Sunday, January 2, 2011

Love, Logic, and Resolutions

I just ordered my copy of "Parenting with Love and Logic" to help me get through '11 without slitting my wrists. If you are a parent with a young child, then you know what I'm talking about (both the book and the wrist slicing). My daughter turned 2 1/2 and went ten shades of crazy. Josh and I were not prepared and we do not seem to have a consistent parenting style. She is starting to rule the household. Not good.

Please let me know if you have a parenting recommendation--book, technique, whatever. I had a discussion about some of this with my cousin over Christmas and we went down the list of currently-favored parenting gurus, but I forgot about "Love and Logic." We'll see how it goes. I love my daughter more than any living, breathing, dead, or inanimate thing, but I also want to string her up by her toes. (I promise I will not go through with this plan so please don't call DFS, person with no children and/or sense of humor).

On another note...tonight I sarcastically asked Josh if he had any special New Year's resolutions as I handed him his footlong, quarterpound, chili cheese coney dog from Sonic. It has over 50 grams of fat. I was thinking that maybe he'd like to use that gym membership he purchased several months ago. But he had another resolution--he wants to be more appreciative. I wanted to say, "maybe you should start by appreciating your arteries," but I love my husband. Plus, I was, admittedly, the one who agreed to drive through Sonic to get Josh the aforementioned meat catastrophe. And I also know that in all seriousness, what Josh meant is that he would like to be more appreciative of all the blessings the last 4 or 5 months have brought us. We have come a long way since January, when there was no work and getting our bills paid was a major lesson in humility.

So yeah. I think that as a New Year's resolution, being appreciative and grateful for our lives, our talents, our joys, and our journey right now is pretty good stuff.

So here are some more resolutions from the Best household:

1. Take a vacation, or two, or three
2. Take piano lessons (Josh)/Take tap classes (Jeana)
3. Exercise patience
4. Pray
5. Indulge in more things that are just for fun
6. Take better care of each other
7. Return my library books on time
8. Trust our instincts
9. Strengthen our friendships
10. Get a regular sized washer and dryer and burn the stackable

Here's to 2011!