Things we know to be true of ourselves and others that have a slim chance of ever changing. This unlikelihood of change is something I'm just starting to be friends with. Rather than view quirks/opinions/rules of mine as strange and unusual, I've decided to just embrace them and be proud. While I certainly acknowledge that there are a million ways to do any task and live a life, here are some things that I firmly believe to be true:
One should always spring for the name brand cotton swabs. You know the ones. Anything less is always disappointing.- Flavored coffee is disgusting, especially pumpkin. If it's presence must be tolerated because, your roommate always buys it or you just can't waste the gift basket- let it have it's own equipment and never mix.
- Nothing should ever be pumpkin flavored unless it has actual pumpkin in it. Breads= yes, Beers=NO!
- If no one is sleeping or sitting on it, a bed should be made. It looks better and will make things feel less chaotic in life.
- Giving children their wishes in fantasy, is a magical cure. What does that mean? Well, the next time you're with a child who throws himself on the ground because he doesn't want to leave the fun thing you're doing... just say to him, "Tell me all the things you'd rather be doing..." When he says "Get on a plane and fly to Madagascar" then by all means get on a plane and fly to Madagascar! At least until you reach your car. If a little one begs for yet another sweet treat say, "Oh, I wish we could eat a million of them! And cake too. And cotton candy. And... " I certainly can't claim this technique... I read about it somewhere, but man, it really works! And by work I mean preventing/soothing a tantrum while at the same time giving your child the reassurance that you do care about his needs/wants/feelings, rather than denying them, which is what we usually do: "It's ok. It's no big deal." "You just had a cookie, how can you possibly want another one?" "Don't worry, we'll come back to the park again."
- The best way to deal with catcalls is just to accept them and acknowledge the caller. Give them a dorky hello, smile or wave. I used to get super angry and just be bummed all day, but lately I've been using them as a way to engage. Once someone said something I didn't like and I just told them outright. They apologized and told me to have a nice day instead. It's so much better than being mad at them.
1 comment:
girl, I hear you on the cotton swabs thing!
and once my toddler has better speech skills, I'm totally using that trick. Right now we're just kind of in that throwing self down or stomping M.O.
Oh, and I think that you should always spring for the good, leather, comfy shoes. When I was young, I hated that my parents made me get these instead of ya know, jelly shoes, but now that I'm in my thirties, I totally appreciate comfortable shoes that last!
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