# 0046: Thought Processes

I love to see thought processes in action! I love to see those little wheels turning. I love to see my little kids putting the peices of this world together. I love to see them figuring things out for themselves all by themselves!
It's fun when they're babies and you're watching them just trying to grasp and pull a toy out of a basket. It's fun to see the look of accomplishment on their faces when they can finally bring it to their, of course, mouth and soak it in slobber.
It gets more interesting, though the older they get. I love to see the results of how their little minds have built block towers and houses, bridges and roads. My little girl loves to draw and make things out of paper. It's fun now to see her draw her plans out for her projects and then execute them.

Last winter, the kids played in a cardboard castle their grandma had gotten them for Christmas. They colored all over it and dressed up in their costumes. Then, they started fiddling with the drawbridge. Pretty soon, my daughter was asking for some string, then some siccors and tape, but no help. Before long she was calling me into the livingrootm to uwatch her let down and close the castle door just by pulling the string from inside.
It's so cool to see you kids figure things out completely independently. After all... “Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein

# 0045 When Babies Cry

"When babies cry?!!?!! What the-! Is this gal CR@ZY?!?! Is this mom off her her ever-lovin' rocker?" 

Is that what you're thinking as you read # 0045? I know... I know... I must be tripping on Valium (can you trip on Valium??? I don't know drugs...)...

"Crying babies? SERIOUSLY!?! How 'bout 'Getting kicked in the face by a mule'? Is that going to be # 0046?"

I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out before I start typing the %$#@!&*^i%$ words for you. Maybe I should say crying newborns... would that be better?

The last couple times I've had a baby I've looked forward to hearing that first cry. I love that long awaited sound. You feel that little person kicking you in the ribs, squirming around, pushing out on your belly for so long. Those last few weeks you are so anxious to meet this little person that's been developing inside you since before you even realized it. You've been wondering what this little baby will look like, but before you see him or her you hear them! Well, that's how it worked for me anyway. I heard that cry before I saw them. Like one last teaser before you lay eyes on God's 9 month masterpiece.

I love that first cry and the ones that follow for another reason. Lungs. Healthy lungs. My best friend had a premature baby and I remember her barely developed lungs being the feature everyone was most proud of; impressed with; excited about; relieved with. How did they know right away that this preemie's lungs that had only 28 weeks to develop in the womb were alright? That cry. That first little cry.

Let it out, babies! Stretch those healthy lungs! Let us know you're here!

This is their first form of communication. It's all they have to work with right now. I love those first cries and the ones that follow.
It's the ones at 4 am that I may now be so sentimental about.

Three Ways to Enjoy Potting Training

Potty training... It is sooOo-oOOOoo dreaded by so many people. Some of us would like to just drop our kids off at a potty training clinic some afternoon and pick them up all ready to go in big kid underwear with no accidents. Or better still, a pill or shot- yes, that's the ticket!- a potty training immunization! Brilliant!
We've been potty training our boy over the summer and I have to say it has gone sooooooooo much better than what we anticipated! It has been a good time. Yes, you read that right. No sarcasm here. It has been a pleasant experience. 
I was so stressed out about it. 
DREAD-DING IT. 
Scared to death. 
Now, I feel like I'm ready for the next one! Not only that- I'm getting a sticker for the back glass of my car: "AIN'T SKEERED....... of potty training"!

Why did it go so well for us? Well, every kid is different and if every kid is different, certainly every parent is different. My boy is certainly different than my girl, but maybe I'm a different parent than I was just a few years ago.
I've gained more experience and maybe some more patience. It's amazing what more patience can do! If I could gift wrap patience, I'd give it away at every single baby shower! Anything worth while takes time and work. Time and work requires some sort of process and working through a process requires patience. A college diploma- it takes time and work to go through the four year process of getting one, but it's usually worth it (unless you chose one of these majors).

I have loved this potty training process because of these reasons:

1. The process: 
Remember that Muppet's song, "Movin' Right Along" from The Muppet Movie (1979)? The lyrics go "Getting there is half the fun, come share it with me"? I'm not saying I enjoy cleaning up pee. I don't. I'm saying that I enjoyed seeing him "get it". I enjoyed seeing him light up when he made it to the pot in time after having not made it to the pot in time. 
Everybody knows that when you're potty training a child it's really the adult that's being trained... at first anyway. It's the adult that is setting the timer, making the lemonade, grabbing up the child, racing him or her to the pot. The adult is quitting in the middle of a task, running thru the house, carrying, pushing, pulling, dragging a toddler to the bathroom. All this and the baby gets the prize! The process is WORK with set backs and few successes, but if you look at the big picture (of lemonade) you can see that each soaked pair of panties, every puddle on the floor is one small step closer to success. They've got to have those accidents, those failures to know what it feels like, what they don't what to do, to know how great it is go in the pot with no mess at all! 
Life is a process and we couldn't get anywhere without the process! I loved watching my son go thru this process.

