Just Say No!

Do you remember when you were a kid and you felt like your parents lived to tell you no!? I sure do. I think I thought they derived some kind of perverse pleasure from denying me what I wanted (to have or to do). Now that I'm a mom of 4 I realize that it is not the funnest (yeah, I know. Not really a word but it fits) part of my job to tell my kids no. I don't enjoy it at all.

And since my parents were not mean spirited (well, they aren't, not past tense since they're still living) I doubt they enjoyed it any more than I do.

Who loves seeing the look of disappointment on their child's face when they can't do something or have something they long for?

I hate saying "no" to my kids. I hate disciplining my kids. I hate telling them that something they did wasn't "good enough". I mean, I don't say it like that but that's what I feel like they are thinking when I correct them on a chore or schoolwork. I feel like I'm giving them the message that their efforts aren't cutting it. And that's not the message I want to send. I want them to be confident and know that their mom said "yes" to everything I could! And that I"m proud of their effort when they give something their all. 

Well, I had a really cute picture but I am out of storage on google.com or whatever. I have to figure this out...... :(

Baby-hood Over

My baby is turning 3. I know, he's still little but for some reason that's the age that babyness is over in my mind. The diapers are (long) gone, nursing is (longer) over, He has been speaking in complete sentences and using big words for quite a while now (and slowly but surely the baby words are disappearing). One of the last vestiges of babyhood in our house is the crib. And it just seems that when he turns 3 he should not be in a crib anymore. I don't know why, it just feels wrong.

But yesterday when I went into the boys' room to start "packing it out" to paint it and put the new carpet in...at which time we will take the crib down...I just couldn't face it. My stomach felt sick and it just made me want to go to my own bed. So, the room is even worse off than it was (also looked at his newborn clothes-sniff sniff) and I still have to face it! I might just go today and buy a stinkin' mattress. Get this over with. Donate the crib to someone who really needs one...that might make me feel better about it (my mom's idea). Move on. I normally love redoing my kids' rooms. It needs paint. It needs carpet. I will focus on that! Pics to follow! :)