My Girl

Oh, Brooke! What words can I use to describe you right now? Funny, spirited, bossy, stubborn, fiesty, imaginative, creative, dramatic, smart, helper, curious

A lot of people say that age 3 is worse than 2, and Blake and I have definitely found that to be true! But we have also heard that 4 is a great age where kids really start to behave themselves. We are only 2 months away from 4 and while I am in awe over how much Brooke has grown up and changed since turning 3, we are still just as mystified as ever on how to raise our toddler. Consider this:

• Brooke knows not to throw sand outside the sandbox in our backyard. But as soon as a friend comes over, there they are tossing sand out of the box like they are digging for burried treasure.
• She knows not to jump on furniture. However she went to a friend's house the other day and was overheard trying to persuade her friend to jump on the beds. When he said" no, that's against the rules at our house" (good boy!) she turned her tactics on the 2 year old sister and the two of them were found jumping on the bed. 
• She knows when I am distracted. If Brooke wants to be sneaky and try to bring food downstairs to the TV room (which is not allowed in our house) she will say to me, "mom, go upstairs for a minute" or "go get on the ipad"
• She will not take no for an answer. If we say no to something, she will immediately start whining and pouting and saying, "but I want to" over and over. 
• and while the tantrums have gotten far less, we are STILL working on using our words and asking for help instead of just screaming and stomping her feet when she is frustrated or mad. 

Yes, we use time out. Yes she gets sent to bed early without stories, yes she gets privileges taken away like being able to have a friend over or watch a movie. She hasn't been to Mcdonalds in a LONG time since she threw a MAJOR tantrum over her and I having to share a seat because it was a very busy day in the play area.

After feeling particularly frustrated, Blake and I went to our ward conference and listened with open ears to the speakers. They spoke on the simple truths that will help us with raising our children. These are things that get spoken of often and sometimes, I think, get looked over because we hear these reminders so often. Family prayer, Family Home Evening, Family Scripture Study. We say a family prayer each night, and Blake and I read scriptures. We hadn't even thought of including Brooke. Recently, we have made the change and I have been so impressed that Brooke actually likes reading the scriptures. She asks to read them now, and even though she may not understand all the words, she knows they are special and sacred. We are also trying to be better with Family Home Evenings. We have good intentions, but usually they don't last very long. Last Monday night we were invited over to our friend's house for FHE. They have 3 young children. The dad prepared a simple lesson and showed a short video from LDS.org. Then the kids colored a page and we had treats. It was so simple, yet very effective. Blake and I left feeling like we can do this! I also felt renewed as I listened to President Uchtdorf's talk during the Saturday morning session of General Conference. "Don't be like the boy who dipped his toe in the water and claimed he went swimmin!" I need to put my good intentions into action! 

I know these seemingly simple things will help with Brooke. I also know that raising children is hard no matter what stage you are in--each stage comes with different challenges, right? 

A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law's ward put on a mother/daughter party and she invited Brooke and I to go with her. The theme was "Vintage Garden Party" It was set up like a tea party and the guests were given the option to wear fancy hats like you would wear to a tea party. We didn't have any of those, but Honey found a hat for Brooke to wear and she was thrilled.

There were lots of mother/daughter combinations--from adult moms with their adult daughters, to young moms with babies and todders. It was wonderful to see how a mother/daughter relationship matures and changes over time. It was also fun to do something special together.