The Hardest Thing About Parenting This Week

Being that Laney is 16 months and three weeks old this week, AND being that I just started a temporary long-term sub position until the beginning of June, I'm finding it difficult to keep fresh goods in the house, so as to prepare nutritious meals for Laney, as well as for my husband and myself. I'm talking more on the lines of steaming my carrots, making my yogurt and soon making my own bread. Thankfully, by the time my grain comes in, I will only have two weeks left of my sub position. These things require more time in the kitchen, but are the best things I can give my family. My heart really goes out to working Moms. I've learned so much in this temp job. My ultimate plan is to plan a meal out for the whole month, making week one, match week three and week two, match week four. I have been insipired by two friends of mine, Gi and Beth. They are really good at this, and I hope to master this as well. Granted, they aren't working a part-time job at the same time, but I could be WAY more organized than I am concerning preparing food for my family.

I'm also trying to read up in my new book, "Nourishing Traditions" and just haven't found a lot of time lately. I'm in one of those "reading" moods all the time and always end the day with trying to squeeze even a page or two in while laying in bed with tooth picks holding my eye lids open. It's a recipe book, but the first sixty-five pages are packed full of unbelievable information that's vital for me to learn how to change my old habits into nutritious and life-giving habits for my family.

To put more focus on Laney, the hardest thing has been leading her well in the area of trasitioning from one thing to the next. She's at the age where she has preferences now and wants to express herself. One story comes to mind. When we are running errands or if I take her from playing outside to putting her into the car seat, she has an absolute throw down, with screaming, a stiff body and an arched back to accompany. This doesn't happen all the time, but enough for me to realize its frequent occurence. As her Mommy, I'd like to spend more time teaching her about transitioning from one thing to the next. Of course, when I see her temper tandrum, I think of how to discipline in the moment, which is necessary, but ideally I'd like to invest some time on preventative measures. As a teacher, I tell my students, "Class, you have five more minutes until clean up." I give them a head's up as to what to expect. But I have not done a good job in doing the same with Laney. To her, these transitions are so abrupt and cruel, for I immediately take her away from what she loves with no ease of transition. She's not thinking about having to be at church in fifteen minutes or not missing a flight. It sounds so logical to me, and I immediately think of how she shouldn't be responding the way she does in these moments. Granted, she should obey no matter what, but I would like to seize those teachable moments to help her obey. Am I leading her well? That's I know I need to invest more time in this area. I really want to do my best to lead her and help her understand why I'm doing what I'm doing. Being that she's almost 17 months, I think I could start some cue words to help her prepare herself to leave or "change the scenery". Usually, it's pretty much the same words I say to my classes in a transition time. If she's old enough to express that she doesn't want me to take her away from playing with the steering wheel only to be put into her car seat, then she's old enough to understand cue words.

Thanks for reading! Have a fabulous week!
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