Friday, June 26, 2009

Happy Birthday, Sam!

Samantha Jo Fisher. Sam. Sammy. Samantha. Sammy Jo. Jo.

Sammy Jo! Sammy, Sammy Jo! Oi! Oi!

We love you so much! You caused your mother a lot of discomfort the last two months of pregnancy with a PUPPPS rash, but that is all forgotten now. We also try to forget that when you were born your dad thought you looked like a smushed, gray, gorilla baby. I'm just glad I warned him that you wouldn't be cute right out of the gate, or we may have had some serious problems. That seems like forever ago, probably 'cause I've had two more babies since then.

You're four years old, but I feel like you should be older. You seem to be aging and growing two years for every one year of life. In some ways you're so mature, and in others, you're so four years old. You are obviously tall for your age, but you are so incredibly beautiful, sometimes it takes my breath away. We're going to have to sharpen your elbows and teach you phrases like, "Don't even think about it, Mr.!" and "Eeewww, boys are gross!" Some karate lessons couldn't hurt, either.

You are such a joy, albeit a little dramatic and emotional sometimes. But that heart you wear on your sleeve is always available to anyone in need, especially babies. You have a special talent for making the shy kids feel comfortable in uncomfortable surroundings. You have a tendency for bossiness, but only because you want to be a mother so badly. Your nurturing spirit always takes me by surprise because it is so contrary to my own.

You inherited your father's aptitude for engineering and proficiency with electronics. You can navigate pbskids.org just fine by yourself and have been able to do this for almost a year now. We don't let you play this very often because you also inherited your father's aptitude for hours upon hours of electronic play.

You love everything and everyone. You will play anything with anyone. Your favorites probably include dress-ups, finding rolly-polies, super heroes, and pretending to be kitties. I just love that I have to tell you that you can't really lick me. (Umm...not really, I find it disgusting.) You love movies and spending time with Mom and Dad. But you can also entertain yourself for long periods of time. You are an incredible artist and have always been able to focus a long time on these efforts. Coloring soothes you.

But you're not an introverted artist. You are so friendly and aren't afraid to talk to anyone. When you sing, you sing at the top of your lungs. You learn songs quickly and can memorize very well.

So I guess what we have on our hands is an engineer-minded artist/scientist with a big heart and a flare for drama.

I'm sure that will prove to be a complicated woman of many talents! (Good luck to us all when you start trying to figure yourself out in about 10 years.)

We love you, Miss Beautiful Smarty-pants! Happy Birthday!
Samantha Jo Fisher: self-portrait.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Solitude and Sanity

In my Understanding Child Development book, I learned that each child needs 15 minutes of one-on-one time with you every day.

-AND-

Each person needs 30 minutes of solitude to recharge. Every day.

All you young mothers out there are probably laughing right out loud. Yeah right. How is that cosmically possible? Maybe it only happens every 76 years, like Halley's comet, or something.

This could be the reason I've been so haggard lately. Solitude? Only in my sleep. And technically, not even then.

So I'm thinkin'...

Kids need naptime, or quiet time if they don't nap.

Kids who attend school should be given quiet time too. (I need to remember this when Sam starts school in the fall.)

It is painfully obvious that this isn't going to happen for me by accident, nor during the day at all. Probably the only time I'm going to get this is if I make an effort to snatch it for myself in the early morning.

I only get up willingly in the early morning if I've gotten to bed by 10:30. After that, it doesn't matter how much sleep I've gotten, I'm toast.

New goals: 1. Get to bed by 10:30. 2. Actually get out of bed when I wake up.

There's a thought...

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

A Glimmer of Hope

I found it. A way to get Charly to be obedient.

It was easier for me to figure out how to motivate Sam to be obedient. I'd just "threaten" to do it myself and she was off like a shot. She'd much rather do it herself and get the praise.

Charly couldn't care less about that.

Hmmm...what to do. She doesn't really respond to threats or punishment, either.

I figured it out. She needs a reason to do something.

Aka.

"Charly, let's get dressed so we can have breakfast."
"Okay, mommy," she says to me in her squeaky, precious, 2 year old voice.

Not really a reward for doing something per se, but a reason.

Excellent...