Monday, August 16, 2010

Mommy Moments

So, I had some "Mommy Goals" for this week. I wanted to do some regular "school" time with Clara every day... not much, just 10 minutes or so, working on colors, numbers and letters. I OFTEN feel that I don't spend enough concentrated time with her. So school time should give us concentrated time that is both fun and educational for her and maybe provide more interest for Mom then looking at "Honey Rabbit" for the umpteenth time. :-) That little brain is like a sponge and is learning a mile a minute... might as well give her more stuff to learn. I was able to get the library end of last week and pick up some books on colors and counting... she LOVES books and magazines... to use as part of "school" time.

The other goal was to start potty training! She's getting old enough and I think it may be a pretty good time to give it a shot. We have a potty chair and she's sat on it now and then, but only ever "done anything" a couple times... mostly she just sits for a bit and that's it. So, to get the idea of actually using the toilet for something other then a seat, I'm using an idea I got from a friend. Her daughter goes to day care and they take the kids to the bathroom about every two hours, whether or not they think they need it. I'm thinking to just start having her spend some time on there every two hours or so and see how it goes. We started this morning, and so far we've had three sessions, two of them being successful! To keep her there long enough, I spend most of the time with her, looking at books, letting her have a snack while I put on make-up, and talking about the different colors on her necklace. Part of the time has been working on colors and numbers... so for now, we're combining potty training with "school" time! You can pray that I'll have the patience to lovingly stick to it. It becomes a pretty big time investment, sitting there waiting for her to go (as all you potty training experts out there know), but it gives her that concentrated time with Mommy that I don't feel I've been doing enough of... so that's good!

And in fact, both of the success times where thanks to her! I had been ready to quit for those sessions and been asking if she wanted to be done and get down. No, she wanted to stay and read more books. So we did, and was I ever glad! Way to go Clara!

Before I wrap up these "Mommy Moments", let me just quickly share a couple link to articles I've appreciated recently.

This first one is about cherishing the time, even when things aren't working out like we had originally hoped! Can I ever relate!

And this second one has to do with trusting our LORD Jesus as a little child trusts their parents, and also is a good reminder that we are teaching our children all day long... even when we don't realize it!

2 comments:

In the Mix said...

Good luck on potty training. It's my least favorite parenting task to date but sooooooo worth it when they get it. Time and patience will be our prayers for you. :)

Jenn @ Beautiful Calling said...

Oh, with Chloe, we started at 18 months, same as you, every couple hours we'd go. She sat on the potty and we sang, read books etc. We also had a learning poster in the bathroom that we worked on.

By two she was pretty much day potty trained and by three she was dry through the night. I know other children are trained early but this really worked for us! Good luck Mommy!