This is kind of an addendum to the earlier post about the terrific twos.
I was just reading an article from a parenting magazine and it talked about the "numbers." As in, the number of children who are diagnosed with ADHD, have an eating disorder, have a learning disability, depression, etc. It is staggering. I don't remember ever going to school with so many children with problems when I was growing up. I realize they will tell me it is because they went undiagnosed, but... really?... Was there really something to diagnose? They all mostly seemed to do fine and most of them turned out to be perfectly okay, functioning adults.
This got me thinking about another issue I have had on my mind. Why must we constantly tell our children how bad they are? If it isn't the terrible twos, then it is the even more terrible threes, or it is the pre-teen years where they will talk back and hate us, or it is the high school years where it is full of angst and depression and more hating us. It is not often you hear our children's developmental years talked about in a positive light. We all know that children hear and understand way more than we think they do, so maybe some of these problems we are experiencing is our own d*mn fault. If all they hear is how bad they are going to be and how much they are going to hate us, then it must be perfectly right and acceptable to be bad and hate your parents. I definitely got that message when I was in high school. I was supposed to be dealing with angst and depression and I heard it loud and clear. It is not the time in our lives where we are learning to take on more responsibility and fighting to form our independence as adults, but our rebellious years (with a negative connotation on rebellion).
This is why I have started the way I plan to go on. We are going through the terrific twos and can't wait for the tumbling threes, and maybe some fun filled fours.
I look forward to appreciating Ari and telling her that she is becoming an amazing person as she grows and that I can't wait to see where she is going. I make a vow to her to cherish her individuality and independence as best I can so she will grow up strong and sure of her own worth. There will be times of strife, but that is just us butting heads over an issue and not what defines our relationship any more than my butting heads with my husband defines ours.
Here's to the adventure to come!
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
So Long Crib!
Yesterday, Saturday, we got Ari's new mattress delivered. She had gone with us to pick it out and we talked about it for the last week as we prepared for its arrival. When it showed up, she was ready!
"New bed! Big kid bed!
We had also gone to buy sheets together and she had picked out her own sheets. The sheets were actually a bit of a challenge because you see, Ari has a queen bed. Now before you say, are they crazy? Here's what happened. We wanted to buy Ari a full mattress, no box spring, and just lay it on the floor. We figure the closer to the ground you are, the less pain there is when you fall out. Also, we wanted a full because we wanted enough room on the bed for one of us to be able to sleep with her if she gets sick or she isn't sleeping well and we need to stay with her trying to get her back to sleep, and oops, we fall asleep too. Much nicer than falling asleep in the rocking chair. We figured, the full bed will also last her a long time and she can have sleepovers with it. Anyway, we are at the mattress store and they are having this special sale on the mattress that she/we liked. The deal was that it was the same price no matter what size you chose. Now... a king bed would definitely not fit into her room and would be silly, but between a full and a queen, we might as well get the bigger one for the same price! :) More fools us. They don't really sell toddler friendly sheets in the queen size.
So here we are walking down the aisle at Target (after failing miserably in Walmart) and it is Dora.. nope... Nemo... nope... Cars... nope... Fairies... nope... We finally give up on the toddler aisle and go around the corner and hallelujah! They have pre-teen sheets that are all these vibrant beautiful colors and they came in queen! So.. Ari chose a quilt that has all the bright rainbow stripes across it with a matching light blue sheet. It looks so cute and now I don't have to worry about her outgrowing a particular character. :)
She has been doing great! Her first nap, of course, she had to test the fact that she could actually get out of her bed alone, and it didn't help any that she needed to poop. As soon as we got all cleaned up, though, she went right to sleep and slept like normal. For bed time, she didn't even try to get out. She just went right to sleep. Overnight, because she has a mild cold, she was awake for 1 1/2 hours and it was heaven to be able to just lay down next to her instead of holding her rocking her in the chair. Today, again, for nap time, she went right to sleep and for bed, she needed a second visit, but otherwise, was out like a light. We have had our first falling out incident which wasn't so good and I have since moved the offending thing I didn't think she would be able to roll out into away from where it was that she rolled into it. LOL She just had to find the one spot that was going to hurt if she rolled out there.
