Trip to MN, Punishments, Cute Things, etc.

I was in Minnesota the last couple of days for work. It was a whirlwind trip (flight left at 6:25 AM and the returning flight the next day did not get in until 11:00 PM), but I still managed to have fun :) It was great meeting some new people and doing some different work than I normally do, and then the we also got to go the Mall of America, which I had never been to.

That place is huge! I was just amazed at all of the stores in it, and then of course the fact that there’s a mini amusement park inside too. I convinced (OK, really dragged) my coworker to ride one of the roller coasters with me, and it was so much fun!

Then we had a really nice dinner with some of the people that we met while we were there and then went back to the hotel and crashed!

While I was away, I really, really missed John and the kids. It doesn’t help that of course I saw families with small children traveling, which made me miss my kids even more. I vowed that when I got back, I would try even harder to remember that they are only small once, and that even though I’m exhausted and sick of filling cups with water or changing diapers or whatever, they were my precious babies and they deserve to have a full-time, hands-on mom…even if I’m faking it because I’m asleep on the inside :)

Yesterday I had to dish out one of the hardest punishments I’ve had to do so far in raising the kids. A couple of weeks ago our nanny told me that Kylie was back-talking her a bunch and that she had a bad attitude. I believed it because we were dealing with the same thing with her. So I told her no friends for 1 week. I told her that hopefully the next time she tried to fight something, she would remember this and keep her mouth shut. So she made it through (barely :) ) that week and I felt bad because we were so busy this week that the first time she could play with her BFF was today (Friday). They had so much planned and she was going to go home on the bus with her and she was just so excited.

But I came home yesterday and Miss G said that Kylie talked back to her again and disobeyed her. I was so mad! For about 10 minutes I wrestled with what to do…I knew I had to tell her she was not allowed to go to Rachel’s, but it hurt me so much to think about how hurt she was going to be…I knew this would devastate her. But God gently reminded me that it is my job to bring my kids up to be respectful adults, and I let myself think to the future of her as a teenager if we don’t stop this behavior now (yikes!). So I told her…and she was mad…and crying…and hurt. She ran down to the basement to talk to Rachel on the phone and I retreated to my neighbor’s house to check on the other boys and to just get away for a minute.

Kylie came over (I had told her that’s where I was going), and we were able to distract her by asking her questions about her second grade year (my neighbor’s son is in second grade this year and was trying to understand what they would be doing all year). When we got home, she and John had it out and after some time in time-out, she and John had a nice heart-to-heart talk.

The one good/bad thing I am seeing is that Kylie is very similar to how I was when I was younger. When my parents would punish me, they would do things to push my buttons after the punishment was given out (it appeared they were just being mean as I told them over and over again how much they were hurting me). I’m able to take that information and hopefully be “nicer” with Kylie. I don’t want to keep harping on the issue…the punishment is given, you cannot change my mind, let’s move on. Unfortunately, John tends to handle things like my parents did, and I had to talk to him last night about how that makes her feel and that he needs to stop.

I still love the fact that Kylie is still young enough that within minutes of being punished, she will come looking for me and/or want to do something with me…I know the day is coming, all too soon, when she will actually hold a grudge for a while :(

In happier news, Colton has learned to smack his lips together like he’s kissing! I don’t think he knows what he’s doing yet, but it’s so cute when he’s just sitting there and starts smacking his little lips together…such a precious little guy!

This weekend is Labor Day Weekend, and except for a wedding Sunday evening, we have nothing going on, and that’s awesome! I can’t wait to just relax all weekend, hopefully get some sleep, and make some great meals!