Well, lately my stinkin' cute baby is like a little mini ninja. She has taken 14 months of abuse from her brother, not to mention the countless times L kicked her while she was in the womb. I think she feels stable enough on her walking feet now that she has decided enough is enough regarding her brother.
Lately, it's seriously like WWF or something.
"In this corner we have Baby Ninja! She stands at approximately 2 feet 5 inches and weighs over 22 pounds! Her signature move is "The Pounce" where she takes down her opponent with one swift move! She giggles in the face of danger and has no reservations about pulling your hair or even poking you in the eye!"
"In the opposite corner we have Green Eyed Goober! He weighs in at a whopping 41 pounds and will use his weight to crush you with one sit on the head! And watch out folks, he's going through his "Horrible Threes" which means he will turn on the crazy at the drop of a hat! His sonic boom scream is his secret weapon and can drop you to your knees in pain at any second!"
Honestly, I feel like a referee all day long these days. If L takes a toy from her,... watch out! She screams and cries and the other day she actually jumped on him and wrapped her tiny, chubby hands around the top of his head. He was looking at me like,"Am I allowed to take this shrimp down, Mom?" Secretly, I'm a little proud of my little chica. I have sat by and watched him grab her and roll around with her and steal her toys and lay down on top of her. I think he might have some of this coming to him, but still I can't let her pound on him too much, right?!?
When he has done something not so nice to his sister and he takes a little trip to time-out, he is required to give E a hug and say he's sorry when he's done. Sometimes, she interprets this as Round 2 and has no hold-backs about going for the jugular. It's a little ridiculous.
All you moms out there: Any suggestions on how to deal with the sibling face-off I have on a daily basis would be super helpful. :)
Alright, I have had this next project completed for a couple weeks now, but I wasn't too happy with it, so I have been reluctant to show it to all of you. I decided, "What the hey!" That's what this whole crafting thing is about sometimes. You learn from it and decide what you'll do differently next time, right?!?
Okay, so I saw Centsational Girl's tutorial on how to make a knock-off Ballard Designs laundry drying rack and fell instantly in love. I collected all my materials and went to work. I wish I could say that I did this without my husband's helping hand, but I'd be telling a dirty little lie. He's a carpenter, and I wasn't about to turn away the aid of a skilled carpenter. Here is the inspiration from Centsational Girl:
This is my final product: (Excuse the bad lighting)
I decided that it could use a little oomph so I took a Stampin' Up! stencil and painted the flourishes on to the back. I think it adds a little something extra to the project. I think in a couple months, I'm going to try it again, following the advice of my handy carpenter and use some heavier duty materials. We'll see...
Okay, so in case you do what I do sometimes and you scroll through the post to get to the pictures and you didn't read my sibling show-down from the top of the post,... To all the moms out there (or anybody for that matter) what advice do you have to curb sibling rivalry? Anything would help. Thanks!
Click HERE to check out where I'm linking to and don't forget to join in on the fun! :)
I really love your laundry drying rack! I am about to embark on cloth diapers so one of these might just come in handy! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteLooking for ways to make our house work better for us & love the drying rack. Will have to look into the how to's more soon as I really am in need of something that does not sit on the floor.
ReplyDeleteAs to the kids thing,I'll tell you what we do & hope you find something useful to make your home work better. Fair trade? We have four: 3 boys,ages 9,8&6 and a 4yo girl. It's amazing but they don't come out knowing how to get along with others any more than they can dress or feed themselves. Here's what we do:
First, We have the rule ~ "Use your words;never hands or feet." If the rule is broken, no matter the age of the child or whether or not they had a reason to be upset,the discipline is always the same. Being consitent with the same discipline & using it every time they break the rule gives them security.
Second,When our two eldest were quite small,as we were leaving a sitters house, they began squabbling and the sitter stopped got on her knees at their eye level and said, "I'm so sad you would talk to your brother like that. God picked him out of all the children in the world to be your brother & your best friend. He should be the person you are nicest to in the whole world." They stood there looking at her & really soaked it in. I would use that from time to time & also would praise them when they were being kind to each other or playing well together. Sometimes we would even go get a special treat when it was obvious they had a choice to make & chose to be kind or nice. Just repeating dissapointment (not frustration)when they treated each other wrong & praising often when they did the right thing really encouraged them to want to put the other person first.
Thirdly, when there were just the two I would sit and "play" with them. I was actually emphasizing the fun of sharing with the other person rather than the "playing".Using lots of words "Here let's give brother a turn see how happy it makes him?" or "Oh Isn't this toy nice. Wouldn't your sister like to try it? Here you give it to her & show her how it works". The elder two taught the younger two & it seems to be holding up even with widening gaps in their areas of interest.
Third, I also taught them(and am still teaching in the case of the 4yo) to play by themselves. Sometimes they need to be able to sit in the same room (or even go to a room alone) and do their own thing.If I find one is getting squabbly I send them to their bed to be alone for a while. The only stipulation being that they can come out when they are ready to "be nice". Has worked well from the time they were around 2yo.
I am no expert but this is what is working for us so far & If I can say without sounding boastful, We have been stopped many times while out in public with them & asked how we get them to get along so well. Hope it helps.
Your drying rack looks really cute. Why heavier duty materials - is it flimsy right now?
ReplyDeleteO, I can't believe you aren't happy with it...it is precious. I just love it. Now I will say it's not nearly as precious as that little fella and his baby sista, tho. :))
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone for the sweet comments!
