I don't like staying home. And, apparently, neither do my kids. We all tend to be fussy and foul-tempered. More power-struggles occur, and fighting over toys. And I just don't know if we'll EVER have a potty-trained preschooler. This week was just... hard. We made it through but not without a lot of tears and time-outs.
Monday we stayed home, and it was hard. Noah was eager to read his books, but little brother got in the way. He wanted to take whatever book we picked up to read. We got to read a few books, but not without a lot of interruptions. We also got to talk about our picture for the week. Noah was super excited that it was finally revealed. Monet currently has a prominent spot in our living room.
We all really like MOPs on Tuesday. Mama got a nice break, and the boys had a good time in their prospective classes. Noah learned about kindness and encouragement through the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? We are trying to use the same language that he'll be using from the book at home too. This theme will also be reinforced next week since he'll get the same lesson at MOPs again. (Normally, he'd only go every other week, but Mama is a children's leader on the opposite weeks so he gets to go every week.) He made a cute bucket craft to remind him to fill other people's buckets with kind words and actions.
Wednesday we stayed home, and it was hard. We had a melt-down over mama not letting him have one of his favorite snacks. Thankfully, we did manage to get our painting done. It turned out really well.
Preschool was on Thursday. Noah seems to like it a lot, but I feel like I'm missing out on this one part of his life. He doesn't talk enough for me to get a good idea of what he is doing in school. I do like the uninterrupted time that I get with my baby though. We do errands and have some playtime. It's really nice just to spend time with Zach since I don't usually get that time with him.
Friday we stayed home in the morning, and guess what? It was hard. There was a lot of "No, Mommy" going on and a fair bit of time-outs. I thought we had made it past the terrible twos a couple of months ago, but this is reminding me that I can't let my guard down. I'm investing for the future now! If he's not respectful today and I don't do anything about it, it's only going to get worse. We also spent a lot of time cuddling after our meltdowns, as we remember that life isn't always so difficult.
We made our pumpkin bread on Friday as well. We make these while the baby is sleeping so we don't have to be interrupted while we measure and pour and stir. It was yummy and a lot of fun to make. Thanks grandma for taking pictures of us!
Successes This Week
Monday we stayed home, and it was hard. Noah was eager to read his books, but little brother got in the way. He wanted to take whatever book we picked up to read. We got to read a few books, but not without a lot of interruptions. We also got to talk about our picture for the week. Noah was super excited that it was finally revealed. Monet currently has a prominent spot in our living room.
We all really like MOPs on Tuesday. Mama got a nice break, and the boys had a good time in their prospective classes. Noah learned about kindness and encouragement through the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? We are trying to use the same language that he'll be using from the book at home too. This theme will also be reinforced next week since he'll get the same lesson at MOPs again. (Normally, he'd only go every other week, but Mama is a children's leader on the opposite weeks so he gets to go every week.) He made a cute bucket craft to remind him to fill other people's buckets with kind words and actions.
Wednesday we stayed home, and it was hard. We had a melt-down over mama not letting him have one of his favorite snacks. Thankfully, we did manage to get our painting done. It turned out really well.
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| Zach got into the action too. |
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| Finished Product |
Preschool was on Thursday. Noah seems to like it a lot, but I feel like I'm missing out on this one part of his life. He doesn't talk enough for me to get a good idea of what he is doing in school. I do like the uninterrupted time that I get with my baby though. We do errands and have some playtime. It's really nice just to spend time with Zach since I don't usually get that time with him.
Friday we stayed home in the morning, and guess what? It was hard. There was a lot of "No, Mommy" going on and a fair bit of time-outs. I thought we had made it past the terrible twos a couple of months ago, but this is reminding me that I can't let my guard down. I'm investing for the future now! If he's not respectful today and I don't do anything about it, it's only going to get worse. We also spent a lot of time cuddling after our meltdowns, as we remember that life isn't always so difficult.
We made our pumpkin bread on Friday as well. We make these while the baby is sleeping so we don't have to be interrupted while we measure and pour and stir. It was yummy and a lot of fun to make. Thanks grandma for taking pictures of us!
