Friday, May 11, 2012

This thing called parenting

is tough.  And I'm not even thinking of the physical demands - the sleep deprivation, attempting to feed two crying babies at the same time, feeding three toddlers at once.  That was hard but teaching little kids right from wrong is more difficult than I thought it would be.  I think we're off to a good start though.  Here are some of the current lessons in our home:

1.  You don't have to be friends with everyone but you do have to be nice to everyone.

This school year, the girls actually have friends at school.  It's been interesting to watch them develop friendships and join certain circles.  They don't say why they aren't "friends" with other kids.  I guess it's just the normal process - certain individuals get along with each other.  They've never said things like, "I don't like Sally because she's fat," or, "I don't like Billy because he wears glasses."  That will never be tolerated.

Thankfully, we haven't had to deal with any bully situations because, honestly, and maybe this is the wrong answer, but you don't need to be nice to bullies.  Ignore them? Yes.  Be nice to them?  No.  Although, maybe bullies are bullies because no one is nice to them.

2.  It doesn't matter if someone has different skin, different hair, a different religion.  We are all human.

3.  Treat others as you would want to be treated.

When the girls say mean things to each other or make certain statements, I say, "How would you feel if someone said that to you?"  They respond that they would feel sad and so I remind them that it isn't nice to say mean things.  Unfortunately, I've noticed an increase in competition between the girls (mainly Allie) so I find myself having this discussion more often than I would like.

4.  Stand up for yourself.

I don't really mess around with the rude where-are-your-parents kids at the playground but this all came about after witnessing and hearing about kids cutting the girls in line at gymnastics.  Yeah, I don't think so.  The girls will now tell cutting kids, "No, I'm next in line."

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I want to thank everyone for the votes and I need to give a shout out to Ami at The Best Things in Life are Three.  She asked her readers to vote for me, which was super nice of her to do.  So, I'm going to pay it back (and forward) and ask that if you are checking out the voting, please give Ami a click and don't forget about my friend Pam (Pyjammy's Triplets) - she has identical triplet boys!


 


And I probably don't need to say this but really, this is just friendly competition.  It's not like we win a million bucks or anything.

#teamtriplets



4 comments:

Tracey's Life said...

Sarah it gets harder as they get older, but you won't be sorry if they can hang on to your words. My experience is that the girls can be brutal and catty. But my own experience is that they do take in our words and our actions and can give us moments to make us proud as they grow. I think you are doing an amazing job.

Tara said...

you are so obviously a great Mom! Your girls will thank you one day for teaching them such important lessons early on:)

Wooden Toys said...

I’m only new to your blog and really enjoying your posts. They are obviously written from the heart and thank you for sharing this with us. My son is only 2.5 and I have already come across the beginning of bullying in day care and it breaks your heart when it’s your own child being picked on. Your insights are going to come in handy. Thank you

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