Happy Mother's Day - 2012

My girls are to young to understand mother's day - there were no presents, no cake, not even a song.  But regardless of what they know, they made the day special just the same.  Today I got to experience my girls a little differently then ever before.  We spent the afternoon at the Monmouth Park Race Track.  They have a great picnic area on the edge of a large playground where we can watch the horses pass.  I saw my kids move among the 40 or so people in our group, interacting in a way that seemed to mature for their age.  They went back & forth between the tables & playground like it was second nature, even thought they had never been there before.  It was definitely more freedom then they were used to, but you'd have never have known it.  We watched from the picnic tables, following when they moved to far, rarely interfering.  My girls are fearless & as usual, i admire them so immensely.  So that's what i got for mother's day - the unbelievable feelings of pride & joy that i get to be their mother.  So maybe it wasn't so different from any other day.

Circles Mommmy

This is the side of my kitchen island, red crayon and all.  I blame myself.  If i had thought about it, i would have known that Jackie was going to get her hands on the crayons i left on the island when i pulled them out of the diaper bag.  & to her credit, she did indeed make circles, as she told me when i took the crayon away from her.  Maybe punishment was in order, but how do you punish a 2 year old for doing what 2 year olds do?  How do you handle punishment at all?  i haven't gotten there to much yet.  Very short time-outs are as far as we have gotten.  I have put Lori in her room when she is in the middle of a tantrum, but she gets so mad that she won't come out when the time-out is over & i don't want her to fall sleep & throw off her schedule.   I hope that I'm not starting a pattern of blaming myself for my children's misbehavior.  I want to be a responsible parent & teach them to do the right thing, even when no one's watching.  I want to teach them to take responsibility for themselves & to face the consequences.  But they are 2!!  So while my obsessive side is worried about the adults my children will become, the mommy side just shakes her head & promises herself to remember to put the crayons away next time. 
My worry really is only about how to teach my children right from wrong.  It's not about the marks on the furniture.  This may sound crazy, but i really don't care.  I often think that i can have nice things, or i can have triplets.  Maybe some women manage both, but i am never going to be one of  those women & i don't care.  I choose triplets, every time.