I love how literal kids are!

SCENE: Lining up with the bags full of eggs all the daycare kids found on the Easter egg hunt.

SM: Everyone line up so Ms. Supermom can take a picture!
(pause)

SM: Okay dont hold the bags in front of you face....put them on your belly button.

DV:(2yr old in my daycare) ***Lifting up his shirt.....and puts the bag on his belly button.

SM: GREAT WAY TO FOLLOW DIRECTIONS DV Good Job!

Happy Easter folks!!!

WINNING! Never had a doubt I wouldn't be!

Just to start this off I wanted to say this not yelling thing is totally Rocking the Supermom house! Our attitudes are better and everyone is getting along and the over all atmosphere.....FABULOUS! I cant say enough how this is such a POSITIVE thing for us. Funny the kids are testing my patience level but I think by the shear strength in God....I'm doing this and doing this succesfully!

Test #1

Sunday night was night 2 of the no yelling. B and I talked to the kids and explained the new rules. At the time they asked what the punishment would be I said I am not sure yet guess we will figure it out. We discussed how much better it would be if we didn't yell and they agreed that mommy and daddy yelling at them or at each other is not how they want to live. To be honest neither do I. Well that night Brianna I guess just forgot or was testing the theory. I was cleaning the floors and both girls were outside cleaning the guinea pig cage out together. Well I just happened by the window when I saw the look of aggravation on Briannas face and I could see her mouth and her body language and then I heard it.......her raised voice. In normal circumstances I would have walked outside and yelled at Brianna. Instead I walked out side and I just looked at her and I calmly said....What did you just do wrong? Brianna immediately looked down at the ground and said....I just disrespected my sister. I said yup (and this is where my praying came into play because this doesnt even sound like me) "For every act of disrepect you need to repay with a act of kindness".......Go clean your sisters room. She was not to happy about this. My middle tornando daughter has horder tendancies....and Brianna...OCD...The room looked WORSE when Brianna got in there....But 3 hours later when she surfaced with a bag of trash and dust pan of stuff she swept up....She said...I dont think I will ever yell at her again....her room is to much of a mess!

KIDS-0
SUPERMOM-1

WINNING!



TEST 2

Last night was a crazy night B was at the Hockey game and I had the kids and we were rushing as always..Shay had soccer 6-7 and we have church play rehearsal from 7-well last night was late! 10:30ish when I got home. Anyway, after I dropped Shay off at practice I ran to Burger King for the Bag O Obesity but I didnt have time to cook with the daycare closing not till 5. When we got back to the soccer feild it was 6:45 and there was only 15 minutes left and I needed to get something from the coaches wife. I asked Brianna and Nic to stay in the car and eat because we had to book it to church play starts at 7 soccer ends at 7.....you see where I am going with this.
Well I got what I needed and turned around and there was Brianna running down the feild with her soccer ball....Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. She DELIBERATLY DISOBEYED ME! I was none to happy! Again the Grace of God and his need to help us when we need him and everytime I pray I ask for help with this challenge. I sat back and watched her enjoy her last few minutes of Freedom. When practice was over and was I rushing to get everyone strapped in I looked at Brianna and said WOW! She looked at me like...OH CRAP! I said in my normal talking voice....

SM: What did I ask you to do?
Bri: Stay in the car.
SM: What did you do?
Bri: I got out of the car.
SM: is that what I asked you to do?
Bri: No, but I didnt want to sit in the car!
SM: But I asked you to stay in the car so we wouldnt be to late and now I have to wait for you, Shay and Nic to strap in....and your in Act 1 the FIRST scene...you better hope we dont get there and you miss your scene. PLUS you DELIBERATLY disobeyed me and that my friend gets you punished.
Bri:.......silence..........

After sitting in church and thinking about it...I told her her punishment is her chores and then some! That is she wanted to spend the night with her best friend then she needed to pay me back for the disrepect. Well this morning she brought me this so I guess she know she did wrong and prepared for what she is to do to fix it.




Dont you LOVE the sad face! Oh and dont judge me on my feather pen! So what should i put on this list and should I stop at 5???? :)

KIDS-0
SUPERMOM-2

Still WINNING!

Runaway dog, peeing in a bottle, thats how I roll!

