Since I don’t feel like I’ve really had a chance to chat with you guys since Monday, I wanted to stop by today to share a quick glimpse into our Wednesday. It wasn’t anything special but sometimes it’s the day-to-day normal life stuff I find myself drawn to writing and reading about most.
Morning
My morning began like most mornings do around here with a quick and easy breakfast that I ate while working my way through my devotionals. I made myself a bowl of triple chocolate protein oatmeal (served in a glass storage container because all of our bowls were in the dishwasher) and loved every chocolaty bite!
I’ve had a few people ask about the devotionals I’m doing right now and I’m actually making my way through two. The Women’s Devotional Guide to the Bible is the one I’m loosely following that actually gets me reading my Bible. (I have the Life Application Bible which is FABULOUS for anyone who needs serious help deciphering scripture… ME!) When I say I’m loosely following the women’s devotional, I mean it. The devotional is quite intense and I use it more or less as a reading plan that I break up over the course of a week. Trusting God Day by Day is a much faster, easier devotional featuring a new scripture everyday, followed by a few paragraphs from Joyce Meyer breaking the scripture down, applying it to real life and diving into it a little deeper.
Once I wrapped up my devotional, said goodbye to Ryan and got about 30 minutes of work done, Chase was up for the day and ready for mom’s attention. When I heard him making noise on the monitor, I went into overdrive and packed his lunch for preschool but left half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the counter in plain view. You can probably guess what instantly became his breakfast when he caught sight of the sandwich…
Plus some sliced strawberries and blackberries on the side!
I wanted to report back here on some of the struggles we’ve had related to battling Chase’s strong will and rapidly-increasing preferences and opinions that center around everything from getting dressed and going to bed to leaving the house, diaper change protests and more. For a solid month or so now, I’ve felt like I’ve been going into battle with a two-year-old multiple times a day for one reason or another. Whether it’s forcing Chase to wear anything other than his reindeer footie pajamas (the HORROR) or telling him we have to leave the house when he’s 100 percent enamored with his trains, I’ve felt completely exhausted by the end of the day multiple days a week. Fortunately, I’m slooowly beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel (sometimes) and I owe a lot of it to DISTRACTIONS.
Chase’s curiosity is at an all-time high and he feeds off my moods and my excitement so I’ve been trying my best to approach certain situations that often escalate into battles with a distraction on hand and ridiculous mom enthusiasm. Here are a few examples:
- Diaper Change Battles: I come equipped with something new to show Chase to distract him enough to avoid a kick and wiggle-filled diaper change. These “new” things range from one of mom’s lockets/bracelets, Chase’s forehead thermometer, a toy he hasn’t seen in ages, dad’s electric toothbrush, etc. Nothing special, just something different that instantly piques his interest.
- Car Seat Battles: UGH. These are HORRIBLE mainly because Chase somehow turns into a mini-Hulk when he fights his car seat and I can feel my adrenaline rise and my temper begin to flare as he thrusts his hips up and does everything he can to resist the buckle. My current solution: Orange Monster! I don’t know where this came from, but Chase loves oranges, so I’ve been slicing up an orange in a small bowl to give to him during car rides. We hype up the orange before loading him into the car and say Chase is the Orange Monster. We make ridiculous growling noises and the whole nine yards. Lord help me if we run out of oranges one morning!
- Bed Time Battles: Chase was often morphing into a wild man before bed and I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that we were skipping bath time some nights since we spent so many days inside when the weather turned cold and he wasn’t really dirty at the end of the day. Big mistake! Bath time helps him unwind and CHILL OUT and we try to make this the last thing we do before pajamas, stories, prayers and bed. No more running around and playing on his PlasmaCar five minutes before bed! He was waaay too hyped up to settle down and meltdowns occurred on the reg.
- Getting Out of the House Battles: When we need to leave the house and Chase is protesting, giving him a “job” seems to really help get him out the door. He’s all about setting our house alarm, pressing the button to open the garage door, giving Sadie a treat, etc. Anything to distract him and make him feel like we need his help to get out the door often serves as a good motivator for him to put his toys down and get a move on!
