parenthood | dianaschnuth, Page 35

17 September 2016 parenthood Leave a comment

Pokemon

Connor with Pokemon plushies

Last night, Connor asked if we could go to the toy store today and buy Pokémon plushies.

Why not?

Today, we used a long-ago-gifted Toys R Us gift card to buy Connor a pokeball — and we already had a Pikachu at home that we hadn’t given him yet. Connor was SUPER well-behaved at the toy store, didn’t beg for anything we didn’t plan on buying, and asked the cashier if she could please remove the tags.

When we got home, we made up a star chart for bedtimes, so that Connor can get a toy reward for behaving at bedtime. He decided on his own that twelve stars equals a trip to the toy store. He’ll get a silver star each night if he doesn’t yell or throw anything (yes, it’s a bedtime problem lately), and a gold star if he decides not to use his “Golden Button” to call me back upstairs after lights out.

Here’s hoping this works out…

14 September 2016 dear connor Leave a comment

Dear Connor: Year Five

Dear Connor,

I usually try to post these missives closer to your birthday… but, to be honest, I really haven’t been feeling like writing lately. My prime writing time (not counting breaks at work) is generally after you go to bed, but bedtimes have been so unpleasant lately that I don’t want to do anything after that but curl up in a ball and watch TV or play on my phone.

Sometimes I wonder if your Dad and I have erred somehow in our discipline strategy. Your defiant and willful attitude has escalated over the past few months, and bedtimes especially have become exercises in patience and punishment. Continue reading →

11 September 2016 crafty, parenthood, snapshots Leave a comment

A puppet for my son, the bronie

4 September 2016 family, parenthood, roadtrips Leave a comment

A Day at the Fair

August 6, 2016: Connor’s first county fair. We’d missed our own county’s fair, so we took Connor to the fair in the next county south, in the town where Aaron and I had both attended college.

We arrived and parked in the field across the street. The afternoon started out rocky when I realized that I’d applied sunscreen to Connor’s neck at home, then put the sunscreen back down on the counter instead of in my purse. We also had only a certain amount of cash on hand, hoping that would be enough.

Connor had some preconceived ideas about what a fair was all about: some animals, but mostly rides and balloons and snacks. When we stepped out onto the midway, he was clearly overwhelmed. We managed to get him to walk through one of the barns and look at the cows, but he really only had eyes for the Ferris wheel.

We purchased enough tickets to get him a few rides, then he picked Daddy to ride with him on the Ferris wheel.

Continue reading →