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I’d say about the last six months but for most of this parenting gig I’ve felt a little lost with discipline. How in the hell do you get a strong willed little lass to stop, recognise and listen? 

Counting worked for a while. That fell flat pretty quickly. I added another element, if you don’t listen by the time I get to five you will have to sit on the stairs. This often escalated to full blown tantrums. Fun for everyone. 

Next step- If you don’t listen we won’t go to x,y,z. Too bad if we didn’t have any plans that day. It felt like a day full of threats. Not exactly a positive experience for all. 

We were both stressed so I made some tactical changes. 

Rather than having food treats I put together a bag of erasers with positive affirmations, random little toys and cute stickers. If she listens she gets two stickers, if she has a great day overal she can choose a prize. We’ve gotten to a point where I tap my ear and she knows what I’m talking about. Easy. 

I’ve made a little book that she shows her Dad at night if she has had her listening ears on. Being tangible it allows her to maintain that sense of pride. Food only gave short term effect. 

For the moment as one thing works tomorrow may bring with it a new challenge. What tactics do you use to get your little one to listen? 

Is being kind to yourself and others of course. I had my alarm set for 5am this morning to get some writing done and I said no way Jose! I am going to take this hour and sleep and wake up refreshed with my daughter. The week was taxing and I needed it. Guess what? She slept until 7am and I couldn’t have been happier. She never sleeps past the numbers 6 and 30 but today she gave me a 2 hour sleep in. Woo hoo!!!!

 She was sitting there singing with l her teddy’s when I came in.

We had her first swimming lesson this morning and she loved it. We all loved it, it is so weird sitting there watching and feeling proud. She wasn’t even really doing anything but there I was grinning and laughing like an idiot at her having an amazing time, splashing and blowing bubbles. Of course I took a million photos, this kid has permanent paparazzi following her. I wonder if this will give her a warped view in later life. Well we will worry about that, later.

Last night after my post ‘I should Have Done It Sooner I received a beautiful email from a friend of mine. Emotion aside she said if you need to talk I am always here, she also said she loves my blog so that was also lovely. Firstly it made me realise that I should reemphasise that I am coping but sometimes I just feel blah! And secondly that this friend is a superstar and a great example of how we should all be.

Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives or just don’t know how to approach someone to say hey guy! Or hey chick! Is everything okay? These simple words can mean so much to a person and sometimes make such a difference. So thank you my beautiful friend you made my day x

Now I am currently sitting in the car on the way to meet our friends in the countryside, put up our colossal sized tent, grab a drink and relax. I can actually breathe now… the morning less breathing and more stressful. We are going for one night but for some reason, we have four bags of clothes, one bag of toys, one huge tent, a potty, an esky, a monster bag of food, every possible stuffed toy a girl could sleep with, porta cot and a queen size blow up mattress. My husband threw every comment of disdain to my packing abilities as we madly rushed out the door post swimming. Swimming finished at 11am we left our driveway at 1:15… SLIGHT FAIL! I can’t stand the thought that we would get there and would have forgotten something, so I take everything. Our car is far too small to be too extravagant but I do try and fill it as much as possible. Dan played along unhappily but he put a stop to the blow up pool. Apparently a trip that lasts less than 24hrs doesn’t warrant a blow up pool, go figure. There are always things we can work on.

MummaKate x

Sometimes you just know when you have had enough. It’s when you get that steam rise in to your brain and you know deep down inside no decisions at this point will be rational. None. 

There you are dealing with this lump of toddler screaming at the decision between bath and shower. Which one should it be??? Let’s cry irrationally for 20 minutes and send my Mum over the edge. 

I tried to reason, actually put her in the bath, wrong choice, so I made a bold decision. I told her I quit and got undressed and hopped in the bath myself. Told her there was no use wasting a lovely bath. I probably could have done with an ice bath at that point the way I was feeling. 

Sun up to sun down my day is full of negotiations and this one got me. 7pm on a Friday night, I’d been informed the other parent would be departing at 0830 the following morning for approximately 24-30hrs and by the sound of her cry it was as if I was doing life long mental damage. 

There is my cue to check out. Take ten breaths deflate my over heated brain and start again. This time I told a toddler I’d quit. Now who is the rational one there and sank myself into some serious bubbles. Edit

She eventually came around, jumped in and we had some awesome fun. Totally prepped her for our first swimming lesson together tomorrow. Life rolls on and I ask myself, why am I not drinking wine????

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend. 

MummaKate x