This, That and The Other

Bedtime with Ben and Mary--Lately, we've been trying to group Ben and Mary together on the bedtime routine. Before, continuing the habits of Mary's baby years, we'd lay Mary down and then put Ben through the brushing teeth, reading stories bedtime routine. Then I realized, "Duh...it's time she got in the habit of brushing her teeth too,"... instead of just playing with her toothbrush. And "Gee, I guess she deserves some book reading too!"

After coming to this alarming conclusion, we started our bedtime routine for Ben and Mary 15 minutes earlier so we could allow for the extra time to deal with them both. You would think this would be easy. Why can't it be?? Well, it's the book reading part. I've never had it be so difficult to read to two children before. They each picked a book and then when I started to read one, the other one cried because their book wasn't read first. So after that night, I started alternating who got to go first. I thought this would solve the problem. No. They fought over being able to respond to the questions in the book. Ben would always beat Mary to the punch on answering and Mary would start crying. So then I said, "If it's YOUR book, you can respond to the questions...if it's not, you have to wait until your book". Not tonight. Ben wouldn't agree to this and instead of having a nice, charming reading session, it ended up with tears and tantrums and Mommy deciding to read to no one. This has happened more than once. They are so competitive. I'm wondering if we'll have to take turns with them individually? I know. It's ridiculous. I think so too.

Fly Lady--On to other topics. The whether has been beautiful here lately...in the 70's in the afternoons and lower in the mornings. I love having the windows open with fresh air breezing through our house. Fly lady has been going great! The system is keeping my house clean! In fact, Abby's birthday party was such a breeze because I only had to worry about the meal! Not the house! The zone this week is the bathroom and an extra bedroom.

Potty Chronicles- Ben pooped in his pants today! There is no reason for this! He KNOWS what to do and he didn't do it. I took away all gaming, but I wonder if that's enough. Mary has been wearing underpants except for bed time and poops. Some day we'll have it all together and the topic of poop and pee will be a thing of the past.

Preschool--Ben is beginning to warm up to preschool. He's talking about friends in his class and he doesn't complain anymore when I tell him it's a preschool day. I think the fact that it's three days a week keeps him on a pattern of going and actually makes it easier than our Mom's Days Out.

My Trip to Toys R Us with the Ultimate Toy Fanatic--I knew it would be hard to take Mary to the toy store, but take her I did. She wanted everything. I just tried to shop quickly with my mom to find a Christmas gift for her. It was pure torture for Mary to go through those isles full of goodies for her, and turn away with not so much as gift from the dollar section. We survived, and my mom got her gift without her knowing. And then she fell asleep on the way to picking Ben up from Preschool.

A Nice Walk--Tonight I took the kids for a walk since the weather was so nice. It was great getting the fresh air and exercise. I hope to do this more this fall. Ted had Men's group, so it was just us. Ben and Mary were in the double stroller, Sam was on a scooter and Abby was on roller blades. We were quite the family on wheels.

PTO --Our first PTO event, Grandparent's Day, went great! We were all worried everyone wouldn't fit into the church at the same time...but we did! I think the Grandparents liked attending mass with their grandchildren and the cinnamon rolls and coffee in the cafeteria were a big hit. They felt appreciated. Our next event is next week when we have a big PTO meeting with a presentation from a new character building program were doing called "Keys to Success". We'll also have food from our Shop For Our School vendors. It will be a big night. I hope it all goes well. It will be my first time leading a meeting like this.

ENFJ--This is my personality after taking the test. Of course, the the second time I came up with ESFJ. I think it depends on my mood when I take it. Go ahead and try it! It's 72 questions but I was amazed at how quickly it went. Here's a portion of what it said about me:

The Teachers are found in no more than 2 or 3 percent of the population. They like to have things settled and arranged. They prefer to plan both work and social engagements ahead of time and tend to be absolutely reliable in honoring these commitments. At the same time, Teachers are very much at home in complex situations which require the juggling of much data with little pre-planning. Such ability to preside without planning reminds us somewhat of an Provider, but the latter acts more as a master of ceremonies than as a leader of groups. Providers are natural hosts and hostesses, making sure that each guest is well looked after at social gatherings, or that the right things are expressed on traditional occasions, such as weddings, funerals, graduations, and the like. In much the same way, Teachers value harmonious human relations about all else, can handle people with charm and concern, and are usually popular wherever they are. But Teachers are not so much social as educational leaders, interested primarily in the personal growth and development of others, and less in attending to their social needs.

The ESFJ emphasizes the Provider in me. So I tend to go back and forth between the Teacher and the Provider. What are you? A famous ENFJ is Oprah Winfrey! Of course!