My little narrator

So lately Cinderella has been doing this thing where she narrates at least half of what she does.
Here is an example:

"Mom!, she said, Can you help me find my shoe?"

Or, "Guy laughed, Cinderella didn't."

Or she screams in frustration, and then in a calm voice says "she said".

I find it hilarious.

My favorite June Pics

I wanted to post my favorite pictures I took this last month. There are a few repeats from other blog posts, but most aren't.

"I have a star today!"

We can learn so much from children if we let ourselves.
My kids love to take their vitamins. I don't give them the gummies, I think they look too much like candy. I wouldn't want the kids to find them and down a whole bunch thinking they are candy. I just use the standard chewable ones.

I have however had a hard time finding the chewable ones in a dose for a 2 year old, with out it being cutting a larger dose in half. And come on, what 2 year old wants half of a dinosaur? In our last location, one of the grocery stores that I would shop at had some. These were stars. I stocked up before we moved, because I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find them in our new location.

Cinderella's vitamins have been circus animals, and now she had dinosaurs. Guy could be upset that all he gets are stars when his sister gets a variety. However this is how the conversation usually goes at our breakfast table.

"I have a purple lion today!"
"I have a star today, Dad! I have a star today!"

Every day, no matter what his sister has, Guy is thrilled that he has a star. I am so glad he can be happy with what he has instead of wishing for what others have.

Unfortunately, the stars are almost all gone, and so it is time to try to find what I can around here. Hopefully he doesn't have to settle for half a dinosaur.

Good Morning

So Cinderella is not much of a morning person, if anything wakes her up instead of waking up on her own. If she wakes up on her own she could be up at 6 and be as happy as can be.

Well this morning I woke her up about 7:30, which is not early for our house. Her response, in a ornery voice was, "Why do we always have to get up so early?" I responded that it wasn't early. We went down to the kitchen, and I had her sit in her chair at the table. Guy was also at the table. I turned to put Sleeping Beauty in her swing, and overheard this conversation.
Big long whine- Cinderella

"Don't scream Cinderella"- Guy

"I'm not screaming, I'm talking with words so you have to believe me."

"You sad, Cinderella?"

Now said in an ornery voice, "I'm not sad. I'm happy."

"Sorry, Cinderella."

I had to try really hard to not laugh. It was obvious that Guy sensed the tension in his sister, and was trying to make her feel better, but she was not wanting to admit she had a problem. At least after she proclaimed she was happy, she started acting like it. Mornings can be quite interesting in our house.

I can see a rainbow

So I find it amazing that even though the area that we lived in for the last 2 years was an area of much rain, it wasn't until we moved to a desert area that my children experienced their first real rainbow.

One night this last week, after we had put the kids to bed, I happened to glance out the window and see a rainbow. We got the kids up to let them see it too.
Cinderella wanted to go climb it. She was kind of disappointed when I told her she couldn't, because it is just made of light.

Guy was very excited and talked about how there was a rainbow in one of his books.

I really enjoy exposing my kids to new fun things.

A baby blessing

So on June 7th, we had Sleeping Beauty's baby blessing. This is something done in our church, that a special prayer is said for the baby, that gives some direction to the baby for their life, and gives them a name to be listed on the Church records.

We invited my siblings with their families, my parents, my grandparents, and my husbands sister that lives in the area to attend. After our church meeting, we had everyone come over to our house for a pot luck lunch. It was a lot of fun to have people over at our house. I was hoping that the weather would be nice and people could eat outside, where there is more room. However mother nature didn't agree, and so we had around 24 people crowded into our house. But at least we have a house and not an apartment. That would have been really crowded.

What do you do about an defiant 4 year old?

So Cinderella has entered a stage lately that I don't know how to deal with. It probably doesn't help that I am currently sleep deprived. But she is ornery, and screams all the time. Any time she doesn't get her way she starts screaming, and then she turns and hits Guy.

Sometimes he deserves it, I guess. He does egg her on, but I don't think that kind of behavior is ever acceptable. Then when I try to discipline she totally ignores me, and does what she can to get out of the discipline. I try to ignore her behavior when I feel like it can be ignored, but sometimes it can't.

For example. This morning I had Sleeping Beauty laying on the floor, while I was sorting laundry. Cinderella was talking to her, but then decided that it would be a good idea to jump over her. Well, that is one action I can't condone. But knowing that she might not even realize there is something wrong with doing this, I calmly explained that doing this can hurt the baby, and that she needs to not do it. She said OK, then waited till I went back to the laundry, and then started jumping again.

I once again told her she can't jump over the baby, because it can hurt the baby. Then I asked her if she understood what I was saying. She just stared at me, and refused to acknowledge that I had even said anything. It is at this point that I start fuming, and get frustrated. I asked her several times if she understood. Finally she said she did. I let her go, and then she went and stood next to the baby, and acted like she was going to jump, and said, "no, I don't understand." So I made her take a time out, by sitting on a stool, in the laundry room with me. She sat there for a minute then stood up, and looked at me with this look that seemed to say, "how are you going to make me, mom?"

This kind of defiant attitude is the way she is treating all of my discipline tactics lately. I know a big part of it is the age and stage. But the thing is, I know I really can't force her to take a time out. I can't force her to say she is sorry. I can't force her to not hit her brother. She is right, I can't make her. But I don't want her to get the message that the boundaries that are set aren't real, and aren't going to be enforced.

So I want to know if any of you have any suggestions of what you have done with your children in this stage, or what you would do.