Parenting, also known as what was I thinking

Hello everyone,

This is my initial blog here at World Village and I’m pretty excited about it. I hope we’ll laugh together and learn together.

I can’t imagine anything better than being a parent. Anybody who is a parent knows what a great rollercoaster ride it is.

I’m the Mom of a 3 year-old and I’ll share my thoughts, experiences and successes with you.

If anybody ever fully disclosed everything about being a parent before you had children you’d never do it. I always laugh at tough times “This was not in the brochure”. Luckily the wonderful and magical moments seem to outweigh anything else.

Here’s a funny story to get things rolling. We like to read stories before bedtime as many families do. My daughter likes to do it like they do at her daycare and so we take turns being the teacher or being the kid.

The other night she was the teacher and my husband and I were the kids. She reads (as only a 3 year-old can read) for a few minutes and tells me You’re being rude go sit over here. I think it is funny so I do. After a few minutes she tells me I’m being good and can sit back with the other kids. She reads again and tells me I’m being rude and I need to sit over there pointing away from where I am at.

Then an idea hits me so I ask her if she got in trouble that day. Yes, she says I was rude to best friend and had to sit aside for a few minutes at story time. So we talked about being nice to our friends and not being rude any more.

It’s amazing the clues kids give out. Take a listen sometime as your child plays alone or with a friend. I’m not saying eavesdrop all the time but do notice what they say to others kids or even to their toys. We’ve learned a lot by noticing what she says to her toys.

It’s funny when she gets time outs her toys will invariably get in trouble and need a time out later that same day or the next day. Sometimes you can see yourself in what they say. She’s been in a not listening phase and so we’ll say are you listening or listen to me a lot these days. I notice she has been saying that to her dolls lately.

It’s a good check and balance. If you don’t like what you hear it may be time to re-think what you are saying.

It can be really cute too. I call her sweetie a lot. The other night she said come here sweetie to me. Don’t you love those moments!

I’m taking her to tea tomorrow with a friend with a little the same age. Picture 2 little girls eating sandwiches in the shape of teapots with their teddy bears in the chair beside them. I’m looking forward to it.