Sweet Success

I don't know about you other mothers out there, but it seems like I am constantly assessing situations in our home, and trying new methods to try to get my kids to understand something better, or behave in ways a little closer to my expectations for them. Often, these attempts blow up in my face. For example, when Connor was almost 3 years old, and we had not had any potty success yet, I decided to get straight to the point with him. One day, I asked, "Connor, do you LIKE to have poop in your pants?" He looked at me, sincere as can be, and simply said, "YES." Okay, so that didn't work. The ongoing struggle I have is finding a form of discipline that works when household rules are violated. First, time-out. At first, they would just come right out. If they don't stay in there, it's not really a punishment, right? Next, loss of priviledge or taking away a favorite toy. Three days later, when I see where I hid the toy or remember the priviledge they USED to have, and then realize that they haven't even seemed to notice that anything was missing from their lives, I know that that route didn't work either. As a last resort, I've tried spanking. Then one day, out of the blue, my five-year-old said to me, "Mom, I really don't care too much if you spank me." I knew that I had failed, once again. So spanking--at least for him--is out. So far this post isn't matching the title much, is it? I'll get to the point. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, something I try actually works the way I hope it will.

About a month and a half ago, Tony got home from basketball practice to a cranky, worn-out mom who exclaimed, "I've had it with the TV, the computer, and the video games! They are ruining my kids lives! They don't even KNOW HOW to play with toys or use their imaginations! I've had it with media invading my home!" Typing this out, I realize how ridiculous this sounds, as if the TV, video games, and computer have a mind of their own and are conspiring against me as a mother. I then asked Tony, "What should I do about this?" Then it hit me. Perhaps there was a way to be PROACTIVE about this situation rather than playing the victim. In less than 10 minutes I had a plan. Of course, I doubted it would work, given my previous attempts at making positive changes in my home. But I decided to go forward with it anyway. The next morning, I explained the drill: "You get 90 minutes of screen time a day. Period. You can choose whether you want it in the form of TV, video games, or computer, but the total time you spend staring at a screen cannot be more than 90 minutes in a day." I did make one exception: The Living Scriptures videos were always fair game, and did not count against their screen time allotment.

The first day, both kids were out of screen time by about 9am. Oh boy, this was going to be a long day. I thought Connor would be okay, but Mylie had become quite a "TV junkie," as we now refer to it in our home. I knew there were going to be withdrawl symptoms. And there were. I tried to get her to play something, suggesting several things that sounded fun to me. She would cry and say, "I don't want to play!" Now what kid says that?!? But then things started getting better . . .

On day three, I went into the living room to find Connor and Mylie hauling our fan upstairs. We use it on hot days in the summer, but had been storing it in the basement. I wondered what they were doing, but decided to just watch and see. Next thing I know, I hear Connor tell Mylie, "Let's do an experiment!" They got a balloon that was blown up and tried to position the fan to keep the balloon up in the air. Of course, they failed, but kept trying. Next thing I know, it's "Mom! You have GOT to come see this!" They had emptied the entire bag of balloons (not blown up) INTO the fan and were watching them race around and around inside it.

From that day on, "screen time" really hasn't been much of an issue. Connor keeps track of his own using a kitchen timer so he can stop and start, rationing it out and using it in all three forms during the day. I keep track of Mylie, who mainly uses it all in TV watching. Lately, there have been many days that they go to bed at night, exhausted, with screen time that hasn't even been used. And there are NOT roll-over minutes in screen time.

And then, the "Hey-maybe-I-knew-what-I-was-doing-for-once!" feeling came. This morning, just after I got out of the shower, Mylie came into my bathroom dragging her blanket. I was prepared for her morning routine of, "Mom, can you get me a show? And some strawberry milk chocolate milk mixed?" (About the milk, don't ask.) But it didn't come. Instead, she noticed a couple toy animals on the floor. She picked them up and entertained herself for half an hour with just a toy tiger, an elephant, and a basket of dirty laundry. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. My purpose had been met. My children DO know how to PLAY, how to use their imaginations to entertain themselves. They just needed a little practice. SWEET SUCCESS! Ahhh.

Okay, okay . . .

