Our Little Russian Peanut

Hi! My name is Becky and I’m a control freak. I like to control, umm… everything. Except for deciding where to go for dinner – too much pressure. Everything else is fair game. One thing that I’m not so proud of is my need to control Andrew’s discipline. I have a hard time standing back and letting Keith do his thing which in turn has caused Andrew to rebel against him and, quite honestly, be disrespectful.

All of this is very hard for me to admit because along with being a control freak, I don’t like to be wrong about anything and I don’t like to admit that my child can be disrespectful at times. My child? Disrespectful? NEVER! The many times Keith has asked me to just step back, I thought I knew better and just stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong and took over. That, of course, doesn’t help anything, now does it?

So, Saturday night, we had a very tired boy and a mom who’s back was on the verge of going out. I was laying on the couch while they were about to eat dinner and all you know what broke lose because Andrew thought I was eating in the living room and he had to sit at the table. The meltdown was much bigger than it normally would be because of the tired effect but man did he flip. Lots of yelling and lots and lots of disrespect. I realized, right then and there, that I had to step back and let Keith handle it. Man, was that hard.

And so Keith handled it and everyone wound up back at the dinner table in one piece where they should be and we made it through dinner without any further meltdowns. I, of course, couldn’t let it go (because I’m good like that) and gave Andrew a nice long lecture about how much he hurt daddy’s feelings, how daddy was very sad now, etc… Andrew actually apologized twice unprompted which was nice to see, but we still have an issue to deal with.

What’s the best way to deal with a control freak wife and a disrespectful child? While mommy’s away on a business trip for 4 days, Daddy Boot Camp begins. We talked about how we want to handle certain situations so we do things close to the same so Andrew gets used to hearing it from both of us. Besides that, it’s up to him. (Of course, watch… Andrew will be a perfect angel while I’m gone).

Keith is such a good dad and he’s such a peace keeper. Most of the times he’s trying to keep the peace with me because a control freak who doesn’t like to admit she’s wrong is NOT easy. I’m a yeller (which isn’t a great thing) and Keith is a calm, “let’s talk it out” type personality. Type A meet Type B. On October 5th, we’ll be celebrating 9 years of marriage so SOMETHING must be right between our two personalities, right? :-)

So now, I’ll go pretend I didn’t share my flaws with you. Because I’m a control freak who expects perfection and someone like that would never admit to being wrong.

Becky

Andrew loves, loves listening to the music and is not shy when it comes to busting a move. Katy Perry’s “California Girls” is one of his favorites, much to his father’s dismay. And, of course, he’s listening to friends at school talk about things and so, one day, at the lake he asked if we could listen to “Justin Beaver” (yes, you read that right). My sister and I nearly died.

When we go shopping, Andrew asks if we can stop by the card section so he can listen to the musical cards. Tonight we stopped at Kroger to get a flower for his teacher’s birthday and we also stopped to get a card. Just in time, I captured a bit of Andrew’s talent.

I have laughed so hard each time I have watched this. Hopefully it will bring a giggle to your day too! (As a side note, I did NOTHING to provoke this… he eased his way into his dancing with some hip sways, which I captured, and then busted out with this.)

Becky

We finished our first full month of Kindergarten and we’re still alive and well!  I thought I’d share with you some of the things we’ve I’ve learned this past month as well as some random thoughts.

1.  “E” stands for “Excellent”.  As parents, we would all love our children to have E’s every single day.  As a matter of fact, the first “S” (Satisfactory) Andrew brought home devastated me.  Then I thought about my workplace.  Would I get an E every day?  Nope – I’d likely get a “U” (Unexceptable) for my attitude and wind up in the principal’s office.  Needless to say, an “S” every once in a while is okay. :-)

2.  Kindergarten teachers are organized.  This mom is not.  We’re slowly getting in a routine but it’s quite embarrassing to have to write the teacher and ask for another reading sheet because you’ve misplaced yours.  Twice.  I took it upon myself to scan the latest one in so I can print my own off when if I lose it again.

3.  Making lunches, signing agendas, picking out clothes (both parent’s and children’s) the night before is a must.  Otherwise, be prepared to be a mess in the morning, run out of the door late and have mismatched shoes.

4.  Sight words will be the death of me.  We have a box of 20 words to memorize. I first started quizzing Andrew while he was in the bathtub (he couldn’t escape!!) and quickly grew tired of that.  Thankfully, the weekly schedule they send home has games for learning sight words.  I’ll share some of those with you soon because they’ve been a lifesaver.  Of the 20, there are only 2 we are struggling with - “like” and “this”.  Just think – the next box has 75 words.  Woooohooo!

5.  T-ball is nothing other than a big sandbox.  During Andrew’s first practice he had the others on his team sifting sand through their gloves.  He also rumbled with another kid on his team trying to get the ball.  Good times.

6.  When your child is a social butterfly, he will have a hard time staying out of trouble.  For all of the S’s and N’s (Needs Improvement) Andrew has brought home it’s been for two things - “Talking” and “Not following instructions” which typically equals…. Talking.

7.  The favorite part of my day is dinner.  I remember loving dinnertime as a kid growing up and now, as a parent, I love it even more.  We talk about our highs of the day and lows of the day.  Andrew chooses who goes first, second and third and loves doing it when we have company.  It’s a good way for him to communicate with us and boy, can he communicate!

8.  When learning about manners at school, your child will correct you.  All. Of. The. Time.  “Mommy – you should use please.  Like Please put your shoes where they belong.”  If you don’t use manners and it’s been a long day, you’ll get a lesson in manners through tears and a complete meltdown.

9.  Speaking of meltdowns… phew!  We’re in a meltdown stage.  Andrew is learning some hard lessons.  Poor behavior = not sleeping in mommy and daddy’s bed on a “home night”.  Attitude results in losing books.  And  “N” results in losing games and the long awaited slushy.

10.  To be a good parent, you have to make tough decisions.  This applies to both the Kindergartener and College student.  It’s not enough to be popular, but is so much more important to teach lessons.  We're learning this lesson continuously and coming from someone who always wants things to be rosy, it’s HARD.  Really freaking hard.

So, how about catching up on some happenings??  It’s been a busy month or so and unfortunately I haven’t been carrying my camera everywhere.  I’m lucky I remember to dress myself properly these days!

August - A visit with bloggy friends!

I’m sure you’ve seen pics posted on some other blogs, but Andrew and I took a trip to meet up with some of our favorite people!  Here is a group shot of the kiddos (minus a few) taking a break after some swimming.  The picture of Andrew climbing is at the very end of the day and boy was he tired!

August 22 - Someone turned 5!!!

I can’t believe our baby is now 5!  Seems like just yesterday he was learning to speak English and was in 2T clothes.  He is growing like crazy.  I can’t wait to take him for his check-up (end of this month) to find out how much he has grown.   Mommy and Daddy bought him a skateboard for his birthday.  See – we have lost it!! :-)

 

September - Our little slugger!

We have our first game tomorrow night!  I took a bunch of great pictures on Sunday (before his professional team pictures) but haven’t had a chance to edit them.  Thankfully, he was being silly so I actually got some “real” smiles out of him!

   

Maybe, things will calm down and I’ll be able to post a bit more often!  I’m sure all 2 of you are dying to hear about this little Peanut… :-)

Toodles!
Becky