Young Sunday

“Tablet,” Owen said to me. I looked at the clock at it was right about five. I didn’t even try to convince him to go back to sleep. I did however tell him that he needed to go to the potty. It didn’t take him long and he was back with the same word coming out of his mouth before he could even get to me. This time I was a little more awake and I said, “how about a good morning?” He said, “tablet.” I tried again and this time he said, “I want chocolate milk please” and ran off. I needed to get up anyways so I did all the same things he just went through. I gave him a big hug and asked him if he wanted pancakes and he said he wanted a waffle. He then started asking me about church and the big slides. I told him we weren’t going to the big slides but we were going to church. He asked me about “Halloween Christmas” and I explained to him what he already knew. I told him it wasn’t Halloween. He said, “it’s October.” I knew what he meant and I knew where this was going. He enjoyed the Trunk or Treat at our church and he also enjoyed the singalong we had so he wanted to go “back to church.” He’s my social butterfly. He has started calling everyone “Amy.” I don’t know why and when someone says their name isn’t Amy then he starts listing off all the names he knows. I am trying to get him to say what his name is and then ask the person what their name is. He’s getting better at it. He ate a lot for breakfast and when he was done he brought me several of his books for us to read. He read most of the book but then he would say “mommy’s turn” when there were too many words he didn’t know. I am thankful that he wants to read as much as he does and how well he is doing with it. I constantly tell him that he is doing fantastic and I’m so proud of him for reading with me. I want to encourage more reading and especially interacting with me while he is reading. I’m trying to teach Owen that with good behaviors he gets rewards and with bad behaviors, he won’t get to do his favorite things. Parenting is hard and finding a balance with behavioral punishments is stressful. He doesn’t completely understand that if he does something wrong that he gets in trouble for it. He is starting to get some of it but explaining that he can’t do something because of a behavior doesn’t always add up to the same thing for him. We got ready for church and he was excited to go. He asked the same questions again and I told him we weren’t going to the big slides nor were we coming back to church. He had a great time at church and he tried one more time for asking if we could go back to church. I explained again not today. After we got home his book that he has been requesting arrived. I got it off the porch and showed it to him. He was so thrilled. I told him about the second book too. He took them from me and put them on the floor. About thirty minutes later he came to me with the first one. He has been asking for “Curious George Cleans Up monkey” for weeks. He started reading it for me. He had trouble with a few of the words and he would say, “it’s mommy’s turn” and let me answer. As soon as we were done with this book he ran off and got the other one. He did the same thing. I’m happy he loves books so much. He started talking about narwhals walking on land and then he would laugh as he started explaining it. He said, “naw they swim in the ocean.” He was laughing the whole time like he was making a joke. The rest of the afternoon was filled with more books and laughter. He was very ready for his week ahead. He sounds like he is trying to figure out what the holiday break is going to be for him. He keeps asking to go to places during the day. The night went quickly and he was ready for school tomorrow and that was music to my ears. I love his love for learning. Find what motivates you and inspire the world with your joy. Smiles to all and donut daze!