During our visit with friends yesterday, I asked Toby to tell one of them about what's been going on at our house this week. This friend has two children, ages 9 and 11. Here's how the conversation went:
T: It's Do Nothing, Say Nothing week.
F: What does that mean?
T: It means Mom doesn't do anything for me, I have to do things myself.
Me: And it means I don't nag you, remind you of things, or tell you what to do.
F: So how has that been?
T: Good.
F: What have you been doing?
T: The other day, I forgot to make my lunch for school-
F (to me): He makes his own lunch?
Me: Yes.
T: -and I woke up in the middle of the night to make it and I couldn't go back to sleep.
F: What do you put in your lunch?
T: Apple, red pepper, Cheerios, cantaloupe-
F (to me): But it's all cut up already, right?
Me: No.
F: Wow, I have to find out more about this!
I told Dan that although we are cleaning up the house today, I am planning to continue DNSN for the whole week, until Monday night, however that can be accommodated in the context of our ski trip. He has a lot of concern about burdening other people with this endeavor - other people out in restaurants, for example, and especially the other family that we are travelling with. I don't know what DNSN might look like out of our own house, so I'll just play it by ear.
Hazel has been on a huge "me do it" kick, except for -of course- cleaning up. She has figured out how to bring her little red stepstool to reach:
the hot water faucet in the bathroom
all the bottles and tubes on the counter and in the drawer (which she thinks must be toothpaste, eyedrops, or hair spray)
knives on the kitchen counter
Sharpie permanent markers and sharp scissors in the desk drawer
the stove
the water dispenser on the refrigerator
When I was in the shower yesterday, I suddenly noticed that she was eating Toby's flouride toothpaste. Today she brought me a cloth diaper that she had dunked in the toilet. I found her washing a nightlight (right next to an inviting outlet). Child-proofing has suddenly taken on an urgent new face. I have to think about how to create a safe environment for her to develop her independence. For now we have put a child-proof doorknob cover on the bathroom.
Our kitchen just before clean-up:
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Hey, the kitchen doesn't look all that bad! ;) Ours looks like that on an almost nightly basis after DH cooks...but I must say, he's getting much better about his cleanup lately. (And I HAVE been doing DNSN...but I think he notices how much easier it is to cook when I've cleaned up the night before than when he wants to cook the day after his own cooking night...and how much happier I am when the kichen si clean...plus our kitchen is smaller so it shows up faster!)
ReplyDeleteLove the blog! Haven't done much differently with Fiora yet, though I'm getting better at distinguishing tantrums of tiredness/hunger etc (when I practice giving her words to describe why she's cranky, and that seems to help half the time) and tantrums of "I want" (a cookie!), which I must say I quite enjoy ignoring! ;)
Thanks Amy! I feel like it's ridiculously long and detailed, but it's all so interesting to me. Looking forward to the next step.
ReplyDeleteNOW I understand that Amy=Lizzie!
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