A couple of notes for those thinking to move from the crib about why I think it went smoothly for us. 1) We have been watching this DVD called Potty Power. In the first segment they play a game called Baby or Big Kid. They proceed to show pictures and ask questions like, "Who can build a tower by themselves? Baby or Big Kid?" So... one of the questions is, "Who sleeps in a crib? Baby or Big Kid?" :) 2) We were thinking to get a new bed frame because ours was one of those with it standing off the ground, then box springs, then a big mattress and even I had to climb into bed instead of just get into it. Anyway, with Ari being able to get out of her bed, we wanted her to be able to get into ours by herself. So... we were originally just thinking to dump the box springs and get a low platform bed but keep the mattress. A long story short, we ended up changing the mattress and haven't gotten the platform bed yet. On the same day that Ari got her new mattress, mommy and daddy got their new mattress. Ours is of course, sitting on the ground like hers. I think that it made it easier for her because we were all going through it together. She was just as excited about being able to get into ours easily as she was by hers. I'm not saying everyone she get a new bed when their children do, but if you think you will be in the market in the next few months for a new bed, then it might be worth moving your schedule up and doing it together. :)
Anyway, my big girl is growing up and it is so wonderful to see! I just hope I don't have to try out her bed again tonight for 1 1/2 hours! :)
P.S. I know my site is kind of boring with no added pictures to posts yet, but I am having trouble locating my chords for my digital camera and so the camera is out of battery and even if it wasn't, I can't pull the pictures off of it. *sigh* As soon as I find those, there will be accompanying photos to go along with many of these posts. :)
"New bed! Big kid bed!
We had also gone to buy sheets together and she had picked out her own sheets. The sheets were actually a bit of a challenge because you see, Ari has a queen bed. Now before you say, are they crazy? Here's what happened. We wanted to buy Ari a full mattress, no box spring, and just lay it on the floor. We figure the closer to the ground you are, the less pain there is when you fall out. Also, we wanted a full because we wanted enough room on the bed for one of us to be able to sleep with her if she gets sick or she isn't sleeping well and we need to stay with her trying to get her back to sleep, and oops, we fall asleep too. Much nicer than falling asleep in the rocking chair. We figured, the full bed will also last her a long time and she can have sleepovers with it. Anyway, we are at the mattress store and they are having this special sale on the mattress that she/we liked. The deal was that it was the same price no matter what size you chose. Now... a king bed would definitely not fit into her room and would be silly, but between a full and a queen, we might as well get the bigger one for the same price! :) More fools us. They don't really sell toddler friendly sheets in the queen size.
So here we are walking down the aisle at Target (after failing miserably in Walmart) and it is Dora.. nope... Nemo... nope... Cars... nope... Fairies... nope... We finally give up on the toddler aisle and go around the corner and hallelujah! They have pre-teen sheets that are all these vibrant beautiful colors and they came in queen! So.. Ari chose a quilt that has all the bright rainbow stripes across it with a matching light blue sheet. It looks so cute and now I don't have to worry about her outgrowing a particular character. :)
She has been doing great! Her first nap, of course, she had to test the fact that she could actually get out of her bed alone, and it didn't help any that she needed to poop. As soon as we got all cleaned up, though, she went right to sleep and slept like normal. For bed time, she didn't even try to get out. She just went right to sleep. Overnight, because she has a mild cold, she was awake for 1 1/2 hours and it was heaven to be able to just lay down next to her instead of holding her rocking her in the chair. Today, again, for nap time, she went right to sleep and for bed, she needed a second visit, but otherwise, was out like a light. We have had our first falling out incident which wasn't so good and I have since moved the offending thing I didn't think she would be able to roll out into away from where it was that she rolled into it. LOL She just had to find the one spot that was going to hurt if she rolled out there.
A couple of notes for those thinking to move from the crib about why I think it went smoothly for us. 1) We have been watching this DVD called Potty Power. In the first segment they play a game called Baby or Big Kid. They proceed to show pictures and ask questions like, "Who can build a tower by themselves? Baby or Big Kid?" So... one of the questions is, "Who sleeps in a crib? Baby or Big Kid?" :) 2) We were thinking to get a new bed frame because ours was one of those with it standing off the ground, then box springs, then a big mattress and even I had to climb into bed instead of just get into it. Anyway, with Ari being able to get out of her bed, we wanted her to be able to get into ours by herself. So... we were originally just thinking to dump the box springs and get a low platform bed but keep the mattress. A long story short, we ended up changing the mattress and haven't gotten the platform bed yet. On the same day that Ari got her new mattress, mommy and daddy got their new mattress. Ours is of course, sitting on the ground like hers. I think that it made it easier for her because we were all going through it together. She was just as excited about being able to get into ours easily as she was by hers. I'm not saying everyone she get a new bed when their children do, but if you think you will be in the market in the next few months for a new bed, then it might be worth moving your schedule up and doing it together. :)
Anyway, my big girl is growing up and it is so wonderful to see! I just hope I don't have to try out her bed again tonight for 1 1/2 hours! :)
P.S. I know my site is kind of boring with no added pictures to posts yet, but I am having trouble locating my chords for my digital camera and so the camera is out of battery and even if it wasn't, I can't pull the pictures off of it. *sigh* As soon as I find those, there will be accompanying photos to go along with many of these posts. :)
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