Marshall boy boy, king of the kitchen

Am I catering too much to this child? It seems he wants something to eat for every seat at the table, including the baby's seat. He declined oatmeal and instead choose lemon yogurt, followed by a peanut butter sandwich and a chocolate Nutella sandwich, both folded over with crusts removed, "squirt juice" (flavored water enhancer) IN a bottle WITH a straw and CRUSHED ice (what a diva!) Then we moved on to chips and salsa, then another round of chips and salsa but this time he spread the salsa onto the chips and called them little pizzas so I gave him some cheese to sprinkle on top, then he wanted the cheese to be melted (if you give a mouse a cookie...) After I returned the plate to him, he felt it was time for another prayer, which was fine, then he had a slice of fresh pineapple and we are looking at an hour and a half spent on breakfast! And he'll want lunch in an hour, trust me.
My alternative would be to be more of a "no" Mom. But that means I get to spend my morning dealing with tears and power struggles. Is that better for him?? Does he need to "just get used to hearing it"? Am I an odd mother for being so flexible with his various whims? He did do the drink nearly by himself. I do pick my battles. There ARE things he's not allowed to do. : )

Marshall boss boy

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s270/sh/2314b5f0-9d32-48bc-a804-144e64364c84/827e8128ba56cd84737a37ec6b519196

How to have a good day

Yesterday was a bad day, and here's why: I spent the entire day trying to escape reality. I was plugged into an audiobook I was really enjoying, which should have made for a good day, but dealing with shopping and homework and bedtime were all annoyances. Lets just say I needed an attitude adjustment.

 Today, on the other hand, was a good day. I grounded myself from my favorite distraction and stayed tuned in to life. I stuck  with  my schedule where it  was necessary, working on jobs around the house, but remained flexible too, ditching the Y for a beautiful walk in the woods with Marshall. I was able to get a paperwork problem under control, which I cannot manage while being  preoccupied.
True Marshall ran outside to the dirt pile more than once and needed an outfit change. He smashed his granola bar into the floor, snuck food from the kitchen as I was making dinner, emptied a shampoo bottle onto the bathroom at large, and tried to wipe his own bottom and ran outside stark naked, pleased to show to the world he now had a "tail" (made of toilet paper). But I was able to laugh, because I was THERE!
So, even if today isn't a momentous day, and your biggest accomplishment is that you now have 3" extra counterspace, don't leave that reality to escape to a better place, stick around and make  it a better place!

Watch Conference!

Potty Progress

Best thing of the day happened first thing this morning! Marshall woke up with a dry diaper! He let me bribe him to sit on the potty first thing, too. Here he is with his s'mores cookie and chocolate milk at his makeshift breakfast table. He wasn't crazy about me taking this pic, haha.

Arctic Boy

Marshall LOVES the outdoors, never tires of it, and never seems bothered by the cold! He may be bundled up here, but that's only because Mommy wrestled him into some clothes. He can be wearing nothing but a diaper, pop on some snow boots and claim he's ready for the outdoors!

Blanket Pets

My kids are constantly rolling up blankets into "snakes" and tonight I had helped re-roll them enough times that I was ready for a new solution! So we broke into Genevieve's hair pretty bag and gave each of them a rubberband on each end. Then we started getting silly with accessories, adding fancier rubberbands and even some bracelets. They were so glamorous!! They danced for joy and slept with their little blanket snakes all night : )