The Deer and the Mouse

The past few weeks Stuey has been a handful. He says things like "mommy poopy guy" which may seem funny, but when he says it with his eyebrows furled and his lip stuck out-far--its not a pretty picture. I ask him, "can you stick your lip out any farther?" which usually makes him laugh. I asked him to say, "mommy, I'm mad at you" instead of saying "mommy poopy guy". The good thing about Stuey is he LOVES attention of all sorts so when he is in a rut, if I"m able to make him laugh or pull him aside and tell him firmly what he is allowed and not allowed to do, he can shift back over to a good place.

This "poopy guy" side is in sharp contrast to Stueys lovey sweet side where he holds his chin with his hands, positions my head perfectly and plants a thoughtful kiss on my cheek! I've decided that the past month or so I've been too much of a softie and need to be a little more firm. This comes in the form of not giving them a second chance and putting a toy immediately into time out if they are not listening or fighting.

Sigh.

Parenting is always such a work in progress. Some days (or minutes, or hours) I feel like I"ve got the parenting thing figured out. Last night at dance class was an example of that. Nora was doing so well with her group, listens to the teacher and is able to follow the dance moves better and better each time. I looked at her and thought...she is happy, healthy and so excited to be in dance. And succeeding with it.
Then on other days, I want to speed dial that english supper nanny who is on theTV show who comes and lives with families to help them better discipline their kids. I have to remind myself we're not nearly as bad off as the families on that show, however.

Zoya

Picture is one that Patrick drew at the holiday time of our Christmas tree, with Nora in her Nutcracker Reindeer outfit and Stuey in his mouse outfit. The dog is curled up on the floor on the right side. I love seeing Patrick's artist side! Patrick draws the outline of the picture and he helped Nora to color it in. The kids like it when Patrick draws a picture and they get to color it in.