "YES YOU CAN ! AND IF YOU DON'T, I AM GOING TO EAT ALL OF YOUR SOCCER TREAT AFTER YOUR SOCCER GAME!" Yes I really said that. And the moment it came out of my mouth I knew how ridiculous it sounded but I didn't care, I went back to my room and finished getting ready. Five minutes later we were loaded up in the car, shin guards were on and guess what she did it by herself.
After her game she got her after the game treat, a super yummy frosted sugar cookie, for those of you who live by me...they were April's...the best cookie maker ever!... Eden asked me to open it for her and Aric reminded Eden that she had to give it to me. In that moment I remembered some wise counsel I had just read the day before...
"A child doesn't need punishment, she needs natural consequences..." (Thanks Andrea for that one)
Well I decided to let her eat her cookie and asked her what she thinks she should have to do instead for not obeying the first time and being disrespectful. She gave it a thought and then said "I will make your bed, my bed and Maya's bed." Then Maya piped in, "...for three weeks!"... clearly not a natural consequence but I will work on that.
In any case I love being a mom. I'm not always good at it, in fact my biggest worry in life is screwing up my kids. I pray for guidance and patience everyday. And in my quest for perfect parenting I will hold on to those good moments and chalk the bad ones up to good learning experiences.
So that about does it for my M-Day post. I love all the moms in my life. You know who you are. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day.
11 comments:
Happy Mother's Day, Jessica ☺.
Such a lovely post...I loved the "I used my own brain!"
I think that you told Eden you would eat her soccer snack was pure brilliance and I am totally stealing that one.
I loved that post by Andrea. I learned so much from it.
so cute. i love those imperfect parenting moments.
You need to get on the Maya-wavelength and really make Eden's bad decisions work for you. I say: Eat those Soccer treats...you know you'll just have to remake the bed when Eden's done, anyway.
Happy Mother's Day, favorite friend!
i like to read that other good mom's yell at their children! not because yelling is good or right, but because i do it too. is that lame of me to feel that way??
i think i am going to tell my kids to stop using my brain too! it's brilliant!
You are a fantastic mom! Just a side note: I have 74 blogs to catch up on and I read yours first! I love your posts! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!
Happy Mother's Day Jessica! I love hearing the "frustrated mom moments" as well as I love hearing the "proud mom moments". It makes me feel like I am not alone in all the times I lose my "cool" with the kids.
why do we worry so much about screwing up our kids? i mean seriously. the crack whores and the walmart screamers and the truly crazed nuts out there are the ones who are screwing up their kids! and yet we, the fairly sane, balanced, believers-of-christ are the ones who worry.
i don't get it. and yet i do it every single day.
oh well. happy mothers day.
I love that you said you would eat her soccer treat. That's totally something I would say and then immediately feel silly for saying it too!
Hope you had a fantastic Mother's Day.
I love that picture of you and Camden. Those cheeks of his are just so irresistible.
Oh those good moments get you from the bad ones and we all have them. You have a beautiful family!
Yeah, I use the I'm gonna eat your dessert/snack/treat threats too, only I do it bite by bite, for example, "if you don't eat your dinner now, I'm taking a bite of your dessert." Usually that gets me immediate results. If not, it goes up to two bites. When they see their treat slowly dwindling, they are really motivated to snap into compliance. And believe me, these are not empty threats, I really take the bites! And I don't feel too mean, because in the end they still get the treat, just minus a little bit. Try it, all you moms out there, and enjoy the bites while you're at it :)
great post. needed this today... the dumbest things come out of my mouth too.
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