8/10/12

Finding the Positives



This morning Audrey woke up at 4am, screaming like she was being attacked by a badger.  I'm not sure what the deal was but as soon as she saw me, everything was okay.  Having gone to bed WAY too late, this 4am wake-up call was anything but welcome from me. I decided this morning that I was going to remain positive.  I've tried to look for all of the good in today because it was looking pretty grim this morning.

THE GOOD IN TODAY:
  • We've been really trying to enforce the "use your words" rule around here.  Audrey will just scream at us to try to get what she wants.  We simply say something like, "I'm sorry, I didn't understand.  Can you please use your words?" or "Can you ask me nicely by saying please?"  We would throw a huge party whenever anyone said please, especially Audrey.  It was hard at first, but now we've got the beginnings of a polite little girl on our hands.  When asking for something, Audrey will look at you and say "pees?" (please)  It's really amazing to me that she learned so quickly.  We're working on "thank you" and using words in other situations, but it gives me confidence that we will be able to teach her to use nice words to get things she wants.  Today we had pizza for lunch (ee-patz, if you're Audrey) and for every bite Audrey would point to the pizza and say, "pees?"  Awesome!
  • I got a nap.  Although it was a short one, I got to take a quick snooze this morning.  I'm confident its what has kept me alive today.
  • Audrey is happy.  She's been in a much better mood since going back to two naps post-St. George trip.  I really think she needed to catch up on her Zzz's. 
  • Audrey and I had to drive to Murray this morning.  I was worried about her getting bored on our 45 minute drive and so I was constantly looking in her mirror to make sure she was okay.  When I checked on her each time, she was quietly and contently reading a book in the backseat.  How cute!
  • Isn't it obvious?  IT'S FRIDAY.  The weekend is here.  Time to spend time together as a family!
It's hard for me to not get down on the seemingly bad things that are going on, like only sleeping four hours, so doing this is very helpful for me.  So, even though I feel like the walking dead, there's so much good in the day today!  It's just a bit harder to see through sleepy eyes. :)
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2 comments:

  1. MarceeAugust 12, 2012 at 10:04 PM

    Hey, my friend Jamie sent me your way, she seems to think I invented "use your words" or something. Anyway, great to hear your post about finding positives, they are always there for the finding and if you seek them, and for some reason, negatives seek moms out on their own, so you've already unlocked a major secret to enjoying life. And I think I might steal the description "scream like being attacked by a badger." My girls sure seem to do that a lot theses days!!
    I had a conversation with a friend tonight about "use your words" and we were talking about how that and "let's try that again" are AWESOME for the toddler through preschool set. "Try again" is another secret weapon for kids of any age, we give them a look, calmly say "would you like to try that again?" and suspend consequences if they choose to try again and do it better the second time, and we usually give them the words they need, model the better reaction. It's like phase 2 of "use your words," you know when you and Audrey are ready to level up.
    Anyway, way to go you awesome mommy!!

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    1. HollieAugust 13, 2012 at 3:38 PM

      Thanks for your comment! I love "would you like to try that again?" I've been trying to make a game plan for the "consequences" stage of toddlerhood. I think that phrase would keep me calm while still enforcing the fact that there are consequences for actions, especially naughty ones.

      Thanks again for your comment, and also thanks for the advice!

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