Running on Love......and coffee...

Friday, January 16, 2009

all you can do is laugh


my older 3 children, while not perfect, seemed to be pretty compliant kids. they understood my rules and expectations of their behavior at an early age and i was thinking,"either i completely lucked out or this parenting thing is a breeze and all other moms are just a bunch of whiny babies." that is until jude came along.  

jude, my 3 yr old, is really a sweet boy-for the most part. he loves to snuggle and he tells me he loves me every 3 minutes (something i so desperately need at this point in my life). he has these big, beautiful, gray eyes with lashes a mile long-you look at him, then you're done for. 
for myself and my children, i try to not spank them. now, this doesn't mean that it never happens, but i really hate doing it. i was spanked as a child and i don't feel that it was detrimental to me or my development in any way, so for me, it's just a personal choice.  
having said that, you must know that jude sometimes has issues with staying in his bed. he needs a drink of water, the potty, he's scared, he doesn't like his bed, etc...you all know the drill. one night in particular, jude was really pushing it. my parents had put the children to bed while i was out. jude was having none of it-he got up over and over and over again. finally, my dad told him, "jude, if you get out of bed one more time i'm gonna take my belt off and leave it here for your mommy to use when she gets back." surprise, surprise, guess who gets out of bed again...
my dad, completely frustrated,  puts jude back in bed, takes off his belt and hangs it on jude's light switch. keep in mind that jude does not get spankings so he can't comprehend why my dad would leave his belt in his room. as my dad is walking out of the bedroom, jude states, very matter-of-factly, "your pants are gonna fall down."