The truth is, I am not that great entertaining small children for extended periods of time.
I have no degrees in early childhood education. And to this day, despite my 5.5 years experience hanging out with kids pretty much non-stop, I am baffled, overwhelmed and emotionally and physically exhausted after spending large chunks of time with them. Why don't kids just listen so we can all get along? Would it be so hard to just cooperate? Really?
The babe finished the extended program at her preschool last Friday and we have been together since noon of that day. First I was overwhelmed with the emotion surrounding the babe finishing 3 years of preschool and saying good bye to all the people who have been a part of our daily life for years. Now I am just overwhelmed by the prospect of making it to Kindergarten start day on Monday, August 27th.
To make things more interesting, I decided last Thursday that I (or more precisely, the little guy) was all done with diapers. That has meant the little guy has been in "big boy" underwear for almost 6 days. Perhaps I didn't chose the best time to embark on this potty training adventure, but I just couldn't take it anymore.
The little guy's best buddies have all started wearing big boy underwear and I was running out of excuses. I realized that I was the lazy one, not my son, as I was engaging in more of my typical "enabling" style of parenting. By continuing to put him in a diaper, I was continuing to signal that it was OK if he used it instead of a toilet. When things require more work (like breaking pacifier habits and potty training), I tend to want to put them off until I feel strong enough to deal with them. My strength comes from hitting my breaking point, and the last diaper full of stinky poop was apparently my breaking point. Now I am cleaning up stinky poop from underwear instead of diapers, but I have committed to seeing this through to the other side...however disgusting the process may be.
In terms of being a good stay-at-home mom, I am fully aware that I am better with one kid at a time than two. It's the truth and I am not ashamed to say it. For now, and for the next month, I am with two kids and since I love them, I know we will make it through. But it is not always going to be pretty.
To all you mothers out there who are overwhelmed by the summer months, you are not alone. To all you mothers out there who are having a blast with your kids this summer, I salute you.
And now I must head upstairs to intervene in the screaming of my children. Today's "quiet time" was apparently a "failure." Luckily it's summer break and we can always try again tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment