Did You Know? Day 3 & 4

I was incommunicado yesterday; I had so much going on that I just didn't have the time to sit down and post. So, here's what I learned yesterday:

On Parenting:
1. Murray is a heck of a lot more stubborn and sneaky than we thought. Yesterday morning, after Craig finished ironing, Murray wanted to play with the hot iron. Of course we said no and put it in the linen closet. We ignored his temper tantrum, which lasted about 15 minutes. Craig left for work, and I finished preparations for the day. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him drag his step stool over to the closet door. He climbed up, but still couldn't get the door open. After another 10 minutes or so, I walked by and saw that now he has a chair placed strategically next to his step stool so that he can climb on his stool first, then the chair. At this point, I explained that he could get hurt climbing, and I had to put all the chairs in the bedroom. He went on for another 10 minutes or so and finally gave up and was back to his sunny self. I had no idea that an almost-2-year-old could analyze like that.

2. Here's the sneaky part: Craig was digging through his pockets and found a couple of Match Box cars that aren't part of our collection. Turns out, he's been swiping them from daycare! How in the heck do we handle that one?

Today's Lesson:
On Assertiveness and Stress Management
1. Do you ever do something or go somewhere that you really don't want to but you do it anyway because you feel like you have to? Well, today I learned to say "no". If I end up doing something that I don't have the time for or if it's just not something I enjoy, I end up feeling more stressed out than I would be if were honest and said "no" in the first place. Assertiveness is not a bad thing as long as it doesn't turn into aggression. So, "say yes to say no" (I borrowed that from a commercial).

We hope to visit the pumpkin patch this weekend. So far, the weather seems to be holding out, at least until Sunday. Enjoy the sunshine today!