Okay, okay, so Violet informed me that I COULD find another picture to post that includes all 5 of us girls. So, this is from Violet's wedding. She's happy that I'm posting this one, but me--not so much. See my belly in this shot?!? No, I'm not pregnant in this picture. Mariah was one month old, so I suppose I have an excuse, but still . . .

Happy 20th, Sister of mine!

I am lucky enough to have a whole lot of sisters, and I love each of them SO much! And although I'm the oldest, and 14 years older than Tessa, I feel like I have a great relationship with each one of them. Here is my favorite (and maybe only?) "sisters" photo that I have. (I know this is NOT Vi's favorite--sorry!) Anyway, there is one sister missing from this photo, and although I did not have the chance to get to know her in this life, she has still blessed my life and the life of each member of my family in so many ways.

Tillie Anne Teichert was born 20 years ago today. She was my parents 5th child, and was a beautiful baby with big chubby cheeks and lots of dark hair. (I wish I had a picture to share, but I've searched my house and have come up empty.) She was only able to stay with us for 12 weeks before her Heavenly Father took her home. Although this was a terrible tragedy at the time, my family has learned a lot about faith in our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness for His children. We know that she is with Him, and that knowledge, combined with our love for her, motivates each of us to do better each day so that we can have a relationship with her someday. Now that I'm a mother, I am amazed at my own mother's faith and courage to go forward and continue being such an amazing mother when she was hurting so much. I'm also grateful that she had the courage--despite her fear--to have three more children. What would our family be with the "three little kids"? So, happy birthday, dear sister! We love you and hope to be with you again someday!

Naughty, naughty Leprechaun!!

Yesterday after returning home from preschool, my children discovered that a leprechaun had visited us. They were less than impressed with the mess he left! He did leave some cupcakes, though, so I guess his behavior might be forgivable.

Go Team!

I grew up with sports. My dad coached three sports, so there was never an "off-season" at our house. As a result, I was a gym rat. I loved just being in the gym as well as watching sports on TV, talking sports, playing sports, LIVING sports! Graduating high school didn't change that at all. I went to college in Laramie, and quickly became a Cowboy fan. I also had siblings in high school, and my dad was still coaching, so I kept up on Wyoming high school sports as well. Then I married somebody who loved sports. Tony coaches basketball and track, and I coach volleyball. I still have three siblings at home, all of whom play sports, and Dad is still coaching. So I'm still totally involved in high school sports. Being a mom hasn't changed how much I love to watch sports. It has, however, made it a little more difficult to watch them as closely or as easily as I have in the past. Watching games now takes a lot of preparation--snack preparation, baby feeding scheduling, packing backpacks with toys, and managing it all during the games. But to me, it's worth it . . . apparently. I just looked over my calendar of the past four months, and realized that in Mariah's young life, she has already been to 4 full days of wrestling tournaments, and OVER 40 BASKETBALL GAMES!! Crazy, I know.

With that said, here's a little review of our past few weeks. Three weeks ago, I headed to Cokeville for three days to watch Tessa play two junior high basketball games, and Olivia play their final home game of the season. The next week, I traveled to Lander to watch Olivia play her first game of regional basketball, then to Riverton to watch the MV Buffs play their first round regional games as well. That night, it was on to Casper. Friday and Saturday were spent at the state wrestling tournament, where I was able to watch Sullivan become a state wrestling champion for the 2nd time. His team also won the team title--their 4th straight. Very exciting! Then I went back home long enough to do laundry and turn around and head back to Casper that Wednesday for state basketball. Although I wouldn't recommend taking a 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and a baby to the state basketball tournament, I don't regret it. I was able to watch the Cokeville girls play great basketball, taking 3rd place. The Buffs boys team took Consolation, and the girls took 2nd place. There were some tears and a little frustration at times (I'm talking about myself here), but I wouldn't have missed it for anything! And I'll be there again next year. Here are a few pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Sulli, the champ, on the awards stand . . .

. . . and with four of his five sisters (Tami and her 2 boys had already left.)

The Cokeville girls (Olivia is #14 and the Coach is my Dad!)
Coach Micheli on the awards stand, as well as a few of Mylie's "boyfriends."
The kids just chillin' at the hotel (We DID do something besides watch ball.)

Go BUFFS!!!!!!