April 2, 2008

A New Day

So the latest parenting project seems to be off to a good start, with a bit more respect heading in each direction. To solve some of the issues, we will be:

1) Getting Miles (and ourselves) into bed a bit earlier, consistently. We all need more sleep.
2) Not interrupting. OMG, this is such a trigger for me, but I do it right back at the little guy. We say we are all about respecting his personhood and raising him to recognize and honor his emotions, but that doesn't work when I tell him to stop talking and that I am not listening (quality parenting moments, I tell you).
3) Keeping up with the breathing thing. This one is me, and while I blew it totally last night in a spectacular, door-slamming way, I think I can do it. Breathe first, think about what I *really* want out of the interaction/relationship, and then respond. Because my initial response is not always the most constructive.
4) Spend some moments together as a family/couple. The key to this is while paying attention to one another.

There's more, but I need to go pick up lunch. Ah, the life of a crazy, modern, two-career family. It's a round-about that I wouldn't mind finding an exit from (not the family part, but the crazy part). On a related note, I got myself all misty-eyed over a new article over at Daily Yonder. I get turned-off by all the "personal responsibility" language, but if you read it as more than coding for conservative, right-wing values, the rest of the article does ring pretty true for me. It's what I don't like about who we are as a larger culture right now. I want to be on the other side of the paradigm.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you liked my yonder article.
No right wing coding though. That's just the way it is here in Langdon.
Actually, I'm just a good ole left wing Democrat. I'm even a member of THE party!
Thanks for the mention-
RO

Dynamic Meter Publicity and Marketing said...

Yes, yes. I think the added sleep is doing us good. And taking time as a family to just giggle and hang out is key. Also as a couple.

Danielle said...

Thanks for the comment, RO. That's the problem with coding, it appropriates perfectly good and useful language (and that I happen to agree with). Lovely, thought-provoking article ... I'll certainly be looking for more over on DY. Proof that rural America has so much more diversity and intellectual life than is often expected.