I can do it myself!

All three of my children are going through phases that seem to revolve around the attitude of “I can do it myself!”  There are pros and cons to all of these phases.  Bianca has always been the independent type.  She recently decided she no longer wants help getting dressed or doing simple hygiene like brushing her teeth and washing her hands.  If you try to assister she will respond with “no, no, no, no ,no, I can do, I can do it”  It’s nice that she has the ability to complete these skills on her own.  She is just growing up so quickly.

Then there is paisley who is two years younger than Bianca but wants to be just like her big sister and also brush her teeth on her own and get herself dressed.  Unfortunately she still lacks some of the dexterity and physical strength required for these tasks, which is the perfect equation for conflict.  The most common occurrence is bed time when she wants to undress herself.  She pulls her shirt behind her head with her arms still in the sleeves and when you offer to help she waves you off crying telling you “no hop” which means no help.  I watch her struggle and get frustrated for about 5 minutes before I just move in and remove her shirt at which point the tears will subside and we can get on with our bed time routine. 

Last is Gage.  He practically refuses to be spoon fed anymore.  He wants to do it himself.  It’s SO nice when your kids can feed themselves, yet at the same time the practice required to obtain that skill is SO messy…sometimes funny but work to clean it up when the meal is over.  He is also learning to walk.  He LOVES to stand up and have freedom to roam.  I joke that he is my little vacuum, because if he is on the floor even if I JUST vacuumed he will find something he is not supposed to have to put into his mouth.  He has started to cruise along furniture and that is hard for me because I know I need to let him learn and develop the muscle tone so he can walk but I can’t help but hover to make sure he doesn’t fall into something that could cause injury.

Frankly I know I need to be thankful that my children are healthy and grateful that they can do things for themselves…just wish it wasn’t happening so fast.  Part of me wishes they could grow out of certain phases, but the other part of me hates to see them grow up.  I know that soon enough they will be slamming doors in my face and asking me to drop them off at the corner so they don’t have to be seen with me so I will just relish every moment I have with my babies J