Sugar and Spice

There are lots of things about parenting that are hard.  Among those are the sleepless nights, nighttime feedings, seeing your child hurt or sick, trying to give that hurt or sick child medication, and not throwing up when that hurt or sick child projectile vomits on you.  Then there are the more abstract things like being a good role model, teaching values, and raising a nice child with good hygiene who makes excellent choices.  But, while I have only been at this parenting gig for a couple years now, I have to say that discipline is one of the absolute hardest parts about parenting I've encountered yet. The first difficulty with discipline is determining when, how much, and how often to administer it.  I have been adamant that I would not be one of those moms that just says "no" all the time "because I said so."  When I say "no" I try to have a good reason and try to explain that in terms she can understand.  And ...

Luckily I’m a better mother (at least I like to think so) than I am a blogger.   Many apologies for the long delay between posts.   Between third trimester exhaustion and a very fast-paced new job (not to mention a likewise fast-paced two year old, trying to sell my house, and various other obligations) I’ve just fallen short of the blogger mark.   Besides, the “lympics” have been on (as Pumpkin reminds me every day when she asks to watch the “lympic ballgames”). To catch you up, Pumpkin is still growing like a weed…er, a pumpkin (to stick with my own metaphor).   She is now able to use her princess potty (when she wants to that is) and she sleeps at night in her big girl bed (also princess themed).   We are going through quite the princess phase.   Everything she asks for is prefaced with the adjective “princess.”   For instance, my parents are on vacation and she has asked them to bring her either a “princess boat” or a “princess box” as a souv...