Parenting Advice

I feel good knowing that I have a regular weekly schedule of play dates now. Things to do, things to keep us all busy.
I don't like not really having a whole lot of time to do the regular household things, but I relax knowing that it's for the greater good and happiness of the kids. It's ok, as long as they are happy.
This is our third week of regular play stuff, and it's nice to know that I have someone to confide in, and someone who can help me keep my focus on just how I want to raise my kids. No one ever said that having kids is an easy task, but it helps to have reminders of what I started out with.
I'll admit I've always had a clear idea (since we went to counseling while I was pregnant) of what I wanted my kids to grow up with. It's difficult to keep that clear path there, but it's nice to reinforce it as much as I can.
Like I said in earlier blog postings, I enjoy the fact that I now have female companionship outside of family, who also have experience with multiple children, and know what it's like to have at least one goal in mind for them, that they want them having a natural lifestyle.
It had never occurred to me that we'd have an opportunity to learn so much from one another. I've spent a great deal of time conversing with the other mothers and we've each given out great advice and tips on how to make life more manageable with kids. I know I don't give myself enough credit here because I always feel like the juvenile of any group I enter myself into.
Anyhow, the lady today was asking me so many questions of how I manage both the boys, and it almost surprised me to hear how she thought parenting would be. It's amazing how much we have the ability to trust each other when we only spend four hours a week with one another.
In any event, I always feel good about myself when I can say honestly that the things I try while parenting are a product of my creativity and most parents wouldn't think of it themselves. I try everything to keep my children happy, and even though they don't always get their way, they know it's not the end of the world and they move on relatively quickly.
I can happily report that we just don't get a whole lot of temper tantrums, and it's fairly rare that we get one in public...if it does happen, you know we're all lacking sleep. I think we're lucky that way. In any event, I'm grateful that when I say no, I mean it, and that I have the heart to follow through with any consequence I lay down. A lot of parents don't do that.