Thursday, August 29, 2013

Picture of the day: August 29

This is Owen's new thing that has developed in the last 2 weeks: feeding himself. He immediately throws his body backwards to lay down/lounge to drink it and he does it whether you are ready to catch him or not. Ha! What a goofer.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Picture of the day: August 28

Emma doesn't drink well from the nuby sippy cup but does fantastic with the straw sippy. Owen is the exact opposite. Funny kidlets with funny differences.







Monday, August 26, 2013

What if we encouraged instead of judged?

I found this post sitting in my drafts from April! Thought I would add to it and finally post!

So today I was asked by another mother if my children were sleeping through the night. I know hers have slept through the night practically since birth so I knew what was coming...the comparisons,the judgement, the "you're a bad mother" looks. I answered truthfully; they still get up. Sometimes it is just at 5 am, sometimes it's at 11, 2 & 5...I never know what it will be. It depends on their needs, how much they ate before bed, if they are having a growth spurt, etc. Anyway, I got the sympathetic yet slightly judgmental pause with an "ooh...they should be sleeping through the night by now" response. And suddenly I found myself swirling in a world of motherhood doubt. Should they be sleeping through the night?! Stupid. I let one measly comment make me second guess the needs of my children. MY CHILDREN. The children that no one else knows better than me except for the one who created them.  So judge away all you want, but I have decided not to really care and not take off hand comments or unwelcome suggestions seriously or personally.

There are so many different parenting methods out there and really, none of them work well unless you know youself and your limits, as well as the needs of your child. I am finding that what works for Owen does not work for Emma; they are individuals with different needs. Clearly, if anything, that demonstrates the necessity to know your child.

So perhaps instead of being quick to judge others for how they decide to parent or how their child behaves, or quick to offer unsolicited "words of wisdom," maybe see what doors open if you just ask how their heart is doing or how you could pray for them. Because really, if that mom had just asked me how things were going, I would have told her they weren't sleeping through the night had I thought it was a problem.







Picture of the day: August 26

One of my friends, in an effort to blog more and give glimpses into her daily life, decided to post almost daily pictures on her blog. She doesn't stress about posting a pic every day, but is at least more intentional about taking pictures. qI liked that idea, so am going to take it and run with it as well. Thanks, Clare!

Mama went to a baby shower and didn't get home until around/after bedtime. Daddy was on double bottle and bedtime duty. Good thing they can hold their own bottles...I remember when they were tiny and if I needed them to drink on their own, I had to prop up their bottle.







Sunday, August 25, 2013

Nothing out of the ordinary...

Mike has a sweet little girl in grade 2 who, when she was in k4, once talked to Mike about her babies (dollies) named Cake and Cookie. I remember getting a good chuckle over the names of her dollies, but after having lived in Thailand for 4+years and having students with original (and not so original) nicknames such as Cake or Cookie, it is nothing unusual now.

Transition now into this little girl being in grade 2:
Student: I have diarrhea this morning.
Mike: I am sorry to hear that.

Again nothing unusual about that...morning attendance/excuses is sent to teachers each morning and often times the reason a student is missing from school because of diarrhea. Yep...diarrhea. The excuse doesn't say an upset stomach or food poisoning or sickness. It is so interesting to me how we Americans are so private and find certain questions or conversation topics awkward.  Most everything here is fair game...how much money you make, why you don't have children, why you have so many children, why you aren't married, aaaaaand bodily functions.  Ha!