Independence

Today we celebrate our nation's independence but I'm going to celebrate my children's independence.  Children love to mimic what you do as an adult.  They fiercely want to do their own thing, even if they have no chance to successfully complete the task for which they're striving so diligently.  As my daughter's teacher would say, "if your toddler is struggling, you should be very proud".   A child doesn't get upset if they don't immediately succeed.  For instance, they will try and try and try again to master stairs and eventually, they're running up and down them.   Children have excess amounts of perseverance.

We try to encourage independence whenever we can.  Sometimes this can be frustrating, because it will take me less than two minutes to get my child's night night outfit off; underpants, clothes and shoes on and the dirty clothes in the hamper.   Letting the child do the same thing involves standing around and giving advice, waiting for them to select a pair of underpants (which may take some time), helping them get the shirt on frontwards (if they don't insist it should be backwards) and then directing them to pick out shoes and put them on their feet (which will almost always be backwards).

But it's paying off.   My son, at three-and-a-half, comes downstairs some mornings now fully dressed.    He did so this morning and then came to wake us up.  He selected an outfit, took off his nighttime clothes and put them in the hamper and then put his nighttime diaper in the trash.    Of late, he's been interested in wearing sweat pants, which he says he wants to wear outside in the ninety-degree weather.

My daughter, at two-and-a-half, is at times more independent than her brother and can get dressed quite quickly and without as much advice help as her brother needs.  Good luck in dressing her if she's in one of those, "I do it!" moods.

The time spent helping our children be independent is starting to pay off.  That, and it's fun to watch what outfits they pick out.

The Big Boy Update:  My children both woke up last night and needed a check from dad in the middle of the night.   When I asked my husband what my son wanted, he told me, "he wanted me to put away his raincoat."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter was also asleep in the middle of the night, either dreaming or partially awake.  In the dark room (they don't sleep with a nightlight) she asked daddy to, "turn the sun off."