Begging Kids To Help...

As I've said before, Billy and I attempted to use many "Love and Logic" techniques when working with our foster kids...Just thought I'd post some interesting info from one of their recent newsletters...

 

While the Love and Logic^® approach doesn't teach parents to be bossy or demanding, we do recognize that there are times when we simply need our kids to help us right away. Listed below are some steps for making this happen.

 

Step One: Make sure that you are doing a good job of helping your kids when they ask you.

 

Step Two: Ensure that they have something they really value. At a later date, losing this item or privilege can be used as a consequence.

 

Step Three: Hope and pray that they will either refuse or "forget" to do something you ask them to do for you "right away."

 

Step Four: In a sweet and respectful tone of voice, ask them to do something for you "right now."

 

Step Five: When they refuse or "forget," let them think that everything is just fine. Don't say a word. Later in the day, or possibly later in the week, say something like, "I love you so much. I've noticed that you don't think it's important to help me when I ask you to do things for me right away. The sad thing is that this shows me that you aren't really mature enough to have_______________________." (Insert mp3 player, cell phone, driving privileges, etc.)

 

Another strategy involves saying, "This is so sad. I love you so much. I _________________ (Insert iron clothes, drive places, buy nice snacks, etc.) for kids who help me quickly when I ask them to.”

 

Of course, displaying empathy, resisting the urge to lecture, and holding firm will make the difference between success and failure.

 

For more tips on getting kids to comply without having to beg, listen to my CD, Oh Great! What Do I Do Now?

 

For those of you in Arizona, I'll be in Phoenix on Wednesday, March 30. Register here or call 800-338-4065 for additional information.

 

Thanks for reading! Our goal is to help as many families as possible. If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend.

 

Dr. Charles Fay

Moriah Checking In...

Hey guys, Mo here. Thought I'd hack the blog and let you know what's going on...This almost 9 week old (had to say that) has had a good week. It got off to a little rough start though...We were supposed to go to church Sunday for my1st time, but I still wasn't feeling my "best self" (Oprah, anyone?) after my shots so we didn't force it. Didn't want to make a bad first impression on the nursery workers of course! ; )

We dressed up for church anyway and I attended Bedside Baptist in my cute little sundress. (attended St. Mattress last week...ok I'll stop). Daddy came home and was so excited to see me. Can you tell we are just a wee bit crazy about each other? (Just in case you're concerned, this lovely Hanes number was Daddy's undershirt for church).

Just lounging around...it is the Sabbath after all folks! (can't figure out how to get the red-eye off...grrr).

More lounging...

Aunt Sarai came to see me Monday



Ready to travel! We visited Azleway Charter School today and also went to church for the 1st time. I did great in the nursery! Score!

Mom was proud of me...I was pretty proud of me, too!

Tomorrow I will be 9 weeks old (as aforementioned) and my Granny is coming to visit. Tootsie is coming Friday so Mama can finally get those "atrocious roots" done..I think this has something to do with her hair but I'm not for sure. Guess I'll see come Friday. To top off the week, my Grandma & Grandpa and two of my uncles from Chicago are coming Saturday. I've got lots to look forward to and a bit of hosting ahead of me...better get some rest!

8 Weeks

Moriah was 8 weeks old yesterday. It's crazy to even type that. The doctor visit went pretty good...learned a few things like DON'T DILUTE HER BOTTLES! (I had been diluting them with extra water, thinking that may help with her constipation but the doctor informed me that was a serious no-no as it can mess her electrolites up big time. oops).

She was not a fan of the shots. She paused and got quiet when she first got them, then screamed big time for a few seconds. She then got quiet again and went into more of a "that hurt my feelings" cry. She's been running a low grade fever and was pretty tired yesterday afternoon but that is normal. I did better than I thought. I just told myself in a matter-of-fact tone (inside my head-ha!) that all 2 month olds had to do this and this was just part of it and to get tough. So that's what I did, lest that inner Drill Sergeant yell at me...

Her are her stats:

Birthweight: 6 lbs. 14 oz.
Weight at 8 weeks: 10 lbs 4 oz (40th percentile)

Length at birth: 19 1/2 inches (although we don't think they stretched her out long enough to measure her because she was miraculously an inch or so longer at the doctor just a few days after that).
Length at 8 weeks: 22 1/4 inches (54th percentile)

So we've got a strong, healthy, little girl!

In other news, we skyped with her grandparents and uncles from Indiana last night which was a first. Isn't technology amazing?

Well, I've got to go do my weigh-in at Weight Watchers so I'll post a few pics and call it a post...Happy Friday!

Dressed in our green for St. Pattys Day yesterday (Mo is wearing a cute outfit from Tootsie although it's kinda hard to see with her all scrunched up).

Here she is relaxing in her bouncy seat before we left for the doc.

haha- all ready to go. Come on Mom..let's get this over with!

Moriah's Wearing Green But Still Gonna Get Pinched : (

Top 'O the Morning To Ya!

Well, our 2 month check up got changed to today. Excited to see how big she is now and visit with the doctor but not looking forward to her getting shots. Guess we will just have to be tough!

Better get ready while she's napping.

More to come later...

Time is "March"ing On!

well, i can't believe a couple of weeks have passed since i last posted. i guess time flies when you're having fun! moriah is growing and changing so much and we are having a blast with her. It seems like each new stage gets more fun! for sake of time, i'm going to make a bulleted list of what's happened in the month of March so far...

*We've started giving her a teaspoon of Karo syrup with her bottles (per doctor's suggestion) to help with the constipation issue. She is now having a BM about once a day, but sometimes we have to "help her" get it out. I want to ask the dr about this Friday and see if anything else can be done.
*Tootsie has come to babysit so I could run errands and get my toes done. Thank you, Toots!
*Moriah has promoted to a new "bathtub." We put away the fancy bather for awhile until she gets older and had begun using the Halloween candy bowl. She likes being submerged in the water during her bath, so the bowl was better for that. Well, she grew out of the candy bowl and is now getting baths in a clear square container. She gets a bath every other day. She LOVES bath time and she likes her water quite warm like her mama!
*We went to Lindale and Gilmer for an afternoon visit. She chilled out in the parking lot of Chuck E. Cheese during her cousin Brayden's bday party. Since she hasn't had her shots yet, we figured we'd avoid the breeding ground of germs and diseases that was Chuck E. Cheese.
* Tootsie came and kept Moriah while I had my 6 week check-up.
*She set a new record of sleeping. Her longest stretch has been 7 hrs 20 mins but she hasn't gone that long since then. However, for the last four nights she's slept until 4 or 5am after her late night feeding. We are making progress-thank ya Lord!
*She's had a few more visitors: Beverly (one of my college roomies) and her husband Joel and daughter Evelyn came yesterday, as well as Aunt Linda, Charles, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is going to be keeping her during April and May when I go back to work, which we are sooo thankful for. Uncle Brent and Aunt Sarai visited this weekend as well!

Coming up this week: Daddy is on Spring Break, a visit from Adam, Barb S., Tootsie and Pop, our 2 month check up (and shots) Friday, and her church debut will be Sunday.

Here are some recent pics...

Moriah's Luxurious Bath Tubs: The halloween candy bowl and plastic container

b

Big girl!

Mom and Mo

Sweet Evelyn (Bev's daughter--isn't she beautiful?! Check out that hair! She's not even 5 mos old yet!)

Bev, me, and the babies!