Successes This Week
- Redeeming our breakfast time for morning devotions. We started reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible, and Noah really likes it. We then end our time by doing our Bible verse, "Trust in the Lord." Noah has this down now, so I think we are going to add more of Proverbs 3:5 each week until we have it all memorized by the end of the month. After we say our verse, we listen to the Trust in the Lord song from our Scripture Lullabies CD.
- Noah is loving listening to Mozart. The audio book feel of the Classical Kids CDs works really well for him even though he has no pictures to look at. He listens so intently, and he is enjoying them in the morning during play time and during his quiet time.
- Accidentally discovered a great DVD on Monet in the children's section of the library. It's based off the book series Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists and it is really good. I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, it looks like you can't get the DVDs on Amazon, but the books look just as good. Noah made the connection between what he saw on the DVD with the books and the art print that we are displaying. It's fun to see him get excited about his own recognition.
What Could Have Gone Better
- Potty Training (any suggestions, anyone?). I have no idea how to make/let this happen except for the constant reminding and encouraging him to sit. Very frustrating. It was going better a couple of weeks ago, but we've seem to regress.
What I Learned
- We need to get out more. We didn't spend enough time outside this week which might have helped with our meltdowns. I also don't know how much more time we are going to have to get out before the weather changes.
- I like field trips.
I'm noticing that I haven't made a lot of my changes from the "What Could Have Gone Better" and the "What I Learned" sections from previous weeks. Part of this is waiting for books that I want to look at and/or finding the time to look at them. Hopefully, I'll be able to make these changes soon. Until then, have a nice weekend!
Hmm, I find the exact opposite. If I'm out and about, running around the kids need major home time to regroup and be able to play w/out stimulation (entertainment). I purposefully stay home at least 3 days a week, two in consistency (weekends are impossible to do this). So that their able to play and slow down to concentrate - and obey! :) Some days are all about obedience and training...
ReplyDeleteHow old is Noah? 3? Gid was my easiest to potty train (I don't say that to torment you:), but he was beyond ready and begging to go in the potty. I didn't use treats or books, etc (but every training story is different) - Georgi was hard b/c I did start her too early and there was regression.
Do you have "special" items he can only look/play with while he's on the potty? That may help. Or a tape he can listen to - only on the potty.
Hi Alisha,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a stay at home mom with 2 kids 12 months apart, we went out ALL the time. It was the best thing for all of us. I joined a gym that included 2 hours of child care per day. Sometimes I would exercise but alot of times I would read by the pool or sit in the hot tub. It was like preschool except MUCH MUCH cheaper. We also attended MOPS weekly, BSF weekly and church weekly. And during the summer, we went to every VBS offered. Once we did 6 of them in a row. My kids were always busy and it made them very social and unafraid of new places and things. It also made them very ready for kindergarten. Now they are in high school and I realize how fast time does fly. But when they were little, it dragged sometimes. I know you are enjoying your kids and that is the best advice I can give you. Also, spend time with them individually now and as they grow older as you can. It makes a difference.
I know you are homeschooling so it's a little different but I definitely needed the time away from home ALOT.
As far as potty training, I gave up and the kids did it on their own when they were ready. They were in diapers longer than probably average (they were both around 3 1/2) but I just didn't have the energy or patience to deal with it and it eventually happened when I stopped stressing about it.
I enjoy reading all your blogs. We look forward to seeing you at your parent's house at Christmas.
Love,
Aunt Peggy
I think part of the "problem" with staying at home is the age of my kids. Zach is at the age where all he wants to do is play with whatever Noah is playing with, and our house is small so it's hard to separate them. I'm trying to work with Zach on this now, but at 13 months old, it's a bit of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI think that Noah needs more structure at home. When we are away, the day is broken up more so he seems to do better. I'm going to try to structure our mornings more, and hope that Zach will let this happen. I think it will be better for our whole family.
I definitely think that staying at home as much as possible is a good thing. Of course, mama needs some "Me" time, but usually I can catch up on this after the kids are asleep.