April break

We had an amazing April break. I was dreading it. It can be really difficult managing three kids on my own when we go out... and staying home all day makes us crazy. I tested the waters with a little children's museum. It went well. We visited a new park with no incidents. We even had to leave the playground to walk down a little hill to get to the swings, explored a bridge and went back to the playground.





My buddy was a rock star all week. I've been learning as well. He needs a lot of reminding when a transition is about to happen. He needs to be able to have a little say in the matter - for example I let him choose the last thing he wants to do before we leave. Before he does whatever the last activity is, I tell him straightforward what will happen next, trying hard not to be too wordy. "First you slide. Then we walk to the car."

There was one time where I pushed too hard and he melted down. I wish I could go back and handle it differently.

The girls had haircuts. I told my buddy over and over that it was just for big sis and rara. He just had to watch. Normally he wouldn't have even walked into the hairdressers. He explored around for a while and sat and played the iPad while I hung out with the ladies. Then we played hairdresser (aka stick every sticker we got at the hairdresser all over your baby).





Then I started to get all sorts of confident in my abilities and we headed to an even bigger park that had animals to pet and a pond and playground and grassy areas and a picnic area. I even packed a lunch and we made a whole day of it. We wandered from one activity to the next all staying together. I wasn't stressed out in the least. I even managed to pull out my big camera and take some fun pictures.






The only way to really celebrate such a great week was with some ice cream.




PS. Not to worry. There were still plenty of antics. Like ice cream in your little sister's hair and a carrot up your nose. Perhaps a half eaten bowl of Cheerios went flying across the table covering the wall, chair and floor with a milky mess. Toys were thrown. Tantrums were thrown. Research was done on vehicles with 3 rows of seats because the physical abuse in the backseat is at an all time high. But those are all typical behaviors of three rambunctious kids. I'll take it.