Parenting Can be Hard

Since school got back into session after Christmas we have found that Hallie is more sassy and just kind of a brat. One night she came to get me to let me know she had painted on her wall and then blamed it on her sister but the mess was way to clean for her sister to have been the culprit. The following day while doing her homework she cut a hole in her pants and when I asked her why she said she didn't know. We were taking away privileges and timeouts didn't seem to be doing a whole lot of good. I asked Hallie preschool teacher about it she said she had been great at preschool but that several other parents were noticing that as well. I talked to the other 2 moms we car pool with and they as well were having "issues" with their kiddos. I figured it was a part of her exerting her independence but also wanted to find a way to show her that acting that way was unacceptable.  I prayed that I would know how to help Hallie and felt like we needed to set some more black and white expectations(schedule) so I sat down with Hallie and let her know what we would be doing and implemented it the next day. I am very happy to say that is it working perfectly. It still never ceases to amaze me the power of communication. Now she earns her shows or activities dependent upon her behavior and Im loving the results. Sometimes consistency is hard but I have found the results make my life much easier once we get it in place.

Now with Gracie about a month ago we took the front off her crib and turned it into a toddler bed. For the 1st couple of weeks she did great like nothing even happened but then she started waking up earlier and not napping as well. The really frustrating part of it is that she is super whiny and I can tell she is tired. In the morning she used to sleep til at least 9 and now she is waking up before 8 which at our house does not fly...we like our sleep here. So on Monday I called Erin to help me move the queen bed upstairs for her to sleep in. She has started sleeping better although not completely like she used to. Im hoping this is a good fix for her. Although it really made me sad when I took down the crib yesterday. How come they have to grow up so fast.