Zane would rather eat the marker than draw with it.

Seven, who is 3 1/2, tells me he likes being home with mommy better than daycare, but it’s hard to keep him busy and out of trouble. Most days he does fine if I give him lots of one-on-one attention and plenty of different activities.

Seven wrote his whole alphabet for the first time!

It’s not always possible to give Seven the attention he wants when I’m doing housework, or trying to make dinner so Tony can come home to a nice meal, or helping Zane, or planning the grocery shopping list, or actually leaving the house to run errands! Making things even more difficult, we’ll be moving to a new house at the end of July so I’m busy trying to pack everything and get the house ready to show. Seven and I have butted heads (figuratively of course) quite a bit, and he has the same attention & focus issues I had as a child, so I’m struggling with that. I’m still trying to figure out a daily routine that’s not overly strict but still takes care of everything that needs to be done, and a discipline method that will work for Seven. I try to give him lots of positive reenforcement and praise when he follows the rules, or even when he stops breaking the rules if told to, but there are days where I feel like there aren’t any positive behaviors to praise him for!

This is the kind of thing he does when I leave the room for 5 minutes. If I couldn't laugh about it I'd be sobbing in a corner by now!

It helped me a little to write down a list of house rules while Seven was watching, and draw a picture underneath so he can understand it. Then he helped me tape it up on the living room wall at his eye level. Now, instead of saying, “stop teasing your brother”, I can tell him, “it’s a house rule that we play nice with each other. If you can’t, then you can go take a time-out in your room until you’re ready to follow the rules.” Sometimes it works, but mostly I have to carry him to his room and sit with him until he calms down and apologizes. Sometimes I have to put myself in time-out!

Even with all the challenges and frustrations, I love what I’m doing now so much more than being stuck in a cubicle all day, missing my kids and feeling like a bad mommy. I think once we move into our new place and get a routine settled, things will get a lot easier. I’m so thankful to be spending this time with them while they’re still little, because they’ll grow up way faster than I’m ready for. The next time I want to tear my hair out because Zane won’t stop screaming (he thinks it’s funny) or I want to toss all of Seven’s toys in the trash because he keeps throwing them at the ceiling fan, I just need to remind myself how lucky we are to have each other!