Cairo really wants to be a big help around the house. She is actually starting to be one, too. She likes to help me fold the laundry and I think that she's starting to get the hang of it. I had her fold all the kitchen towels the other day and she did it perfectly. The one thing we need to work on is keeping her from throwing the laundry all over the room when we got to fold it. She loves to grab one handful and clothes after another and launch them all over the room. Grrrrr....
My teenage daughter, I mean my three year old, also likes to close herself into her room and play. As soon as she wakes up she makes sure to close her door. If we go in and open it up while she is in there she tells us firmly that she wants to play by herself and to close the door again. What Cairo is really protecting herself from is Jonah. He loves to play in Cairo's room with her, but Cairo isn't so keen on having him in there. He doesn't do any real damage, but Cairo has a hard time sharing her things. When the door is open, Cairo will camp out in the doorway and do everything in her power to push Jonah out. At the moment, she is successful at that, but Jonah is getting stronger... so that isn't going to last much longer. I am fine with allowing Cairo to have some alone time in her room to play with her toys, but I also believe that she needs to spend time playing with her brother. I will not allow my kids to close themselves off in the rooms all the time. We are a family and I expect for them to spend quality time with the family... even play with pushy little brothers.
Cairo has a great imagination. She is always weaving one story after another- whether it is with her gnomes; her baby dolls or stuffed animals; sticks, flowers, or leaves from the garden; stickers; the dogs, she is always, and I mean always, chattering away. Our house is constantly bombarded with monsters, princesses, kings, mommies, babies, and daddies. I like to join in on her fun and help her weave her stories. I remember having SO much fun doing this when I was little... and I remember that my sister never wanted to play with me. I don't understand why? ;o) Along with her made up stories, she makes up LOTS of songs. She surprised me yesterday with the complexity of her tune. Typically, she is pretty flat, but yesterday the melody of her song was weaving up and down and her lyrics kept going on and on. Maybe there is hope for her yet in the music department.
My children inherited my strong will. I love this... except when they use it against me. Thank goodness I am a lot more stubborn. I know I have to pick my battles, but it is hard because I want to win them all. Cairo has been having a harder time lately with the word "no." She yells back at us or just goes and does what she wants anyway. We have entered the realm of talking back and, for lack of a better word, revenge. Revenge normally means that she is going to cause as much havoc in as short of time as possible for the clear purpose of making us mad. This is one way she shows us her displeasure. She has a very good understanding of what she should and shouldn't do, so I don't buy it being unintentional... and there is also that familiar gleam in her eye that I understand so well. My natural response is typically to yell at her, but I haven't found that effective. It is more effective to take her onto my lap and talk to her about it, then send her to a time out to think about it.
Ah, yes, Cairo is also a good tattletale. She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to tell on Jonah. Most of the time it's helpful, but sometimes she takes it too far. She also likes to remind me of things like: "Mommy, make sure you look both ways before crossing the street. Cars drive fast and are dangerous" or "This has small pieces, make sure Jonah doesn't get it because he is a baby." Cairo is very observant and can tell you pretty much anything you need to know about how things work around the Dedini household and like me, she likes everything done just so.
I am excited for Cairo to start preschool in a few weeks. She is ready to share her energy with kids her age. She talks about preschool a lot and I am trying to prepare her for the fact that she will be there without mommy and daddy. Her biggest concern at this point is who is going to push her on the swings. I told her that she is going to have to make friends with someone so that they can push each other. The things she is most excited about is the possibility that there will be little potties. We found one at the mall for her to use and she was SO excited about it.
More than anything else, I am glad that Cairo still loves to gives kisses, hugs, and cuddles. She tells me a million times a day that she loves me. She loves to give us compliments, especially her daddy, "Wow, Daddy, this is the best food ever." If we get an ouchy she makes sure to give it a kiss. I hope she remembers how much she loves us (and how much we love her) when she turns into a teenager. I love working with teenagers, but I am honestly not super excited to have my own.
1 comment:
welcome to my world
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