One of the most common questions I hear from strangers when they see my two kids together is, "How do they get along?"
The answer is, "Mostly great." I had to throw that mostly in there, because while Johnny is very protective of Maureen and likes to show her things and is always very concerned about her safety ("Careful, Maureen! That toy is a chokey one!"), he's not great about sharing.
If she has a toy, he wants it. It could be a piece of string or a paper she took off the recycle pile. It could be a baby toy he has long outgrown. It doesn't matter what it is. If she has it, he wants it. So he snatches. And she screams.
We tried teaching him to ask her for things. It worked well, until she realized that she has the option to say no. When she does say no, he snatches whatever it is. And she screams.
Some days I'm this close to locking up all the toys altogether and letting them play with their toes.
The non-sharing aside, it's really sweet to see them together. Sometimes I hear Johnny whispering to Maureen over the monitor. "Shh, baby girl, it's time to sleep. You need to sleep so you can get big and strong. Here, let me sing you a song about a cat..."
This remains one of my favorite pictures of the two of them together, because it speaks of friendship and protectiveness and having a built in buddy.
As big brother, Johnny has taken it upon himself to teach his little sister all the stuff she doesn't know. Sometimes it's the names of body parts, but other times it is how to put a puzzle together or how to throw a ball overhand or how to pet the cat gently.
Today, I discovered another possible advantage.
The kids were playing together nicely, when Johnny stood up and said, "Maureen, I have to go pee. Do you want to come?"
Hand in hand, they proceeded to the bathroom, where Johnny used the toilet and Maureen watched.
"Pee!" she told me, pointing. "Johnny pee!"
She seemed very interested.
Johnny gave her some pointers. "If you're too short, you can use my stool to climb on the potty. And when you go poop in the potty, Mommy gives you a treat. I like Reese's cups."
Before bedtime, we walked past the upstairs bedroom. Maureen pointed at the door and told me, "Pee!" She knows what goes on in there.
At Johnny's insistence, we got the toddler potty out of the basement. She is more interested in pushing it around and opening and closing the lid, but every time she sees it, she struggles to get to it, announcing, "Pee!"
She's not ready yet, but it's a start.
If you call me on the phone and I don't answer this week, it's because we're hanging out in the bathroom.
The answer is, "Mostly great." I had to throw that mostly in there, because while Johnny is very protective of Maureen and likes to show her things and is always very concerned about her safety ("Careful, Maureen! That toy is a chokey one!"), he's not great about sharing.
If she has a toy, he wants it. It could be a piece of string or a paper she took off the recycle pile. It could be a baby toy he has long outgrown. It doesn't matter what it is. If she has it, he wants it. So he snatches. And she screams.
We tried teaching him to ask her for things. It worked well, until she realized that she has the option to say no. When she does say no, he snatches whatever it is. And she screams.
Some days I'm this close to locking up all the toys altogether and letting them play with their toes.
The non-sharing aside, it's really sweet to see them together. Sometimes I hear Johnny whispering to Maureen over the monitor. "Shh, baby girl, it's time to sleep. You need to sleep so you can get big and strong. Here, let me sing you a song about a cat..."
This remains one of my favorite pictures of the two of them together, because it speaks of friendship and protectiveness and having a built in buddy.
As big brother, Johnny has taken it upon himself to teach his little sister all the stuff she doesn't know. Sometimes it's the names of body parts, but other times it is how to put a puzzle together or how to throw a ball overhand or how to pet the cat gently.
Today, I discovered another possible advantage.
The kids were playing together nicely, when Johnny stood up and said, "Maureen, I have to go pee. Do you want to come?"
Hand in hand, they proceeded to the bathroom, where Johnny used the toilet and Maureen watched.
"Pee!" she told me, pointing. "Johnny pee!"
She seemed very interested.
Johnny gave her some pointers. "If you're too short, you can use my stool to climb on the potty. And when you go poop in the potty, Mommy gives you a treat. I like Reese's cups."
Before bedtime, we walked past the upstairs bedroom. Maureen pointed at the door and told me, "Pee!" She knows what goes on in there.
At Johnny's insistence, we got the toddler potty out of the basement. She is more interested in pushing it around and opening and closing the lid, but every time she sees it, she struggles to get to it, announcing, "Pee!"
She's not ready yet, but it's a start.
If you call me on the phone and I don't answer this week, it's because we're hanging out in the bathroom.
Posts
2 comments:
My mom will tell you that she doesn't remember potty training my sisters...that's because we trained each other!!! Good luck, with the potty thing!!
My two are the same way...Noah learns a lot from his big sis, and she is really good with him...for the most part! OF course, there are those times she wants nothing to do with him!
Good luck with the potty training. We are doing it too. What a process!! I think it's harder on us than on them!
Post a Comment