Smart Habit… ahem….
Ok so maybe my ‘smart habit’ for this week should be to actually manage to blog about it on Saturday instead of Sunday….or maybe to try to manage it every week like I had planned when I started only two weeks ago… hmmm I think I might suck at the ‘habit’ part just a little. But anyway…. the important part is that I am trying right?
So my Smart Habit Saturday.. ahem.. Sunday post for this week is about my girls. My new habit is to work on is spending time with them, really spending time with them, happy, focused doing stuff time, every day. This might not sound like it is going to contribute to the overall goal of an organized house but I think it will.
If you’ve read my blog this week you’ve read about the ‘destructo twins’ going through yet another bad patch of ‘twinado–ness‘. The past two weeks have just gotten beyond ridiculous with them trashing the house, their toys and generally doing everything we ask them not to do five seconds after they have agreed that they won’t do it. We even went and put high up latches on the bedroom doors to stop them getting in and creating havoc in their room and ours… great idea… but really we should have known that five minutes later Izzy would discover that if she put a small chair on the big chair she can climb up high enough to open them!
So while we are still working on twinado proofing our house (getting rid of the curtains that are just oh so tempting to swing on, finding a way to really keep them out of our bedroom, getting rid of extra ‘stuff’ to stop the junk piling up….etc etc) and while we are still trying to talk with them about how things are special and precious and should be looked after… I think the answer really lies with time and attention.
Life is busy. We have a new baby who, while the girls adore him, also takes up LARGE chunks of my time and their space. I am trying to get on top of a hundred design projects at once, as well as the usual ins and outs of a general week…. and I wonder if in all the rush of stuff the girls are feeling a little ‘left behind’. I’ve tried to make sure they still do the same things we’ve always done.. story time at the library, going out with friends etc etc… but I am now wondering if what they are craving is as simple as spending some time doing fun stuff with me. I wonder if this destructive patch is as much about needing my attention as it is about not understanding how to look after things….
Arggh I hate to admit all that because as a preschool teacher this is stuff I should know. If it was anyone else’s family I would have been politely pointing this out about five blog posts ago (and I know I have done so of recent to friends in similar situations which makes it even worse!)… but it has taken this long and a not so subtle shove from my mother to make me see what is right under my nose! I feel like becoming a parent as made me loose all creditability as a preschool teacher and/or child development expert (expert is so not the right word as I never claimed to be an expert even when I thought I had a handle on this stuff when it came to other people’s kids before i had my own.. but bah… you get what I mean!)… I am such a hypocrite!
But anyway I am getting off topic now… my smart habits for this week…
1) cook with the girls at least once this week
2) push them on the swings at least twice this week (weather permitting if it is not good weather play the shopping game with them twice)
3) involve them in planting more seeds
4) get involved with their imaginative play and help them make a shop or hospital or fairy park
5) be the audience to their show at least twice this week.. with enthusiasm and good grace!
And um yeah… lets not look back at my last smart habit to see how I am doing.. still working on the mountain of laundry. Instead go check out the lazy organiser’s blog for inspiration!
Just reading this post is making me tired :) !! If it counts for anything, I think you are doing a wonderful job. After all, you have acknowledged the fact that you want to slow down and spend more time with your children. That was my habit several months ago and I am still working on it :) !!
Good luck!
Tues is meant to be nice so I hope the weather forecast knows I am holding it to its word;)
Yk, your blog is sooooo wonderful to me! It’s like looking in a mirror, but being able to do so without such a critical eye! I can see your stories of woe about your girls, and your feeling of hypocracy over being a “child development expert” but not knowing how to manage your own kids, and say, “Hey, give yourself a break, you’re doing a MARVELLOUS job!”, when I would be kicking myself for EXACTLY the same reasons (and have done over so many years now!)…
Rofl, only difference is, I have claimed to be a child development expert (well, professional) when handing out my own advice – I need a bit more of your humility, I think!
Gosh, can I say, from a few years into your future. There isn’t going to be much you can do to stop the girls from trashing the house, well not anything that lasts long. However, going through to process of trying to find ways to prevent the chaos does give some sense of satisfaction (because at least you’re trying!) that staves of total foetal-position-in-a-corner madness…
And they DO grow out of it! Well, sort of ;).
I think your girls are just crying for attention by doing all those things you talked about…so I think your goal this week will be a good one. Have you thought of putting them to work? I know that sounds bad, but even the smallest of children can learn chores. The trick is to make it fun, right? Like musical chairs, how about seeing how much they can clean up til you shut off the music, or various things like that. Have them “work” along side you… to them it will be like playing with you, and so they will have fun, and you will get your work done.
Most of all, I want to say, ENJOY your children…. trust me, they are miracles and all this “twinadoe” stuff …in the long run it won’t matter.
I have a 3 yo boy who is a a high pressure system all by himself. I can’t imagine two at the same time. I know mines behavior is directly related to the time I spend with him.
Great habit.
Have a SMART week.
And who cares that it’s Sunday. :-)
i hope the extra time with your girls helps out! i am impressed with your ability to stay sane enough to handle how much you have going on. keep up the good work and enjoy the kids even when they are swinging from the curtains…they grow up so fast! have a great week
Yeah, their behaviour screams attention, and I only say that because I’m in the same position! I’ve made an effort to make time, and it is hard with a newborn, but I do see the rewards, it’s just impossible to pay them attention all the time, so you roll with the punches…