I've been struggling the last week or so. Feeling like I'm failing at giving both kids what they need, helping Penelope learn the basics while also challenging Micah to learn and grow. I often find that I'm so exhausted by it, I would rather just let them play by themselves while I cook or clean or play cellphone games. And I've been feeling really guilty about all of that.
Yesterday, though, was wonderful. Micah is on spring break, so I had both kids while Michael had a busy day at work. We got up, ate some breakfast, I sent Micah up to get dressed and he DID. That's a huge win all by itself, for the record. We went to Einstein's to buy some bagels and each of the kids had a chocolate milk for the car ride to Trader Joe's. We did our grocery shopping for the week and Micah only asked for a few special treats, most but not all of which I gave in to. When we got home, Mac and Harper were out front and we played in the front yards for about an hour. We took Penelope and Harper down the street to see the garbage men, they showed the girls how the garbage truck smashes the garbage and shared some freshly baked cookies that a neighbor made for them. Micah worked on a project on the front porch that involved gluing some string and pieces of wood together. We went inside to pull together some food and supplies for a trip to the park and then walked with Mac and Harper up to the Farmhouse playground where I briefly played hide and seek with Micah (he's an excellent hider, I must say), Micah learned to climb on top of a new piece of equipment and decided to eat his lunch there, and the highlight for Penelope was Mac pushing her on the swing, something that I was not allowed to do. We had some snacks, got a bit of a sunburn, and generally enjoyed ourselves. When we got home, I let the kids play on the porch for just a little while, Penelope was serving Micah some imaginary food from their play kitchen and both of them were coloring on the porch with chalk, and then I put Penelope down for a nap. Once she was down, I turned the tv on for Micah, watched one show with him, bowed out of the second, and then worked on Penelope's quiet book while he played in the back yard. When Penelope woke up, the three of us took a very slow walk around the block and then she and Micah played in back together for a while. Around 5pm, I started prepping for dinner and got the grill going. They played on the front porch while I moved things outside for a front porch dinner. They played with the radio, trying to see if they could find the baseball game, helped set the table and move chairs, and when Michael came home we had a nice meal: Steak (hotdogs for kiddos), grilled sweet potatoes, and salad. After dinner, Micah turned on the radio and worked on his dance moves on the front porch, always a good time! A little while later, he screamed that poop was coming out the top of Penelope's diaper and I took her up to change her and get ready for bed. She had dumped some sand in her hair in the back yard, so she took her first solo stand up shower and loved every second of it. She just kept filling and dumping cups of water, she was great about having her hair rinsed, and when she heard Micah coming up the stairs, she begged for him to join her. I think she quickly realized that having him in the shower was actually not fun at all since he completely blocked her water access, so we wrapped it up and I put her to bed. Her current favorite bedtime books are The Hound From The Pound and the Katz book which I think is called Doggies (counting and barking). Michael came in as we were reading Hound from the Pound and she insisted he sit down with us, so the three of us read together for a while. After she was down, I got Micah out of the shower, dressed him in Pajamas, and the two of us ate ice cream sandwiches on the front porch while reading one the chapter books we've been working on, the second Sisters Grimm book. Then I put him to bed too and while I did a little calming breathing with him after we finished reading, he fell asleep before I even left the room.
Solid parenting day. Basically no complaints. I hope we have a lot more days like that one was!
Yesterday, though, was wonderful. Micah is on spring break, so I had both kids while Michael had a busy day at work. We got up, ate some breakfast, I sent Micah up to get dressed and he DID. That's a huge win all by itself, for the record. We went to Einstein's to buy some bagels and each of the kids had a chocolate milk for the car ride to Trader Joe's. We did our grocery shopping for the week and Micah only asked for a few special treats, most but not all of which I gave in to. When we got home, Mac and Harper were out front and we played in the front yards for about an hour. We took Penelope and Harper down the street to see the garbage men, they showed the girls how the garbage truck smashes the garbage and shared some freshly baked cookies that a neighbor made for them. Micah worked on a project on the front porch that involved gluing some string and pieces of wood together. We went inside to pull together some food and supplies for a trip to the park and then walked with Mac and Harper up to the Farmhouse playground where I briefly played hide and seek with Micah (he's an excellent hider, I must say), Micah learned to climb on top of a new piece of equipment and decided to eat his lunch there, and the highlight for Penelope was Mac pushing her on the swing, something that I was not allowed to do. We had some snacks, got a bit of a sunburn, and generally enjoyed ourselves. When we got home, I let the kids play on the porch for just a little while, Penelope was serving Micah some imaginary food from their play kitchen and both of them were coloring on the porch with chalk, and then I put Penelope down for a nap. Once she was down, I turned the tv on for Micah, watched one show with him, bowed out of the second, and then worked on Penelope's quiet book while he played in the back yard. When Penelope woke up, the three of us took a very slow walk around the block and then she and Micah played in back together for a while. Around 5pm, I started prepping for dinner and got the grill going. They played on the front porch while I moved things outside for a front porch dinner. They played with the radio, trying to see if they could find the baseball game, helped set the table and move chairs, and when Michael came home we had a nice meal: Steak (hotdogs for kiddos), grilled sweet potatoes, and salad. After dinner, Micah turned on the radio and worked on his dance moves on the front porch, always a good time! A little while later, he screamed that poop was coming out the top of Penelope's diaper and I took her up to change her and get ready for bed. She had dumped some sand in her hair in the back yard, so she took her first solo stand up shower and loved every second of it. She just kept filling and dumping cups of water, she was great about having her hair rinsed, and when she heard Micah coming up the stairs, she begged for him to join her. I think she quickly realized that having him in the shower was actually not fun at all since he completely blocked her water access, so we wrapped it up and I put her to bed. Her current favorite bedtime books are The Hound From The Pound and the Katz book which I think is called Doggies (counting and barking). Michael came in as we were reading Hound from the Pound and she insisted he sit down with us, so the three of us read together for a while. After she was down, I got Micah out of the shower, dressed him in Pajamas, and the two of us ate ice cream sandwiches on the front porch while reading one the chapter books we've been working on, the second Sisters Grimm book. Then I put him to bed too and while I did a little calming breathing with him after we finished reading, he fell asleep before I even left the room.
Solid parenting day. Basically no complaints. I hope we have a lot more days like that one was!
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