Grandparent Detox Needed!

It's safe to say that we're experiencing another episode of grandparent withdrawal.  After countless hours of Oma & Opa's undivided attention coupled with new toys, clothes, and what seems to be a never-ending supply of treats for simply breathing, I'd say this dangerous love requires detox!

As our daughter had to be pried from the neck of Oma as she got into the car to leave, I knew that the day along with the next week or so would be challenging. I'm convinced grandparents plot to win grandchildren over with marathon games and tea parties,  swimming pool fun for hours, parks, slides, swings and cookies and treats that guarantee loyalty and affection. Perhaps someone should write a ten step program for how to wean your child back into reality, following grandparent visits!

Although my daughter gets a great deal of attention when it's just our immediate family, I have other tasks that require completion throughout the day. And while my daughter thinks that the endless fussing, whining, and crying post grandparent visit will convince me to forget all other tasks while I focus every ounce of attention to her, she is sadly mistaken. Reality must set in again. I understand her sadness, but I will be firm in getting her back on schedule, which will take a few days, and in the meantime, we're plotting a baby drive-by next year. Nothing says pay-back like dropping off your two-year old with the grandparents while we vacation for about a week! Then again (and knowing my mom), our daughter would never want to come home!

-OzzyMommy

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Mine, mine, mine!!!

For the first time today, I experienced an all-out, kicking and screaming, everyone's staring at me like I'm crazy temper tantrum from my 19 month old. Eeek was it embarrassing and I wanted to crawl under a table and hide! Our munchkin fusses and throws occasional tantrums, but this was one of those "legitimate" tantrums where I normally stare at other people in the store and wonder what made the child go off the deep end. Now I'm officially that mom too!

Our daughter is inching toward the terrible twos, and with it comes the latest of her milestones, the "Mine, mine, mine" phase.  Initially we thought it cute, but as the sassing begins, the little evil glares you get along with the "No Mine" comments, and the occasional testing us to see how we'll react when she hits, is making us reevaluate how to curb this behavior. While we understand most of it's just a phase, we're noticing that the key deterrent is acknowledging our disappointment and verbalizing that "Not sharing makes mommy very sad" or "We don't hit or push" and physically making a sad face works best for us. I never considered myself the type of mom that would use tactics like that, but our daughter is so intuitive that she'll feed off of our frustration, and use it to fuel more bad behavior. As such, the corny time-outs I used to joke about and considered lame parenting actually work for us! Nothing makes our little one more upset than disappointing us, but realizing that it's okay to make mistakes -- both child and parent -- enables fixing those mistakes and giving the child the steps to correct bad behavior much easier. Needless to say, I think she'll think twice about her actions today. And thank goodness nap time!

-OzzyMommy

Please visit our website ozzybaby.com