Unfortunately, spring also brings the need for 'spring cleaning', so
the tip of the day comes from Martha Stewart herself! "The queen of domesticity" has some great tips on cleaning and organizing"Do you know that your vacuum needs spring cleaning, too: Cut away threads from the rotating beater, replace the motor's belt if stretched, and install a new bag."

If Martha says, well then...

March 19, 2001
No time today...The kids had the flu and the whole house needs to be disinfected!!! Spring is in the air, so I'll open the windows and get to work.
Meanwhile...visit some "real weblogs" courtesy of my new and improved links page. Read other logs, get interested, put them in your favorites, start your own...I don't care, just return to mine. Same time...Same place tomorrow!!

March 15, 2001
Thomas spent the day with Grandma yesterday...I think she wanted to spoil him a little before his big day tomorrow. And spoil him she did. She picked him up at 10:00...to do a little shopping. 7 hours, 1 pair of shoes, 1 new outfit, 3 bags of candy, 1 new movie, a pair of sunglasses, a "cop kit" (complete with handcuffs AND two whistles-thank you very much!), 2 trucks, an 8 pack of juice, 6 hot wheels, 2 toys filled with gum balls, and a set of magnets later he came home. He'd been to the bakery for donuts, visited with Grandpa, out to lunch, saw Uncle Denny, to the dollar store, AND to Wal Mart!
He was missed...Gabe started asking for him about nap time and I told him that Thomas would be home for supper. This explanation seemed to work... for a little while. As soon as he got up he asked for Thomas again. Again I told him he'd be home by supper. Then at 3:00 Gabe said he was hungry and could we have supper now?! This was his way of saying he wanted Thomas home. Which is strange, any other day they pick at each other all day. Mom he's touching me, mom make him stop that, mom he's showing me his food, mom tell him to mind his own business! When he walked in the door, Gabe scooted Thomas' chair over as close to his as he could, and Jackson babbled "bubba, bubba, bubba" over and over!
Thomas was pooped! He didn't even stay awake long enough to see who got booted off the island. So I tormented him this morning. I told him since he fell asleep on the couch in the middle of Survivor, he missed Tribal Council and didn't see who got kicked off. He begged me to tell him who it was. I told him he would have to wait and see on the "Early Show". I thought he would cry so I ended up telling him that it was the girl with the muscles...He said the brown one?
That was his day. He slept like a log, in his own bed....all night.

The tip of the day is from Cyber Grandma. "...A smile is something we all own, but very few share it with others."
...Thank you grandma, he was definately smiling.

March 14, 2001
How do you raise your child to be a "leader"? When we're here at home Thomas seems to play the role of a leader and Gabe and Jackson are followers. Gabe does whatever he needs to to make Thomas happy and proud. (Jackson does whatever they're doing just because...) I guess that's to be expected since he's the oldest, but I've noticed that when they have their little friends or cousins over (who are all older) Thomas becomes a follower. I was a follower, never a leader. Is it because I was always one of the "little kids" and it just carried on through my life outside the home?
In this day and age, it seems like you have to raise your kids to be leaders. I don't want them to follow the pack, do whatever everyone else is doing just because they're doing it. I want to raise them to be the ones that people want to be like. I want them to be good examples in a world where there are so many bad examples being followed.
A person could drive themself crazy imagining what the world will be like in ten years, when they're teenagers...of course to my parents, I'm sure the world wasn't all that they had hoped for it to be for me either. I know that it's more then just raising your childdren to be one way or another...It involves instilling good morals, ethics, and manners. But it would be a heck of a lot easier if you could just say I'm raising him to be this way, or my child will be like that. Being a parent is hard...

The tip of the day is from Mona Schuster at Family Play . "...reward your child...show respect...discipline. Children are like a garden; if we tend to them they will grow and flourish."

March 13, 2001
Mr. Man learned a new trick yesterday...I left the room for a couple of minutes and came back to find him sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. I couldn't believe it!! He was just sitting there, playing with a couple of hot wheels that someone left on the table, like he's done it a hundred times. My initial reaction was to ask Thomas if he put him up there. Since he was on the phone with grandma, I didn't think it was likely that he had anything to do with it. When I asked him "Jackson...how did you get up there?" he just smiled as if to say "ha ha".
He's got such an attitude!!! He's also learning how to throw a pretty good fit. If things aren't done the way he want, when he wants, his little red headed temper flares up and he tries to have a tantrum. He needs practice at it...he doesn't seem as good at it as the older boys were at that age. Or maybe I'm just better at ignoring it. When Thomas was small and tried to throw a fit, I would sit him down and try to reassure him, talk him through it, or calm him down. With this one, I step over him and keep on walking...like I don't even notice.
You know where he gets it don't you? Not from me...I don't have a temper OR red hair...excuse me... strawberry blond hair. His daddy doesn't necessarily throw fits, but he likes to have his way...

The tip of the day comes from The CyberMom Dot Com . "One of the best ways to 'address' a temper tantrum is to ignore it."
...of course you know if you try to do this with a grown-up, it may not work.

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