One on One Time
Over the weekend, we wanted to give my 3 year old son some quality one on one time with Mommy. We had my 5 year old daughter sleep over at her cousins (of course they got no sleep) so that we could spend a day with our 3 year old. He got dedicated one on one time with Mommy at an ice cream shop and later at Target, where he got another set of Cars toys (this time it glows in the dark, so well justified). He was so happy to spend that quality time with Mommy and I hope that it goes far in reversing whatever regression he may be having due to having the newborn around all the time.
This was primarily to get ahead of the hitting phase that came back recently and even though he went right back to hitting the very next day when he saw his big sister (and they were fussing at each other), he at least showed remorse over it at night. We had a good chat about why hitting is not a good choice and there are other ways to express frustration. I want the kids to be able to talk through their issues and if they need my help, to come to me vs. resorting to hitting. He also felt bad about knocking his sister’s glasses off because without it, she cannot see very far. He even mentioned it this morning about how he feels bad that he does that and will try his best to not do it again. He is a very emotionally intelligent 3 year old (in my humble opinion!) and I’m glad he at least has the self awareness to recognize the behavior while showing the desire to make better choices. Hopefully the one on one time with Mommy gave him more perspective on things and he is definitely showing the progress immediately (at least the recognition part…we will work on the hitting part!).
In life, there will be a lot of ups and downs and that progress doesn’t always look linear. I have to constantly remind myself of that and to also remind my kids of that very same thing. The more important thing is to just keep trying your best and that’s the only thing you can really control. As long as they are trying their best to make good decisions, we will course correct along the way!
