Double Trouble

Miles & Ava....these two are so much alike they should be siblings for sure instead of cousins. They test you to the nth degree...they have a hard time listening & obeying the first time, especially without talking back...they are talkative, mischievous, and seem to lack remorse....but at the same time, they definitely aren't mean spirited, and they are two of the funniest kids you will ever meet....witty beyond their years.

Miles had a rough day at daycare on Friday.  The teachers usually write a sentence or two to let you know what he did wrong, but yesterday, I had a paragraph.  To sum it up, he wouldn't listen...when the teacher tried to talk to him he acted silly...he took toys from other kids....and he threw sand in a kid's face outside.  All of this led to a trip to the office.  The paragraph closed by saying that they hoped taking him to the office would make him take it more seriously "as this type of behavior is fairly consistent".  Excellent.

Let me interject here that I understand airing your kid's behavior issues on a blog isn't for everyone.  And, I did ask Crystal if it was ok that I wrote about Ava.  We take Miles' behavior seriously....but at the same time, not too seriously.  I want him to be respectful and learn as he grows up, but he's a kid and we LOVE his spunky personality.  If he's loving and caring and healthy and happy, we don't need the most well behaved child in the room.

To speak to his hilarious personality, yesterday he said probably the funniest thing he's ever said.  I'll try to do it justice, but you probably had to be there.  Darrin & I went on a date last night, so I was in the bathroom getting ready after work.  I had just picked Miles up from school so I was telling Darrin about his day.  I thought Miles was in the living room.  I said to Darrin, "What are we going to do with him?"  Immediately, Miles popped his head around the corner and said "Get rid of me?" in the form of a question.  It was priceless.

Another story....on our drive home from daycare I was talking to him about his day.  He kept acting silly and interrupting me.  I finally told him not to say another word...he tried to talk...I cut him off and said, "not one more word from your smart mouth".  So, he started humming.  And, when we got home, he said "Mom, you called me a smarf (smart mouth)".  He's so funny, you can't possibly stay mad at him.  Darrin & I secretly laugh for hours about his smarf.

Next week, we are going to try a little positive reinforcement.  If he's good every day at school, no marks, notes, or time outs, we will go to Walmart and pick out a toy.  Toys speak to his heart.  We've tried positive reinforcement before and it didn't work, but he's a little older now.  It's worth another try.