Supervised Chaos

This week's post is for the mommy that find's herself pulling her hair out because her 2 year old has dumped an entire bag of flour in the floor, and proceeded to roll around in it. =) I've been there, and I would like to share some thoughts and tips that I have learned along the way.

The most imporant rule I have learned as a parent, is this: Never ever think badly about your children. So, what do I mean by this? Most parent's dont think that their children are horrbile monsters that were created for mass destruction and world domination...(at least I hope so) But, EVERYONE has days that they have thought, "OMG! My children are driving me crazy!" I am the same way, but it's time to retrain that though. When you find yourself begin to think that, stop. Replace that thought with, child must be bored. What can we do to solve this? Break the negative cycle now, or your going to be miserable for a long time.

I'm going to be blunt, and please don't take offense. I have found mself in this very situation. If your children are making huge messes, then you probably aren't doing enough to keep them entertained. If you wont find something creative, and appropriate for them to do...then they will create something themselves. I cannot tell you how many that I have recently spent painting over crayon and markers, and taking nail polish off my hardwood floors. I was at my wits end, a few months ago. I was trying to go to school, run my home, and study.. it was a disasterous combination. It took a summer break, and two months before I devised a strategy to keep them engaged.

There are a few basic things that every parent of young children should keep stock of.

Cheap shaving cream
Bars of Ivory soap
Multicolored feathers
Pipe Cleaners
Fuzzy pompom balls in various sizes and colors
Glue
Google eyes
Popcorn
Straws
Finger paints
Glitter
Food coloring
Construction paper
Scissors
Bubble solution
Wax paper
Cheap plastic table cloths
and, of course....Crayons

How you combine them, it totally up to you, but I swear to you, if you make things for your children to do...then you will have less drama.  Kids are super easy to enterain. You can put shaving cream on a plastic table cover, let them smear it all over the table cloth, make picture and shapes... whatever. Then, while they are stripping their clothes on the way to the bath, you fold up the table cloth and throw it in the trash. Mess dissappeared, and you aren't stuck scrubbing something off the walls. Ivory soap you can microwave...(yes it can be microwaved, and no.. it doesnt explode) once the soap cloud is cool let them help break the cloud up, dump some boiling water in the bowl...with a few drops of food coloring.. stir..and you have colored bath tub soap paint.  Just a few that I have done.

The Soap cloud

 Shaving cream!

The biggest part about parenting is remembering that they are kids. Not little adults. You are the parent, you are the adult. You have to take control of the situation. Do a self inventory, and see where you spend most of your time. Ask yourself three questions: What do I spend most of my time doing when the children are awake? What do they say to me when I am doing these things? What are the signs that trouble is in the wake? ( Do they get super quiet? Does he/she dissappear?) If you don't meet their tactile needs, they will do it on their own.....and you will have little to no control over what they do.  I would rather waste a plastic table cloth, and spend an hour giving my kids a bath (and be called the best mom in the world), than to scrub crayon off my walls and floor.

It doesn't take much, but a little creativity can dissolve a huge headache. This is also a time that you can make special, teach them, make memories. Being a "good" parent is what you make of it. You can make happiness out of messes. If you control the enviornment, they can paint the shower walls with soap pain..and only you will know that as soon as they are out of the bath....the shower head will wash it down the drain. Let them be creative, but give them an outlet to do so. This time is gone in the blink of an eye. Before we know it, they will be gone and building families of their own. What do you want them to remember?

For me, I want them to remember happiness, the times their mommy let them make giant messes, and the shaving cream... oh, the shaving cream!


Blessings and love as your week continues!
xoxoxo,
Audrie