Popping in for another installment of my weekly parenting ups & downs. We all have them! Why not share them!
OUR UPS:
1. Strawberry picking. It’s always one of my most favorite outings every year (sort of like apple picking). The girls totally got into it this year too, Rowan really loved finding all the perfectly red and juicy ones and Finley just eat any strawberry she saw for the whole 2 hours we were there. We drive about 40 mins to a farm out in the country that is a low spray, surrounded by mountains and so sweet and cute I can’t stand it. I will admit that strawberry picking while pregnant is not the most comfortable activity in the whole world, especially when it’s super hot out. We made the most of it though.
2. Potty Training: This will also be on the down list. We woke up the other morning and it was as if all the diapers in our house magically got sucked into a diaper vortex over the night. We realized there were absolutely NO diapers left in the house. We’ve been here before but there is always one more in the car, or my purse, or in the pool bag or somewhere. This time there were NONE ANYWHERE. We have been super casual with potty training Finley but this was the nudge (or well shove) into potty training that we needed. Anyway, we just went full force into it. We’ve been diaper free (other than at nap and bedtime- she’s not there yet) for 2 days. She is stubborn!! But she has peed on the potty 2 times. I feel like is a big giant win for a girl who will hold it all darn day because she isn’t wearing a diaper. Onward and upward!
3. The amount of excitement that Rowan has for doing things is about the sweetest, most heart-warming thing ever. She just finds so much joy in even the smallest things. It’s no joke that she yells “this is the best day ever” like everyday. So when we are actually going to do something exciting she gets all crazy silly and it makes me laugh so hard. She cracks me up! We are headed to the Poconos this weekend to go to a waterpark and other things and she has had her suitcase packed for about a week.
4. Finley has been talking up a storm lately and her little smoker voice is so sweet I can’t stand it. It’s deep and wraspy yet so baby like at the same time. She always copies what Rowan says so half her sentences are much larger than any little girl her age would normally be trying to say. They get all jumbled, with words mispronounced and ohh I could listen to them all day long.
5. Rowan last night said “Hey Mom! You know what? It works out good with the baby in you belly because when we read stories it’s like they get to listen too.” awwwwwwwww
OUR DOWNS:
1. Potty Training: Ugh! Oooh there isn’t much I dislike more than potty training. The constant asking if they have to go, the potty books, the bribes, the constantly looking for every bathroom in every store you go to, the germs in public restrooms, the planning your day around how long you can be in the car, out, doing errands, the extra clothes you always have to carry around, convincing them that pooping in the potty isn’t scary, the puddle of pee on the floor of old navy you are trying to clean up before someone sees. The list could go on and on. It’s a stage I know and in the scheme of things passes very quickly but yuck! it’s a gross stage. Remember our potty adventure with Rowan when we tried to get the Christmas tree? Oh man! That makes me laugh now. We had a similar one out strawberry picking the other day- except I totally had the little potty in the car for Finley this time.
2. Rowan’s hair is a little wild. It always has been. I cut her bangs because her hair could never decide on a part and it was always in her face. The bangs are cute, like super cute. BUT her hair is so curly and wavy that they take some care in the morning (especially after sleeping). Care she has no interest in waiting for. Most days her hair is this wild, curly, 80’s sort of do that of course looks adorable on her because she is 4 and what doesn’t look cute. I do try to get her to let me straighten them every once in a while. When we went for a walk the other day, we noticed her look at her reflection in the car and say “ooh I should have brushed my hair before we left.” Ahhh it sort of broke my heart. Did I create come kind of complex in her over her hair? I mean we NEVER say anything negative or degrading about her hair. And of course I do feel like there is something to be learned about taking care of yourself and learning we need to brush our teeth, brush our hair and not wear pjs out of the house sort of thing BUT… it sort of made me want to cry that she looked at herself and thought that. I just want them to have such high self esteem and not be concerned about outward things like hair, especially at 4. I don’t really have a conclusion to this, just wanted to share my sort of #momfail and to remind myself how much of a sponge they are. They’re aware of so much more than we realize sometimes.
3. Oh the Drama! We have a household of girls with LOTS of feelings. Always knowing how to best parent those feelings is tough. I want to allow them to feel those things but there is also a balance to becoming a little over dramatic and whiny. It’s tough being a parent- you want to do your best for them at all times but sometimes you just don’t know what that is. It takes time to figure each other out, what works and what doesn’t.
Feel free to share your own in the comments!
you know my younger sister — she is obsessed with making sure her girls’ hair look decent. because she laments that she had such long hair as a little girl, that she looked so disheveled in a lot of pictures. that she makes it a point to brush their hair — though the youngest one is much harder ot keep her hair neat. but alas i think it’s cute when kids hair are just wild and crazy. can’t do that much when you get older!
My 20 month old has the curliest hair (like me) but she twirls it all the time so we have to undo dreadlocks in her hair about five times a day. I have cut out knots about 7 times already. 🙁 And potty training: I don’t even want to think about!!
Parenting stuff is hard. This week I had a really good chat with a coworker about parenting girls that are huskier and how you worry about them but how you don’t want to give them a complex. His daughter’s pediatrician told him that his daughter is obese (which is ridiculous) and he is just struggling with that place of, do I try and make her eat less (she just loves to eat, but is very active and healthy) and potentially foster disordered eating because they are making it about food or do I just go with the flow. And girls can be so mean about weight when you get older. My adopted daughter came to us pretty overweight and not at all active and basically a super picky eater who loves junk food. And it is HARD balancing healthy eating and activeness without at all making it about weight or appearances. And it is especially hard when they are little (mine is 6, his is 3) and they don’t even notice weight or anything like that. And, thank the good lord they don’t! And you don’t even WANT them to start thinking about that. 🙁
I have wavy hair. My mom always told me it was pretty and I learned to appreciate it. But, there were those awful teenage years when one comment from my sister would send me into hair panic-attack mode. I’m sure your little beauty will learn to love her hair and also learn from you how to style it. 🙂
I was just reading you parenting ups and downs, and it reminds me so much of my own two girls.
They are around the same age group as your two girls. We are of Somalian heritage, and my girls have been blessed with these beautiful soft curls. I want to teach them to appreciate their hair in all its natural glory, specially in a world that dreams beautiful hair as straight hair. The only advise I wanted to give you is that though you may feel at times her hair isn’t combed perfectly/ or is easily managed, it is honestly beautiful still. Maybe style in a way to enhance the curls by putting a little bit of oil (argan or coconut) after its been washed and let the curls commence.
I really enjoy these parenting ups and downs. It reminds me I am not alone in my joys/frustrations. And, Oh! Finley’s baby crop top look is the cutest!
Hi Jen- My friend’s daughter also has curly hair that can be hard to manage and my girlfriend suggested this book called Curly Girl: The Handbook which teach all these techniques on how to wash and style hair that is unique to curly haired ladies. It really helped her daughter- particularly when it came to knots and tangles. Just thought you might want to give it a look- I think it’s less than $8 on Amazon!
I hear you on the hair situation! My little one has wild hair. The only way I have been able to keep her hair of her face are braids. She LOVES braids …. most of the time, ha! I do french pig tail braids and side braids, which you could soon do with her bangs to hold them back. I used to braid my bangs out of my face when I was growing them out. Thankfully they grow fast 🙂