- It really is this hard. You're not doing anything wrong.
- Accept your kids' personalities now.
- Eventually, parenting works.
- I know, I know, I KNOW how hard it is to believe this, but this season will end.
While I understand I still need to experience these realizations on my own, it's nice to read these types of posts at night as a reminder to put things in perspective.
I had a frustrating afternoon with Kyle after he ran away from us in the park three times during our family picnic dinner. Which probably doesn't seem so out of the ordinary for a 17 month old, except for the fact that we've been working on this and the last time we went for a walk he knew he needed to stay by me, to get mom if he wanted to go somewhere, and to stop walking when I told him to "wait." I was so proud of my boy, and then the next day he just forgot all the rules and ran away from us as fast as his little legs would carry him. I knew he heard me say "wait," and that he knew what it meant, but he didn't care.
The reminders I needed tonight are:
- #1 - he is only 1 and sometimes my expectations for him are pretty high.
- #2 - eventually, parenting works. I need to be consistent, but understand that some days Kyle will just want to play "Come and get me, mom! Let's see how fast you can run!" I saw the mischievous smile on his face as I chased after him, which stayed there even after I finished scolding him and carried him back to our blanket. He thought he was pretty hilarious and was so proud of how fast he could run.
- #3 - that this season will end, and I know I'll desperately miss seeing those chubby baby thighs, wobbly run and gapped tooth baby grin when they're gone.
