Uuuuuuuuugh! Making myself make time for my blogs shouldn't be so difficult, should it? Especially since it's summer time! My favorite time of year...
Since I'm a teacher, I get every summer off. Let me rephrase that, since I'm a teacher, and my sweet husband is willing to teach summer school to support us, I get every summer off. I'm so blessed to have a husband who values a mother's time with her children. We can't afford for me to be a full-time stay-at-home mom, but we do our best. I work part-time during the year, then get my summers free. Summer is when I get to play stay-at-home mom. It's my favorite roll. =)
Since my last post, I've come a long way. Therapy helped. So did returning to work. It also helps that we've moved out of flu season and my kids have been well for a decent stretch of time (do me a favor and knock on wood...). I feel so much more freedom now that I'm out of the incredible grip that anxiety had on me.
So, summer. I haven't done much yet. We don't have a lot of money to spend, so my choices are limited. I'm trying, though! The kids and I have gone to the park, exercised together, had a picnic in our backyard, gone to our Japanese market (yes, this is an outing for us!), spent time with my nieces, and my kids are in summer school three days a week. That helps to keep them from getting too bored!
The challenge has been with our almost three-year-old son. He is the middle child, and is playing the part very well! He is extremely smart. That sounds good, right? It is...most of the time. The down side to intelligence at such a young age is that he knows how to test boundaries. He is able to find a loop-hole in every direction that we give him! His new summer school teachers have their hands full with him. Since my husband and I have been so caught up in his naughtiness, I feel like we've gotten too negative in our dealings with him. I believe that positive reinforcement will work better for him. We just have to try and find the positives more often which can be so difficult when he's misbehaving every time we turn around!
Here is my plan - a positive incentives chart! I know, I know. It's not original at all. BUT, I really think it could work for him. I'll try to post a picture of it once it's finished. My plan is to make spots for each behavior we see repeated from him. Every time he does something good, he'll get a sticker. So many stickers equals some kind of reward. I'll let you know how it goes...
Oh! Before I forget, here are the three things I'm proud of today:
1. I did a ballet leg workout (a short one, but it's better than nothing!)
2. I counted my calories and did relatively well. It's more about being healthier than anything else.
3. I made time to snuggle with my middle child. =)
