Feeling Better, Parenting Better

It was as if Olivia was never sick yesterday. Today she was bouncing around, chasing Ava, and giggling up a storm. She ate well, napped, and went to bed tonight without any issues.

Lately Livy and I have been having issues with her two year old attitude. She enjoys crossing her arms and proclaiming to me that, "she is busy now" when she doesn't want to do what I have asked. This leads to ineffective time-outs and apologies.

After some Internet searching and reading over the weekend I found a few techniques that really work for us. Typically by the end of the day Olivia's voice gets louder and louder to the point that I have to shout for her to even hear me over her own voice. Then she stops and looks at me like "what...did you want something?" Ummm yeah- inside voice please!!! It doesn't help that she talks immensely all day long either. This is fine but the sheer high volume of her voice tends to drive me nuts by 6pm. After finding my new techniques I have to say that so far this week I have not raised my voice once for her to hear or listen to me. She is using...are you ready for this...her inside voice. OMG- she really has one. I thought maybe she didn't get that gene but now I know differently and really it wasn't her issue it was mine. Olivia has been delightful to be around, she's been sweet and helpful, and proud of being a big girl. She tells me, "you're a good mommy...you're a good friend...Ava's a good friend." What's even better is that she and Ava have gotten along better this week too. Less arguments, less screeches of no no no, and ahh yes far less crying.

So now you might be interested in what I read and what techniques I am employing but here's the catch- just because it works for me doesn't mean it will work for you or your kids. Good thing the Internet is just a click away.