Just some little things...

Tucker loves his Sissy so so much . That's not to say that he isn't mean to her sometimes- because he is. He'll invite her, BEG her, to go and play trains with him and 5 seconds later he is shoving her out of the play room and telling Tyler and I that he DOES NOT want Sissy to play with him. But he loves her.

A couple of days ago Madeline stubbed her toe coming out of her room before school and cried for a couple of minutes. When I went to get Tucker out of bed he asked if Sissy was okay and I told him that she had hurt her toe. He asked if he could kiss it and sure enough he went to her in the living room and got down on his knees and kissed her toe.

Yesterday Madeline got her feelings hurt at school and I talked with her about the issue all the way home. When we got to the house Madeline went inside immediately and Tucker waited for me to come around and get him out of his car seat. When I opened his door he asked if he could go and kiss Sissy's feelings.

I suggested they snuggle up and watch a movie that would make her happy. He suggested "Day of the Diesels." I laughed and asked him if he thought Madeline would like that one. I said that it would be nice if he went and asked her what SHE would like to watch and found out what would make HER happy. He went to ask her and she said she wanted to watch his diesel movie.

I remembered this week to concentrate on the "treat others as you would be treated" rule and it really helps me to repeat it to myself throughout the day. It makes me more patient with Madeline and Tucker and a little more understanding and soft spoken with them. Sometimes I find myself whispering gently to them when I feel like screaming at them. That feels good. I like when I find myself trying to improve and be a better mom. Sometimes I can be a really lazy mom. I can't believe I have to take continuing education to renew my Real Estate license each year but there is no required training or continuing ed that a PARENT has to attend each year in order to continue RAISING A GOOD HUMAN BEING! Crazy. As a side note- I skipped my continuing ed today so that I could work at M's school. I can make it up later this year and today being there for her at the school after an especially hard day seemed like some important parenting ed.

But...I had to go and get Tucker from MDO so that I could go back to the school and finish up my work. Tucker had not napped and every request was met with "NO!" He wouldn't listen and at the very end of our day when I was trying to get the kids out to the car before we got blocked in by the pick up line Tucker refused to cross the busy street with Madeline and I and then would not get in his car seat. He wouldn't even look at me for me to do my whisper request that he PLEASE get in his seat so that we could go home. I swatted him on the bottom (quickly and lightly to get his attention) through his diaper and he started SOBBING immediately. He cried all the way home and just as we turned into our neighborhood Madeline asked him why he felt so sad. He told her that he was "sad because Mamma spanked him and it made him feel sad." Madeline said, "Well, Tucker, I don't know what to say. You have to obey Mamma. I know it hurts- I've been spanked HUNDREDS of times but you just have to do what she asks you to do and that way you won't get in trouble." Sorry if this statement offends anyone but I think that is hilarious. SO funny that she perceives her number of spankings as HUNDREDS. She was so dramatic when she said it. And it is so far from true. Hilarious that she is giving her brother that advice. Tonight within the span of 15 minutes I had to ask her to go and look at the "rules I will not ever say again because if I have to repeat myself one more time I will bang my head against a concrete wall- list" 3 times. For disobeying.

BUT...I'm gonna pat myself on the back here- it was so amazing that it has to be documented-
After she finally DID obey and got dressed we went to dinner. 2 older couples were sitting by us and when we started to leave they both complimented Tyler and I on our parenting skills and told us we were doing great jobs raising wonderful children. They both said how well behaved Madeline and Tucker were. Tyler and I were JUST laughing the other night about how no one had said that to us since Tucker's birth. We used to take Madeline everywhere and she was an angel. With Tucker you just never know. We used to get praised all the time and since we just had one great kid we thought the praise really was deserved. That we had done it. But we hadn't. We were good at preparing and packing for Madeline. We always carried snacks and entertainment. We quietly colored with her etc...but the great part was not because of us- God just gave us a pretty great toddler in Madeline. Anyway, I thanked our fellow diners and said how nice that was of them to say. Then I went home to pick the beans out of my hair from Tucker smearing his food down his sweater and then wiping it in my hair while he was standing up in our booth trying to climb over it to get to the other table and then when he realized I was not going to let him he decided to climb on me. And on my hair.

Tucker is precious though. Preciously sweet and polite most of the time. Easy going and funny. With the BEST sense of humor. Tonight he straight out lied to his sister and told her that he got to have a birthday party at school today and that they had cake. When I called him out on it he admitted that it was actually Colby and Andy's birthday but he really thought he was funny and loved that he had his sister going.

So tomorrow I'll start over and repeat my "be nice" mantra. Life is so precious. These babies I have the privilege of raising are precious. And being nice to one another makes life better.