The Happy House

What will your kids remember about their childhoods? What will they remember about you, their parents? What will they remember about the way you acted towards them?

Sometimes, I really have to scale back my frustrations with my little fawns. I often tell my older two fawns that they need to check their attitudes...and I need to start taking that advice too sometimes. 

It does get frustrating when you've finally scrubbed every last spot and splatter off of the kitchen floor, only to have one of the kids squeeze ketchup all over the floor, ...and table, ...and wall, because they were trying to get their own while you're nursing the baby. 

After finding this 20+ year old newspaper clipping in my mother's jewelry box, I've been able to 'check my attitude' a little better. 

Now, when ketchup goes flying or soap ends up all over the bathroom sink, I do my best to thank my girls for doing their best to help themselves when I couldn't. When they are upset with themselves for spilling, I remind them (and myself) that they are young and still learning how to do so much!

I'm often amazed when I think about how much a child actually learns in his or her short first four years. I have to remind myself that there is still SO much for us to teach them. But, I want them to remember not only the things I taught them, but the way I taught them. 

I want my house to be the happy house. 

Making Motherhood (just a touch) Easier

***Stamp found at Etsy Shop: Altered Attic

Most mothers, at some point, feel like they aren't doing a good job at being a mom. Oh sure, they're still alive, but you're pretty sure that you're doing something to screw them up in one way or another. 

As The Hubs jokingly asks  "which one do you think will need therapy?" 

When we were in the final months before G3 was born, I realized that I needed to teach my older two to be a little more independent. I was going to be nursing and knew that, for at least the first two months, I was going to be a little tied to the rocking chair! 

That's not to say they aren't independent at all. They both are quite headstrong most of the time! But, they often needed me to help them with little things, wipe their bottoms, reach the soap, turn on the water on to the correct temp for hand washing, fill their sippies etc.. 

Realistically, they knew how to do most of those things, but weren't great at it. Bathroom help especially with G2, who decided she was ready to potty train one month before G3 was born. And yes, I was thrilled! 

So, I've had to improvise with how they do some things, but by George, they do it themselves! 

A few of my tricks:

~ Diaper wipes in the bathroom for them to use on themselves. Let's face it, they aren't going to be great at getting totally clean, but wipes are probably better than toilet paper!

~ Have them learn to turn on the tub faucet, and not burn themselves! They wash their hands in the tub faucet, fill their own sippies, get their own washcloth wet to wipe up their spills etc.. While they could have gotten a chair to do it all at the sink, I wasn't sure I wanted a chair screeching across the kitchen floor while trying to keep a newborn asleep. 

~ I taught them the steps to do certain thing, and key phrases so that I could tell them what to be doing, and stay hands off. For example, when getting dressed. I taught them to lay their pants and/or panties on the floor, with the words/tag on the bottom, then sit down behind it and pull it on. This eliminated two legs going into one pant leg, them falling over and getting upset or hurt. 

~ When I go grocery shopping, or a shipment comes in with snacks, I immediately separate snacks out and put them into a basket in the pantry. I sort cookies, crackers, and pretzels into snack size ziplock bags. Granola bars and other individually wrapped things all come out of their boxes. The girls know that if I tell them to get a snack, they get to choose out of that baskets. If it's breakfast time or I want them to have something 'healthy', I'll tell them to get something specific, and they know were to find it. At some point I plan to get a few more baskets and color code them with ribbons:

Yellow=Breakfast items

Blue=Salty Snacks

Red=Sweet Snacks

Purple=Candy 

Etc. 

Is it bad parenting that I don't have the time to be at their side every minute to help them do everything? No, I don't think so. I choose to see it as helping them develop their independence. 

What are some tricks you've established to get through your busy day? Leave yours in the comments!