When Parenting Sticks...

In my 22 months of being a rookie parent I have learned over and over again that I must be patient. There is no such thing as rushing a child. They have a time frame all their own for when they can/want to do things. And just when I think I am getting pretty good at the whole patience thing...my toddler quickly reminds me that I still need to work on it ;)

I can remember when we started teaching Lucy sign language. I really only wanted to teach her "please" and "thank you" and some signs to help with meal time. There were many days when I felt like she was never going to catch on, then about 2 months later we finally had success with it.

We also introduced "room time" to Lucy from Babywise around the time she was 15 months old. After about 3 months of working on this, Lucy loved doing room time, and could play in her room for about 30-40 minutes. She did so well during this time and I saw a huge difference in her concentration with her toys.

Practicing patience during these times can be difficult for me. I think part of this is probably because  as I said I am a rookie parent, and hey, I had no clue what was coming. BUT THEN...the day comes when you see the fruition of your hard work and the benefit for your kid and IT.MAKES.IT.ALL.WORTH.IT. Am I right?!

Recently, we were eating dinner and Ben and I were eating broccoli, so as usual I put a couple pieces on Lucy's plate in hopes that she would try it. Well, she saved the broccoli for last which is pretty typical for any green food, or vegetable for that matter. Then, out of nowhere, without being prompted...she took a bite of broccoli!! I wish that I could have videoed the looks on Ben and I's faces when she took that first bite. I think I was holding my breath, eyes wide open...making sure this was really happening and not my tired eyes playing tricks on me. Then, she ate ANOTHER bite! Ben and I were looking at each other, totally freaking out with excitement on the inside. It was quite the celebratory moment. We sang her praises when she finished eating her 2 pieces of broccoli. She didn't want anymore after those 2 pieces which was a-ok with us. Small victories is where it's at people!

Then, there was the Target incident. Let me preface this by saying that Lucy is pretty wild most of the time, and she is a toddler so she is curious about everything. This is no exaggeration here...she HARDLY EVER walks anywhere. That girl runs wherever she goes. I'm pretty sure thats how I stayed in better shape when I was pregnant with Michael. Lucy has recently become bored of sitting in the stroller whenever we go places so depending on where we are going I will let her walk with me. Well, this particular afternoon at Target she was doing awesome walking with me and listening when I told her to stay close to me. Then, we get to the checkout line. I am not sure if something or someone caught her eye but we got up to the register and she takes off around our register to the one next to us, and is circling both registers to our right and left. I of course try calling her back over and that doesn't work. Mind you there are people in line behind me and I am supposed to be paying for my stuff right about now. So I leave Michael in the stroller in the line (which totally freaks me out by the way) and go chasing after my super fast running toddler, who is by now, deliberately running away from me as I'm calling her name. I am bright red and embarrassingly a little winded when I catch up to her and attempt to strap her into the stroller with her kicking and screaming. So with those small victories in life, also come bumps along the way, as well as a glass of wine at 3:30 in the afternoon :)

And for the second sweetest one (next to saying "I love you") she has started saying "sorry" on her own after she does something that she isn't supposed to do. MELTS.MY.HEART. My goodness, it's those moments that it makes all that work so well worth it and helps you keep chugging along in this journey as a mom. Encouragement to all you mommas out there...it may not feel like it some days, or even most days, but what you are doing IS making a big difference to those sweet little ones!

Lindsey