Independence
All through Eden's baby-hood I felt like if she was awake I needed to be in her face. I still like to be around both kids most of the time, but I'm no longer afraid to let them have their space. If I need to feed Hunter, I don't mind letting Eden play with her toys alone in another room. I'm even getting to the point that I'll let her play with her toys downstairs if I'm upstairs. I always let her know where I am, but I let her hang out on her own. I think part of this is that our doors to the outside are always locked, we have the child-proof door knob things, and as a last resort our alarm system always chimes if a door is opened. I hope it never gets to the point that I need to run because of the chime, but it's there just in case.
Hunter is also getting to the point that I'll let him play with Eden without me in the room. I, of course, don't give this situation as much independence as I do Eden by herself, but I do let them play alone. Yesterday I let Eden think I was upstairs in my room while she was "watching" Hunter for me. She took her job very seriously. I watched her clap, stomp, march and sing for him when he started to fuss a little bit. I sat at the top of the stairs and peeked in on them. They both did very well with being alone and having Mommy out of sight.
Because of this independence that I'm willing to give the kids, I get some in return! Who would have thought that taking a shower by myself would be such a luxury?! There was a day that all of Eden's baths were actually showers with me. Trying to shave my legs without so many questions got to be difficult. I no longer got to stand and relax in the shower, but had to talk about numbers, letters, colors and deal with trying to rinse Eden's hair without her screaming as I was trying to shower too. Needless to say, I'm loving solo showers and bathroom time these days! If that's the only independence I can get, I'll take it!
Hunter is also getting to the point that I'll let him play with Eden without me in the room. I, of course, don't give this situation as much independence as I do Eden by herself, but I do let them play alone. Yesterday I let Eden think I was upstairs in my room while she was "watching" Hunter for me. She took her job very seriously. I watched her clap, stomp, march and sing for him when he started to fuss a little bit. I sat at the top of the stairs and peeked in on them. They both did very well with being alone and having Mommy out of sight.
Because of this independence that I'm willing to give the kids, I get some in return! Who would have thought that taking a shower by myself would be such a luxury?! There was a day that all of Eden's baths were actually showers with me. Trying to shave my legs without so many questions got to be difficult. I no longer got to stand and relax in the shower, but had to talk about numbers, letters, colors and deal with trying to rinse Eden's hair without her screaming as I was trying to shower too. Needless to say, I'm loving solo showers and bathroom time these days! If that's the only independence I can get, I'll take it!
It's a rare moment that I get to be by myself too! We just bought a jogging stroller and Keith is taking Liam on runs now, so I treasure that 30 minutes to an hour that I am alone in the house!
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