It's no secret I have no problem making Ford earn his keep. I've been putting him to work since he could walk. :)
I'm a big believer in teaching our son how to do things for himself and letting him try things that may seem too big for him. I want him to aim high and know he can achieve greatness....even as a pint size tot. I hope this lesson will stick with him so that he always believes in himself, thinks for himself, tries new things that may seem challenging, and always reaches for the stars.
Admittedly, sometimes this blows up in my face. Encouraging Ford's independence sometimes backfires when we try to help him with something that he wants to do himself. We have a lot of meltdowns in our house over silly things (like mommy putting grapes on his plate instead of letting him eat them from the bag off the stem), but I guess that's the roller coaster of a 2-year-old. It's a toddler's world and we're just living in it.
And then there are the times when I see him doing "big boy" things and I feel like we're doing something right. As frustrated as I get when he's throwing a fit or pushing the boundaries of the rules to test us, I feel just as much pride (and relief) when he demonstrates responsibility, eagerness, empathy, and yes, even that willful independence.
Cleaning with mommy
Walking the dog
More cleaning. Ok, this looks like a mess — he liked lining up the coins in a row and at one point had them stretched across our bedroom — but he cleaned it up by himself when he was done and put all the coins back in the "treasure box." And, while he was "organizing Daddy's money," I got to clean the bathrooms uninterrupted. Win-win! ;)
Testing out his big boy bed. He was SUPER excited!
First night in his bed....
...and it was a success! He loves his bed!
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Unknown
It's no secret I have no problem making Ford earn his keep. I've been putting him to work since he could walk. :)
I'm a big believer in teaching our son how to do things for himself and letting him try things that may seem too big for him. I want him to aim high and know he can achieve greatness....even as a pint size tot. I hope this lesson will stick with him so that he always believes in himself, thinks for himself, tries new things that may seem challenging, and always reaches for the stars.
Admittedly, sometimes this blows up in my face. Encouraging Ford's independence sometimes backfires when we try to help him with something that he wants to do himself. We have a lot of meltdowns in our house over silly things (like mommy putting grapes on his plate instead of letting him eat them from the bag off the stem), but I guess that's the roller coaster of a 2-year-old. It's a toddler's world and we're just living in it.
And then there are the times when I see him doing "big boy" things and I feel like we're doing something right. As frustrated as I get when he's throwing a fit or pushing the boundaries of the rules to test us, I feel just as much pride (and relief) when he demonstrates responsibility, eagerness, empathy, and yes, even that willful independence.
Cleaning with mommy
Walking the dog
More cleaning. Ok, this looks like a mess — he liked lining up the coins in a row and at one point had them stretched across our bedroom — but he cleaned it up by himself when he was done and put all the coins back in the "treasure box." And, while he was "organizing Daddy's money," I got to clean the bathrooms uninterrupted. Win-win! ;)
Testing out his big boy bed. He was SUPER excited!
First night in his bed....
...and it was a success! He loves his bed!
