Discipline can make me stronger - Tricky Tuesday

I'm not sure if I posted this before, but Jack put Lightning in TO for some unclear reason and then came up with a whole scenario about how he needed some quiet time to think about what he'd done.....the tables are turning, mostly for the good, but sometimes it makes my head hurt!

Yesterday:
They are constantly dawdling instead of dressing, so I upped the ante - whoever was dressed first got the Lightning computer first in the van of awesomeness. To get Harry to hurry, I added Leapster (his favorite) into the mix - if they tied, they could have the Leapster in the car .... in about a nanosecond, Jack slowed down so that they could tie and I think I saw Harry wink at him. Man, they wear me out!

And that's not the only way they have to play us...it was rainy yesterday, and Jack says "It's a nice day for a nap....I've always wanted to do that!" The enthusiasm he can muster for a nap really suits us ;-)

Jack also received his fourth 'yellow banana' today at school - his teacher has a green, yellow, red discipline technique; since their theme is jungle and monkeys, she moves their banana for misbehavior. He's got a good friend that he is constantly getting into trouble with - they just get silly and don't listen...at least it hasn't gone much past that, as far as I know. We talked a lot about how they can stay out of trouble...it probably *is* working, considering this is only the fourth time, but still....

(And if you're wondering, Harry barely speaks at school, at least so far!)


Joe Jackson

He learned his love through discipline - Spin Cycle 2

This is my very undisciplined response to The Spin Cycle from the week we were on vacation....a perfect example of how poorly implemented but well-intended I can be - I could have just skipped it, right?

I thought about writing about Discipline's evil twin, Punishment, but there is entirely too much of that in my life lately. It's been nice to think about our actual goal of discipline, or teaching, so thanx for the reminder, Jen! I am not a particularly disciplined, or controlled, person; I can try to pretty it up with terms like 'spontaneous,' but it basically boils down to a lack of persistence that plagues much of my life. The joy of brainstorming is rarely equalled by the actual execution of a project in my experience....

Enter two little bundles of joy and a great desire to do well - parenting is the most disciplined thing I've ever done in my life. There are moments when I'd just like to throw in the towel and let them run wild, but then a lesson we've been trying to teach them is learned, and I become more disciplined in my attempts to help them. I hope we're striking a nice balance, and we shall see at some point, but it is exciting to be able to help teach these little guys how to work their way toward being good, strong men. And, yes, to learn in the process...isn't that what the best teaching is all about?

Dan Fogelberg's Leader Of The Band

Good Morning Sunshine(s)

So, despite all the amazing and wonderful independence of late, it's been a rough haul the last few months with a lot of negative behaviors and testing the limits and trying to find some security by regressing (and I'm not just talking about them, truth be told!) It has not brought out the best in any of us, and I've let a lot of positives go by the wayside as I've tried to find some new routines.


Jack came into our room this morning with a great big smile and said "Good Morning...Sunshines" and gave me his most adorable and loving smile. I got all weepy when I realized how long it had been since I greeted them this way - I used to go in to wake them every morning with that phrase....now that they get up on their own, I've gotten lazy or out of the routine or whateve. Well, starting our day that way seemed to help us all have a good day today. So, we're trying to get back to some of our better habits and let go of some of the negatives.

Here's Jack's attempt to get himself together during a fit, mostly from being tired but a little just because he's 4 and wants his way ;-) I was going to post it as The World Could Use A Cowboy but got lazy.....


















If you are struggling with your kids' behavior, I can say this worked really well that day - I took a picture of him ready to melt down then we worked to get him to 'cowboy up' and talked about which one would be more fun to be with, which one might get what he really wants, which one might be the better friend, etc. It worked for the moment and a few times since - maybe you can have some success with it, too!

Happy weekend!


Oops, I realized this is NOT the song I thought it was! I think I meant URMySunshine or Sarah Brightman's GM Starshine, maybe?