Mean Mommy at the Pool
Today I woke up. Fed Addison breakfast. Went to a 3 minute chiropractor appointment. Played/Read/Therapied with Addison. Fed her lunch. Put her down for her nap at 11:00.
And was exhausted. Done. My energy for the day had been completely depleted.
I'm inclined to blame this large man child that I am now dragging around everywhere I go.
After a two minute snooze on the couch, my mother-in-law came over and painted the walls of the nursery while I worked on the woodwork. Yes, I was super tired, but I knew this must get done before this man child makes his appearance into this world. So, we faithfully painted away...getting that much more done on the room work that just never seems to end...
After she left, I collapsed on my bed with a banana and a strawberry/banana greek yogurt, hoping to find some strength there. Nada. (but for the record...that is a delicious combination)
I looked around at the disaster that my house had morphed into ever since Addison has decided to tear everything apart room by room, taking advantage of the fact that I just can't get down to pick everything as fast as she can scatter it...
I thought about the piles of laundry that I should be taking care of...
I wondered what I would fix for dinner and thought I should go investigate the pantry...
Dishwasher that needed to be unloaded, floors that longed to be swept, counters that cried for wiping down, clutter that necessitated disbanding...
the thermostat read ONE BILLION DEGREES.
the more I pondered it, the more exhausted and overwhelmed I felt.
So I did what any responsible, proactive mom/housewife would do.
I ditched it all and took Addison to the pool.
Now, the pool water was refreshing, and watching Addison laugh and splash was indeed endearing, but I did have a hidden motive for taking her to the pool.
We have been working so hard on getting her to walk. She will cruise around VERY comfortably, holding onto furniture lightly with one hand...taking step after step quickly with ease and skill. BUT as soon as you try to get her to take steps FORWARD toward you or perhaps push her dolly stroller, she will take ONE step and then sit her stubborn hinny down, REFUSING to take any more steps even though she has proven that she has the strength and ability due to her constant cruising.
so frustrating. Up until today she has been winning this little battle, because despite my best efforts I COULD NOT get her to stay standing and step forward.
Enter: Mean Mommy at the pool
Taking my beautiful daughter into the pool, I found a depth that she could comfortably stand in, but was too deep for her to sit in.
I sweetly asked her to stand and offered her my hands to hold onto. She only allowed me to hold one of her hands. Fine.
"Walk towards Mommy" I coaxed. She gave one halfhearted step towards me, assumed her stubborn "don't want to" look and started to sit down.
As soon as her little legs were collapsed, her mouth and nose started to sink into the water.
I have never seen her shoot back up to a standing position so quickly.
At first she continued to just take one step and then attempt to sit down, jumping immediately back up because of the water height. Then it was two steps...then three...After a few minute she learned that she had just better stay upright if she didn't want the water on her face and she took step after step after step forward...with ease and skill just as I knew she COULD.
I felt mean. and knew that I had tricked her. and felt sorry for all of the hard work that she was doing...exhausting herself, knowing that this didn't solve our problem.
But it was a "step" in the right direction, and certainly helped build her confidence level.
We'll be definitely going back to the pool as often as we can in the next few weeks to practicing walking some more...
...most likely just when everything else needs to be done as well...but this is pretty important too...and Addison needs the "only sibling attention" while I can still give it to her...and it totally tricks her into walking practice...
don't judge. I'm dealing with a VERY stubborn child...soon to be joined by a no doubt stubborn sibling...and I can only carry one of them, so this walking thing is just going to have to start happening soon...
And was exhausted. Done. My energy for the day had been completely depleted.
I'm inclined to blame this large man child that I am now dragging around everywhere I go.
After a two minute snooze on the couch, my mother-in-law came over and painted the walls of the nursery while I worked on the woodwork. Yes, I was super tired, but I knew this must get done before this man child makes his appearance into this world. So, we faithfully painted away...getting that much more done on the room work that just never seems to end...
After she left, I collapsed on my bed with a banana and a strawberry/banana greek yogurt, hoping to find some strength there. Nada. (but for the record...that is a delicious combination)
I looked around at the disaster that my house had morphed into ever since Addison has decided to tear everything apart room by room, taking advantage of the fact that I just can't get down to pick everything as fast as she can scatter it...
I thought about the piles of laundry that I should be taking care of...
I wondered what I would fix for dinner and thought I should go investigate the pantry...
Dishwasher that needed to be unloaded, floors that longed to be swept, counters that cried for wiping down, clutter that necessitated disbanding...
the thermostat read ONE BILLION DEGREES.
the more I pondered it, the more exhausted and overwhelmed I felt.
So I did what any responsible, proactive mom/housewife would do.
I ditched it all and took Addison to the pool.
Now, the pool water was refreshing, and watching Addison laugh and splash was indeed endearing, but I did have a hidden motive for taking her to the pool.
We have been working so hard on getting her to walk. She will cruise around VERY comfortably, holding onto furniture lightly with one hand...taking step after step quickly with ease and skill. BUT as soon as you try to get her to take steps FORWARD toward you or perhaps push her dolly stroller, she will take ONE step and then sit her stubborn hinny down, REFUSING to take any more steps even though she has proven that she has the strength and ability due to her constant cruising.
so frustrating. Up until today she has been winning this little battle, because despite my best efforts I COULD NOT get her to stay standing and step forward.
Enter: Mean Mommy at the pool
Taking my beautiful daughter into the pool, I found a depth that she could comfortably stand in, but was too deep for her to sit in.
I sweetly asked her to stand and offered her my hands to hold onto. She only allowed me to hold one of her hands. Fine.
"Walk towards Mommy" I coaxed. She gave one halfhearted step towards me, assumed her stubborn "don't want to" look and started to sit down.
As soon as her little legs were collapsed, her mouth and nose started to sink into the water.
I have never seen her shoot back up to a standing position so quickly.
At first she continued to just take one step and then attempt to sit down, jumping immediately back up because of the water height. Then it was two steps...then three...After a few minute she learned that she had just better stay upright if she didn't want the water on her face and she took step after step after step forward...with ease and skill just as I knew she COULD.
I felt mean. and knew that I had tricked her. and felt sorry for all of the hard work that she was doing...exhausting herself, knowing that this didn't solve our problem.
But it was a "step" in the right direction, and certainly helped build her confidence level.
We'll be definitely going back to the pool as often as we can in the next few weeks to practicing walking some more...
...most likely just when everything else needs to be done as well...but this is pretty important too...and Addison needs the "only sibling attention" while I can still give it to her...and it totally tricks her into walking practice...
don't judge. I'm dealing with a VERY stubborn child...soon to be joined by a no doubt stubborn sibling...and I can only carry one of them, so this walking thing is just going to have to start happening soon...