Be the best parent I can be

is starting to ask questions about where we come from and who god and jesus are. her friends at school are talking about these things she tells me. so i did some research and have picked up several books on spirituality, freethinking, religion, mindfulness, gratitude, affirmations, and evolution for young kids. also grabbed some gardening books at the same time.

parenting is such a minefield sometimes.

also still working on her routine. i’ve established nightly activities for the week in an attempt to get away from all the screen time: music, audiobooks, yoga, game, and family movie nights.

This winter I’ve also introduced her to ice skating and snowshoeing. And she loves both! We’re still working on swimming on Sundays. She needs to learn to keep her face in the water and improve her stroke.

Yesterday we went on the first of three charter school kindergarten tours. It was interesting, much different than I had growing up.

I’m thinking of teaching piano to her myself for awhile to save money and time. We’ll see how it goes.

Screen time needs some more consistent boundaries I think. I’ve been rather arbitrary about it lately.

She’s been really good lately about going to bed on time and getting up in the morning and making her bed which is nice.

Also need to figure out a rotation schedule for sorting and displaying artwork. It’s getting a bit overwhelming.

i took my daughter skiing for the first time. she was a natural and loved it! :) might try snowshoeing next time around.

my daughter had her “class demonstration” for ballet today. The teacher doesn’t do recitals for this age group. We had a rough start as AJ tripped and fell on some gravel just outside the studio, scraping up her knee and hand. Needless to say, it hurt and she was not happy for about half an hour. Eventually she calmed down though and was able to show me how much she enjoys her dance class. It was great to see her moving around and having so much fun. She’s definitely developing her own sense of grace and style, and i can already tell that it’s toning and strengthening her body. I hope she continues to enjoy it and gets as much out of it as possible.

along similar lines, I’m still looking into a martial arts class to do with her. I want to keep her active and strong, both mentally and physically, and I like the general philosophies and self-confidence that are encouraged in martial arts. I also want her to be able to defend herself if needed. There are so many schools though, I’m not really sure where to begin. someone told me tae kwan do is more of a sport, so maybe not that? i don’t know.

is getting better. she’s been in bed by 930 for the last three nights. one night she was asleep by 9. though on that night she also woke up at 2 and didn’t want to sleep anymore. which is ok as long as she plays quietly in her room, which she didn’t.

I have this thing called a totclock that changes color at preset times. so the rule is, blue means bedtime and she needs to stay in her room (and preferably in her bed) until the clock turns yellow. i’ve set yellow-time to a generous 430am. last night she didn’t come looking for me until 8am, which was amazing. the rewards system seems to work well with her. that’s what we ended up using for potty training and i’m guessing that’ll have to be how we get her bedtime routine nailed down as well.

leafed through a Parents magazine at the dentist office today and found a good article on the importance of being fully present for every moment with your child.

http://www.parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/positive/quality-time/

When you’re overwhelmed with your responsibilities, it’s easy to toggle into automatic pilot with your kids. But if your mind is elsewhere during the precious moments you’ve worked hard to preserve, you have lost your kids’ childhood just as surely as if you hadn’t spent the time with them at all. Instead, try to stay in the moment with a “parenting meditation,” in which you focus on seeing your kids, hearing them, understanding them, and really being amazed by what you’ve created—living, breathing miracles of nature who are learning like sponges and growing like weeds.

been pondering the best ways to limit these. I aspire to 1 hour limits per day each. and I’ve been giving her rewards for doing other things instead.

I have a chore chart for her and am in the process of establishing a small allowance system to serve both as a reward and a means of teaching the value of money, addition and subtraction, and the practice of saving.

burned. 7 total. for the commutes to/from school. time to learn with vivaldi and have breakfast with bach.