Of course these don’t work like a charm every time, but they are helping a bit so I wanted to pass them on just in case any of you out there are in the phase of toddler meltdowns, too! And if you guys have any tips for handling toddler meltdowns, I’m all ears!
Chase and I managed to get out the door without too much of a struggle (thank you, Orange Monster!) and made it to preschool on time. He ran into his classroom without so much as a “See ya, Mom” and I headed off to Burn Boot Camp for a workout with my friend Laura.
We went through a leg workout that ended up being a serious booty burner!
My glutes were on fie-ah after that one!
After the gym, I rushed home, ate an RXBar and went into blogger mode, quickly assembling everything for a mini food photo shoot for a crock pot recipe I hope to share on the blog next week. I made the recipe earlier in the week, so it just needed to be photographed which made the process much faster than usual. Phew!
(Still 100 percent loving my $15 food photo backdrops from Esty! I’m using the 2ft x 2ft size in the above pic.)
After snapping a ridiculous number of pictures, I sat down at the computer to do some photo editing and responded to a few emails before I couldn’t ignore my body’s need for a shower any longer. I quickly showered, worked on the computer for a little longer and then made myself a smoothie that looked like a gray cloud of despair.
(In my smoothie: Almond milk, spinach, peanut butter, chocolate protein powder, cocoa powder, chia seeds, frozen banana and wild blueberries.)
Afternoon
With smoothie in hand, I headed off to a quick 10-minute eyebrow appointment before it was time to pick Chase up from preschool.
A little over a month ago, I got my eyebrows done for the very first time in my entire life and I’m SOLD. I hope to keep up with them as much as possible and notice a huge difference not only from the waxing/shaping but from the tint! The tint has been KEY for me as a natural blonde. I was always so terrified to do anything to my brows because they’re so light and I worried that waxing them would make them disappear but the tint has been a game-changer.
Here’s a before/after from yesterday’s appointment:
I’m far from having enviable eyebrows but I think it’s an improvement! (Note: Both the before and after are photographed without any eyebrow makeup/fillers.)
I picked up from Chase immediately following my appointment and we headed home for an early afternoon snack, playtime at his train table and a reading of Green Eggs and Ham before nap.
And yes, we are now the family who has a GIANT giraffe and a GIANT train table in their living room.
Thankfully Chase went down semi-easily and I was able to make myself lunch (reheated crock pot leftovers) and knock out some additional work for about 90 minutes before he was up again.
Once Chase was up, we spent the rest of the afternoon at home, making cupcakes for a birthday party play date we have on the agenda this afternoon, playing and doing some household chores in preparation for my father-in-law’s visit later today. Ryan arrived home from work right in time for us to pile into his car and head out to an event we had at our church in the early evening.
Evening
The event included dinner (totally forgot about that one when I made this week’s meal plan) so we filled up on baked ziti while we learned about child dedication.
When we arrived back home, we did an express version of Chase’s bath before settling him in his crib. Ryan and I climbed into bed a little after 9 p.m. and then I read my face off because I absolutely could not put Final Girls down.
After I mentioned feeling less-than-enthused about the previous book I read on the blog, both Courtney and Heather highly recommended Final Girls to me, saying they both read it in only two days because it was so suspenseful. Well, apparently this book has a two-day reading window because after beginning it on Tuesday night, I ended up reading for waaay too long last and also finished it in two days. Talk about a page-turner! I’ll share more about it in tomorrow’s Things I’m Loving Friday post, but it was a GOOD one.
Now I’m off to the gym to squeeze in a quick workout before welcoming my father-in-law in town today! Hope you guys all have a great Thursday!
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I’m sure someone mentioned it above, but you must read Raising Your Spirited Child. Mazen fits the description very well, and it really helped me understand a lot of our battles. We went through all the same ones a few years ago!
So happy to see your toddler tantrum tips. My daughter is 2 1/2 and extremely strong willed so I run out of ideas. My biggest struggle lately (mostly because I have a 5 month old and lack of sleep) is keeping my temper and attitude under control with her. I know they feed off of us but it’s so tough to stay calm!!!
