Saturday, August 12, 2006

Today was slated to be an extremely busy day. The boys were going to march in the Mint Festival parade in St. Johns (with the taekwondo school) and M & I were going to watch. Then we had to high-tail it out of there in order to be in Ann Arbor for our 3 p.m. haircuts. But, M & A were whiny-crankypants and C & L decided to go to the parade by themselves. Besides, I needed to clean out the van. How many straw-wrappers can fit in one mini-van? about 10,587, give or take.

M & A & I took the dogs for a walk. Both of them. At the same time. M was in the stroller, A was riding behind, I was pushing the stroller with one hand, and holding both leashes in the other. We have been watching the-dog-whisperer-Ceasar-Millan semi-religiously, so I was bound and determined to force those dogs to mind. It took a few stops, a lot of muscle, but we got around the neighborhood across the street. I'm sure there were some people laughing their asses off behind their draperies. I had sweat dripping off of me by the time we were finished.

There is another parenting book I like: Helping Kids Help Themselves by E. Perry Good. It's based on the Control Theory/Reality Therapy proposed by William Glasser. (http://www.wglasser.com/) They propose that everyone needs love, power, fun, and freedom and all behaviours are done in order to meet the lack of those areas. My son A, for example, is often searching for some love/affection/acceptance or control (power). He is the middle kid, stuck between an intelligent older brother and a cute little sister. He will usually calm down if I address how much I love him first. "A, I love you. I do not love how you are behaving right now." As with most of my parenting books, it works so well if I follow the directions consistently.

I'm working on being consistent. This blog is one way to practice.

(I saved this as a draft, so here's Sunday's addition:)

I'm feeling virtuous today. I had 12 ears of cooked corn-on-the-cob from the other night. I cut it off the cob and put it in the freezer. The kitchen is fairly clean - I am in the midst of re-organizing the kitchen. It feels good. I cleaned up the guest room & bath today and re-organized the storage area down there too. I need to run to the store to stock up on essentials: bread, wine and beer. Oh, and decide what's for dinner. After dinner we'll go pick my mom up from the train. I'm excited. I wish she could stay longer than a week.

Off to see what's in the fridge. Ciao!






2 comments:

normanack said...

Okay, Lysne. If you got that much done at your house, you need to come to mine. I cannot stand the amount of crud that accumulates here -- stacks of paper, miscellaneous carpentry stuff, cans of paint, books on every surface, computer cords and accessories, etc. ad nauseum. And my kitchen is in dreadful need of a re-organization. Help me, heeelllp meeee . . . . (say hi to your mom!)

normanack said...

Oh, man, I can so totally see the dog walk thing. It is wicked walking just one big dog while pushing a baby carriage.

Cesar gives me the courage to believe that I can make my dog behave. I love him for that.