ReplyDelete@Melissa- I wouldn't say it's flimsy, but it definitely looks more like a craft project than a high-class drying rack. I don't know if that makes sense or not. My husband wants to use a thicker, harder wood. The poplar board was only 1/2 inch thick, so something thicker would probably look nicer. Thanks for the question! :)
WOW that's too cute your kiddos AND your drying rack : )
ReplyDeleteI love this drying rack! And I definitely think the addition of stenciling was brilliant. I have been needing something like this, thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteFor the kid question: I currently have a 4yo boy (June bday) and a 20 month old girl. I understand :). Here are some things I do: 1) Pray for their relationship. I honestly think this is the most important and most effective strategy I have. 2) Call out the younger child now that she's older. For a long time, if anything happened I knew it was the older one's fault, but that's not true anymore. I remember being the elder sibling and often getting in trouble for things I didn't do because it was assumed I had done them, and I really resented my sister for that (though it was only partly her fault). I noticed myself assuming that it was my son's fault, and remembered my own feelings about it, and started paying closer attention. My little girl will say she had something first and it's hers, even if she didn't. She had already learned that she just had to say "mine!" and cry like he had taken it from her to get whatever he had that she wanted! So, calling her on that, in front of my son, has helped. She knows she can't (always) get away with it, and he sees that she's held responsible for her actions. I make her apologize and give a hug too, and she understands pretty well now, but I "helped" her give him hugs before she understood, for his benefit. I really think that has made a huge difference. 3) I try to find lots of things they can do together. And then I let them do them, on their own when I can. Until he's piling too much sand on her head while they play at the sand and water table...though she was laughing, she thought it was just as fun as he did! Our back door opens off of our kitchen into the yard, and they often play out there while I fix dinner; it tends to be a great time for them to interact and enjoy each other naturally.
There are always challenges, aren't there? :)
Love your drying rack and your kids are adorable!! : )
ReplyDeleteCool transformation! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!
ReplyDeleteYou are so cute! Those little ones are so super cute. I love those drying racks are amazing. I am going to make one when I move! Thanks for linking up to Tuesday Tell All.
ReplyDeleteI love the rack. I'm not sure why you aren't happy with it. I've been wanting one for myself but haven't gotten around to it yet. Love that you stenciled it too.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the kiddos. It won't last forever. Just a phase she's going through. Looks like you've gotten lots of advice.
Very nice, and love the stencilling, a great touch! Thanks so very much for stopping by Craft Schooling Sunday and sharing this wonderful project. All the best!
ReplyDeleteWish I could help with the whole rivalry thing. Mine are almost grown now and I can tell you it gets better but I know you want to know WHEN it gets better. I hate to say that for my middle and youngest it took about seventeen years. For my middle and oldest? Well I'm still waiting for that one. :O
ReplyDeleteLove your drying rack. The stencil is a nice add. Thanks for linking it up to Motivated Monday at Becolorful.
Pam
Hi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteMy children are 17 months apart and at times went through just what you are talking about. Now they are 24 and 25. They lived... I lived and they are wonderful friends!
Just stay calm and consistant... even if you think it's going to kill you!
A couple of things that really helped me were:
1) The week away shelf- if my kids fought over a toy or misused one it went high up on a shelf for a whole week. One time even blankie went there, now that was trauma!!!! It was a shelf in the upstair linen closet and sometimes my son would go upstairs open the closet and just look at his unreachable toy. The toys always seemed to be more precious if they were out of reach for a week. ANd toy reunion day was fabulous. Like getting new toys!
2) First week. Each week one child could be first all week, have the toys they fought over first and get to choose first, watch their little program first, etc. Teaching the other child that next week they could be first really helped. AND the added bonus was as they got older it taught compassion, patiece and "it's not all about me". I wanted my children to learn how to share in other's joy.
3) The sharing timer. The child who's first week it was got to have the toy/privilege in question first and the timer was set for 10 minutes, then the other child got a turn.
I know the percious little ninja is not old enough to understand this, but is not too young to institute these practices. It is a real leaning experience.
4) My best advice is pray! Prayer really works!!!!!
Your drying rack is spectacular! And I am crazy about your beautiful embellishments!
What a great visit. Thank you for letting me take a little detour down my memory lane. I really would do it all over again in a heartbeat!
Blessings to you and your darling babes!
Yvonne
Your drying rack is so cute. Who knew laundry rooms could be cute?!
ReplyDeleteIt's just a stage... never helps when people tell you that. I still struggle with my 6 and 8 year old. Ugh! It's a constant competition. I can say that it gets better... the older they get. Good thing they are cute, right?! :D
Thanks for sharing! ~Michelle
This looks awesome! just found your blog and I love it! I'm you're newest follower :-) The stamps look great too; way to make it your own!
ReplyDeleteI think it looks so great! And I am partial to SU. ;) I have two boys 22 months apart, 3 and 5. We are home all day with homeschooling and struggle with the arguments. I love all the tips already given. Another thing we have started with our homeschooling is the book MY ABC BIBLE VERSES. We learn a scripture a week, the boys soak them in, and the verses really mean a lot to them...something about coming from God. So this week we learned "Do all things without complaining or disputing". When the boys started whining or fighting, I would remind them of the verse and they change their tune quickly. They also remind ME of the verses when need be. It's been a real help!
ReplyDeleteLOVE LOVE LOVE it! I've had this on my to-do list for months... love your stencil... I think I'll need to copy :) I'm putting you in the PoPP Spotlight!
ReplyDeleteI love your drying rack! I don't have advice on the sibling rivalry, sorry! I am dealing with similar, except mine are 13 and 9!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to tell you I featured your drying rack last friday. You can grab a featured button if you'd like. Thanks for joining We're Organized Wednesday.
ReplyDelete