I’m not generally a stream of conscious kind of blogger. It must be the writer in me who thinks a published piece should be planned, revised, and edited before my readers get to see it. Eh. Sometimes you have to break the mold, jump out of your comfort zone, and go for it. Instead of radio silence, today I give you what motherhood is like today. #momlife
1. Meghan had a fire drill at school yesterday and woke up in the middle of the night, certain our house was going to have a fire. I laid in bed with her for two hours, desperately trying to calm her and give her reassurance that she was safe. Any advice for calming the fears of a sensitive child?
2. I don’t have a problem getting my kids to eat vegetables. I do have a problem getting them to eat a wide variety of vegetables. Maybe I should count my blessings that they will eat fresh vegetables, but it’s getting to me lately. My brainstorming cap is on.
3. Luke loves to be at home. He says things like, “I’m never going to go to school or church again.” I hope he outgrows this phase.
4. 90% of the time we are home Luke is either naked or without bottoms. He’s always “too hot.” I hope I’m not scarring Meghan by letting him be naked. Some battles aren’t worth it. 
5. Yesterday Meghan told me, with a tear in her eye, “I’m the worst in my whole class at flash cards” and it broke my heart in two. It’s a good life lesson for her, though. We talked about how everyone has strengths and weaknesses and it’s okay to not be the best at everything, but if you want to be better, you can, you just need to practice a lot more. 
6. Threenager is a real thing. Luke will turn four in December, and I hate to say it but I’m excited to have a four year old instead of a three year old. I remember three being just as hard with Meghan, but four was glorious. I hope four is glorious with Luke, too. By the way, for both of them, two was a walk in the park compared to three. No terrible twos over here.
7. Motherhood has got to be the hardest job out there. Yet, it’s the most rewarding. This love is incredible, no?
Oh yes, the fire drill caused weeks of anxiety for our sensitive child, but it was at her 3 year old preschool! I did not like how they handled it (no warning, because a real fire has no warning?), or how they handled her anxiety about it afterwards. She was terrified to go to school, of any sudden noises meaning it was a fire (the washer or dishwasher beeping, my phone alarm…). We dealt with the fear of both fires and random loud noises every day for weeks, and my only advice is to make a plan, talk about the plan and read books or find kids shows that discuss it. Make it les mysterious and tell her how she is being protected and safe. Not just that she is safe. Plus say that it’s ok to be afraid, we are all afraid sometimes, but it is good we handle our fears that matter. We love Daniel tigers neighborhood and they have a “big storm” episode that talks about making a plan, staying with your family… it helped. Good luck! And for us… 4 has been way harder than 3!! I was so hoping it wouldn’t…. but my sensitive girl is a preemie so I often feel like she is just figuring out things (like back talk, tantrums, grabbing toys from kids, knocking down towers) that other children deal with at a younger age… hoping for you that 4 is magical.
Did you share Meghan’s reaction to the fire drill with her teacher? I’m sure the teacher could give her a secret prewarning about the next drill. That may ease her fears a bit.
I don’t think it was the drill itself that scared her, it just put the idea that our house could catch fire into her head. 🙁 We are working on a family plan (we should have already had that in place anyway!) to help ease her fear that if there is a fire we have a plan to get out safely.
I can completely relate to number 6. I am (secretly) hoping that by the time my youngest turns 4 (next year in summer) things will become easier :). The term threenager describes her fully.
I agree, we would not be able to do this if not for number 7. Love makes everything better.
I’m under the weather, though healing, and feeling the urge to comment. My father, the writer and philosopher encouraged stream of consciousness as we way to purge the subconscious. Plus, he would name off numerous poems written in the style, though most times I would agree that a blog is more planned unless you’re in need of clear out a few thoughts.
That being said, having a sensitive child myself and moments like those, I hold them as long as they need and whisper positive ideas into their ear, over and over. I try to give him tell him that life isn’t perfect, even though that is what he strives for and that Daddy and I will do everything to keep him safe. Along the same lines my sensitive perfectionist will cry when something isn’t coming out perfect or the best and I remind him that life is struggle and we learn when we struggle. He seemed to like that and now brags when he struggles, though some things he still wants to be Perfect at.
My four year old says he doesn’t like school every day. I too hope he will grow out of it. Church, school and swim lessons, he doesn’t want to go. There are days he cries. I had to drop swim for the time being. I didn’t want to do it but he cried so hard, what do I do? He will be 5 at the end of the month!
My feeling about number 4. is that if you don’t make a big deal about it – it will fade away and Meghan won’t even have noticed.
Nice, from the heart post! 🙂