Parenting

Well, somehow, it seems to have been a few posts since I've written about Ellie. That surely needs addressing!!

This week has been difficult. I think Ellie has started to realise that I am around less (due to working more). There have been tears at nursery on a morning. There have been refusals to let go of my legs, and my work bag mysteriously returning itself to the cupboard. It's been very hard for me. And it's taken most of my "mummy skills" to see past that and realise that its even harder for her.

Yet, the mornings have also had their happier moments. Last week, out shopping, Ellie tried to persuade me to buy Coco Pops instead of weetabix. As they both come in supercheap own brand varieties, and of course because I wish to promote her making choices and becoming more independent, I agreed. Ellie has chosen coco pops every morning for breakfast. Now as she is getting older and more independent, but still wakes at 5am we have developed a habit of setting her up with breakfast in front of a DVD and hopping back into bed. (As a parenting strategy I'm a bit mixed about this. I think it is 'slack' parenting, which I'd wish to avoid. On the other hand, I function much better with the extra sleep. Which currently is vital to get through the bedtime routine with a toddler who is exhausted from nursery, whilst I am also exhausted from work. The jury is still out, and in the meantime it's what I do.)

Ellie, once upon a time - not so very long ago, would have finished her cereal and shouted for attention. This week she has instead gone to the cereal cupboard, co-incidentally the only one in the kitchen that is not child locked, carefully removed the clip from the container, poured herself more coco pops, placed the clip and container back in the cupboard and taken the cereal back to her table. She started the week by also trying to get the milk from the fridge (using her step to reach the handle), but has found that the fridge door is just impossible to open. She alternates solutions for this 1) shout for mummy or daddy to get milk 2) just eat it dry.

Ok, so there are a few split and trampled coco pops on the kitchen floor - but how can you criticise such determination...?