As I'm typing this, I'm shushing our dog for the fifteenth time as she continues to bark at herself in the large windows at the front of our house. Ellie is quite the character....but let's save that for another post...or blog!
Last night, Little Man and I sat down and had a brief discussion about peer pressure. I still can't believe I'm starting now at the age of four, but with how fast life travels it's never too early, right? I told him a story about when I was little and tried smoking. Yep - I did it. Eighth grade and I puked. Granted I smoked a (half, fourth?) unfiltered cigarette then went to dance class right after....but still. I did it because the girls I was with wanted me to.
He seemed to get it. He said he didn't want to be a follower. I'm proud of how he has come to a lot of these conclusions on his own. I'm constantly amazed at his intuitiveness and memory at moments. I can't say he's both of these all the time because there are moments he'll forget he's putting on shoes and start playing basketball. I chalk that up to being four.
Those are the moments I struggle with as a parent, though. Those "four" moments. I've asked him to do one thing and he feels it absolutely necessary to do 15 thing before doing that one thing. Then I get frustrated and I yell. Well not every time but if I'm needing to get on with the day but can't until he finishes the one thing or if I'm in a hurry to leave the house. I yell, he cries, nothing happens.
Because of my heightened awareness of these moments and some recent instances where the "life is too short and goes too fast" cliche has hit me smack in the face, I wanted to reevaluate how I handled those situations. I know it can be done. His teachers are AMAZING with all 35 preschoolers every day without yelling. My mom is a guru with kids without yelling. I know it can be done. The question was - can I do it?
I was trolling Pinterest and found this blog: http://theorangerhino.com/ . It's a mom of four boys who took a self-placed challenge to not yell for 365 days. She did it and is on day 414. Amazing. I love reading her posts. It encouraged me on my own "not yelling" journey.
So while you desperately ;) wait for tomorrow's post, browse through her blog. Absolutely mesmerizing.
Now I hear little beeps of alarm clocks but no little steps. Time to gently get the rolly-pollies out of bed!
Cheers -
Megs
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