2019

 

And.... it's 2019! Where did time go? In a blink of an eye my little babies have morphed into these mini adults with personalities of their own.

The parenting conundrum... what to do when Google, other parents, FOMO get to you?

Trust your instincts!

It's taken me 10 years to finally BEGIN to feel confident in my own skin, as a parent, a business owner, employer and spouse.

So what's happening in our hood?

Madison is a quiet, sweet 11 year old now, she has this seriousness and dream-like quality to her. She loves to boss her siblings and cousins around, and she takes this job very seriously. In fact I barely have to discipline Liam anymore- Madison has naturally taken that over. She is good at what she puts her mind to, which includes golf, drawing, playing the piano, playing computer games, writing and reading.

Annika is a boisterous 9 year old, who competes incessantly with her sister and brother. She is the obstinate one, the one who wants to get things right. She is also sometimes the mediator or the instigator of fights. She, however, has a heart of gold, and would be the one with the soft spot for the brother - when he gets into Madison's bad books. She is good at everything she tries at - tennis, golf, swimming, gym. It's difficult because sometimes we don't have time to focus on her- it's mostly spent on number one! She unfortunately does not like to read as much, her attention span can resemble that of a gnat.

Liam is finishing up at Pat's Schoolhouse ( thank goodness, the fees are killing us!) and will be performing at the annual graduation ceremony. He loves to sing and dance. He is the lawyer of the family. Liam has this way of weaseling out of doing things, and getting stuff that he wants. Developmentally he is not at the same pace as his sisters but that's ok! I know it's just a question of when he's ready.

Take reading for example.

Liam was not reading well up to just recently. He would not want to try reading books by himself.

My good friend, and colleague Caroline Lee suggested motivational instruments such as stickers or stars.

We upped the game and included a dollar value to the stars.

He got very excited and promptly started shopping online (!) for his Lego stuff. He found a Lego police station ( that was over $100) but I refused to buy it until he got his requisite stars. Liam got it in his head to start stock checking EVERYDAY! And it actually sold out.

So he found another Lego boat ( $115!) and tracked stock too. When he told me it was down to 2 I caved in.

The bright side is that he can suddenly read Mr Men books. Incredible. He even started Geronimo Stilton books because I told him each book was worth 10 stars.

Chris has entered the realm of private practice. It's been a bit nerve wracking but very exciting nonetheless.

The tumultuous baby years are over. Onward and upwards to the next phase of life!