Hey Julie! Thanks for sharing your devotional, looks really good! I also recommend the SheReadsTruth website and love their bible!
On another note- I have the same problem with my light brows- unfortunately tinting at the salon got to be expensive so I taught myself on Youtube how to do it at home with “Just for Men” Light brown hair dye. It is always scary while you wait for it to process but the best afterwards!
The chocolate oatmeal looks yummy. My favorite is tahini and date honey, you should give it a try if you haven’t already!
Your eyebrows are gorgeous!! I am local , may I ask where do you get them done?!
Thank you, Kat! I go to Brow Lounge! I looked up reviews on Yelp and they were great (I was SO nervous) and I’ve been really happy there so far (this was only my second time going).
Can I just say THANK YOU for blogging about your toddler battles? I’m always bummed I had my girl a year before you had your boy because the stuff you write about is on point EVERY TIME… I’m just already passed that stage 🙁
Anyway, we had the same exact toddler battles and it’s just nice knowing I’m not a terrible mother for not being able to keep my toddler in check and on her best behavior when trying to leave the house, put her in her car seat, get her to bed and change her diaper. I don’t have any better advice than what you gave, but what great advice!
toddler battles are no joke and not for the faint of heart! i have a 4 year old son (very strong willed, which isn’t a bad thing just hard to channel correctly) and a 2 year old daughter who is not as iron willed but still…she’s 2. Pitching fits happen no matter the personality I think! Staying calm always helps (but isn’t always practical…because, we are people too!). And, discipline is honestly the best way to combat it in my experience. Calmly explaining the consequence for my children’s behavior and then following through…2 is young but I think they understand more than I assume they do! Plus the distractions you mentioned are super helpful!! You seem to be a wonderful mom! Hang in there, some days and seasons are tougher than others 🙂
I know I’m late in responding to this post and it’s likely it won’t be seen/read, but after reading about your toddler struggles I immediately felt a sense of relief,not because I enjoy reading about the struggles, but because I’m relieved I’m not alone. Our son just turned one at the beginning of December and I felt like he literally went from our little rollie pollie sweetie to a determined and independent toddler who is loving learning the art of pushing boundaries. Being a first time parent means I immediately had all kinds of anxiety about learning how to navigate this next phase. I turned to a dear friend who is the mom to 6-year-old twins and a 4-year-old, so I lean on her heavily in my times of “what the heck do I do now?” moments. This week I was feeling very defeated because my son has started this screaming phase. It’s been hard to not question whether I’m doing something wrong, especially because I’m the one who is with him 24/7. So I texted my friend and I loved her response so much and thought I would share. Here is what she said:
“Remember that you are not trying to change or control him, just help him navigate his feelings and model respect. Sportscast (which means talk him through everything, even if it sounds silly!) and stay calm. You are off the hook when he’s upset – he’s having a problem. It’s not your problem. That helped me understand that they are separate people and I’m not responsible for anyone else’s feelings but my own. If he is screaming when he’s frustrated, that’s OK. He’s using the tools he has, and when he gets better tools, he’ll use them. When you sportscast back to him, “You are screaming! You sound frustrated! Can I help you?” He’s getting the words he’ll eventually use. It takes a loooong time – my kids still make sounds or pinch sometimes instead of using words, but more often than not, they can talk it out. Slow and steady really does win the race. Keep telling yourself that he’s not giving you a hard time, he’s having a hard time.”
I know Chase is older and able to communicate more and understand more than my one-year-old son, but I still felt like her words may encourage you as well. I feel clueless 99% of the time, and the 1% of the time I feel like, “Hey maybe I am getting the hang of this,” he moves into a new phase and I’m left clueless again! I wish I had all the answers, but I’m learning right along with you! My husband and I were introduced to Janet Lansbury and I just can’t get enough of her advice. She has a blog, a couple books (which are short and very easy reads), and podcasts. We have found such relief and support from her thoughts and approach. Here’s her site in case you’re interested: http://www.janetlansbury.com/.
