My goal to write 1000 words a day has been going very well, I think. This, despite the fact that I started off doing about 1000 with no problem and then it started to dwindle down to about 5 or 600. Part of that was because for two days I felt like utter crap. But I couldn't seem to regain my momentum after that.
Still, I made quite a lot of progress on the story which had been on the back burner. I wrote in my journal every day and always first. I find it serves as a sort of brain dump which allows me to move on to other endeavors more easily. Other than working on the story, I also wrote some random scenes and snippets and of course my occasional blog entries.
I don't know whether it would be better to stick with the goal of 1000 words a day or to lower it to 500, which seems much more manageable. It could be that I just need to give it more time and I'll be able to hit 1000 more regularly, so I'll keep it at 1000 and see how it goes for another week.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Momentarily Lost My Mind
A few weeks ago, I was browsing around on an internet forum and came across a mention of the book Diaper Free Before Three. The idea is that in the good old days before disposable diapers, people used to potty train their kids at way younger ages than we do now and all this "readiness" stuff is just modern day baloney that benefits only disposable diaper companies. Training children earlier is healthier, emotionally and physically, the book says. Elimination Communication is not mentioned specifically, but a lot of the same ideas are mentioned, namely that babies are aware of their own elimination and are perfectly capable of "holding it" (to a point anyway). I definitely agree with that.
This book basically said to forget about asking your child if they need to go potty, or offering the potty, or waiting for them to show signs of readiness. Basically you should start putting them on the potty from about 9 months old or so and you do it by saying, "It's time to go potty!" You take charge, you "be the parent." (I don't think they ever actually used that phrase, to be fair, but it was definitely the sentiment.)
It also said that if your child is older than two it wasn't too late. You use the same techniques and you just get rid of the diapers completely and put the child in underwear only. You say, potty time, and you put them on the potty every hour or two hours or whatever and eventually your child is a potty user! Yay!
It sounded pretty good because, frankly, I am getting tired of diapers. We used elimination communication part time until we moved to this house, and then what was supposed to be a break turned into a conclusion because we never really picked it up again. Part of the reason was that he didn't want to be on the potty anymore. Foreshadowing!
So, we already had a potty and we already had some training pants as well and I decided we would attempt to potty train. Notice how I said "we"??? That's funny stuff! Like it was both my and Silas's decision. It totally wasn't!
No, Silas was not down with it. He sat on the potty once, to humor me, but after that he was having none of it. I spent the whole day obstinately believing that the whole process should have been going as swimmingly as the book had led me to believe it would. This, despite having two daughters who potty trained "late" and reluctantly. I was frustrated, he was frustrated. It was not a good day.
See, the book never said, be authoritative and mean. It said going to the potty should be approached in a positive and happy way. But of course it's still the parent's decision. It's still the parent who says what's what and the kid who does what the parent wants him to. But what happens when your cheerful insistence bumps up against a child who simply says no? The book didn't say.
In my defense, I had a headache almost that whole day that was interfering with my ability to think clearly. And I do agree with a lot of the theory behind what the book was saying. However, since I didn't stick with elimination communication from the beginning, it's simply as if we had been using diapers the whole time. And if he doesn't want to use the potty, no amount of my insisting he do so (though in a cheerful voice!), or reading him a story while he sits there is going to make him start loving it. Or even accepting it.
So, I regained my senses and realized that no, Silas is not ready to use the potty, and that it is in his (and my) best interest if we simply wait until he is. And I realized that if he does become a three year old who is still in diapers, it will not harm him, nor will it be a reflection of any sort of failure on my part. And it won't be the first time we've had a three year old in diapers in this family. Maybe I missed the bus with elimination communication and he'd be happily using the potty right now if I had stuck with it (not right now, he's sleeping). Or maybe not. I'm perfectly happy with the limited part it played in his life.
So I'm resigned to another year or so of diapers. We'll just have to see what happens.
