All important questions.
And perhaps we’ll get to them in time, but perhaps today I’ll just post a few random updates instead, each of which could easily be a full post, but won’t be today.
1) Thoughts on 3. UMMM. I find age three very challenging. A is so sweet, so interesting, so verbal. She makes up great stories and is so kind to her brother. She is creative and spunky and just a ton of fun. Most of the time. Other times she is moody and as stubborn as all get-out. “I AM NOT DOING ANYTHING YOU SAY, MOMMY!”. How do you get a kid into time-out if they physically just . . . won’t?
Being tired and transitions (time to: go to bed, go home, get into bath, get out of bath, etc) seem to be her hot spots. However, I’ve tried the multiple warnings technique (“5 more minutes at X, then Y”) and this doesn’t seem to help much. Advice welcome.
2) Thoughts on wasting time. SIGH. This is always (always!) the bane of my existence. I’ve never been awash in free hours, but I still tend to feel like I fritter away the ones that I do have, even though in theory the scarcity should make them all the more precious. Posting here has never felt like a waste of time to me. Facebook almost always does. (The click-bait! The comparisons! The FOMO! The crazy opinions!) I might really (really) quit for a few months to see how a FB-free existence feels. Notably, for me, I do not feel that FB really aids in keeping any meaningful connections, either. If there is someone that I am *only* interacting with on FB — well, there’s probably a reason.
3) Thoughts on Thursday night: I finally have some actual plans that aren’t just . . . charts! Headed out to do a little post-work shopping and then to dinner with a friend at The District. I am determined to make Thursday evenings a fun and rejuvenating part of the week and I am already excited for tonight (Madewell and Anthro both appear to be mid-sale, so yay!).
7 Comments
I haven’t found time out to be a particularly effective discipline method, and my sister with 10+ years teaching in preschools and daycare says the same thing. I do use it when I need to but I never feel like it’s productive. There are 2 parenting books that I’ve read that have had a huge influence on me, and maybe you’d like them — Simplicity Parenting and The Soul of Discipline, both by Kim John Payne. Simplicity Parenting was literally life-changing to me, and the Soul of Discipline (which is brand new) really bolstered my confidence. I highly recommend them, and I’m really not a parenting-book kind of person.
I’m jealous of your shopping — enjoy!
I gave up FB a few years ago and am really happy I did. I found myself wasting so much time looking at other people’s pictures and comparing myself to people. Sometimes I have family or friends that try to get me back on FB, but I figure the people I stay in touch with will be accessible in other ways. Plus I can always ask my friends for updates on anyone I’m curious about.
Enjoy your shopping! 🙂
I thought the beginning of three was terrible, but once we got over that hump it’s been pretty awesome. I don’t know if I have much advice but I find when K won’t listen to my time warnings I’ll turn the timer on my phone and when it goes off tell him that the phone says it’s time to go, it’s not my fault. 😉
Kids are obviously different, but I found ages three and four to be my favorite. (Fifteen, not so much!). I know you don’t allow your children too much television time, but I found that when they were watching tv (even Disney television and other shows for preschoolers) the issues became more prominent. You are fortunate the weather allows for outside play year round. Good luck! This too shall pass!
The TIME WASTING. If you figure out a cure for that, you’ll be a millionaire! It is my constant nemesis. Maybe I should quite FB, too, or at least take it off my phone (didn’t you do that for a while? I did it for a month when you announced that, but I put it back on, dammit!)
Yay for Thursday night plans 🙂
Another person here who has been very happy with my decision to completely leave Facebook! I closed my account last January..anytime I got on it seemed there was something posted that just brought a lot of negativity into my life. The. I’d waste thirty minutes looking at pictures of someone I wasn’t even really friends with in high school and realize it was a ridiculous way to spend my time. I have friends who get a lot of positives from it but it wasn’t that way for me and I’m glad I cut it out. No advice on three year olds here
Oops posted comment before finished was going to say "it’s so tough when you have a bright highly verbal one at three!!"