I’m so sorry this got long winded. Chase is lucky to have you as his mama, and I look up to you in so many ways because it’s easy to see through your pictures and posts that you are doing SOOO many things right! We just need to remember to give ourselves grace. Know that I keep you in my prayers and I’m cheering you on!
That’s super helpful advice to remember, thank you for sharing. Also checked out and subscribed to Janet Lansbury’s blog, just so i don’t forget about it 😉
I loOoOoOoOve Janet Landsbury’s book, No Bad Kids. I found it so helpful when communicating with my toddler and managing fits. I do feel like I forget things I’ve read in the moment though 😛 I joke with my husband that I feel like I need to re-read that book daily!
Julie,
I have been reading your blog for years. You are truly an inspiration. I look forward to seeing all of your posts each week!
Thank you, Erica!! <3 I am so grateful that you have been reading for so long and really appreciate the kind words and feedback. It really helps me on days when I sometimes feel less-than-motivated to blog! Thank you!! <3
The best resource for parenting toddlers is Janet Lansbury http://www.janetlansbury.com/
It was a godsend for me and truly has shaped how we parent our son. I would highly recommend any of her resources and I hope you feel encouraged and inspired as I have.
I think I remember you had a post a while back about a “beginners” devotional/bible study that you were doing. Can you share the name of that again, please?
It’s actually the first one mentioned above! I think I blogged about it when I first started (it’s a year-long plan) and now that I’ve been reading it more and more I’m not sure I agree with it being called a “beginner’s plan” — it’s a little more in depth than that but I do like that it gets me reading my Bible!
YES, distractions and tasks are EVERYTHING!!! They LOVE to be “helpful”! Thanks for sharing this!!! My daughter is just about a month younger than Chase, and I’ve also dealt with bedtime, toothbrushing and diaper change struggles for a while now. Basically, making anything just a little playful and fun helps a ton, but it’s sometimes hard to remember when you’re tired or frustrated yourself. For instance, lately my girl doesn’t want me to brush her teeth, and doesn’t open her mouth enough for me to do it, so I’ve started singing “If you’re happy and you know it, brush your teeth/say Ah-aaaaah… /say Che-cheese/spit,spit spit”, etc. So far it’s working, let’s see for how log! What has also helped me is explaining what is going to happen next (i.e. “ok, you can play with your toy for 5 more minutes, and then we leave the house”). Also, a timer works like magic!! We used to struggle to get her in her room at bedtime because all she wanted to do was play and lie in OUR bed. So now we tell her, ok, we’re gonna play in mom and dad’s bed for 1 minute, and we set a timer. When the alarm sounds off, she is soooo happy to get to turn it off, and then she’s all ready to go (or fly like an airplane of helicopter as we carry her) to her room. It’s amazing what just 1 minute can do, lol!
Sounds like you’re full on devotionals right now but if you’re looking for a fabulous mom devotional that will have you laughing, crying, and realizing you’re doing great I would highly recommend The SuperMom Myth by Becky Kopitzke- I loved it!! Fun to see a day in the life post with your sweet little Chase.
I LOVED this post! My daughter just turned 3 and I know the protesting all too well. We haven’t been doing bath time as often either with it being winter but, I think it does help settle her down for bedtime. Thanks for sharing your list of tips!
Also, I just had to laugh when you said “And yes, we are now the family who has a GIANT giraffe and a GIANT train table in their living room.” We currently have a circus tent in the middle of our living room. Whatever it takes to get through these chilly winter days!! Hah
This post was so funny! The Orange Monster and the gray cloud of despair smoothie. :-). Definitely having toddler meltdowns over here. I use new items to get through diaper changes too (she also loves the thermometer and electric toothbrush). Something else I do to stop a meltdown that’s just starting is I make up ridiculous songs. Like totally ridiculous ones about what we’re doing at the moment or about her protesting or whatever. I would be embarrassed to be caught singing these songs but she finds them funny so it often works and I’ll keep doing it if it works!