Rollin' With It!

So, I'm a firm believer in letting a kid be a kid. I'll admit, I didn't truly know this until I became a mommy. As of late, Goose has been exploring EVERYTHING more than I ever imagined. He is truly a boy and there's no denying that! I grew up with ALL girls, so I have no prior experience with young boys and all that they do. I mean, he eats sticks and laughs when he falls. He's rough, he's loud and he's wild!! I'm learning that the word "no" is not always as effective as I would like. I'm learning that sometimes, you just have to let them be who they are as long as they are not in any danger. I'm learning to let go of what I think is appropriate and look at things from his perspective. For instance, we had a day of pure disagreement about how he should not touch the dog food. He fought me hard on this one and I was exhausted by the end of it all. The next day, I decided to try a different approach. Instead of saying "no! no! no!" and him either laughing at me and doing it anyway or screaming at the top of his lungs, I decided to let him get involved. If he is going to pick up the dog food out of the dog bowl, he must feed it to one of the dogs. I'll admit, the first day was a little overboard and I thought I made a huge mistake. Every second he was in the bowl trying to find a dog to feed. And, if he couldn't find one, it would end up somewhere it shouldn't. Since then, however, he only does it once in awhile. It's almost like it's not that big of deal anymore since he's allowed to do it. Honestly, what's the harm if he's not eating it and it's going to the right place? Yes, I know what you're thinking...he could eat it one day! But, I've gotten very good at putting up the bowls when it is not feeding time AND the dogs are even learning to eat it up quick or it will be gone until dinner. So, compromises all around, but less battles with the babe and more learning is always a plus in my book!

Ok, so back to the original reason for this post. Yesterday, Goose decided he wanted to empty out his sand box. Shoot! I knew it was going to be a pain to clean up, but what was it really hurting? I mean, the sandbox is for his enjoyment!! So, I sat back knowing I would have a huge mess to clean up, but enjoyed watching him have a blast all the same! Here he is just emptying away...

..and I must say this smile was totally worth it!