I'm a couple of days late in getting started, but c'est la vie right? Today I'm blogging about the chaos of being a parent. As Soleil Moon Frye puts it in her book, it's a "Happy Chaos". When we first had Miss Z, I read all the books I could find, joined the birth clubs online and tried to prepare myself. We decided to get Miss Z on a schedule as soon as possible. To an extent that worked, but let's face it, there is no such thing as a true schedule with babies or toddlers. You can put them on a schedule for sleeping and eating, but everything in between can pure chaotic joy.
My favorite times are when she starts random games with us out of no where and generally with no warning. She has a great imagination and is always making up songs, dances and games. Last night she came in to sing me a "lullaby" to make me feel better. It was more like a rock song complete with arm movements and an air guitar solo, but it was great.
This morning was a perfect example of how something that seems as normal as getting ready for school can turn into utter chaos at the flip of a hat. This morning, Miss Z crawled into bed and snuggled up with me which was wonderful. We played around a little with her stuffed animals she brought with her and had a good tickle match. She was happy and compliant while we were getting dressed until it came time to put on her socks.
I'm not sure why she freaks out at putting on her socks. I know that she can do it. She knows she can do it. There are morning where she gets ready with essentially no assistance from me or her dad. She's 4 1/2 so I don't think that's unreasonable. Today however, when we got to the socks, she went into total meltdown mode. It took approximately 20 minutes, 2 pairs of sock and 3 pairs of shoes to get her calmed down and her shoes on, sans socks.
We try to let Miss Z. make choices whenever possible. It gives her a sense of control and makes her much more compliant when we set limits and tell her no.
My question at this point is how much is too much when it comes to indulging in your child's whims to get her through a tough morning? How do you control the chaos with your kids? Do you just put your foot down and say, "this is how it's going to be" or do you try and reason with your kids and give them the freedom to choose?
