Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Update on my Life


Attached is my most recent favorite picture of Wendell... my little angel.
Recently, Wendell went out to a local farm fall festival and he got to touch hay bales (but didn't want to climb on them), he touched the pony (but didn't want to ride it), went on a hay ride (and amazing sat on my lap the whole time) and played with Kirby the Kangaroo. So that was a fun afternoon.
This past weekend we went to Davenport to see Phil's family. We had a nice relaxing time.
And I thought I'd take a moment to update all of you on my life. If you've kept up on my posts you will see that discipline and cleaning have been of concern lately. I agreed to do my 30 minutes of cleaning per day (see other post), and did quite well for a few days. I'd say my house is pretty organized right now, but there are still lots of projects that could be done... I know this will be a forever battle but if I do a little bit each day then I don't have to feel guilty (thanks for the advice Sarah!). I'm also looking forward to my parents taking Wendell for a few days as a mommy vacation is long overdue. As far as discipline goes... well the time outs continue to go well (he sits for them and it at least gives me a break). He continues to not listen to me when I am talking to him and this can be very frustrating. Yesterday morning didn't go so well, I had become quite frustrated because it seemed like I'd put one thing away and Wendell would pull two things out.. I was not making good progress with cleaning up and Wendell wasn't really helping matters. Basically, I got really angry and yelled him (because he wasn't following my directions nor listening). Of course, 3 seconds later, he's smiling like it never happened (and I'm red at a tomato with fire coming out of my ears). So I tell him very sternly " you need to listen to me" and point to my ears (did I mention I'm not very happy at this point). So what does he do?? He smiles his little happy grin and points to his ears like we're playing a game. Well, at least he doesn't hold grudges... I am learning that as a human, I become angry (even with my precious little child), and it's okay to be angry but sometimes I need to take a break and get some space... so the game plan for next time, is that instead of yelling at him, he will be going to his room (great idea Kathryn!) so I can cool off in a more loving manner. Any other ideas on how to deal with anger?

1 comment:

Life of the Lorenzens said...

I'm glad you're cleaning seems to feel under control. I've tried to do something like that--assign one task per day instead of trying to do everything at once. (e.g. Laundry on Monday, dusting on Tuesday, water plants/misc on Wednesday, laundry on Thursday, bathrooms on Friday. Thankfully Austin does floors on Wednesday & Sunday nights) However, I have been severely slacking the last month or two. I've had to keep up with laundry b/c of potty training accidents, but I'm lucky if I get the other basics done every other week. Keep up the good work!

Also, just to make you feel better in the discipline area--I resorted to spanking Emily the other day for not keeping her clothes on and she just laughed at me even after two in a row. We're talking uncontrollable, contagious laughter that made me have to bite my tongue and look away. Guess that method is not going to work! ;o)