Well…this seemed like the never-ending week. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I felt like Friday was never going to get here; Monday was extremely long for me. This was an interesting week in the world: Trump was acquitted of his impeachment charges in the Senate on Wednesday, SOTU was Tuesday night, Coronavirus is running rampant (apparently we have one confirmed case here in Wisconsin), there were bad storms that hit the south of the States (hope everyone is ok with all of the flooding I’ve seen!), and we’ve got ice everywhere thanks to the 40s on Sunday that melted a bunch of snow and then immediately froze overnight.

What do you do when it’s freezing and icy? Well, Tuesday Little Man and I went with Granma into town to pick up a few things and just get out of the house for a bit. He had his first taste of Arby’s, and OMG, I could not believe how he was going after our sandwiches! It was great though, and he slept for 3.5 hours once we got home. Wednesday, I got a new toy for Little Man that arrived from Amazon: Foam Stepping Stones. He’s still not quite sure what to do with them, but we’re working on that. I am amazed at how hard I have to work to balance on these things; I am definitely going to be playing on them, doing Follow the Leader with Little Man. For now, he likes to stand on one at a time, then walk to another instead of stepping from stone to stone. Little Man will also take Frenchy the Fox and help him to stand on the stones (it’s just the cutest thing!).

Poor Frenchy though, the other night Little Man followed me into the bathroom, and when I stood up, before I was fully standing and could shut the lid, Frenchy was thrown into the toilet! Oh was I angry, and I yelled at Little Man to leave the bathroom and go sit with Granma. Frenchy was quickly retrieved and tossed into the washing machine for a good clean. Little Man knew he was in the wrong, and when I walked out of the laundry room, he walked over sheepishly, grabbed my hand and pulled me down to his level, then gave me a kiss and said “Ee-ees” and gave me a hug. My FIL started saying I need to stop allowing Little Man to follow me into the bathroom, that it’s not right for him to be in there with me. I just ignored what he said; if Little Man is not comfortable being out with Granma and Granpa when I’m in the bathroom, he can come with, it’s also good for him to see how the bathroom works, as we prepare to start potty training.

I was frustrated with myself at my response to Frenchy’s swimming adventure. I don’t like to yell at Little Man; it doesn’t do anything to teach him right or wrong, and it puts a crack in our relationship. So, when I got his Ee-ees, I held him close and told him I was sorry for yelling. I said that I yelled at him because he threw Frenchy in the toilet, and that he knows that was wrong. He went to look for Frenchy, and startd getting frustrated; we had just found Frenchy after he had been missing for a few weeks (I accidentally hid him away with some of Little Man’s itty-bitty baby toys), and he was looking for his friend. The following morning, when we came upstairs, I told him we would check on Frenchy, and lo and behold, Frenchy was all dry after air drying overnight. Frenchy has been constantly attached to Little Man these past few days, and I don’t think he will be going swimming anytime soon.

Parenting is not easy; it’s not easy when you have someone looking at you and judging your every move and decision (what to feed the child, how to discipline, how naptimes go, etc.), and it’s even harder when you know you are not living up to your parenting expectations. It’s all about making the best of things, having a plan A, B, C, all the way through Z, and knowing how to explain to your children why things went the way they did. Does Little Man understand everything I explain to him? Nope, not one bit, but the fact that I do take the time to help him understand his feelings and what is right and wrong will do wonders for him in the long wrong.