Day 5: Remember these words

Day 5 was interesting for me. It was simple challenge. For Easton- "Tell yourself "He's only 3 years old, and then treat him that way." For Kade- "Tell yourself "He really loves our family, and he's doing his best for us."

Let's start with the marriage challenge for the day, shall we? The timing was serendipitous (fun word, huh?). As I said in my post about Day 4, Kade was out of town last weekend umpiring a tournament in Wendover. I appreciate so much that he takes his time (and vacation days) to travel out of town to make extra money for our family. Even though being home alone for days with 2 children and no break is hard on me, I know that it's just as hard for him to leave us behind and work for 2 days straight (and I really mean STRAIGHT). I am so lucky to be married to a man whose love for sports has proved to be not just a talent and hobby, but a really big money maker for our family. Without his umpiring money, there is no way that I would be able to stay at home and raise our children. So on Saturday, while I feeling crazy and overwhelmed by single-parenting it was nice to be able to stop and say "He loves us and he's away so he can help us." It helped to renew me and remind me that this is what he does for our family, and what I can do is be home with our children and take care of our home. Sounds like a nice deal to me. Thanks, Kade, for all you do for our family. --I think he'll be really proud for me to tell you that by the end of this month he will have umpired nearly 100 games this year alone.

For E...Well...This week has been rough for us. I don't know why, but he's decided to start biting. I thought at this point, we'd have skipped the biting phase, but apparently he wants to be sure that I don't miss out on any of the joys of parenting. I've been trying a lot lately to help him recognize his feelings and tell me about them. He doesn't seem to understand that yet, but I'm going to keep trying. So in the midst of the tantrums on Saturday, I would stop him and say, "Easton, what's wrong? How are you feeling?" Now you would think that if he's having a fit, I should know how he's feeling. But, he could feel sad, mad, scared, hurt, etc. I can't help him calm down, if I don't know what he's feeling. Like I said, he doesn't get this question very well yet. So, in keeping with my challenge, I thought- How can I help him understand this or how can I help him calm down? Because he's only three, I have decided that my best tool is distraction. His attention span is very short. I have been very successful with this one. While he's rolling around, kicking, screaming, biting things, I look for a way to distract him from whatever he's feeling. Some good ways I've learned-- "Easton, what can you hear/see outside?" or when we're in public, "Easton, I spy with my little eye something...." Instead of distracting him with rewards and treats like I used to do in desperation, these little tricks are REALLY helping us. When he's calm, then I can talk to him about how he feels or what's bothering him. If it doesn't work, then I use my old sentence, "Easton, I'm feeling angry. I need to leave and take a time out." And yesterday after church, I decided to try something new. "Easton, I need to say a prayer so that I can calm down and know how to help you." Then, I do just that. I kneel down and say a prayer in front of him. I want him to see that when I need help, I turn to my Heavenly Father. I'm hoping that these little things start to make difference in his life soon and in mine, because he's getting a little out of control. Any other moms reading this-- PLEASE tell me-- HOW do you get your child to be obedient without screaming fits?