I have never experienced anything other than parenting that is such a mix of a major challenge and pure joy. There are many things that fall into the category of "no pain, no gain," particularly my involvement in sports over the years, but nothing that comes close to reaching the extremes of the emotions I have felt as a parent.
We've had some rough times off and on with Norah over the past several weeks. Yes, it is my expectation that living with a toddler naturally comes with ups and downs, but it wont stop me from attempting to figure out if there is anything we can do to minimize the downs.
My tendency is to turn to sleep as the first potential culprit when things are rough. I firmly believe that there is a strong correlation between lack of adequate sleep and behavioral issues. Norah's bedtime has slipped a bit to more like 7:00 - 7:15PM, primarily because it is simply difficult to make it happen any sooner. We will be doing what we can to get her down closer to 6:45 going forward (or even 6:30 on the weekends).
But I also really changed my approach one night last week, which seemed to make a big difference. It was a night that Seth had a work event, so I was on my own. Before I left work I told myself I was going to do everything I could to create a positive, fun, silly environment for Norah from the second I picked her up at school. I think sometimes I am prepping myself for the typical challenges of her toddler behavior and may be a bit on edge from the beginning. But that's not fun, either. So, from the second we got in the car we were laughing and having a good time.
The other thing I was conscious about was not fighting Norah on insignificant things throughout the evening. For example, when I have more than two things for her for dinner, I tend to use a plate instead of bowls. Lately, for whatever reason, she has only wanted to use bowls. So instead of trying to get her to use a plate, we'll use three bowls. It sounds so obvious typing it now, but sometimes I think it doesn't come naturally to set aside our natural (and in my case fairly practical) instincts.
Norah is definitely in the phase of wanting to do everything herself. I often feel pressure to keep things moving as much as possible, and will try to sneakily turn off a light without her noticing. As expected, this usually leads to a break down with lots of, "No my do it, my do it" in a very whiney, high-pitched tone. This particular evening, however, I decided to proactively allow Norah to do as much as possible by herself. I know this is very important to do during this phase, and with the minimization of breakdowns and having to go back and let her re-do things, I don't think it ends up taking more time in the end anyway.
So that provides a taste of the typical challenges for us these days, but there are plenty of joyful times as well.
Friends Lisa, Sarah and Jessica came to play last weekend and the weather held up enough to be able to spend a significant amount of time outside on the swings, slide and tricycles.
This is Sarah...
And this is Jessica...
The next day TJ, Luka and Aunt Li came down to spend the afternoon with us to help Aunt Li get as much couch time as possible. As usual, the kids had a great time. At one point they all headed into the playroom so TJ and Luka could sit at the table and "order" food for Norah to make in her kitchen like a restaurant. When they came out a few minutes later Lisa asked why they were done already and TJ said, "Because Norah is too slow cooking."
Norah talked about our visitors all week...
