Cleaning

After I put Will to bed the other night it was very quiet so I figured he had gone to sleep.  A little while later he started calling me.  I opened the door and he handed me a diaper.  A dirty diaper.  From the trash.  That he had opened.  And FINGER PAINTED with.

I discovered something that day.  I can handle blood, vomit, and even blowout diapers with no trouble.  But I have a LOT of trouble cleaning up poop the second time after my son has played in it.  D.I.S.C.U.S.T.I.N.G.

I cleaned up Will's hands, changed his clothes, cleaned the walls, floor, and trash can, but when I came to the lid of the trash I was done.  It was beyond gross.  I ended up throwing it into the front yard for the rain to wash it off.  (Yeah, I'll bet it looked weird, but I was done.)  This is what it looked like when I first saw it.  (Those with weak stomachs should look away now)  Nasty huh?

Balancing Hubby & Kids

I was all set to post part 3 of my Discipline series, but Janeen of Christian Frugal Mama started a new carnival: Wednesday Wifehood & I really want to participate!

How do you keep your husband as the top priority when your children are little?  This is a constant struggle, at least for me.  You know the old proverb "a squeaky wheel gets the grease?"  Well, kids can be a very squeaky wheel!  Here are some things I try to do on a regular basis to remind my husband that he is the most important person in my life.  After all, my kids will eventually grow up & leave me, but my husband will be with me for the rest of our lives.

1.  As soon as my husband walks in the door, I try to stop what I am doing and kiss him, ask him how his day went, & offer him something to drink/snack on.  I want him to know that I've missed him & that his comfort is a priority to me.  I don't always do so great at this - some days I feel like he walks in the door & I start babbling about my day, but I'm trying to be better about that.

2.  Once our boys go to bed, I try to spend at least an hour of time focusing on my husband.  We've started recently exercising together & it's been such a nice quiet time to talk & reconnect.

3.  I always go to bed at the same time as my hubby.  This is a hard one for me.  My husband gets up early to go to work, so he likes to go to bed early.  I was raised a night owl & LOVE staying up late at night.  But by going to bed with him, I get to show him that I would rather be with him than do anything else.  I do sometimes stay up late & work on the computer, but only after my husband is asleep & next to him in bed (laptops are awesome).

What are some ways YOU show your husband he is The Man? 

Discipline - part 2

My craft for this week was plastic bag pom-poms from Craftastica.

Since I didn't finish this post in time for Wednesday this week I figured I would just post it today.

I am doing a book review series (otherwise known as your own personal sparknotes :) on the book "Don't Make Me Count To Three" by Ginger Plowman.

For Discipline - part 1 click here.

Chapter 3 focused on heart issues.  Ms. Plowman talked about not talking TO your child, but WITH them.  She says not to ask "who had it first?" and met out justice, but to get to the attitude of their heart and address it with Scripture.  Ultimately, our goal is to help our kids recognize what is in their own heart and think like a Christian.

"In all conflicts, we should begin our training by seeking to understand the nature of the internal conflict that was expressed in the outward behavior."

This is really a struggle for me.  It's so often easier just to ask "who had it first" and solve the conflict quickly.  I need to remember that solving the outward obedience now isn't taking care of the heart attitude.

Training children in righteousness is the theme of chapter 4.  The main point is to question your children to get back to their motivation for their actions.  The biggest thing I learned from this chapter is to role-play/practice correct behavior when you are disciplining.  For example, Will's uncle sometimes likes to pick on him.  We have been practicing telling CJ "no-no" and coming to mommy.  One thing I thought Ms. Plowman overlooked was praising children for obedience.  I thought it was a good addition to the practicing correct behavior.  Praise good behavior.  I try to do this with Will and it really seems to reinforce and encourage his actions.

Stay tuned for part 3 coming Wednesday...

This post is linked to Family Friday over at Homemaker Barbi.  It's a new carnival that looks really neat if you'd like to check it out!

"Hey Babe"

My hubby called upstairs to me today to ask me a question.  "Hey Babe, where are the such and such?"

Will, the recently turned two year old parrot was standing by his daddy, "hey babe, hey babe, hey babe."

Ken and I totally cracked up.

Sometimes being called "babe" is almost better than being called "mom".   Almost :)

Discipline - part 1

I recently finished the book "Don't Make Me Count to Three".  It is "a mom's look at heart-oriented discipline" by Ginger Plowman.  It was a really helpful book on not just making your child behave on the outside, but getting to their heart/mind.  It's still a little early for a lot of the concepts for me/my boys, but I'm trying to apply as much as I can.  Here is my breakdown of the book and what I learned:

Chapter 1 dealt with "the high calling of motherhood".  Mrs. Plowman began the book by reminding me that although being a mom a lot of times feels like a forgotten/unimportant job, it is a vital, skilled job that we need to perform with passion.

"Being a mom is more than being cook, chauffeur, maid, counselor, doctor, referee, disciplinarian, etc. (just to name a few). It's about molding character, building confidence, nurturing, training, and guiding. There is nothing like the influence that a mother has on her child. A mother's influence has enormous potential to shape the person a child becomes, for good or ill."

This chapter was such an encouraging reminder for me!  Since the world in general does NOT value stay-at-home moms very highly, it is so easy to become discouraged and feel like I'm not doing anything important.  Plus, the challenge to parent with passion and be excited about parenting was motivating to me since I do tend to sometimes just do enough to get through the day and nothing more.

Chapter 2 is about the definition of discipline.  Mrs. Plowman first addresses how the world today associates discpline with "punishment that involves anger".  She then goes on to talk about how many parents today who are trying to set standards for their children focus only on the outward behavior.  "[I]f they can get their children to act right, then they are raising them the right way."

Both of these viewpoints are wrong/falling short of the true purpose of discipline, according to Mrs. Plowman.  She gives the Biblical definition of discipline and its purpose.  She sums up the chapter with this thought," We must help our children understand that their straying hearts produce wrong behavior...If you can reach the heart [of your child], the behavior will take care of itself."

Yikes this is a long post and I've only made it through two chapters out of twelve!

I guess I will have to split this review up over several posts...I hope you don't mind.  Writing out an explanation of what I learned really helps me remember and better comprehend things so I appreciate you being my sounding board :)

For those days when Mommy is tired...

Sometimes there are days when I am tired and it's hard to actively play with my kids.  I really like doing quiet things on those days - like reading books.  However, I have little boys and they don't always like to sit still and read books.  So, there are a couple games that I use on "tired mommy" days.

First is "Animal Imitation" (like the name?  I just made it up :).  What you do is have your child/ren lay on the floor with the light off, then you tell them when you turn the light on they have to act like a ____ (insert animal here).  We especially like odd animals like worms; be creative!  I leave the light on for a couple minutes and then when I turn it off they have to stop what they are doing, lay down and quietly wait for the next animal.  It's a great game because mom doesn't have to move much, the kids get to practice their animals, and get lots of energy out!

I also like "Statues".  I didn't come up with this game, but I don't remember where I saw it.  Basically the idea is to play music and have your kids dance.  When the music stops they have to freeze into a statue.  It's is REALLY funny to see what "cool" poses kids come up with :)

I hope this helps some of you with your own "tired mommy" days!