Daddy is home

Between school and work, Mark's "free time" is limited. Sometimes the girls go almost 2 days without seeing their Daddy. Both of them have figured out ways to have time with him. Morgan's method involves rising at 5 AM just to steal 5 precious moments with Mark before he is out the door. If she hears his footsteps as he walks across the floor upstairs, she is up! She also makes sure she gets dates with him to the library, movies, or Target on his days off.
Precious Audrey has come up with her own way to be near her dad. On the nights he is home before she goes to sleep, Mark must lay down with her in the bed in order for her to fall asleep. If he is not there, she gets out of bed and cries and screams for him at the bottom of the stairs. Once she finally falls aleep, she insists on going upstairs to sleep on the couch. She is usually not able to stay awake, but rather falls asleep instantly on the couch. It really seems like she just needs him near her in order to feel comfortable enough to sleep.
Though I sometimes just wish they would sleep soundly and let me have some time...There isn't much that makes me happier than knowing how much my daughters love their dad. I often tell them that I looked a long time for the perfect person to have them with and that there is no one better. I believe that with all my heart and I am reminded of how true it is each day.

"What time is it?"

At some point yesterday I said out loud, "What time is it?" Audrey looked up at me, moved her wrist back and forth, and said "watch."

Daily Groove

THE DAILY GROOVE ~ by Scott Noelle
www.enjoyparenting.com/dailygroove

:: Why Kids Lie ::

PARENT: "Did you eat the banana that
I *told* you was for later?"

TODDLER: (with banana residue on face
and peel in hand) "No."

If children are innately good-natured, why do they
tell lies?

They lie *because* they're good-natured... and they're
doing their best to navigate the treacherous waters of
a "de-natured" culture.

The toddler is being good-natured when she honors her
hunger. It's not in her nature to believe in scarcity,
nor to override her Inner Guidance with arbitrary
limitations.

She's being good-natured when she meets her parent's
*expectation* of wanting the forbidden fruit.

She's being good-natured when she gives the answer
she believes the parent wants to hear. It's not in her
nature to invite disapproval and disconnection.

In other words, we inadvertently teach our kids to lie
when we participate in the Big Lie of our culture:
conditionality.

Next time your child lies to you, take it as a cue to
brush up on the Art of Unconditionality... and
appreciate your child's good nature. :-)

* See also: http://dailygroove.net/big-lie

Permalink: http://dailygroove.net/why-kids-lie

Feel free to forward this message to your friends!
(Please include this paragraph and everything above.)
Copyright (c) 2007 by Scott Noelle

Email

This morning Audrey went into the office and was moving the mouse around on the table when I walked in. I asked her what she was doing and she said, "email."

Sisters

It is absolutely fascinating to watch and listen to my children when one of Morgan's friends comes to play. Audrey seems to be nothing short of an irritant to the little girl. Not just in the moments when Audrey is interrupting a card game or messing with the hypothetical castle being built does her presence get under the child's skin. This, in and of itself, is not what I find so interesting. Morgan's response to Audrey in these moments is what touches my heart. Morgan automatically steps in to explain Audrey's curiosity and behavior to her friend. She then gently guides her sister through the moment, helping her with a patience and kindness that fills me with joy. There are times when Morgan, understandably, wants some space to play alone with her friend. It is those moments she usually asks me to step in and take Audrey to do something else or suggests playing in a different room. I guess what truly strikes me is how seldom Morgan is frustrated or annoyed with her little sister. The relationship my children have is a beautiful thing and I feel privileged to be able to watch it grow.

North GA Fair

Our annual visit to the North Georgia Fair was a lot of fun again this year. Diane, Margaret, Meridith, Audrey, Morgan, Mark, and I went on September 29 to experience what the fair had to offer. Breaking with tradition, there were no huge turkey legs devoured. Instead there were corn dogs, hot dogs, french fries, and lemonade. Morgan and I rode the first ride together and it scared the shit out of me. Now, on my own I usually love carnival rides and roller coasters. But, put my precious daughter next to me and it is absolutely terrifying. Of course, the whole time Morgan was shouting, "I love this. This is awesome!" The entire time I was focused on trying to practically sit on top of her tiny body to help quiet the fear that she was going to be thrown from the ride. I could also see the ferris wheel next to the ride we were on and remembered all to well the terror that ride induced last year. The moment we got off our twirling spinning death trap I rushed to find another person to spare me the pain of having to ride the ferris wheel again this time. Meridith took the bait and was off to stand in line with her much eager niece at her side.
Diane, Margaret, and I took Audrey to ride the tame merry go round while Morgan enjoyed looking over the fair from up in the sky. Audrey seemed to enjoy herself despite how tired she was and fell asleep shortly after. Morgan enjoyed several more rides but was mostly interested in the games you can play. You know the ones "$2 for one ball, $5 for 3. Every child is a winner." Morgan couldn't seem to get enough. She won several stuffed animals including an Elmo for her little sister. Audrey even got to play the basketball game and the man picked her up and let her throw the ball into the net.
We ended up staying for about 4 hours and saw most everything there. On the way out, Morgan wanted to ride one more ride and Audrey went with her. Audrey seemed a bit scared right up until she saw that she was going to sit next to her sister. She instantly relaxed as she was placed in the seat with Morgan and the two of them enjoyed their last ride of the year.

Climbing Kennesaw Mtn.

We decided on Saturday that it would be fun to climb Kennesaw Mountain with the girls. Though I grew up here, that is something I had never done. Had I known just how tiring it would be, I would have chosen not to go on a bike ride for an hour and a half just prior to leaving. Before we left, I made sure to pack several bottles of water and some snacks. We got a picnic lunch and ate it at the beginning of our climb. Mark was taking pictures and we were all in good spirits. Audrey walked a little bit and then she climbed right on my back to ride in the "ing" (sling). The climb was far from easy to do and Morgan asked to sit down every 10 minutes or so. We rested often and each time I had a harder time getting the thought out of mind that Morgan would never want to do this again. We sat for a while when we reached the top and I knew at that moment we had over done it. We needed to be at the car that moment driving home. However, we were only half way finished and extremely exhausted. Morgan completely lost herself on the way down. She could hardly hold it together and tears poured down her face. As she cried, I told her how tired I was and how badly I wished we were in the car already. I told her that I wished I could just lay down and take a nap and that I was pretty sure she felt the same way. Since there was no way to get to the car except to keep walking, I asked Morgan to sing and skip with me. She thought I was nuts but I thought it was something more positive to do than dwell on how miserably tired we were. Morgan really did try and we skipped a little and sang a little and her mood improved for the moment. When we could finally see cars, I wanted to jump up and down. We were almost there when I slipped on some rocks and fell to the ground with Audrey strapped to my back. Though we were not injured, I was most definitely not fine. I don't think I could have gotten up if I had wanted to. I sat on the ground for a bit and realized how truly exhausted I was. I am honestly not sure I have ever felt like that in my entire life. I have to say it wasn't pleasant. But we had made it! The camera's batteries died about 20 minutes into our hike and unfortunately we don't have pictures of the following 2 hours and 40 minutes that it took to finish our adventure. I can't be positive, but I don't think Morgan will be jumping at a chance to go hiking any time soon.

Blurb about our day

Today turned out to be pretty great. We stayed home all day and Morgan didn't even ask, "what are we doing today?" once. Usually she wants to go somewhere. Today we were all content to stay home. We made cookies and dinner in the morning and Morgan and I both ran on the treadmill while Audrey took a nap. Morgan chose to watch a little TV, but mostly we had on music throughout our day. We went outside this afternoon and even played in a short and very light rain. Morgan made an obstacle course and ran it several times. Audrey followed Morgan's every move. Audrey insisted on wearing a helmet when Morgan put hers on. With Morgan on her bike and Audrey standing motionless on the scooter while wearing a hat, they were a sight. I was too lazy to come in for the camera. Audrey decided to take a rest on the garage floor and Morgan continued to play. She pretended she was fixing and making things with items she found on Rick's tool bench. She had a blast. After dinner we all played playdough before getting ready for bed. Audrey and I fell asleep before Morgan, but Morgan woke me up with questions she had about Audrey's birth. Morgan is fascinated with birth and pregnancy and asks all sorts of questions. She loves to watch "baby shows" on TLC and Discovery Health. With her questions of the night answered, Morgan joined her sister for sleep.