The things children say...

I am often amazed when I am "busy" at the things my kids say to each other. Lately, my favorite time is when the boys are in the car together without Grace...their conversation is priceless. I picked the 2 of them up one day last week and once we were all settled Drew pulled out his uneaten snack from his schoolbag. "We had a birthday party mommy so I didn't eat my goldfish..." Thus begins the conversation between Drew and Zach..."Drewboo (Zach's pet name for Drew and mine too...)you not eat your goldfish today?" "No Zach, we had a birthday today so we had a special snack." "Oh, Drewboo have special snack today???" "Yes, Zach...it was a special cookie." "Oh, Zachie (what Zach calls himself) likes cookies." "It was good but now we can share my goldfish." "We eat Drewboo's goldfish in the car?" "Yes Zach, I will share with you." This continued on the entire ride home. Drew indeed shared his goldfish and they chatted with one another until we got home. It is not always this pleasant, especially in the car but on this particular day it was.

On the other hand, I also hear my kids talking to one another in ways I would prefer them not to. Occasionally, Grace will speak to the boys as if she is their mother and she is mimicking me. She has never said anything inappropriate, but sometimes her tone is not how I would prefer. I realize that she takes in all that I say and how I say things so it is mine and Tim's job to model the way we want our children to act. This task scares me as I am often not who I want my kids to become. I try hard but I often fail. The other day Drew was being utterly ridiculous about something and I said "that is just plain stupid" and there was a hush amongst the kids and they all began to tell me stupid is a bad word. They are learning but I hope to lead them by example, not just by telling them how they should act, what they should say, etc.

Potty Training Woes?

I feel so dumb even posting this on here...I have potty trained 2 kids and surely have it figured out enough to potty the train the third, right? Maybe not in time for him to go to 2 year old preschool on Wednesday though....have I mentioned that I am a mom that enjoys some time ALL ALONE???

Zachary Thomas...my third born child and baby. He came into our life as a big surprise and has ended up being a huge blessing to our family. I had a complete hysterectomy 7 months after he was born and considered him a sweet gift before I ended years of pain. Knowing he is the last has made me baby him A LOT longer than I babied the other 2. 3 days before Grace turned 2 she was a big sister to Drew and 19 months after Drew was born he was a big brother to Zach. I ran out of time to baby the other 2. All this makes some milestones difficult to accomplish with Zach. He still sleeps in a crib...and pretty much refuses his new bed in his new room with his older brother. He still has a paci and I make no apologies for that. He demands a lot and I often give in to him so that I can be effective with G & D.

He flat out refuses the whole potty deal. I am totally cool with this fact...I didn't potty train Drew until right around the time he turned 3 and it was a painless quick process. But, the school the boys are going this year - requires kids to be potty trained...even the 2 year olds!!!! I am frustrated that I missed this minor detail when I enrolled him ( a detail that is published NOWHERE) but am trying desperately to determine how to proceed. A friend suggessted a book that promises to potty train in one day...hmmm....not sure that is humanly possible for us. At any rate, I want to be a good mom to Zach. I need to buck up and break bad habits that I and I alone have established with him. He needs school...he needs someone other than me in his life and I am trying real hard to make this work. So, I am soliciting advice from anyone that might have some ideas. Shoot me an email if you have any ideas! :-)