The official countdown to our southwest Florida vacation spectacular is officially in motion. So of COURSE Louise is getting her first tooth and Ainsley has started wetting her pants daily after nearly 3 solid months of successful potty training.
I was concerned at first. Surely there was some physiological reason for her accidents. There must be something terribly wrong for our 27 month old toddler to suddenly regress so severely.
Then last night after the third incident for the day I sat down to have a chat with my dear sweet Ainsley. "Ainsley May, why are you wetting your pants? You know we only got potties in the toilet." "Ainley May changa clothes! Ainsley may get ALLL dirty."
I should have known.
Do you recall me mentioning how Ainsley loves to dress up and change clothes? How it has gotten completely out of hand at a ridiculous rate? Our clever little toddler has learned to shirk the system. If she wets her pants, she HAS to change. She gets new clothes, just what she wants.
Ha! Are you serious? I was prepared for this when she was 13, not 2? How did she learn this manipulation? Truthfully I'm a bit impressed but completely flabbergasted and out of my mind frustrated at the same time.
So I did what any self respecting mom would do. I bought her some m&ms and called my mom for advice.
The m&ms are to reinforce her going in the toilet (like we did when she was first training). My mom was to reinforce my own inclinations to hold strong and firm. I can't let her get the best of me!
I'm just so tired of fighting with her. Every little thing is a battle. Now this is a big battle. It's one of those parenting moments when your children get to see your true colors. Do you cave and let them get what they want or do you buckle down (which is SO much harder than it seems).
I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm determined and bought a big ole bottle of vinegar today. I'm armed and ready.
In other less dire news I've finally figured out Louise's "big baby" nap schedule so we get a full 3.5-4 hours of naps a day and 10-11 hours of sleep at night. I'm still trying to reconcile that only about an hour of those naps overlap Ainsley's.
Ainsley and I potted our sunflower seeds this morning. After two straight years of squirrels digging out my seeds and eating them I've learned and am sprouting them indoors this year. Ainsley loved gardening with her new shovel and watering can. She was so careful and methodical with the soil and seeds. This bodes well for our summer filled with weeding and watering in the backyard!
A few fun photos to end by:
::this is how Ainsley wanted to greet the day, and YaWeez::
::spring gardening!::
::new rake...only Ainsley May gardens in her red party shoes::
::who says vacuuming has to be a chore?::
::after running and surprising YaWeez::
::she looks so innocent, doesn't she?::
Happy Friday!
She looks just like you- I was looking through an old photo album with my sister while she was here to visit and there was one of you and me and my mother in a maybe 5th grade? And all I could think was "Wow- that little girl looks like Ainsley." Adorable. And that last picture really shows you in her!
ReplyDeletebuckling down and fighting the battles ARE so much harder than they seem. no one ever told me this parenting thing would be so hard ;) and emmy is only 1! it this what i have to look forward to?
ReplyDeleteAhhh! I know right Ashley? But the good part is that with all that crazy hard disciplining and buckling down comes such a little personality and sense of humor and lots and lots of love. You'll be great!
ReplyDeleteAnd Taryn, I'm glad you see me in her. Everyone thinks she's the spitting image of Ian but I remain that it's because she's long and lean like him but definitely has my eyes and in general I think looks a bit more like me. I hope you are well!