Well, after a particularly trying week with my three year old, I’m making some changes for us, myself included.  By 6am today, M had already lost her visit with Santa this afternoon. I don’t really believe that threatening kids and taking things away works very well, but we were up to our ears in crying, screaming, hitting and kicking and we didn’t know what else to do in the heat of the moment. I was immediately upset that it took such a drastic turn because I really wanted to see Santa today too. I’d been looking forward to that all week too. So, after she had a pretty good go of it the rest of the morning, I discussed with her dad and got it back for her. One last hurrah. Tomorrow we start getting serious. So here’s how it will go down for us. I will stop losing my cool. I will walk away when she starts to lose hers, instead of pushing back on her and making it worse. I will take the time we need to work through these things instead of escalating the situation because we’re in a hurry to get out the door/in the car/into school, etc. I will not yell. I cannot get upset with her for yelling at me when I’ve done the same to her a lot lately. I will not take hitting and kicking. I will walk away. In turn, I will not be physical with her – restraining, trying to hug, picking up in a less than gentle way. Her father and I will focus on the children while they are awake. We will not ignore them in the precious evening time we have to get ready for the next day – we will attempt to do those things after they go to bed or be sure at least one parent is being fully present. We will get them to bed as early as possible. I would like the moods to start improving and the reactions to go back to just semi-off the wall before Christmas :)

That being said, my one thing a day plan seems daunting to me this week. I make the rules, and I can change them if I want. Now it’s one a week, even if some of them are super tiny things. So, here’s my list – some from me and some from my friends. Thanks for all the feedback.