1. Getting on the roller coaster. I am NOT participating in tween dramz in the morning, you guys. Dorothy sometimes has a hard time getting dressed and out the door, and that is HER problem, not mine. I am going to stay away from the big emotions or at least not match them with feels of my own.
Things I am doing to make mornings smoother:
- Insisting on picking out clothes the night before
- Helping with her hair no matter what I am doing when she asks and acting like I have all of the time in the world to do it even when I really don't.
- Banning her phone until she is fully dressed including socks
- Bringing her a hot chocolate with whipped cream if I notice she didn't eat much breakfast
- Waking her up with her favorite songs on her Alexa
Do these things always work? NO THEY DO NOT. DO I feel very angry inside when she is making me run late? YES I DO. Does getting mad and yelling ever make me feel better? NO, NEVER.
So far so good on our February mornings (from my end, anyway), and I am hoping to keep it going.
2. INSIDE RUNNING. I am back on the pavement, and I am SO HAPPY. I even ran on Wednesday when Alexa woke me up by telling me it was NEGATIVE 2. (long underwear shirt, long sleeved T, long underwear pants, sweats, fleece jacket, hat, face cover, gloves-- and I got sweaty-- it was a delight).
Love all of these! I am so impressed with your dedication to running and I love that it brings you so much joy! Hooray for weather that allows you to be outside.
ReplyDeleteI know what they say about no bad weather, but I stand by the fact there is some weather where the only thing to be done is stay inside in my PJs by the fireplace. I get so cold outside in the winter, basically regardless of how I dress. SIGH. I do not live in the right place from December-April!
Mornings were SO rough with my daughter at Dorothy's age. They are 1000x better now. She does everything on her own, wakes up not in a horrific mood, etc.
Oh yes, tween (and teen) drama. I've definitely opted out. What I do in the morning is gauge my daughter's mood. If she's crabby, I don't even attempt to talk. And I'm certainly not doing her hair and bringing her a hot chocolate! You're a good mom.
ReplyDeletei have an issue were I don't eat enough lunch and then I want to binge on crackers when I get home. Sigh. That late afternoon time is tricky.
Yay for outdoor running! I hope you get a better weather month in February.
Your plans to get out the door in the mornings sound really good. Most especially the phone, I think. And the hot chocolate. You’re nice to help with her hair, I remember when my daughter was about that age, the complicated braids from Hunger Games were a thing and my daughter somehow thought I could manage them. So we’d spend 15 or 20 minutes on it, watching a video, trying to get it right, and then she’d pull it out and wear her hair loose. Frustrating.
ReplyDeleteI've always been jealous of the people who say "I'll have some fruit" as if fruit is the same as a cookie. They fulfill very different needs for me!!
ReplyDeleteHAHAHA re: shoes/socks. THIS IS A THING. NONE of mine can put theirs on. Often it's to the car in bare feet and then socks/shoes like as we are approaching the drop off point. I don't get it!!! (And I just texted you about it, but i'm posting here too in case there is anyone else with a kid that does this so we can all feel less alone and crazy.)
ReplyDeleteI froze an ear lobe once. I was wearing a hat, not wearing an earring. I learned to wear a hat that strapped under my chin and then a knitted cap on top of that. It was two below that day by the way, no wind. So be careful.
ReplyDeleteYes! Read. Don't wait til you're "done."
Good for you for getting outside, even in the temps. I don't run in the dark (out of principle), so it's been a lot of early morning treadmill running for me lately.
ReplyDeleteBalancing your meals/blood sugar throughout the day is such a piece of work LOL
To get my teen out the door in the AM I put the phone in the car we are taking to school. Once ready for the day, said teen can go out to the car and have chill phone time. After this change teen often was first kid to the car, many times with breakfast items in hand? I looked the other way on the whole “eating in the car” issue!
ReplyDeleteI don't know who you are, but this is freaking brilliant.
DeleteAgreed, brilliant.
DeleteOh wow, all great but especially "does yelling ever make me feel better? NOT ONCE" and "it will never all get done so might as well read".
ReplyDeleteRestricting phone until she's ready is brilliant. Laughed out loud at 'socks too.' Ugh. I once made all my kids write apology letters to their teachers for being late to school. They were little though. Teachers had to sign the notes and kid had to return them to me. There was so much monkeying around in the am and I was solo and had a baby to feed and change and it was a nightmare. They wore school uniforms for God's sake, why could they not get dressed? I'm in awe of you running outside. Do you worry about falling on icy pavement? I cannot /will not run outside unless it is around 40, but mid 30s sometimes works.
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