Sometimes I feel as though my girl gets the raw end of the deal. As the older child she is often relied upon to take care of her own needs, if not sometimes her brothers. I try really hard not to use her as an in house sitter, but Otter is fascinated with his big sis and really follows her around everywhere.
Luckily for all of us, she is pleased with his attention and her increasingly responsible role as the much older sib.
Yesterday Otter reached out and held her hand. She was instantly teary-eyed, awed that he was holding her hand. When he let go she said “Now I can’t ever wash this hand again, or the baby love with wash off.” It was pretty sweet.
Amazingly, she has been able to sing him to sleep when there is a baby sitter, get him breakfast in the morning sometimes so we can sleep in a little more, and get him to try new foods by simply eating them in front of him. She has also taught him several new games, and given him some basic piano lessons. All in all she is a font of information for this young man.
This morning, as I attempted to snooze on the couch to recover from a late night and very early morning, Monkey woke me up with a peanut butter and honey sandwich. She had made me breakfast! I thanked her profusely for such a nice gesture, and ate a filling and delicious sandwhich. Of course, Otter helped me out by eating one half himself, a proud smile on his face all the while.
I am feeling pretty lucky to have kids with such a great personality. There are so many other ways this could have gone, but happily they are forming strong bonds and becoming friends.
My older kids are a big help with their little brother too. It’s sweet. Although sometimes when I ask for help with Seth you’d think I just asked them to yank out their own toe nails with pliers.
hey there im a friend of michael’s…He speaks so highly of you that i had to come check out this site and see what your all about ha ha ha…Well you seem like an inspiring woman, mother, business owner, shall i go on ha ha…I was just wondering if you had any advice for me. I know that when you had your daughter you were living in colorado with a young one and that you were going to DU and were sucessful none the less. My question is as follows, how can you be sucessful in school full time, while still being a good parent. And for that matter how did you afford to pay for daycare and such?
Jordan,
Thank you for the compliments and the visit!!
To answer your question;
1. I treated law school like a 40 hour a week job. I always tried to be home for dinner and play with my family before bed. After the kiddo was asleep, I would do any reading or homework necessary.
2. I took out extra student loans to pay for daycare. It sucks a lot now, but made it possible at the time.
3. My family were rock stars. My parents helped and supported me, as did my husband. There is no way I could have done remotely as well without them.
I think parents can teach their children a lot by example, and showing your kids that you take your schooling seriously may help them in the future.
My daughter loved doing her preschool homework while I did my law school homework. We would often go to a coffeeshop together to study, and she was always thrilled to be involved. She especially loved coming to campus, sitting in on classes, and being a part of my education. To this day, she loves joining me at work.
I hope this answer was helpful! Good luck in your endeavors and I look forward to seeing you around! Please say hi to Michael for me!