Joseph's last day of preschool was May 28, and without that on the schedule, we have not been going out much during the week, if at all (I am trying to remember...?). I have only been grocery shopping one time since Clara was born, which was while Joseph was at school, so I only had two kids with me. It was very exhausting. (And Michael got some groceries after work one time.) We (me and the kids) have minimal activities planned for the upcoming weeks. Most of our outings and activities have been on the weekends when it's Michael and I with all the kids, so it's easier to manage everybody and I can ride in the back of the car if necessary. The thought of taking three kids out on any errand by myself at this point in time still seems rather daunting to me, although I know I will need to go to the store very soon! I am trying to strategize how I might be able to go with only Clara...
The boys really love Clara. Joseph referred to her almost exclusively as "little sister" for the first few weeks, and is only more recently calling her by her name. ("I want to see little sister." "Little sister is SO beautiful." "Is little sister sleeping?" etc.) Simon likes to remark, "She's so soft" as he strokes her skin. They both like giving her kisses, "petting" her (as Joseph says), touching her, looking at her, etc. This usually involves getting very much into *my* personal space while bouncing and bopping, leaning and rubbing all up against me which I find beyond irritating! I do my best to contain myself for as many seconds as I can tolerate before making the boys back up and give "us" more space!
The boys are also sharing a room now. We officially moved Simon into the other bedroom about a week or so ago. He is enjoying his new bed (a mattress on the floor for the time being), and Joseph has not skipped a beat with having a room mate. We had to get the boys matching bedspreads. As I have now learned that the fancies of a young boy change like the wind, there is no point in getting themed bedding or decor. They both have bedding with a generic geometric pattern and in the same color so that there are no disputes or squabbles. (Joseph does not even prefer the color blue anymore. And of course dinosaurs, trains and dragons are all ancient history. His only interest right now is Star Wars, especially Darth Vader. His favorite colors are currently green and red, because they are "powerful." - the color of light sabres in case you hadn't noticed.) We moved Joseph's former bed to the guest room and bunked it with its matching bed. We just purchased another bunk bed (twin over full) at IKEA for the boys' bedroom which is currently in boxes in the family room waiting to be assembled and taken upstairs (before we have house guests in July!)
I have long been impressed by Simon's verbal skills, as he is much more articulate than Joseph was at the same age. He especially loves repeating everything he hears - particularly to be an informer/informant/enforcer. If I tell Joseph to do something, Simon repeats the instruction right after me. He announces whatever he is doing, usually "I doing this! Mommy look! I doing this!" He tattles on Joseph, whatever he is doing. And Joseph has begun tattling on Simon as well. I am glad the boys play a lot together and keep themselves entertained, but their conflict resolution is seriously lacking (I know they are only 2 and 4 years old). They are frequently coming to me over petty disputes, which I would much rather they resolve amongst themselves, so I am doing my best to teach them. They also hit each other sometimes... sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose - but always crying to me! Simon has brought Joseph to tears on a few occasions. The little brother is coming into his own!
Recent pics (June 4):
Clara was baptized May 22.
Thanks for a great update, Sarah! It sounds like the transition is going well. A friend taught me a funny way to handle sibling disputes that are non-violent. When one of the kids comes running up to tattle or complain about the other one, I just say "well, tell him/her how you feel." Then they run away and say something like "when you yelled at me, I got angry!" And 9 times out of 10, the other one just apologizes and it's over. It works like a charm. Now they are sometimes doing this on their own without prompting. For violent offenses, it's an automatic timeout in their rooms. But the fighting can really be exasperating! I'm looking forward to more posts from you.
ReplyDeleteYes! Whenever I can get the boys to actually act civilly to one another, they both behave so much better. Grabbing leads to more meanness and violence. But a simple, "May I have that please?" is usually answered by a courteous handing over of the object without any fuss. (Although sometimes I have to monitor and enforce polite turn taking.)
ReplyDeleteThis makes me think of the infinite number of times we ran yelling "Mom, mom, mom!" and wanted her to solve something. What goes around...
ReplyDeleteWhatever you do, just don't say, "did you provoke him?" It's the worst.