Monday, November 9, 2009

Optimistic Mondays – Independent Kids

Having independent kids can be difficult. My 2-1/2 year old daughter rarely gets her shoes on the right feet. Her pants are put on backwards frequently. She puts way too much toothpaste on the brush. She gets her own drink from the bathroom sink, climbing on the toilet to do so, and spills all over as she gets down. If I offer to help she refuses. “I do it myself!”

My 15-month-old son’s newest thing is going down the stairs by himself. He’s been doing it “the standard way” for several months (backing down). That’s always been fine. Now, he sees his big sister going down frontwards. So he thinks he should do it that way too. He tries to hang onto the wall and step. That kind of freaks him out a little (and me a LOT), so he sits down. Then he goes down one by one, sitting, then scooting forward until he drops a step. He’s not very stable, and I don’t like it at all when he tries it on the big stairs. The small ones I’m okay with, but he doesn’t listen.

He also started being independent when he eats. He’s started to refuse to eat anything I try to feed him. I have to put it down on the table, so he can pick it up and feed himself. I had a small hamburger the other day, and he wouldn’t take a bite (he used to all the time). When I put it in front of him, he picked the whole thing up and bit in. It was a little weird seeing my baby eat a hamburger.

But the thing I have to keep reminding myself is that independence is a GOOD thing! They are learning and developing. They will never progress if I do everything for them. So even if I have to clean the kitchen floor after every meal, and wipe up the sink after each drink, it’s a good thing.

Happy Monday!

1 comment:

Andrea :) said...

I have always loved my little helper in the kitchen. It's not always pretty, but the end result is gratifying.
Scrap-booking the events es even more gratifying! ;)
I always have to remember the poem about how one day you will miss the messes and mistakes little ones make.