This book basically said to forget about asking your child if they need to go potty, or offering the potty, or waiting for them to show signs of readiness. Basically you should start putting them on the potty from about 9 months old or so and you do it by saying, "It's time to go potty!" You take charge, you "be the parent." (I don't think they ever actually used that phrase, to be fair, but it was definitely the sentiment.)
It also said that if your child is older than two it wasn't too late. You use the same techniques and you just get rid of the diapers completely and put the child in underwear only. You say, potty time, and you put them on the potty every hour or two hours or whatever and eventually your child is a potty user! Yay!
It sounded pretty good because, frankly, I am getting tired of diapers. We used elimination communication part time until we moved to this house, and then what was supposed to be a break turned into a conclusion because we never really picked it up again. Part of the reason was that he didn't want to be on the potty anymore. Foreshadowing!
So, we already had a potty and we already had some training pants as well and I decided we would attempt to potty train. Notice how I said "we"??? That's funny stuff! Like it was both my and Silas's decision. It totally wasn't!
No, Silas was not down with it. He sat on the potty once, to humor me, but after that he was having none of it. I spent the whole day obstinately believing that the whole process should have been going as swimmingly as the book had led me to believe it would. This, despite having two daughters who potty trained "late" and reluctantly. I was frustrated, he was frustrated. It was not a good day.
See, the book never said, be authoritative and mean. It said going to the potty should be approached in a positive and happy way. But of course it's still the parent's decision. It's still the parent who says what's what and the kid who does what the parent wants him to. But what happens when your cheerful insistence bumps up against a child who simply says no? The book didn't say.
In my defense, I had a headache almost that whole day that was interfering with my ability to think clearly. And I do agree with a lot of the theory behind what the book was saying. However, since I didn't stick with elimination communication from the beginning, it's simply as if we had been using diapers the whole time. And if he doesn't want to use the potty, no amount of my insisting he do so (though in a cheerful voice!), or reading him a story while he sits there is going to make him start loving it. Or even accepting it.
So, I regained my senses and realized that no, Silas is not ready to use the potty, and that it is in his (and my) best interest if we simply wait until he is. And I realized that if he does become a three year old who is still in diapers, it will not harm him, nor will it be a reflection of any sort of failure on my part. And it won't be the first time we've had a three year old in diapers in this family. Maybe I missed the bus with elimination communication and he'd be happily using the potty right now if I had stuck with it (not right now, he's sleeping). Or maybe not. I'm perfectly happy with the limited part it played in his life.
So I'm resigned to another year or so of diapers. We'll just have to see what happens.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Yes, I bathe my children. Sometimes.
Owing to a rather unfortunate number two accident in the tub recently, Silas is refusing to take baths. This presents a conundrum because Irina won't take a bath unless she's in there with Silas. If she's alone, she becomes afraid that the shower will turn on by itself.
I have been using a wet washcloth and hoping for the best when they both hang out in the kiddie pool or play at the park in the splashpad. It's getting really hot though, and I'm starting to notice a difference in the texture of Silas's hair from the amount of sweat and dirt that's building up in it.
I think this calls for a trip to the store for some bubble bath, which we don't normally have.
You know, when Saren was a baby and a toddler, I gave her a bath every night. That's hilarious.
I have been using a wet washcloth and hoping for the best when they both hang out in the kiddie pool or play at the park in the splashpad. It's getting really hot though, and I'm starting to notice a difference in the texture of Silas's hair from the amount of sweat and dirt that's building up in it.
I think this calls for a trip to the store for some bubble bath, which we don't normally have.
You know, when Saren was a baby and a toddler, I gave her a bath every night. That's hilarious.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
1000 Words a Day
Today I decided to make a writing goal of 1000 words a day. 1000 seems like a lot, maybe too much even, but I also decided that blogging counts and journaling (on paper) counts. Ultimately what I want is for a large portion of my 1000 words a day to be fiction; beginnings, middles, and oh my god ends of honest to goodness stories, but if writing begets writing, then I'll take what I can get. I wrote two pages in my paper journal today and that turned out to be 547 words, which was a lot, but I actually thought it would have been more. So I'll write a bit here and then later today I'll do some free-writing or exercises or something or other. I'll do this for a week and if it seems like 1000 is just too much I may just drop it down to 500.
