Parenting has come fairly easily to me for the first part of Adelyn's life. That doesn't mean that I think I am the world's best mother though! A lot of it has to do with the fact that I have a super good baby, an amazing husband that does his fair share and I have had lots of experience with babies from babysitting and being a nanny, so there were no surprises. The past week has shown me that parenting is going to be hard though.
Now that Adelyn is mobile and her mind is making connections every day, she is starting to get into everything. I am having a hard time knowing when and where to set boundaries. Being a teacher, I know that a lot of children learn best through experiences. I want her to experience and many things as possible but at the same time I don't want her to think she can do whatever she wants! It is such a fine line! And at what point does it have to be consistent? After she has experienced something then can I set the boundaries? Then does it make sense to her that yesterday it was ok to figure out how to do something, but then today it isn't. It is all so hard and confusing!
Her newest discovery is learning how to open cabinets, empty the contents and climb in!
I find that I am starting to say "no" a lot. Today as she was trying to get a glass decoration I told her no and she smiled and wagged her finger no at me. It was kind of funny that she was mimicking me, but it made me realize that I have said no and shook my finger at her enough times for her to do it back at me. I know that you are supposed to find positive ways to reinforce things but it is so hard at this age! I tell her why she can't do different things but it is so hard when I am not sure if she even understands what I am saying. At least I can be consistent in my phrasing so she can learn what the word means. I wish she could talk!
I have a feeling that the next couple years will be a bit harder. I feel a little bad that Adelyn has to be my guinea pig as I try to figure it out! Like I said though, at least she is a good baby to help break me in!
2 comments:
A great piece of advice given to me was to choose 2 or 3 circumstances where you will use the word 'NO!'- (this applies only for while she's this young! plus a few months) otherwise try saying something else like 'stop'. It will make the word 'no' more meaningful and help her understand what it means without filling her ears with 'no! no! no!' all of the time. Because at this age and stage of wreckless exploraton- that may be all that feels like coming out!
I agree with Leisy about only having no for a few things-usually danger items/actions here. It actually means something then. Also, this age is easier to redirect than explain: glass thing is not for you, here is your toy.
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