2. The Praise and Prize: 
Finally the successes! Every book you read will tell you to go heavy on the praise, really make them feel good. Sometimes when you see the pee in the pot and those proud little faces you could just burst! Scooping up those bare bottoms, dancing around, HALLELUJAH! What a moment- the praise just flows like... lemonade... and you're ready to buy a pony in celebration. Do the books really even need to stress this? I'll say it again, potty draining is WORK and draining for all involved- emotionally and physically. It wears you out so heaping on the praise is a great release for the parent and does the kiddo more good than we know. 
Potty training: what a great opportunity to show your kid how proud you are of them; what a great opportunity to them to show how proud they are of themselves! What a great self esteem builder; they CAN DO IT all by themselves!
But, what's that? Maybe you've got a boy and just because he makes it to the pot in time doesn't necessarily mean you don't have a mess to clean up (I guess this is why people say boys are harder to train than girls). Maybe this is where the praise gets tricky, you have to be excited that they made it even though you still have to clean up a mess anyway. There's extra training that goes into boys because of their parts. Sorry. You still gotta be excited that they could recognize the need to go. The tidiness will have to come later...
The celebration at our house doesn't end with a good job and a hug. We've got prizes. Lots and lots of prizes. Not just an M'n'M. We like to give them stuff that they're really into rigt then. I would never ever in a million years potty train around Christmas (waaaaay too much going on) and I wait till well after their birthdays, so I don't mind giving them some extra nice gifts. It's really better than Christmas, no baking, no wrapping.

3. The Success: 
You never want to speak to soon. I don't anyway... but that day you realize, and your kiddo does, too, that they have arrived. They get it. They wear big kid underpants everyday now and it's awesome. They are trained. It's like they realize you trust them. Every time they go now they are so proud of themselves. 
We are on the other side now! It was an exhausting week or two, but I love seeing my kids feel proud of themselves. I know we're just talking about potty training, but still what a great gift you can give someone when you teach them to do something on their own!

Kermit: Movin' right along in search of good times and good news,
With good friends you can't lose,
Fozzie: This could become a habit!
Kermit: Opportunity knocks once let's reach out and grab it 
Fozzie: yeah!
Kermit: Together we'll nab it,
Fozzie: We'll hitchhike, bus or yellow cab it!
Kermit: Cab it?

Both: We're movin' right along
Fozzie: Footloose and fancy-free
Kermit: Getting there is half the fun, come share it with me.
Both: Movin' right along 
Kermit: We'll learn to share the load
Fozzie: We don't need a map to keep this show on the road

Kermit: Hey, that song is sounding better, Fozzie.

Kermit: Movin' right along
We've found a life on the highway
Fozzie: And your way is my way
Kermit: So trust my navigation

Fozzie: California here we come, the pie-in-the-sky-land
Kermit: Palm trees and warm sand
Fozzie: Though sadly we just left Rhode Island
Kermit: We did what?!
Fozzie: Just forget it.

Both: We're movin' right along 
Kermit: Hey LA, where've you gone?
Fozzie: Send someone to fetch us, we're in Sasketchewan!

Both: We're movin' right along 
Kermit: You take it, you know best
Fozzie: Hey, I've never seen the sun come up in the West?

Fozzie: Movin' right along
We're truly birds of a feather
We're in this together 
Kermit: and we know where we're going
Fozzie: Movie stars with flashy cars and life with the top down
Kermit: We're storming the big town
Fozzie: Yeah, storm is right-- should it be snowing?
Kermit: Uh, no, I don't think so...

Both: We're movin' right along
Fozzie:Do I see signs of men?
Kermit: Yeah, "Welcome" on the same post that says, "Come Back Again."
Both: We're movin' right along, 
Fozzie: nice town!
Kermit: Footloose and fancy-free
Fozzie: You're ready for the big time
Kermit: Is it ready for me?

Both: Movin' right along
Movin' right along
Movin' right along
Movin' right along

# 0043: Waiting on Trains

We like things our kids like. That's pretty simple. When they are into Mickey Mouse, guess who's reading up on Walt Disney? When they're into super heroes, guess who also has a sudden interest in the super hero movies? When they're into trains or butterflies, guess who's constantly on the look out for anything remotely pertaining to trains or butterflies? It's not hard. It's not a sacrifice. It's just part of relating to each other in a family.
My kids love trains. Most all kids love trains. Anytime there is a little train around- we are in line, waiting our turn, and wavin gat the other kids already on! Yes, we will pay any amount of money for a redicuoulsly short ride on anything that remotely resembles a train! So, when we see a real train in town- a big train- we stop. Of course, everyone stops. We're required by law...

Cars are backed up down the road and we're late for school, but those little necks in the back seat are craned and they're eyes are wide. I love to look in my rearview mirror at the gawkers in my back seat. I'm happy to stop for trains. The longer the better! Pretty soon we'll all be counting cars and guessing how many there will be by the time the last one rolls by.
I know that not everyone loves waiting on trains, but there's always at least one car (most likely a minivan) full of little people who are lovin' it! That looooong train that is taking up the road might very well be the topic of discussion at dinner that night.

Back on Track

June- July- August- Labor Day- aaaaaaaannnnnnd summer's over. It flew by as it always has since the summer I first realized it was summer.
It was a busy summer for us! One potty trained, one in school, and one baby boy along for the ride. Not busy in the sense that we were gone all the time or getting a lot marked off the ol' to do list (or blogging), but hello!- did I mention the potty training and the school sending and the baby raising?
That didn't leave a lot of time for blogging and I didn't make time for blogging.
I tried to take notes of what to blog about when I finally did get back to the keyboard. Over this summer break I've realized that I do need to keep track of all the good things in life. Otherwise it feels like I'm wading through mud! I need to keep all those seemingly, small, daily blessings in the fore front to remind me that "the little things matter immensely!"

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."    Philippians 4:8