Back from our two vacations (one with nuclear family, the other with extended), I am ready to admit something: I was forced to face the fact of my quick temper while we were away (primarily via one experience involving someone else's), and I made a public avowal to start working on this. Immediately.
Having grown up with a father whose hair-trigger temper kept me in line, even as I observed its lack of effect on my brothers, I am aware of its source. But as I've noticed that my own displays of rage are promptly returned to my feet by a nearly 3.75-year-old, who is just as willing to yell as I am, I've started recognizing the error of my way. This is no way to be, going forward. This is no place to come from, looking backward. The half-yearling looks on with concern when yelling is going on. I owe him a chance to not hear it.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Breaking news
Since I'm doing such a piss-poor job recording the boys' milestones, here's one: Tonight, before going to bed, Jonah kissed Abe on the head and said, "I love you, Abey." Yes, that pretty much makes up for all the "no wanna pee" tantrums. At least until tomorrow, kid.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Maternal aphasia: Month 5.75
Abe is sleeping his morning nap, which may end in about five minutes. Jonah is at his last week of summer camp. It is so, SO hard to take a step back these days. When I have a moment to myself, I lapse into time-sucking computer games (which I blame on summer indolence), or else frantic meal-planning and list-making. Summer vacation is days away - a week in a cottage in Cape Cod which is actually smaller than our apartment. We will sink or swim there, methinks. Hopefully more swimming than sinking.
Abe is becoming a master of pivoting - he uses it as a means of locomotion. This morning he would be in a completely different place on the rug every time I checked, and give me the slyest little smile when I would ask him how he got there. He seems able to handle tripod sitting (when I remember to do it) so I am hopeful sitting is not far off. Sitting unassisted is such a crucial milestone - I remember it as a huge improvement to our life with Jonah when he did it, around six months. Once he can sit I will register him for Music Together. Because he's screaming these days, and I want to channel that into singing SOON.
Jonah is mercurial these days. The mere suggestion that he go pee in the morning can bring on a Class A tantrum, even if he's holding so much pee in, it comes out like water from a firehose when he finally relents. (The boy has serious control.) We opened Pandora's box last week and introduced him to the Wii Fit, and he makes daily requests to play those games. For now, we are making him choose between that and YouTube for his "screen fix." I feel like a failure because the summer is quickly ending, and I've gotten nowhere in getting him more interested in fine-motor activities, like writing, cutting, drawing, etc. He definitely likes cooking, though, and making chicken cutlets is much faster when he helps out. I got him some nylon serrated knives for kids, and now he can help chop veggies (which he will then refuse to try).
And, if I may break my silence with regard to myself these days, I am down 25 pounds since early May, thanks to Weight Watchers (and more recently, the acquisition of a home seltzer maker, which enables me to drink a full liter of water at a time). I didn't succeed nearly as dramatically in losing weight after Jonah was born, probably because I was back at work part-time and depressed about it. I am aiming to lose another 20, which will put me at my wedding weight and give me a decent buffer if I gain a few pounds back. I'm finding I can eat to slight excess on the weekends and still come out OK on Monday morning, which is my weigh-in day. I haven't been drinking as much beer as I'd like, though. Cape Cod, with its fried fish and ice cream, may not help much. But I am relearning how to measure my portions and how to replace eating with other things. Except now the other things (like obsessive computer game playing) need to be replaced with healthier endeavors. On that note, off to start a load of laundry.
Abe is becoming a master of pivoting - he uses it as a means of locomotion. This morning he would be in a completely different place on the rug every time I checked, and give me the slyest little smile when I would ask him how he got there. He seems able to handle tripod sitting (when I remember to do it) so I am hopeful sitting is not far off. Sitting unassisted is such a crucial milestone - I remember it as a huge improvement to our life with Jonah when he did it, around six months. Once he can sit I will register him for Music Together. Because he's screaming these days, and I want to channel that into singing SOON.
Jonah is mercurial these days. The mere suggestion that he go pee in the morning can bring on a Class A tantrum, even if he's holding so much pee in, it comes out like water from a firehose when he finally relents. (The boy has serious control.) We opened Pandora's box last week and introduced him to the Wii Fit, and he makes daily requests to play those games. For now, we are making him choose between that and YouTube for his "screen fix." I feel like a failure because the summer is quickly ending, and I've gotten nowhere in getting him more interested in fine-motor activities, like writing, cutting, drawing, etc. He definitely likes cooking, though, and making chicken cutlets is much faster when he helps out. I got him some nylon serrated knives for kids, and now he can help chop veggies (which he will then refuse to try).
And, if I may break my silence with regard to myself these days, I am down 25 pounds since early May, thanks to Weight Watchers (and more recently, the acquisition of a home seltzer maker, which enables me to drink a full liter of water at a time). I didn't succeed nearly as dramatically in losing weight after Jonah was born, probably because I was back at work part-time and depressed about it. I am aiming to lose another 20, which will put me at my wedding weight and give me a decent buffer if I gain a few pounds back. I'm finding I can eat to slight excess on the weekends and still come out OK on Monday morning, which is my weigh-in day. I haven't been drinking as much beer as I'd like, though. Cape Cod, with its fried fish and ice cream, may not help much. But I am relearning how to measure my portions and how to replace eating with other things. Except now the other things (like obsessive computer game playing) need to be replaced with healthier endeavors. On that note, off to start a load of laundry.
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