Mothering in the Storm

There are times in parenthood where you feel like you are in a storm. An awful storm with tornadoes and no electricity. Where everything around you seems to be failing and you feel helpless. 

I am in that storm and it stormed all weekend. 

It continued to storm yesterday, hence no Monday post. 

Jack spent the weekend refusing to eat because he only wanted chocolate. He refused to sleep until it was 5 pm and then too late for a nap. Once I did let him sleep he would sleep a few hours and then wake in the night ready to take on the world. He refused to pick up his toys. He dumped a bowl of cereal into the floor because it wasn't chocolate. He would not sit in time out. He stood firm, arms crossed, game face on, shouting no. 

It has been 3 days of this and last night at 2 am there were no signs of it getting better. 

Yesterday I took all candy products and dumped them into a bag and hid them. No more chocolate and no more sugar will be given or seen for the time being. 

When he got home from school yesterday, we skipped the snack and did early supper. He ate, not a lot, but he ate. 

I know this will pass. Mama is just tired. 

In an effort to give both of us a break (being stubborn is very tiresome for a three year old) I decided to let him play outside, even if it was a muddy mess. 

Doesn't this face say it all!

I have to remind myself that this whole growing up isn't easy. He doesn't understand why he can't eat chocolate all day. He doesn't understand why it is important to take care of our toys. He doesn't understand why waking up at 2 am isn't standard. Learning isn't easy and neither is teaching. We'll weather this. He'll learn that Mama isn't giving in and knows what is best and Mama will learn she is stronger than she thinks. 

Motherhood Surprises

I've now been a mother for two and a half years. During that time I have dealt with many obstacles and the regular adjustments that all mothers have to handle. Looking back from who I was before I became a mother to now I have realized that motherhood has changed me. Here are some of my motherhood surprises.

1. Getting poop on me does not freak me out.

2. I can now say I have picked someone else's boogers.

3. My body doesn't require as much sleep as it once did.

4. I find cartoons funny.

5. Naps and nights out are precious gifts.

6. Finding sippy cups in random places is normal.

7. Having someone put their fingers in my food is too usual.

8. All those shows "I HAVE to watch"....are they still on these days?

9. I may not know what is going on E news but I know the Thomas and Friends trains.

10. My train impressions....wait, I have train impressions. Dear Lord!

11. I'm obsessed with poop. Did he poop today? What did he eat? Is he getting diarhea? Oh no, I think he might be constipated.

12. I use to cook tilapia all the time. Now, we stock up on chicken nuggets.

What motherhood surprises have you discovered?

What Do I Do With This Child?

When I was pregnant I would exclaim that I was going to have a well-behaved child. My child was NOT going to be one of those kids that had no discipline. I read parenting books. I watched some Super Nanny. I was equipped.

I was a fool!

If you are a mother then you will know what I'm talking about, and if you aren't, you will one day see that you can't teach discipline until you know your child. There is no one size fits all when it comes to disciplining children.

Jack is not a handful, he is two handfuls. That sweet precious angel face is really a little tornado. He's quick. He gets into one thing and while you are cleaning that up he is getting into something else. He rarely plays with his toys but instead does all the things he isn't suppose to do like he is doing a circuit.

I'm that helicopter mom that I never wanted to be but it's because that dang child has no fear. He is two and loves doing flips on the couch and getting on the back of the recliner and making it fall backwards. Oh and he also loves to climb. I pray this child doesn't get a broken bone. When he isn't getting into something, he is putting something in his mouth. Yesterday he pulled a metal piece that keeps the shelf in place out of the entertainment center and was walking around with it in his mouth. He did that while I literally ran to the bathroom. Luckily we can say "thank you" and he'll give you what is in his mouth.

Here are some pictures of Jack in action:

Here he is climbing on top of the dining room table. I left the room to throw the clothes in the dryer. The laundry room is ten feet from where he was sitting at the table eating a snack.

All the other kids were eating their food so nicely and then there is Jack.

Oh here he is climbing again. This time he was focused on getting to that Dr. Pepper.

Jack decided it would be a good idea to rearrange the bills in the desk. 

The presents have been all opened so the hell with the tree says Jack.

One of Jack's favorites is waking up in the middle of the night to party with mama.

I gave my nephew a piece of cheese and Jack took it and did this piece of art work. 

Even when I am sitting in the room with him, he still doesn't let up. For example, he knows he is not suppose to hit the television. Last night he took his truck and hit the tv while looking at me smiling. i took the truck, got down on his level and told him (for the millionth time) that we don't hit the tv. He did it again using another toy. I put him in time out for 2 minutes. He did it again as soon as he could get up. The whole time he is doing it he is looking at me smiling. I put him in his crib with no tv on. I went and got him after 5 minutes and sure enough he did it again, still smiling at me. I tried to distract him but all he did was worm away to do it again. 

This is seriously what I deal with. He is the definition of a strong-willed child. I'm in the process of reading books and doing research on discipline for a strong-willed child. For Jack, doing what he has set his mind to do is greater than any punishment. Even when he does stop one behavior that I've disciplined him for, he just goes to the next thing he isn't suppose to do. The whole time he is doing what he isn't suppose to do he looks around the room for someone to get up and do something about it. 

Do you have a strong willed child or know one? What are some of their characteristics? 

Mama Intentions

Like every soon to be first time mom, I had a running list of all the things I was not going to do as a mother. Since I have struggled with my weight my whole life, I wanted to introduce only healthy foods into Jack's life. I figured what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. 

Wellllllll life happens and before you know it you are feeding your toddler processed cheese. I use to love those Handi cheese snacks and now Jack loves them too. He has been known to eat Poptarts for breakfast, cookies for lunch, ice cream for supper (not all in the same day). 

There are also times when you are trying to play cards with the gals and the boys keep fighting and you just have to give them a bowl of M&Ms. Problem fixed for as long as the M&Ms last. Sometimes a mama has to do what a mama has to do. 

If I could I would go back and tell pregnant Ashley "Shut up girl! You have no idea what you are talking about. Deciding on what your child isn't going to eat is a waste of time. You will get to a point where you cheer that your child actually ate anything that day. You will also want to buy yourself a trophy when you actually cook something. You will get to a point where you take what you can get."

Is there anything you do as a parent that you promised yourself you wouldn't do?