Skip to main content

lessons from a two year old

recognize this toy? still as captivating as
when we were young.
for probably pretty apparent reasons, we've been really appreciating john even more than usual this week. and i know it's a bit of an old chestnut that you learn more from your kids than they do from you, john's had two sayings this week that are really ringing true to me.

i got this
i think this one started out literally - like, "hey, mommy! i got this toy! look, i got it!" but it's quickly transitioned to the slangier (and oh-so-much-more grownup) "don't worry mommy, i got this."

as in, "i am carrying this item that is WAY too big for my little body, but i am super incredible - i got this."

and you know what? that's pretty inspiring. in the face of all the sadness and uncertainty i am feeling right now, to be able to say, *i got this*, that's pretty empowering. it makes me feel like i can do whatever i set my mind to. i GOT this.

i need some help
but then, when that step ladder or cooler or whatever john is dragging gets to be just too much, he will look at me and say so sweetly, "i need some help."

he's not beating himself for needing help. he's acknowledging he needs it, and asking. no judgment, no anger, just a request for help. so simple, and so difficult for us to do as adults.

these two sides of the coin - inspired by my two-year-old, no less - are going to get us through this and all of the other obstacles we might ever face.

i got this. but sometimes i need some help.

(and, this is way bigger than a parenthetical, but this will have to do: THANK YOU. i have received such an outpouring of love and support and kindness and compassion and commiseration in the past several days, i can't even explain it. my heart wells with the love that i feel around me. and it is BECAUSE of that help that i know, i got this.)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

on lullabies

i am not a singer. if you've sat behind me in church, you know this to be true. (and i'm sorry.) a musician, yes. a singer no. and yet i find myself singing to john almost nonstop. and the beauty is, he seems to actually like it! (there's no accounting for taste. he also thinks i'm the most beautiful woman in the world. i'm no ogre, but i'm certainly not winning any beauty contests outside of my son's brain!) and actually, i've written some lullabies for john that are pretty nice. and it made me think: did your parents sing to you? do you remember what they sang, and better yet, if you have kids, do you sing the same songs to them? reply in the comments!
5 comments
Read more

pull up your big boy undies

"what time is it? mommy? what oclock?" john's teacher told me something amazing today. "you should bring me some big boy undies," she said, "i haven't changed john in weeks." it seems that at school, since they check in with him periodically to see if he has to potty, and since his very smart teacher has noticed his (very regular) bowel movement schedule, john is potty trained. at 9am at 2pm, she plops him on the toilet. he might sit for 20 minutes, reading a book. when she checks on him, he says, "i just poo-pooin', miss meka." and when he's done, he's good and done. we're not quite that far along at home, but tonight we go shopping for big boy undies. and i'm sure we'll have a few accidents, but that's just a part of the process ... and soon my little boo will be in big boy undies full time. and ... it's a great time for him to be out of diapers. because good lord willing and the creek ...
Post a Comment
Read more

i'm furberizing my baby

ok, let's get this straight right off the bat: i don't know if i am literally following dr. furber's methods of sleep training. there are so many versions out there. but saying we're furberizing john is WAY more fun than saying that i'm letting him cry his little lungs out in an attempt to teach him to sleep on his own. it's night two of our efforts. he went right to sleep last night, which was great. and he slept for 5.25 hours (!!!!) before waking up at 2:30 a.m. when he woke up crying, i let him cry for 5 minutes before going in to soothe him. (the soothing barely works at all, by the way, but it's what i'm supposed to do ...) then i let him cry for 10 more minutes before going in to soothe him again. next on the agenda was a 15 minute stretch of crying - but he fell asleep after 8 minutes. so a sum total of 22 minutes of crying. not too bad for night two. i've heard night three can be the worst ... so we'll hold on to our hats tonight. mean...
5 comments
Read more