Maybe Matilda: Everything isn’t awesome, but these things are.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Everything isn’t awesome, but these things are.

I could go on for days and days about all the things driving me nuts at any given moment.

Right now, for instance? If you were to ask, I’d warm up by whining about the 3 light bulbs that are currently burned out in our house that I’m hoping Jeff will notice and replace because I don’t wanna.

Then I’d move along to complaining about Forrest’s habit of insisting he has cleaned his room when really all he’s done is put away the toys he likes best and left the rest of the room looking like an explosion has taken place.

I think I’d wrap it up with either Darcy’s deep desire to catapult herself down the stairs, or maybe her desperation to walk but inability to do so that results in her insisting on being baby-stepped everywhere she needs to go, or quite possibly I’d tell you about her swiftly vanishing morning naps (noooooo!!!) and how very, very sad I am at the prospect of losing those morning naps.

But I doubt anyone wants to hear about all that. (Although, if you do, I have plenty of material.)

In a conscious effort to be more positive, though (something that does not come naturally to me, shockingly!!), read on for some awesome things about the kids right now.

www.maybematilda.com

Awesome thing #1: This photo was totally staged, but even so, these two really are fond of each other (most of the time), and I think that is wonderful. Getting a kiss from Darcy is like pulling teeth unless the person requesting kisses is Forrest. If he asks for some loving, she is happy to oblige. Seeing them love each other is just beautiful.

Awesome thing #2: Darcy will eat anything, and so much of it. After years of dealing with Forrest’s picky eating, this is a relief that can’t be overstated. Girlfriend loves almost every food she’s ever tasted, and has a great appetite. I’ve never had to worry if she’s eating enough, or if she’s going to bed hungry, or if there’s enough variety in her diet. She loves it all, and gobbles down every meal. And it’s awesome, especially compared with her brother who usually makes dinner a chore.

Awesome thing #3: I know he’s being manipulative, but it’s in the very cutest possible way: Forrest has learned exactly what requests will get him extra time and attention before bed. The winning questions are “Will you read me a book?”, “Will you give me 5 more minutes of snuggles?”, and “Can I tell you the best part of my day?” We both know he’s just trying to weasel a few more minutes out of the bedtime routine, but I don’t even care. Those questions are darling, and I know the days are numbered that he will want to snuggle and chat with me before bed, so I’m usually okay with giving him those few more minutes before he falls asleep.

www.maybematilda.com

Awesome thing #4: Darcy has a longstanding love affair with the little bear in the picture above, and it’s just the cutest relationship ever. I recently bought an identical bear to keep as a backup, and the couple of minutes she spent snuggling the twin bears simultaneously before I put one away for safekeeping were probably the happiest minutes of her life. Seeing her cuddle the bear against her cheek—and selflessly offer it to me for snuggles, too—is just precious.

Awesome thing #5: Forrest has always been an early riser, and if we didn’t stop him, he’d be up and busy by 5:30 every morning. Not cool. We put a clock in his room and taught him that he couldn’t leave his room until 6:00—it took a few weeks for this to sink in, but now he is very good about not coming out before 6 (and if he wakes up before 6, which I suspect he does, he just plays or ‘reads’ books in his room).

But still, 6 AM is kinda early for me. I can already hear the supermothers gearing up for a marathon nag sesh after I reveal this nugget of A+ parenting, but this is how we roll around here: Forrest leaves his room at 6, goes downstairs by himself, and plays with the iPad by himself until I get up around 7. That extra hour of sleep he lets me sneak in while he entertains himself0 is pretty awesome.

I’d love to hear what’s awesome at your house right now, too.

24 comments :

  1. no supermom here, my kids have started waking up at 7 and it is making me very sad-up until about 2 weeks ago I was getting to sleep in til 7:30/8 every morning. It was fantastic, and I miss the good old days.

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  2. 5:30 or 6?! Poor you. My kids always have to drag me out of bed (at a more reasonable hour of 7:30) on some occasions they'll play quietly by themselves or watch the iPad downstairs while I get an extra hour in and its like heaven. What did parents do before iPads were invented?!

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  3. Oh dear heavens, anything before 7 am is unholy! We've been blessed with a tot that sleeps til 7 (at least--though he doesn't go to bed til 8:30) and I couldn't be more grateful. I'm just glad that you've found a situation that allows your child to be safe and happy while you get more sleep! Way to go!