I have been wondering about this blog some lately. What is it for? Why do I do it? I've been at it for nearly 9 years (!!!) and it never seemed to be an issue before. Maybe it's because so many of the blogs I see nowadays seem to have a purpose, a clear reason for being. Mine has always been just a place to write my thoughts and to talk about my kids. I would really like to stop thinking about it so much (or at least to the extent that I do) and just write what I feel like writing and post pictures of my kids when I feel like posting pictures of my kids.
And how personal should I be? I may have only a handful of readers, but it's the internet, by god, and therefore anyone has access to what I write. Does anyone even care what I say? Am I only good for cute kids? (They are cute, though, really cute.) What if I write something someone disagrees with and they say something about it and then I get all flustered and can't think of what to reply back? What if all my photos are stupid and what if no one looks at the banner I worked on and what if I make a banner and then don't post until I've decided to change it anyway? Should I go through all my old posts and make better labels? Should I try to make my blog prettier and more user friendly? Is any of this stuff worth the effort?
And this is why every so often I think I'll just scrap the whole thing and not have a blog anymore. But I've never backed any of this up anywhere and I'm sure there's at least some of it I'd like to have in a more permanent form.
Sometimes I over-think things.
I have been wondering about this blog some lately. What is it for? Why do I do it? I've been at it for nearly 9 years (!!!) and it never seemed to be an issue before. Maybe it's because so many of the blogs I see nowadays seem to have a purpose, a clear reason for being. Mine has always been just a place to write my thoughts and to talk about my kids. I would really like to stop thinking about it so much (or at least to the extent that I do) and just write what I feel like writing and post pictures of my kids when I feel like posting pictures of my kids.
And how personal should I be? I may have only a handful of readers, but it's the internet, by god, and therefore anyone has access to what I write. Does anyone even care what I say? Am I only good for cute kids? (They are cute, though, really cute.) What if I write something someone disagrees with and they say something about it and then I get all flustered and can't think of what to reply back? What if all my photos are stupid and what if no one looks at the banner I worked on and what if I make a banner and then don't post until I've decided to change it anyway? Should I go through all my old posts and make better labels? Should I try to make my blog prettier and more user friendly? Is any of this stuff worth the effort?
And this is why every so often I think I'll just scrap the whole thing and not have a blog anymore. But I've never backed any of this up anywhere and I'm sure there's at least some of it I'd like to have in a more permanent form.
Sometimes I over-think things.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
How Pat Spent His 36th Birthday
His birthday happened to fall on a homeschool day at the trampoliney place. I nearly broke my back! Then we went for lunch at a hamburger place he likes and then we went to the game store and bought him Lego Star Wars.
I have more pictures from the jumpy place, though obviously none of them top the above picture.
You know, even if I only ever posted for our birthdays, I'd still have 6 blog posts per year.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Silas Word List
Here are some of the words that Silas says and how he says them.
Wii - (wee)
Mario - (woah)
cockroach - (gah-koh)
taco - (gah-koh)
water - (wah-ee)
hug - (ha)
no
Yeah!
pee
poo
pig - (pee)
There are more I can't recall right now and a lot of them sound the same. He also says a lot of letters and always seems to point out B correctly and then directly afterward (after we've declared him a genius) he calls a different letter B, and then we start doubting that he knew it in the first place.
Wii - (wee)
Mario - (woah)
cockroach - (gah-koh)
taco - (gah-koh)
water - (wah-ee)
hug - (ha)
no
Yeah!
pee
poo
pig - (pee)
There are more I can't recall right now and a lot of them sound the same. He also says a lot of letters and always seems to point out B correctly and then directly afterward (after we've declared him a genius) he calls a different letter B, and then we start doubting that he knew it in the first place.
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