Dave and I have been laughing at our good intentions lately. For years, we’ve been storing away
parenting best practices
as observed in the wilds. The thought was, if we compile all our favorite parenting practices observed in action, we can become the best parents ever – with planning, intention and forethought. What a joke!
Here’s the laughing part. We are what we are. It’s preprogrammed. In prime parenting moments, our best intentions go to hell and we go native. We can color our unique parenting style with good intentions and pray they stick, but realistically we high five if we manage to overcome frustration with patience. It’s like panning for gold. Don’t bank on finding a big nugget; just celebrate when ya find one!
As Tess runs full throttle into the terrible twos, we’re adapting our response to tantrums. (She’s so sweet; gives us tons of do-over opportunities.) As Remy decides whether or not to ignore our emphatic “No!” from across the room, we have so many chances to reorient our response. But when they pull something new – for example, pushing a chair against the baby gate so Tess can attempt a daring escape while Remy holds the chair – loud voices and big eyes greet their ingenuity every time.
This week, we went to a train exhibit, let Tess help feed the dog and load the dishwasher…and yelled a tiny bit less than normal. High fives all around!
What a totally adorable picture set!
It’s kind of fun figuring out what sort of interaction works with a kid. Sometimes we can rely on Liam’s innate desire for praise to modify behavior, and sometimes we need to painstakingly demonstrate causal relationships so that he intellectually ‘gets’ why something works the way it does. Whatever way, it’s always rewarding when you see the idea click – specially when that idea is “hey, maybe I like these underpants enough to try to not mess them up.”
I know that I do not post many comments but I want you to know how much I appreciate your blog and pictures. Keep up the good work. 🙂