So last night I had to get 2 of my dogs over to a Rabies Clinic. We had a schedule conflict with soccer of course so I had to do this by myself, well with help from Shay and Nic, so by myself! I put the muzzle on Roscoe cause he is a nasty little devil to strangers and put the leash on Zoe. We arrive and the line is out the door I thought it started at 5 apparently it wasnt till 6 but no big I let Shay and Nic sit in the car with Roscoe. Nic unstraps and opens the sun roof and decided to stand out of it and yell HA HA MOM LOOK AT ME! I calmly walk over and tell him if I catch him doing it again I will personally tie him to his booster seat. Zoe the barkaholic proved even more how much I hate the sound of a dog barking by being a balistic little brat! They finally start the registration process. I walk in get out my old paperwork and get the new and get in line and guess what...the vet is late. Well now I am worried about Nic, Shay and Roscoe in the car and decide to make a brave yet stupid decision that I can manage 2 kids and 2 dogs all by myself...I mean I am Supermom and all this is a piece of cake! HA!!...Wrong!

Nic and Shay come inside the building and I am holding Roscoe and my purse and Zoe's leash. I looked at Shay and said do you think you can help my by holding Zoe? She said yeah and I handed her the leash. I watched closely as Zoe kinda barked and walked in circles for a minute and I watched her bratty little eyes comptemplate her escape. The second I looked away at Nic Zoe succesfully completed her escape when I turned back around to look at her she had wrapped the leash around Shays body...As I said NO NO NO Shay get the leash from around you it happened...the flippin dog pulled her head out of the collar with the help of Shays body as tension and like a bolt of lightning she was GONE! Nic starts SCREAMING AND CRYING ZOE NO ZOE NO ZOOOOOOOOEEEE!!!!!! MOMMY ZOOOOOOEEEEEE!!! Well as Zoe bolts out the door all the dogs ahead of us in line start barking and jumping the owners are annoyed and I am just standing there with the look of REALLY??? Zoe out the door, Nic screaming behind her, and right behind Nic...Shay! So now I guess I have to go chase the dog. So as I got closer to Shay and Nic I said STOP CHASING HER! I grabbed the keys from Shay and opened the doors on the van and yelled Come on Zoe Girl Lets go for a Ride and she ran over and jumped in the van! Mission Completion! Operation save Zoe was complete! Now to calm down Nic who was still crying and upset!

I tighten up the collar on Zoe. If she wants to escape she needs to snap her head off! We come back inside to all the people who were pointing and whispering, well atleast thats what I felt like they were doing and took my place back in line. As we stood in line Nic announces really LOUD "Mommy I need to Pee" I looked around and said sorry dude you have to wait there is nowhere for you to go! He then loudly announces well there is a bottle in the car I can go pee in that! My now being labeled as the women with the runaway trouble maker dog and the mom who allows her kid to pee in a bottle! But you now the beauty of a boy is it fits in the bottle and there is no mess! So I just as loud so NO Nic you cant go pee in the bottle I told you not to drink an entire soda driving here your gonna have to hold it. Shay then announces loudly..He is his fathers son! I said no he isnt Shay what are you taling about! She relpies "Daddy pees in bottles" I looked at her like I was gonna kill her and I said NO HE DOESNT SHAY??? She said uh huh thats what Grandma said! Yup were are the crazy family! Judgements were flying past my head at rapid speeds and looks of disgust we right behind them! Now Im just like give my dog the shot so I can BOLT from this place!

Shot are done and we are out! I start driving with my anxiety flaring and I totally forget that Nic has to pee!I call my friend Sarah to share in my excitement of the evening and porr Nic. Well he is now bouncing and holding himself as I drive so I pull into Wawa...This insanity is beyond my control I have the dogs in the car and I cant go inside for fear they will escape....

I tell Nic he can pee in the bottle. He looks for the bottle as he pulls down his pants, he cant find the bottle. I say Shay stay in the car with the dogs Nic come on lets go inside he cries i cant hold it mom!!! Nic pulls up his pants and Shay jumps up from the back...FOUND THE BOTTLE....(OMG!!!! REALLY) Nic pulls back down his pants and grabs the bottle...poor guy peed so much he half way filled it. Well I thought he was done apparently he wasnt. I removed the bottle and he peed on my hand and he laughed well can you figure what happens when a little boy is peeing AND laughing yes it squirted me and my seat and the floor! Im trying to contain myself from yelling and squealed in disgust but managed to get the bottle back on his weenis! He laughed hysterically! I found it not so funny! Well Iget out of the car after this ordeal is done and I hear Shay yelling at the dogs to stop licking up Nics pee...I grad the paper towel for the wind sheild and proceed to clean off my hand (my van door is broken when I sit in the drivers seat the back door opens) I sit in the seat and the door opens and Roscoe jumps out AT WAWA in St Marys I scream ROSCOE NO! I jump out and Shay grabs Zoe and I managed to snag a back leg of Roscoe's and catch him. I get the dog back in the car and start to pump my gas...DID I MENTION SARAH was still ON THE PHONE...who was actually not breathing from laughing at all the commotion on my end. Im glad my friends find the humor in a bad situation....Once I arrived home with both kids and both dogs...I left to get a pedicure....I needed it.

