Friday, March 16, 2012

Ode to the Two's....

Funny how before I had kids when my oldest nephew was 2 and giving my sister a run for her money, I thought it hilarious. In fact, I even said that the 2's are my favorite age. I loved the attitude and that they could talk back to you and tell you what they wanted. Yes, my friends that made me an inexperienced IDIOT! I don't know how my sister didn't smack me when the words came out of my mouth and frankly 5 years later, I still wouldn't blame her for a late reaction.
We are in the 2's.....I mean I had a slight feeling that they are were nearing us around 18 months but ladies and gentleman...they have arrived. Err...yay?
I love my child. Really I do. But I also feel like all of those times I was awful to my mom and she said that one day God would give me one just like me...well.....it's happened. Thanks Mom.
The same qualities that I love about Reagan are the same ones that drives me nuts:independent, strong-willed, determined. Yes, I know I could just as easily be describing myself in that sentence. She is also beyond sweet and caring and motherly to her friends, imaginative, energetic, joyful and brilliant. Even with my frustrations, I cannot say enough amazing things about her. Really I am still astounded daily that she is mine..well..until the fits kick in. :)
After several conversations with her amazing teachers at the church where we workout at and also are involved at MOPS, her sweet teacher recommended that I read Making the "Terrible"Twos Terrific! by John Rosemond. If you have a 2 year old and in need of a little direction/encouragement, I would recommend this book. I'm about half-way through so far and I've come to this insight.....what drives me crazy about her actions is directly related to me. Yep! ME! My prior post was titled my mini-me and boy do I mean that. When I get frustrated and yell...I am looking in the mirror when my precious 2 year old gets frustrated and yells. When I am quick to be impatient..yep..you guessed it..so is my 2 year old. When I am preoccupied with my blog...kidding..I update this thing quarterly, she WILL get my attention. If she's bored, etc...you get the point.
I used to be really good about planning our day: crafts, lessons, story time, outdoor activities, library times, etc. BUT...life happens and at this season I'm just exhausted. We can talk more about that later...I've realized though while I may not be able to be as structured as I used to be and would like to be, she definitely benefits from some structure. She needs the challenges, lessons and interactions to be stimulated. This leads me to the point of this post. Thanks to pinterest and several helpful preschool sites, I've found a laundry list of crafts and activities that I am going to try to incorporate daily...okay..maybe weekly. Let's not get carried away. My goal is to post them on my blog weekly so that other moms may be able to get ideas from them as well.
And to all the moms out there of 2 year olds... get your camo and war paint on and just keep singing Destiny's Child "I'm a Survivor" song in your head over and over and over and over.
"I'm a survivor. I'm gonna make it. I will survive. Keep on survivin'"

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