We had a lovely, productive day today that included an oil change, the purchase of some new plants for the garden (sunflower, basil, two cucumbers and sage), a haircut for the mister, an hour and a half at Andrew's office (specifically the foosball table equipped lunchroom) while he dealt with an issue, a trip to the market and a simple, but enjoyable dinner (soup, salad and sandwiches). A nap was attempted, but ultimately sabotaged when I insisted we move him from the car to the more eco-friendly stroller, my mistake lay not in the move itself, but I then brought him into a noisy, crowded mega-store. Thankfully our near constant activity kept him in good spirits and he is now off to sleep with Andrew.
Tomorrow's father's day plans are set and the only secret surprise is that I am going to let Andrew decide in the morning whether or not he would like to join us. The alternative being a rare opportunity to stay in bed for a few hours. I know he will enjoy whichever one he chooses and am choosing to wait until tomorrow to ask him, as he will be more likely at that point to be realistic about what he wants without worrying about what I might want him to say*.
A follow-up to this morning's entry: Sebastian pooped in the toilet!!! He asked for a diaper, Andrew put him on the potty and after a couple of books he dropped a nugget... we were all dancing and high-fiving and there may have even been some hootin' and hollerin'.
I am continuing to read The Mother of all Toddler Books, and loving it. I hit a point in the discipline chapter this afternoon that talked about ten effective methods of discipline - prevent problems from occurring in the first place, find creative alternatives to saying no, offer a substitute, offer a distraction, give your toddler the opportunity to make choices, allow your toddler to experience the natural consequences of his actions, master the art of selective ignoring, be generous with your praise, discipline your child verbally (as opposed to non-violent but physical - ie. physically removing a child from a situation), and give your child a time out - and then listed three that don't work very well - threatened abandonment, bargaining, and spanking - I can happily say we use many from the first list , but am also sad to say we often use two of the three from the last list. Thankfully, we get the chance to change our own behaviours.
I am hoping that our trip this week will give me some time to formulate a "plan" with Andrew - start talking about what our discipline toolbox will include and what we will work to stop doing. It feels odd to me to actually have to work at this - I don't have a clue why I didn't think I would ever need to, but I have to admit that I thought I would just "be a natural."
*Andrew, if you read this later I would like you to know that I really am cool with either response - on one hand you are far more into botanical crap than I am and will likely enjoy taking pictures of the flowers, on the other you deserve a night in. As far as I am concerned, with my sisters along, I have no "need" for you along. I have Sebastian-supervision well covered and the timing of our trip means he will be sunshine and daisies anyways.
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