ScreamFree Parenting-Challenge.

I think this book just might change my life. While Brian and I were in marriage counseling our counselor had admitted to us that she was reading this book and was thinking about starting a group for parents who wanted to try this approach to parenting. We told her to put us on her list for the group but I am guessing it hasn't reached that level yet. Well I am not waiting because some things need to change in my house.

One persons mood can change the whole atmosphere of your entire house and the mood of everyone in it. I am GUILTY as charged of this particular bad habit. Brian will come home in a great mood and he walks into the house and I am yelling at the kids and frustrated and just nasty! It may have been because my kids had plucked a string or my daycare kids plucked all my strings and broke them. (Daycare isn't always fun and games it can be very challenging!) Well then he gets in a tuffie....Then I get even more in a tiffie and then the kids start fighting its a CHAIN REACTION! Kids learn what they live is so true. They live in hostility they grow hostile. Or think about your kids who wake up grumpy and irritated. you try to talk to them and they are rude and nasty, you get angry with them and then your mood is ruined and then I get nasty with the hubby and he gets angry....HOSTILE! grrrrrrrrr

Quoting the book "Your number one leadership roll in the family is that of a calming authority." I am suppose to achieve this by first calming my self down, and grow myself up, and change how I parent. This is going to be very difficult, but not impossible. I have prayed about this (along with me filthy mouth!) for Gods help. I'm gonna need his strength and love to guide me on this one. Parenting is NOT about children, its about parents. "Screaming" is not going to show me how to destroy my relationships butshow me how to not do it and start forming a revolutionary relationship with each of my children and my husband. Did you know that just by changing how YOU parent can change the whole dynamic of your family! Being less reactive in a anxiety situation can make for a easier transition to discipline. Example:

This morning while getting ready for work I heard a series of Thuds and bangs and then the sound of Brianna letting out this OH crap cry. I ran down the steps with my heart RACING!! I knew it involved my steps and my child but also possibly my guinea pigs because I heard the bell ringing that's on the cage. The way Brianna was crying freaked me out and heard her mummer daycare floor. As I rounded the corner in my bathrobe I found Brianna on the landing where the steps curve to go down to the daycare and she was SOBBING and trembling...I jumped down the steps and quickly hugged her "DID YOU FALL DOWN THE STEPS ARE YOU OKAY" I said to her! She was trembling obviously shaken up...HORRIBLY! She said "NO I tripped with the guinea pigs trying to take them down the steps to the daycare and I knocked over the big thing of water and it FELLLLLLLLL I busted a HOLE in the WALL and water is EVERYWHERE on the Daycare floor!!!!!" In a normal circumstance I think,actually I know I would have yelled and said probably (I'm being totally honest here) HOW COULD YOU BE SO CLUMSY NEXT TIME ASK FOR HELP!!! WHY WOULD YOU TRY TO CARRY THE CAGE DOWNSTAIRS OR BETTER YET WHY DIDN'T YOU DO IT LAST NIGHT!!!!, (I'm an asshole parent trying to not be) Instead, I calmly hugged her and told her Thank God it wasn't you or the guinea pigs if you had fallen you could have broken a bone or if it was the guinea pigs it could have killed them! I am so very thankful that you are okay and this was a accident!Take a deep breath and calm down. Go get ready for school and I will clean this up but your okay and THIS IS FINE!

I felt like I needed to reassure her that it was OK. What got me was the reaction. Her trembling I think was her fear that she was gonna get "SCREAMED" at. Now I feel like a real asshole! I went upstairs to get dressed I am pretty sure my daycare parents didn't want to see me in a robe! I called Brian and then I told him how horrible I felt that Brianna had a reaction and how I think my YELLING scarred my children. I am more now than EVER trying to change this. Even after the drama of the morning the rest of the morning was good. Brianna's face of "How did mom not yell at me" stayed on her face all morning! I think I may have made her day and I think this by itself set my day in motion and I think it will be better family time if we all STOP SCREAMING!!!

I will try to post everyday this week about my progress and what I am learning! If anyone else wants in on the discussions let me know! Get the book and read along. Maybe we can offer advice to each other and help encourage each other. I'm looking forward to this new life and anxious to see how my kids turn out because of it.