My Life with a Three-Year-Old

It's been five months since Mr. Matthew turned 3. We have our ups and downs as a family....John was in a car accident that truly could have been traumatic for all of us, survived a round of the stomach flu, and have had a very successful transition over to a full-time pre-school facility. I'm pleased that Matthew continues to inform me that it's important to wear our seatbelts because that is probably what kept "daddy safe." I have tried to prepare him for the inevitable decline of our kitty Dakota as she battles kidney disease and that she will eventually go to Heaven to help God, and with the death of John's mom last week, we really have tried to keep that whole story as reserved as possible. Really, I don't think he understands. However, he does believe that he can climb a ladder to Heaven to visit Dakota after all is said and done (sniff, sniff). What a sweet child.

Since starting pre-school, Matthew has developed a much more extended vocabulary and is talking in "almost" complete sentences. We have had more fun on our weekends spending time with friends at the Goochland YMCA pool and I have enjoyed a little more freedom as I sit on the sidelines watching him find any random kid to play with his monster trucks. He's growing so fast, and as I hear moms say I hate it....I'm thinking I LOVE IT! I can fix dinner, sit down with him, and have a pretty open conversation. He will sit and play for hours with play-doh, and loves to watch a movie such as Transformers without blinking an eye. I was actually able to run for an hour on the treadmill Saturday morning while watching Cars on my computer with my child sitting at the table nearby just playing with the Hot Wheels characters from the movie! How cool is that?

And while the husband looks for things to do with him around the house, I love taking him places with me. I see mothers fighting with their kids at the grocery store....not this one! I get one of the car grocery carts...that don't corner worth a damn, and when I hit an aisle or another cart, I blame Matthew for his poor driving. Truly, he couldn't be happier grocery shopping with mommy, and I missed him this past Saturday! I attended a baby shower and scooted out a little early to hit Kroger....and I missed having my little buddy there with me.

I watched a family at the Goochland Y yesterday as Matthew and I sat in a lounge beside the pool, and evidently had chosen to sit next to the child from hell. He was Matthew's age, but was running around, disobeying his mother, and hit her. I mean, really??? He wouldn't even go into timeout when his mom suggested, and took off running from her to the other end of the pool. While I use timeout when appropriate, I also believe in spanking when needed. There's NOTHING wrong with some parental fear and respect. I looked at Matthew, and he said, "He's a bad boy." Ya think? I hugged him and told him how lucky I was to have such a good boy. To which he replied, "I love you mommy." Of course, when we got home, I had to put him in timeout for doing something we told him to quit doing three times , but at least there was no hitting or tantrum. He respected our wishes, and did exactly as he was told.

I hope I continue to be humbled by this little human who has brought so much meaning to our lives. :)

How I love being the mother of my three-year-old!