Pleasantly Surprised
Hey Sweet Shoppers! I’ve been thinking about what to write in this blog post for a few weeks now, and I was really having a hard time coming up with anything. So, I was thinking about how our summer has been going since school let out. And, I decided that I’d tell you a little something about the pleasant surprise of my summer. I have to admit that I wasn’t really looking forward to summer this year. I was worried about having all my kids home from school and whether we’d be driving each other crazy. Oh, who am I kidding? I was worried that they would be driving ME crazy, and that I’d spend the summer yelling at everyone. But, things have actually been pretty good, and that is mostly due to this cute kid right here:
So, I want to take just a minute to brag on my sweet boy, Sean.
Sean is my oldest. He was a really sweet, calm baby, and we were completely in love. Around the time that he turned two, he started driving me crazy. The thing about this kid is that his brain moves about 100 miles a minute. He wants to know about everything. He remembers everything he sees and hears and wants to tell everyone about it all. He was a little late to start talking, but as soon as he had it figured out . . . well, he hasn’t really stopped talking since. And, he’s almost eight now. 🙂 He has questions about everything. He wants me to explain why I do just about everything I do. Heck, he wants me to explain why the neighbors are doing what they’re doing. Add to that all the talking he does about school, siblings, activities he’s involved in, and etc. . . . it just kind of never ends. I’m grateful that he’s smart and curious about the world. But, honestly, there are days when I feel like I am just in an interrogation from the time I wake up to the time HE goes to bed. And, not only is he talking constantly, but he’s usually in motion as well. It can be exhausting and frustrating.
One of my main goals for 2012 was to improve my relationship with Sean. I really wanted to make sure that I was spending more time building positive memories with him than I was yelling at him. So, this is one of the reasons that I was worried about summer. But, I’m happy to report that the summer has been going really well!
When school got out, I decided to start teaching Sean to play the piano. This is something that I’ve been avoiding for a while because I didn’t want it to become another point of friction between us. So, I had a little chat with him before we started. I asked him if he wanted to learn to play the piano and if he wanted me to teach him. I explained that he would be expected to practice and that I didn’t want to have arguments with him about practicing. I told him that if we had a lot of arguments, I wouldn’t teach him anymore. So, the expectations were set, and we began. Things have been going well. We are starting out really slow, but he is excited to learn more, and we haven’t had any problems. Yay!
Last week, Sean got out the vacuum, put the brush attachment on it, and started vacuuming the blinds. He did all the blinds in the entire house (except the one set that is too high up for him to reach) over a two day period. Today, my husband had a Cub Scout meeting at our house and had brought up a bunch of folding chairs from the basement. When the meeting was over, Sean took all the folding chairs back downstairs, one at a time. It was so fun to watch him struggling with those awkward chairs—trying to do something nice for his dad.
Sean has been sharing, doing favors, helping with household chores (without being asked), and helping with the baby. We have had fewer arguments and more fun than I was expecting, thanks in large part to my sweet Sean. Now, I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer and all the fun memories we are going to build together. I hope all of you are having a great summer so far, and that you’re making wonderful memories everyday. Have you experienced any pleasant surprises this summer? Here’s one last look at mine! Awww, I love him!
