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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Positive Reinforcement

So Little Man has been, well, a two year old I guess.  He can be the sweetest most loving thing on Earth one minute and the next you would swear he is the devil's spawn. 

Little Man tantrums don't mix well with Mommy's patience, or I should say lack of patience. 

I can tell myself things like... he is two, this is normal, yelling won't work, be positive, don't argue, it's just a stage, blah, blah, blah. 

But at that very moment when Little Man is kicking, hitting and screaming uncontrollably because he wants to wear the brown vest instead of his nice warm winter coat when it is friggen freezing outside I LOSE IT!

Most times I scream my head off and he ends up upstairs in his crib for a few minutes.  I know this is bad.  I can scream until my head pops off of my shoulders but it does NOTHING.  And the time out in bed is going to bite me in the ass one day.

But time outs in bed keep me sane!  Being a little shit on different level than me with the door shut  is much easier to handle than being a little shit 10 feet away from me!  I know, I know he is going to start associating bed with punishment.  Awesome.

So the point of this whole post is that I have turned a new leaf (on some days) and have decided to use positive reinforcement with him. 

Example -

Little Man: (really fresh voice) "BABY, DONT DO THAT! THAT IS MY TOY, NOT YOURS! NO, NO, NO!"

Pushes Baby to the floor.

Me: "Little Man, do nice boys talk like that and push?"

Little Man: "Yes"

Me: "No they don't.  And you are a nice boy so you should be nice to your brother."

Little Man: "NO! STOP SAYING THAT, MOMMY!"

Me: Deep breath.... 

"Ok, it sounds like you are tired so lets go upstairs to think or go to sleep for a while."

Little Man: "No sleep."

Me: "Ok, then do nice boys talk like that?"

Little Man: "Noooo".  Smile.

Me: "What do nice boys say to their brothers?"

Little Man: "Baby, I am gonna hug you and kiss you and cuddle with you!!!"

Me: "See!!!!  I knew you were such a good boy.  I am SO PROUD of you!!!!  YAY!!!!!!"

This takes a hell of a lot of patience on my end but it seems to be more productive than aruing with a two year old.

Now I just have to be consistent and stick with it!! 

I have to take lots of deep breaths in the moment because those 'moments' are the hardest part.  To be cool, calm and collected when someone knows how to push every button you have is pretty challenging. 

I want to be the best mom I can be.  I want my boys to grow up to be happy, healthy, smart and respectful people.  That is a lot of responsibility.  It has taken and will take A LOT of really really hard work. 

How to handle a tantrum is one of many things that I know I can improve on.  Sometimes it gets overwhelming thinking about everything that I can do to be a better mom.  I try to concentrate on one or two at a time. 

Hopefully one day I will be the epitome of the PERFECT MOM. Or something that somewhat resembles it :)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Sick, sick, sick...and Short Sentences

It has been weeks since I have written or read any blogs! The boys have been sick since the post I wrote about D going away for work.  That was like 3 weeks ago!  I guess this is going to be my life this winter with both boys in daycare for the sick season for the first time.  It’s going to be a LONG one.  Hopefully this is the worst and it will get better from here?  Please say yes.
So for the past 3 weeks our lives have consisted of running noses, green boogs, coughing, ear infections, nebulizers, Benadryl, Motrin, antibiotics, no sleep, tears, screams and just plain bad moods.  It’s been fun. 
Little Man has been a bit dramatic.  Every time he sneezes he screams like he just shot a knife out of his nose.  I am sure it’s the combination of boogies on his face (god forbid) and his little nose being sore from all the running, sneezing and wiping.  But, and that’s a big BUT, it definitely doesn’t call for the reaction that it gets.  And when you have to deal with that at least 40 times a day, it gets REALLY old. 
Baby doesn’t mind the boogies, thank goodness, but his issue is the medicine.  I dread the 2 times a day that I have to pin both arms down,  hold his head straight and squeeze open his mouth to give him his antibiotics.  Screaming like you have never heard!  And then I try the Benadryl before bed to try to stop the coughing and sneezing so he could get some rest.  That usually ends in a sticky mess.  I am so done with this.
I think my house has germs on every square inch of it and my couch smells like rotten milk.  Little Man drank a whole cup of milk, tried to cough, had phlegm in his throat and threw up every last drop of the milk and then some.  Soaked the couch, our clothes, my hair and the blanket we were under.  He thought it was funny.  Go figure, a sneeze is the end of the world but sour milk coming pouring out of his mouth and nose is hysterical.   Anyway, I have to figure out what I am going to do about that.  I guess that is my exciting project this weekend. Yay.
Okay, so that is enough sick talk.  On a more exciting side note, Baby is starting to put little sentences together!  It is so stinking cute.  Papa…where are you, doggie barking, bless you, I love you and play with toys are the little phrases that come to mind at the moment.  This stuff never gets old!  Oh ya, and NO is his favorite word.  He answers every single question with a very monotone “no”….even if he means yes.  We ask him ridiculous questions just to hear him say no.  It is hysterical and he thinks so too.
So, that has been my exciting life these past few weeks and I am bummed that I haven’t really gotten a chance to write on my blog.  Hopefully I will be getting back in the swing of things soon.  I miss this stuff L 
Until next time.
STAY HEALTHY!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Halloween

Because of this "once in a lifetime" October snow storm, Halloween was cancelled this year!  It was actually announced on the news that it was cancelled!  I couldn't believe it!

Little Man had been talking about trick-or-treating for weeks! He was practicing every day and perfected the drill.  Walk up to the door, smile, say "frick or freat", open your bag for candy and say thank you!  It was pretty freaking cute.

How was I going to tell him it was cancelled?

The plan was for everyone, their mother and their twice removed cousin's sister to come to our house to see the kids in their adorable fireman costumes and then take the boys in the wagon around the neighborhood trick-or-treating for about an hour.

Mom, Dad, grandmas, grandpas, auntie, costumes, wagon, trick-or-treating, candy, outside...a dream date for our boys!

Since Halloween was cancelled we had to think of a Plan B.  Fast. 

Not sure who came up with the idea but some genius in the fam suggested bringing the boys to the firehouse down the street! 

Perfect!

We got the little firemen all strapped in their carseats and we were off!  The entourage was following closely behind.

We got to the firehouse and the garage doors were OPEN!!!!  The 2 boys and about 10 family members walked into the firehouse. Yup, we are that family. 

Baby couldn't run fast enough yelling "Firetruck, firetruck, firetruck!!!"  And Little Man was right behind him with the biggest smile on his face.  If I could bottle the feeling I get when I see them that happy I would be a rich girl!

Then the real live firemen came down.  These guys probably think we are the most annoying family to ever live.  We go there rather often.  And now here we are with our entire family.  I can't even imagine the conversations that went on when we left.

Even if they do talk shit behind our backs they are really really nice to our faces every singe time.  They bring down the little plastic firemen hats, they open the fire truck doors for the boys to go in, they turn on the siren lights and they are just really great to them.   Like it's their job to entertain toddlers!  Thank god for nice people.

On Halloween they were extra special to the boys and gave them lots of extra fun things to put in their trick-or-treat bags.  If those guys only knew how happy they make my kids!

Before we left one of the volunteers pulled D aside and tried to recruit him!  Ummm... I think we might be kind of obligated to do something nice back.  I will keep you updated on whether or not my husband becomes a fireman.

So Halloween was still a success and my kids had a really fun night.  Here are some pics of the cutest firemen I have ever seen.  I think I should make a fireman calendar of these cuties for the little girls at school :)