The Nelson Family: Teaching Moment

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Teaching Moment

This morning I had the chance to go to the temple, and Greg watched the boys while I was there. He was able to get into the Stake Center that is right by the church ad let the play which is always nicer than playing outside when it is cold.

I got done, and met the boys up at the church. When I got there, it was obviously that things did not go well because Deagan was just getting out of timeout. Apparently he colored with PERMANENT marker all over the keys of a piano. I mean ALL OVER! By the time I got there, Greg had gotten about half of the markings off, but I took over to finish it because Greg was clearly at his end. Poor guy had to deal with this on top of a grumpy 1 year old. We got off as much of the marker as we could, but you can still faintly tell that there was marking on it.

It was a hard moment because both of us were so mad, and it was hard to really not let our anger get in the way of trying to punish him. Greg put him in time out, and we had him help us wipe it up until it was all gone. The thing is is that he knows to not color on things besides paper. We really don't let him use markers because he has a shady past with coloring all over things with markers, such as himself, chairs, tables, etc. Where he got the permanent marker this time is beyond us since we clearly do not let him just carry one around. He had a friend birthday party this afternoon, and part of us just wanted to not let him go. But I kept thinking about advice I read in all my classes at school; the consequence needs to fit the "crime" to have it be effective. Since the birthday party was unrelated to the incident, we cut it out of the equation, but still, not a good moment! His end consequence is that he lose his marker privileges for the week, and to be honest I am thinking about just throwing them away because they really are becoming a problem.

A woman in my home ward is a great example to me, and I thought of her today because her philosophy in parenting is that every moment is a teaching moment. Today was definitely one of those moments.

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Kids do and say the darndest things...

I don't want to forget all the cute things that my children have said or will say, so check back often to see what the Nelson family has to say!

March 26, 2013

Kayden: Do I still have my eyeballs or are they still at Grandma and Grandpa's house?

Me: I never knew they were there...

January 8, 2011

I was tired this afternoon, and I needed to nurse Kayden. I felt too tired to go pick up Kayden from where he was, so jokingly I asked Deagan if he would go change Kayden's diaper, nurse him, and then put him down for a nap.

He took it seriously, and said, "I have little boobies mommy! But do I have milk?"

Me: "No you don't have milk. I was just kidding."

Deagan: "But do I have water in my boobies?"

Needless to say, he did not follow through with what I said:)

January 6, 2009

*We went to Olive Garden for dinner tonight, and after the waitress brought us our breadsticks my son yelled after her, "Thank you lady!"

*My oldest loves to bring toys with him to bed. Tonight he had a couple of toy dinosaurs that he got for Christmas. The rule we have of bringing toys in bed is that the toys can't play, they have to sleep too. Tonight, he was having a hard time just letting his toys sleep, so I kept asking him to stop playing with the dinosaurs so he could go to sleep. He was getting really frustrated at me because of this and towards the end he started saying, "I am very mad at you!" It was so hard for me not to laugh at that.

January 4, 2009

He has done this for a while now, but whenever we are in the car he will ask, "Where are we going?" in a annoyed kind of voice. Later on he will ask really sadly, "Where did my house go?"

October 29, 2009

My oldest woke up really early this morning, and was whiny and impossible to please. At this point, I am dreading the day ahead and it is only 7 a.m. My oldest was sitting on his play table coloring and playing with his paint box (that was empty). He dropped the paint box, and began whining for me to pick it up. The conversation went something like this:

D: "Pick it up Mommy!"

Me: "It is right by you, you pick it up."

**Pause from Deagan**

D: "Michelle! Pick it up!"

I couldn't help but smile when he called me Michelle. Maybe this day will be better then I am expecting.

September 6, 2009

I think that wanting your privacy while going potty is a natural instinct that we are all born with and that develops over time. D is beginning to show signs that this privacy is a very important time when going to the bathroom. This afternoon I was making dinner and came in to the living room to check on him. As I walked into the room, he held out his hand and yelled, "No Mom! Go back!" I can always tell when he is done by him allowing me to stay in the same room with him.

August 30, 2009

D wants me to always watch what he is doing regardless of what it is. His new favorite thing to say is, "WATCH MOM!" over and over.

July 11, 2009

I was taking a bath, and locked D in the bathroom with me while I did so so I could keep an eye on him. During this process, D was very interested in his old nursing buddies (if you get my drift) and kept saying "Yummy!" "Yummy?" I asked him. "What did it taste like?" "HOT DOGS!" He replied!

July 8, 2009

D is a big help around the house. He puts things away when I ask him to, sometimes. He helps me fold the laundry, by that I mean he lays in the laundry. He is just a great help. One of his new things is to throw away his diapers after I am done changing him. After a diaper change this afternoon, he proceeded to pick up the diaper and head to the trash. His normal trash that he uses was out of reach, so I told him to go into the bathroom right off of the kitchen and to put the diaper in the trash right next to the toilet. I think all he heard from that was, "Put it in the....toilet." because that is where he put it. Like I said, very helpful! :)