Sunday, November 22, 2009

Someone please......

tell me that soon there will be more playing with and less yelling at!

Cari worships the ground her big brother walks on. Most of the time, he is really good about doing stuff with her, but as soon as she doesn't do it his way, or what he wants, the yelling, full out, scream in your face yelling starts! It is all I can do not to just toss him in his room, and lock the door! I want them to learn to work it out, I tend to try to just leave it be, unless there is serious impending injury or the potential for blood. But I always end up intervening when the yelling starts, because it bothers ME that he is dealing with the situation like that.

We try to give him alternatives, tell him how he could have handled it differently, and why she does what she does....I don't know if it helps or not. But seriously, this HAS to get better, right??? He has been sent to his room to cool off, but most of the time he does that one his own, so what good does that do. The thing that bothers me even more than the yelling is that by leaving and going to his room, he is giving in to whatever it was that made him scream at her in the first place...usually her taking a toy or not doing something the way he wants. It bothers me that he is dealing with it by leaving and not addressing it. But, then again, he is only 4. ;o)

I guess I just have to live off the moments of love and peace, and try to let them work it out as much as possible.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

And the award goes too.......

Cari, my 2 year old, has become quite the drama queen. Here are a few examples of her finest work:

On the nights when I put her to bed, I rock her and a couple of her babies for a few minutes before tucking her in. Lately she has been trying to include more and more of her babies in this ritual. The other night, she had 3 baby dolls, a teddy bear, a bunny and a ghost she got from one of those vending machine claw games...... I was supposed to hold all of them, her and a blanket, and rock her in the chair. I told her it was just to many....she needed to put some back and could only pick 3. She put them all down on her bed, and I thought she got it. She picked up 2 babies and her bear, and I said, ok, those are the friends you want to rock....then she picked up 'ghostie', bunny and another baby....again I said, that was too many. She put them all down again, turns away from me, puts the back of her hand to her head (in true drama queen fashion) and with a big, prolonged sigh, says "I so sad"...... Oy!

Then last night, I was playing card games on the floor with JJ and the kids cousin Rachel, who we were watching until her mom could get home from work. We played all sorts of 'kid card games', but Cari was frustrated that she couldn't play too. I tried to include her, but she was not helping her cause by pulling cards out of my hands, or grabbing the draw pile...... So, I moved her away from the game, and we continued to play. Of course, that didn't really work....but rather than just get back in the middle of the game, she says "Ok that's it.....I'm going to my room. This is a page from her brother's book I am afraid....only he slams his door too...thankfully she can't do that yet! She goes to the room, closes her door, stays for about 30 seconds and then comes back out. She says "Ok, I throwed a fit, now I'm done"....again, her brother..... LOL

Seriously, how in trouble am I going to be with her when she is 13???????

Halloween....

The kids had a great time on Halloween, and did a great job. Cari was a Vikings Cheerleader, and JJ was Thomas the train. I still have not taken the pictures off Jim's camera phone, so don't have them to share right now.

We started out visiting a few people in our neighborhood. Our neighbor next door always has a bag of treats for each of the kids, and loves to see them in their costumes. So, we started there, then went to her friend down the street and a couple other houses. Then we went to my SIL's house (who does daycare for us as well), to see her, Grandpa and my other SIL. The kids love their aunties and Grandpa, so of course, it was a big deal.

It is important to not for later in this story, that at all of these places, we were invited in 'for a minute', because we knew the people, etc....you may see where this is going.

After visiting Grandpa and the aunties, we went to my brother's house to trick or treat with my niece. Their neighborhood has lots of kids and is great for TorTs. So we hooked up with them, and went to the first house. Rang the bell, and the kids waited patiently. People came to the door, exclaimed over how cute they all were, and then were taken by surprise as my little peanut cheerleader started heading inside. I guess we forgot to tell her we had to stay outside on the step! LOL They were surprised, but good sports about it. ;o) We all laughed, and then moved on. The rest of the night was without even, and the kids came home with tons of candy, which I am sure they will still be eating at Easter! LOL