| I am so grateful and happy for:
My wonderful son. It's so very difficult to hear other people complain about their 3 year olds. Mine is a pure delight. He is not defiant or mean or destructive or reckless. He's kind, sensitive, smart, funny, and just a joy to be around.
Finding the perfect house. It will happen. We are getting so close now. The bank has approved us, and our house will go on the market within 2 weeks (hopefully)!
My husband, who puts up with me in a way no one ever has. :)
The internet, which allowed me to fix the dryer all by myself yesterday. It felt so impowering to be able to do something like that without help.
Now I'd like to talk a little more about my son. I don't know if it's personality, or parenting, or the fact that he's an only child (and will remain that way...hubby is getting snipped next month), but he is just a wonder of a kid.
Duncan is really quite obedient. He's not threatened or scared, as we don't use punishment. He will whine and question me. We talk about limits and why I've asked something of him. I don't ask a whole lot, and I try not to say no too much. In the end, we find a compromise. It helps that our house is a safe place. Nothing is off limits. When he was a young toddler, I spent many hours helping him explore his world. Duncan is cautious by nature, which helps tremendously in this regard. If I explain danger to him, he takes it seriously. I can take a shower and not worry about what's going on in the other room (mostly!). I can trust that he won't hurt the pets. In fact, today he scolded me for chasing one of the cats (our kitten) off of the tv. That kind of stuff doesn't bother me (the scolding). I mean, he learned that tone of voice from me.
haha. I think something else that really helps with this area is the fact that Duncan gets no processed sugar. I only sweeten things with honey, and things we buy don't have any sweetener in them other than honey, molasses, or maple syrup. Duncan is allergic to corn, so his diet is very limited anyway....but the sugar thing has made tons of difference.
Duncan has an incredible memory. It makes learning really easy for him. He's also really sensitive. He doesn't take failure too well. Because of this, it's hard to gauge where he's at educationally and developmentally. He's scared to show how much he does know. He can sound out any simple word (his memory allows him to remember all the letter sounds easily), but refuses to show certain people, for fear he isn't getting it right. He's had experience with some adults and kids telling him he's wrong or not doing something correctly, and it really affects him. He remembers facts he sees on TV, and talks about them in novel ways throughout the day...even months later. He likes to talk about penguins and how they live at the south pole, where it's cold and snowy. He refuses to believe that a pygmy marmoset eats anything other than tree sap. I thought this was pretty normal for a 3 year old, but I have complete strangers tell me how they think he's a lot older.
Duncan also has an incredible attention span. It's frustrating for him to play with other children sometimes, because they get bored or distracted easily from a game Duncan wants to play. He has a hard time understanding this, and has a difficult time socially. He wants to play with other kids, but is overwhelmed, frustrated, or scared by them. Because of this, he chooses to play and converse with adults most of the time. He has made a friend recently at his school. He talks about seeing her all the time. It's been really great for him, as it helps him relate to more kids if he has one he likes a lot.
Everything isn't always wonderful. There are some challenges to having a sensitive kid. He whines a lot, gets overwhelmed easily, never wants to sleep, needs a lot of convincing, can't be bribed easily, needs attention, etc. I guess my point is, I'm loving age 3. It's so much easier to talk to him, reason with him, joke with him, go out to eat, etc. Duncan is an absolute wonder, and I'm proud and fortunate to be his mother. |
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darlinkarlin's journal