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  4. No super-parenting here! You sound so much like me when I was younger, it's not even funny. When my oldest (now 18) was 4 years old, he had this little stuffed "Winnie The Pooh" chair in our bedroom. I would put some Cheerios in a Tupperware bowl, a sippy of milk in the frig. He'd come into my room in the morning, after he'd gone to the kitchen and grabbed his Cheerios and milk and he'd sit in his Pooh chair and watch "Rugrats" for 30 minutes until I got up. LOL! ;)

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  5. Oh man, 6 am is soooo early. I've been trying hard to get up at 7:30 to get our day going, but both my girls have been sleeping until 8-9. I know that's crazy!!! I don't know why they both sleep so late, but I kinda love it.

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  6. 7:30-8 is awesome! Forrest has never been a late sleeper, sadly.

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  7. I honestly don't know. Every once in a while I'll hear a grandparent say something about all that darned technology and how they didn't rely on that when they were raising their kids the good old-fashioned way, and I'm like, ok true, but if it had existed, trust me, you would have DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN over iPads for your kids.

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  8. That is awesome! When Forrest was really little, I remember a friend telling me that she would prep breakfast for her kids and leave it on the bottom shelf of the fridge for them, and leave the TV set to a station with cartoons, and her kids knew to get up and get their breakfasts out of the fridge and turn on the TV until mom got up an hour later. I thought she must be some kind of genius :-P

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  9. That is amazing! I've wondered if I could squeeze some extra time out of him in the morning if I put him to bed later, but by the end of the day, I'm 100% ready to put him to bed at 7:00 and can't wait a minute longer. So 6 AM it is :-P

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  10. They always do that, don't they?! So inconsiderate. ;-)

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  11. Ugh, early mornings are no joke. I'm not a morning person and though I wish I was the mom who was up and ready before Henry gets up, it ain't happening.


    Oh, and the first day we got to Phoenix, I warmed my parents that he would probably be up really early (since it's one hour earlier here than home). He slept until 9:30 the next morning. I was actually annoyed - why can he never do that for his mother at home?

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  12. 6 in the morning is a beast, but you just wait until he starts to get up early for school, than he will appreciate sleeping in a whole lot more. My son (now 13) used to be an early riser, even on the weekend, but as soon as he turned 13 something clicked, and bam, he now sleeps until 10:30. We now get annoyed at having to wait to go out because the kids want to sleep late, figures!

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  13. Harper is our early riser and well she can not be trusted to entertain herself so if she gets up extra early I let her snuggle with me. Wil stays in bed until he is told he can get up (other than potty trips). Thankfully both kiddos have been sleeping until 7ish recently but I know good and well that could change any day haha. I feel you on the naps Harper is attempting to give up her only nap... and she isn't the type to lay quietly or play in her bed (since they aren't supposed to get up) like her brother, oh no she sits & fake cries & talks "mama! Up peease"

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  14. And at that point, mom and dad probably have a hard time sleeping in, right? I remember my parents always being up by 5 or 6, even on weekends. Nuts.

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  15. It just seems to me like no matter what else kids do, they should HAVE to nap. No questions asked, and no outgrowing it. It just doesn't seem fair to have to spend every waking moment taking care of them, right?

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  16. One awesome thing in our house my little Buddy Guy who is 4 is looking forward to "love day". He was making homemade Valentine's with his Sissy age 6 and told her that he was going to give it to one of her friend's. Sissy was mortified and said that's my friend go get your own(girls are so nice). So he thought hard and made this cute little card. He crumpled up tissue paper into tiny bits of tissue and glued them into a shape of a heart. Made this Momma crafter proud! He is going to give this card to a cute little girl that lives down the street his age. Hopefully you will get a break when your son gets into his teenager sleep all the time phase. Or else I think that happens? Even then that's a ways off.

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  17. Change the clock in his room gradually to buy yourself more time. It still says 6 for him, but it's really 6:30 or closer to 7 for you!

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  18. That is so wonderful! I love seeing Forrest getting excited about holidays. He has never really noticed or cared much about it in the past but he's finally getting old enough to know what's going on. It's so fun. Your son sounds like such a sweetheart!

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  19. Oh my goodness I feel like such an idiot...I thought the add a pic option went into the little thumbnail when it asked to add a picture. I wasn't expecting a giant size pic of myself! And I can't figure out how to delete it! How embarrassing!

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  20. Haha! Hey, I don't mind--now I have a face to put to the name! :-) I can delete it if you'd like, but I think it will probably delete your comment, too.

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  21. This weekend I convinced G to hold M's hand and my heart nearly exploded. He grabs her little hand and walks her around the house. It's adorable. Of course, at times he's mostly dragging her… or at least trying to when she trips.

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