Mr. Perfect got me SICK! Grr! I strongly dislike being sick. I'm not really sure he got me sick OR if allergies have started to kick in... but all I know is my nose is a drippy faucet. GROSS! And my throat hurts and I have a dry painful cough. The littlest princess was having a rough go of it this morning (aka: GAS), and wasn't her usually angelic late morning sleeper. Mr. Perfect got up and rocked her and got her back to sleep, but guess who CAN'T sleep after being woken up? Yup. Me. And with the drippy nose, there wasn't a chance I'd get back to sleep. Today is going to be a long day with Mr. Perfect out of the house early (I should probably go wake him.) and me trying to get the kids ready and out of the house without messing anything up, making sure all beds are made and then trying to make the kids behave at Mom's house!
The good thing is, I don't have to make lunch or dinner. We'll be with Mom. She's got projects around her house that she'd like to tackle. I should probably help with that! I just hope I feel better before heading over there. Little Man usually naps very well at her house, so that will give me a bit of a break. Little Miss Princess Pants should be helpful. She's earning allowance now, so she likes to be put to work doing "extra jobs" (more about this in a moment). And the littlest royal princess, well she's almost always a good little girl, especially at her Gammy's house!
OK, so Little Princess is earning allowance now. She doesn't earn allowance for everyday expected jobs, ie: Making her bed (which I must brag here, she does nearly EVERY morning on her own without any help or prompting!!! that's my girl!!!), picking up her messes, brushing teeth, etc. She earns her allowance by going above and beyond expectations. She offers to feed the beasts (er... cats), she helps pick up messes her brother makes, she helps with the preparation of dinner, she takes diapers to the trash. These sorts of chores are extra helpful, but not expected of her, so when she offers to do them at least a few times during the week (we are trying to work up to at least 1 extra job a day), she earns $1.00 on Saturday nights, to put in her piggy bank. She gets the money in change, and is to set aside $.10 to give to church or a charity of her choice (as her tithe), for God's work to be done. Now, she can have allowance revoked in instances of disobedience and bad decision making. (Our attempt at accountability and consequences for behaviors.) She had her first week revoked. I felt so badly about it, but the lesson was needed. This past weekend, she earned her money, but hasn't received it yet because we weren't home. Yesterday she did TWO extra jobs for Mommy! She will probably earn her money again this week. She's being more obedient this week and her ears seem to be in better working order! I love how she grasps this concept already. Mr. Perfect and I have told her, once her piggy bank is full, we will count out the money and deposit it in her savings account at the bank. She's VERY excited about that. Then she will get to start all over again with filling up her piggy bank! I'm excited that she's enjoying this, and I hope it will instill in her a desire to help. She not only gets allowance, but lots of praise for the extra jobs. I make sure to tell her how much she has helped Mommy and how much I dearly appreciate her help. She is one who loves acceptance (much like her mother). She's constantly asking for reassurance. "Does my hair look pretty?" "I love you, Mommy. Do you love me?" "Did I do this right?" Sometimes I think she's a little lacking on the self esteem which she'd come by naturally as her mommy is the same way. I'm trying to build her up. I, myself, need to work on my "temper temper," because I think that feeds into her insecurity. I dare say, it's improved in recent weeks. It's one of those everyday things where I have to make an effort to remember not to lose my temper because little children listen to everything and mimic everything. When I see Little Princess imitating an action that I know she got from me, I tell her it isn't the best way to handle a situation, and I give her an alternative, and then I tell her, Mommy should do this, too! So that she knows that Mommy is trying to do the right thing, too, and that everyone has to work on being good and handling situations appropriately. She's quite a sponge, so I'm hoping all of these little lessons are soaking in.
I'll end my bloggy post today with a story about my girl. We were laying on my bed one afternoon last week and she says to me, "Mommy, Josh isn't very nice to me!" To which, my reply was, "Why not?" She answered back, "I don't know, Mommy, but I don't like it." Now, Josh is her "boyfriend" and they are going to get "married" one day. So, I said to her, "Honey, if he doesn't treat you like a princess, then you don't want to marry him." Her response was, "Oh, Mommy, I can't find a boy that will treat me like a princess! What am I going to do!?!" The look on her face was priceless and I stifled a giggle, and put my hand on her knee reassuringly and said, "You've got quite a while to find the right one!" She still seemed a little sad, but she hugged me anyway. I truly believe in what I have been telling her. Don't settle for someone who doesn't treat you like a princess! Don't settle for someone who bullies you. Don't settle for someone who doesn't respect you. Don't settle for someone who doesn't love your family (because they are a part of you, no matter how much they annoy you, and it just works better if everyone gets along). Don't settle for someone who won't let you be yourself. Don't settle for someone who doesn't now how to love. Don't settle for someone that doesn't share your faith. My words to her are "Find someone who treats you like a princess. Find someone who treats you like Daddy treats Mommy!" I hope those words will always ring true to her, and that she will always seek someone who loves the Lord like her Daddy does, and someone that respects and honors her the way her Daddy respects and honors me. I love that she's already learning to use her filters. I love that she's already seeking out genuine friendships and that she's not settling for being treated poorly. If I can only keep these little seeds growing in her, I have a feeling she will grow into a young woman who respects herself and will seek God's will in her life. She's so amazing, already. NOW, if I could get her to respect her parents a little more and tone down that 4 year old know it all attitude! ;)
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3 comments:
Sorry to hear you are sick, Li. ((hugs))!!
I know it's hard to do, but try not to say negative things to yourself. I think that's the biggest thing children pick up -- what we say to ourselves and other people. It's their foundation for life! I try to be very conscious of this just because I've seen it first hand and I've been that child hearing negativity. I know it's hard . . . I'm not the most positive person most of the time . . . but I try really hard at keeping it all in my head or only saying things to Neil when the kids aren't around. I try to give a lot of positive reinforcement. I tell them (even Noah) how pretty they are all the time. I think it really helps all of us! I just hate the thought of my kids having low self-esteem because it's just so not good. To me it's one of the worst things children can obtain because it sets them up for a lot of disappointments in life and then it spirals. Sorry for getting up on a soapbox. This is just one of the things I try really hard at as a mommy. But I know I lack in a gizillion other things that I need to work on. I just know how I was growing up because of what I witnessed and I don't want my kids feeling that way.
I think allowance is a great idea and we just talked last week about doing that. It's never too early to learn money management and it can establish so many other values as well. Yay you guys!
Oh girl, I'm SO with you on the negative comments thing. I have to remind my brother and mother to stop obsessing about their weight in front of my kids. Maegan has started asking my mother, "Do I look like I've lost weight?" It makes me so angry! My brother asks us that question every time he sees us... and I'm about ready to stuff a sock in his mouth, because it isn't healthy for a 4 year old to worry about her weight. Her activity level, yes, let's concentrate on that, but NOT on weight! I feel for his little girl, he says "Don't give her bread, don't give her cookies, that will make her fat, I don't want my daughter to be fat!" O M G, she's not even 2! Sadly enough, our girls come from families of big women... chances are she'll be heavier than girls her age, but as long as she's not obese and is healthy and active she'll be fine. He's totally focusing on the wrong thing, and my little ones are picking up on it! :(
Hey,
Please do bring the kids Monday, Hannah can't wait to play with the "babies". We are supercasual!
Can you give me your email? My is
rebeccainric@gmail.com
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