I mostly spend each day living in brief gulps from one moment to the next. In between tickle fights and time outs, I also sweat it out each day on the tightrope that is PPD and all its repercussions in my family, my health, my marriage and my sense of humor. Some days are good, some days only wish they could aspire to the high ranks of pond scum, but it's all part of my life. And it's all worth it.
Do gummy vitamins count as a meal?
Prevention is often waved around as the foundation on which good parenting is built. From all the theory books I’ve read on the subject (and, I admit, I’ve torn through more than a lot), the first tactics always seem to revolve around these three basic tenets:
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Routine. By providing a secure and predictable schedule for your children, you can remove stress and avoid transitional anxiety between activities.
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Food. Making sure your child is not hungry can help prevent grumpiness, fatigue and temper tantrums.
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Sleep. Same basic principle as hunger- a tired child is an unhappy child. At least through kindergarten, children should have a mid-day rest.
While I agree this is all generally sound advice, I find myself regularly thwarted by a few pesky little details:
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Routine. Around here, 7 A.M. often goes like this-“Mom, what day is today?” “It’s Thursday.” “What do we do on Thursday’s?” “Ummm… we… Hey, look! I see a moose!”
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Food. Unless you consider snack bars and chocolate milk a well-rounded diet, my children barely eat. Making sure they are well-fed is a lot like regularly flouncing around in sexy lingerie after being married a few years. It just ain’t gonna happen.
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Sleep. While my toddler remains a sound and predictable sleeper, my 4-year-old is a different beast all together. Once the lights are out, she begins her nightly monologue, spreads all her clothes neatly across the floor and sneaks around the house at every opportunity. Most nights, she manages to stay awake until well after 10 P.M. It is a given, though, that she will ALWAYS wake with the dawn.
As for naps… if your preschooler still naps, more power to you. Also, please don’t tell me about it or I may accidently run you over with my car.
It seems that if prevention is, in fact, the foundation of good parenting, I’m walking on air. Fortunately, I’ve developed my own highly-effective platform. It’s based on the best of intentions, a few judiciously applied kids shows, bribery and selective hearing. Then I balance the whole thing on a hefty pile of “Time OUT!” and “Let’s play dress-up!”. Perhaps it’s not the most scientifically proven method, but I tell you what- about 70% of the time, it seems to work for me. Those are odds I’m happy to stand on.
great post, i love your voice !!
Comment by feener — January 8, 2009 @ 3:38 pmI’m cracking up over the remark about running someone over with your car. Hilarious!
Comment by Lea — January 10, 2009 @ 10:06 pmYou hit the nail on the head, yet again, my dear! I love reading your blogs! I’ve gotta get my daily dose of Megan since I miss you so much!! HUGS!!!
Comment by Juli — January 13, 2009 @ 3:38 pmNaps? What are those? I’m hoping to perhaps discover those when I’m an octogenarian (if I make it that long, with lack of sleep!)
Comment by Dani — January 13, 2009 @ 10:36 pmRoutine, pfffftttttt….
My oldest and youngest were house-wanderers (sleep-walkers and awake-walkers), I feel for you!!!
Whatever works!
For the past two weeks, Emerson (21 mo.) has not been napping. At all. And she doesn’t get tired or cranky in the evening…just the opposite, she is alert, HAPPY even, and wanting to play…until 9pm or later! At first, John and I looked at each other quizzically (What’s THIS behavior?!), discussed it rationally a few times, and basically shrugged and said “Yep, I guess she’s dropping her nap.” And it worked.
Now, about a week later, after yet another round of drama and tears because one little thing was not done her way, I’m picking the nap back up! “Sweetie, you need your afternoon nap, so just close you eyes now and sleep. When you wake up you will be so refreshed, you won’t feel the need to throw tantrums over the tiniest little thing!”
And its gonna work. Right?!
Comment by Tiffany — January 14, 2009 @ 7:18 pmOn 1. Give them a couple years and you’ll be sorry they ever could tell time by the clock or calendar.
Comment by Hillary — January 26, 2009 @ 10:14 pmOn 2. First of all, I just laughed out loud at #2. That was funny. And don’t worry. My 7 year old hasn’t come close to meeting his nutritional needs since he was 1 (a future post of mine, stay tuned) yet is as healthy as any other 1st grader.
On 3. No matter what, even if they went to bed at 3am, my kids are up at 6:30 am. Maybe I should have them call your girls, they could entertain each other while we are all trying to catch up on our sleep.
Hee hee!
Last night I slept in a tank top and cotton briefs and Kurt was like, “What, no full coverage 1850-style jammies? HOT!” So sad.
Comment by Megan — January 27, 2009 @ 9:14 am