 |
| She obviously, often dresses herself :-) |
Every day I drop off my little girl at the babysitter’s
about 7:30 and pick her up before 5. Typically,
when it’s the end of the day and I ring the sitter’s doorbell I am generally
greeted (but not always) with a cute 3 year old yelling “Mommmmm!” as she jumps
up and down. Other times she is engrossed in some type of
activity and appears to not really care that I am back. After chatting with the sitter and talking
about everyone’s day we eventually make it home. At some point between me ringing the doorbell
at the sitter’s and Laura and I walking into the house I commonly experience
some type of tantrum. Seriously?! It’s what every Mom wants, a tantrum. Sometimes they are short lived other times
she is just CRANKY.
I have put a lot of thought into these interactions. I have also thought a lot about the fact of
how much time we DON’T have to spend together.
Monday-Friday we have approximately 2 to 2 ½ hours of time together
before it is time for her to be in bed and do it all over again the next day. I HATE it.
I have seriously contemplated putting her to bed later than 7:30 just so
I can play, snuggle and have fun with her.
But, lets face it. That ain’t
gonna happen! Even though typing that makes me sad. Let me explain why…
#1. Why does Laura
tantrum almost every day? Because I am
SAFE. She, like me has had a long day and
has been keeping her composure all day long and now she can just be free and
let it out. Some days she may be tired,
frustrated, or sad because she missed me.
But, the point is she is going to let out her emotions onto me. Because I am the MOM and we have a healthy
relationship.
#2 Once again I am the MOM and she is 3. She is going to try push her limits the most
with me because I am SAFE. She is
testing me, kids need limits, they need structure, they absolutely crave it
(and fight it). Additionally, because she is 3 she is consistently experiencing
new emotions, figuring out how to handle them, what they are and what the heck
to do with them.
#3 She needs her sleep!
I have learned that I need a break and she needs her sleep. Children are better off with an hour or 2
less of interactions than with that extra hour or 2 of interaction and it not
be positive. If I let Laura stay up in
an effort to spend more time with her she is going to be tired, she already has
had a long day. And I am tired too and I
still need MY time to get things done and take care of myself. Self-care is so important!
Some days I have a hard time remembering these things but, I
know that they are totally true! Working
can be exhausting and the guilt I feel some times is awful. But, when I put things into perspective and
take care of myself it seems to alleviate my guilt. Because I KNOW that she needs her rest, I
need to take care of myself too and children don’t need to spend the majority
of their time with their parent to have a loving, healthy relationship which is what
every child needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment