Early Valentine’s flowers from my wonderful hubby. Stunning roses.
The crazy week continues. Amazingly stressful and unproductive this week. Oh well, just one more day. And then we get a 3-day weekend. This time, I could really use it. Nathaniel is still waking up at night and we’re trying to get him to sleep more so it’s a lot of short nights for me on top of the crazy stress. fun fun.
Here’s my boy with the stunning eyes and the amazing soul.
And the little wiggly one who puts everything in his mouth.
We found David’s DVD player yesterday and he’s been watching a They Might Be Giants music video about science that his uncle gave him for his birthday. Nathaniel walked over to him to check it out today too. David is so kind, so generous, he didn’t mind it one bit. He even gave his brother a kiss.
Joy.
Note to Self:
I’ve been listening to this book about new studies around child rearing and one of the topics they discuss is on lying. And they talk about how parents admonish their kids for lying and yet tell them to “not be rude” when it comes to social lying. For example if someone gives them a gift they don’t like and they say they don’t like it, it’s rude and they are supposed to say “Thank you, it’s great” or whatever. Yet, this is lying, too. Cordial or not. This made me think a lot. Lying is lying. Especially for kids who don’t really understand shades of gray so well. So what’s the trick? How do we teach them not to lie but not to be rude or hurt someone’s feelings? Maybe just thank people and not tell them whether they liked it or not? Even if they receive a gift they don’t like, it’s still generous of the giver to gift. So maybe focus on that?
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. A get together that I thought was falling through might actually be happening. I’m delighted about the possibility.
2. My beautiful roses. I am not even a fan of roses but these make me happy.
3. Warm dinner bought, made, and served by my awesome husband.
I think that a good thing to teach them early on is to say something like….”that was so nice of you”, or “how thoughtful”, and not comment on the “gift”, but on the giver. We even practiced it before we had our little family parties…it worked well for our daughter, but not quite as well for our son, who was/is quiet and shy. So many things to consider during these formative years. You are such a wise and encouraging mother. Hang in there! You are doing a great job!
Tough one.
But you’re probably right to appreciate the thoughtfulness and focus on the person’s motivation mare than the actual gift.