QUALITY TIME

luc and i have been driving each other crazy the last few weeks. march was a crazy busy month and we butted heads all the way through it. examples:
-he wails 'I CAN'T!' in response to just about everything i ask him to do
-when i offer him choices such as: 'would you like to stop throwing things or sit in time out?' his response is 'time out! i sit in time out now.' and then he proceeds to throw things.
-'i not happy, i grumpy!' he stomps around pouting, saying this over and over when he doesn't get his way
-he's given up napping so around 5pm everyday he starts whining and throwing tantrums over everything- until papa gets home at 7pm, then he's an angel.

these are just a few, but you get the idea. we both had terrible attitudes and it wasn't getting better. i've been at a loss as to how to improve our relationship. no matter how hard i tried to stay patient and speak lovingly, by noon i was struggling. every. single. day. then i talked to my best friend stacy, and she brought up this idea that it helps to know your child's love language and give them the right kind of love, and that this in turn would help them have a better attitude. once i stopped and thought about it, luc was super easy to peg- he's quality time, all the way. he's constantly asking me 'you want to play trains with me? you want to read to me? you want to play with me, mommom?' and far too often, i was responding 'in a minute, bud' and then not following through. i was too busy, and he knew it.

so i've been trying to change. and it's working! today we woke up and worked on puzzles and read stories together while we ate our breakfast, and he was so happy! we talked and laughed and i made a mental note to try and start everyday with a little one-on-one time- it sets the tone for our whole day! he wanted to sing the abc's over and over for me and lia, and he listened/didn't have a meltdown when i told him we weren't watching tv right now. then he played trains for an hour while i did some housework and fed lia, after which we dyed easter eggs and made lunch together. and then after lunch, we sat on the couch to watch a show and snuggle lia, and he put his hand on my arm and said 'i wuv you mom' out of the blue, it was the sweetest thing. i know we will still have hard days, but today was a really good one. and it made me feel like i can be a good mom to this cute little boy. i love him so much, and i hate it when he goes to bed and i'm left feeling like i failed to show him how important he is to me. here's hoping we have more days like today!