Little Man Leads The Way

Lately, busy mornings have become a struggle.  If we need to head out to play group, story time or the gym (all for which we have to leave the house around 9:45 am) Ayden fights the transition out of the house every time and I end up exhausted.  It's not always a bad struggle. Some days he fusses and cries because he "wants to play upstairs" or "wants to wear this shirt" or "those pants" (referring to his PJs).  Other days everything is a game of chase and I am running around the house trying to tackle him to get him dressed, brush his teeth or comb his hair.  The latter is a *bit* more fun but it still does get tiring after it happens often enough.  

So what does a mama do to get a break?  Let Little Man lead the way, of course.  Today, I did not make any morning plans and even let my morning housekeeping routine go.  I just did whatever Ayden wanted to do.

We read a mountain of books.

Painted

He's saying "cheese!"
He painted "big horses and li-lul horses"

We ate a lot of snacks, read even more books, listened to music and danced.  We stayed in our PJs until after nap time and the day was as smooth as could be.

Obviously we can not let Ayden run the show everyday but it is nice to give that to him every now and then.  If you've been following this blog from the very beginning then you are probably not surprised that things run the smoothest in our household when we let Ayden lead the way.  As he is getting older he is learning (sometimes the hard way) that sometimes you don't get to run the show; but I'm sure he appreciates the opportunity every now and then and mama appreciates the break from fighting the fight just as much.

We have had easier times and we've had times that were just as difficult for various reasons. I'm sure this is just another phase and before we know it he will have moved on to something new.  One constant of parenthood is that once you think you have your kids all figured out, they change things up on you.  No matter how old they are!

What's it like getting out of the house with your toddler?  If it's tough, what do you do to give yourself a little break?

~Sarah

Flashback!

Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Puzzled"

And two years ago today: "Ayden's Favorite Things"

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