Upon picking Seth up out of his crib today I noticed his little feeding tube button lying on the mattress. His little hole into his tummy had already closed up quite a bit, so I knew there was no chance of reinserting it. If it's been out longer than four hours it has to be surgically replaced, which of course Seth wouldn't qualify for since he doesn't use it for food anymore. So we taped some gauze on it, per the doctor's orders, and it's closing up more all day long.
The kids are getting more and more smart and deliberate in what they do, so we're having to decide what to do about (1) throwing food, (2) screaming (for fun - they make a mighty chorus!) (3) biting (as always), and (4) laughing disobedience - e.g., "Give that to Mommy," at which point they run away! Since they aren't quite yet 18 months old adjusted age, it's hard to know how much to react, distract, time-out, etc. . . please pray for wisdom for us! And for patience and diligence and peace. It's exhausting. But the kids are super fun most of the time and cute all the time!
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| Miss Lynn and the babies one Sunday afternoon. Marcie is climbing on the book. She hurls herself into every activity. |
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| Aunt Judy and Aunt Jennifer with the babies: David, Marcie, Seth, Will and Grace |
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| Marcie |
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| Grandpadad and his girls (Marcie on left, Gracie on right) They love wearing their harness backpacks with leashes |
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| The nighttime routine with a happy Seth |
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| Happy Will going down the slide on his tummy |
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| Now it's Gracie's turn with David coming up behind |
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| Darling Gracie. |
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| a-boo! |
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| Peek . . . |
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| Marcie is hiding a beautiful smile behind that pacifier! |
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| David. It's hard to terrify people with your mighty axe when your pants keep falling down. |
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ReplyDeleteSo So cute and adorable more every day.....It's so nice they have so many different places to explore and play.....Prayers will be needed though for the long trip ahead.....Discipline can be an advantage or disadvantage with multiples ....some times when one gets disciplined the others quickly learn from the one in trouble....and even if they do get the same consequence, It may(?) be easier....If you get a chance get the book " Discipline with Love and Logic" With my girls 3 years apart and the oldest one being "strong willed" my younger daughter learned quickly, and did not want the consequences the older one got.... the book was so helpful for me. because before someone told me about it I would get angry a lot and yell, like I'm sure no other Mom has every done.... but I became calmer because the kids knew that BECAUSE THEY CHOSE TO DO SOMETHING THEY WERE CHOOSING THE CONSEQUENCE!!! If they threw their food they lost it for a period of time.....( My youngest was a biter , so she had to do something nice for her sister....but too it was caused buy she was the youngest and she wanted to take control of something....but the natural consequences worked so well for us..My oldest through tantrums so I would pick her up and put her in a room by herself and let her scream it out....not cleaning up toys...I take all the toys but one away...then add one more until she learned to put them all away.....it's not perfect all the time but it sure helped my peace of mind at times. I will be Praying it's such a challenging time AND with 5 I pray that they do learn quickly and go through this time as peaceful as possible for you and them. Just go with your heart and God will show you the way....Praying from Dayton
ReplyDeleteHi Brenda! I've read the book; it does have some great tips and good principles. There are a few books I've found really helpful over the years with Isaac, and several that I have found appalling and impossibly demanding. One author expects kids to obey cheerfully, without hesitation, and without question, when we as adults can't even do that - read the Psalms, for instance! God recorded David's laments and doubts and "why?"s as Holy Scripture. David would ultimately obey and trust the Lord, and that's what we want for our kids. We want them to be free to express their grief or frustration in healthy ways, not fearing condemnation or waiting for some axe to fall when they behave childishly. Kids just don't have the capacity (and even if they did, it wouldn't be healthy) to quell every emotion they feel while doing exactly what their parents dictate. My parents did a really good job of letting us feel what we felt but still insisting on our obedience. They also had only a few rules that were actually truly important and stuck with those rules.Defiance and direct disobedience must be wisely and effectively addressed, of course, but the "how" is going to vary by the child. Some strategies my parents used that worked great with us kids did NOT work at all with Isaac; the problem would just get worse! One family I babysat for followed a "one size fits all" book that has since been largely discredited, thankfully. The kids were not allowed to be healthy kids. They were punished excessively for everything. I wish I had reported the parents and to this day feel like I am responsible for some of the abuse, the fractured relationships, the rage and eventual complete rebellion of the kids, and the family having to leave the ministry. Okay, enough of a rant for now. :) No one will ever agree 100% with our parenting, but we are accountable ultimately to God and must have our kids' very best at heart. And we'll screw up a lot, no doubt, and need to run to our Heavenly Father for the grace and forgiveness we want our kids to also find in us.
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