First time sledding

A few months ago we decided to go in with a few other people and get a house in Boone, NC for the long weekend. Work has been kicking my butt since the holidays ended so this was perfect timing to get away.

There are 11 adults and 2 kids staying here and we are having a blast. It just so happens this is also the coldest weekend so far this winter and being in the mountains means it dipped down to around zero degrees last night. Brrrr! My blood has definitely thinned since living in Massachusetts.

It did snow a little bit the morning before we arrived so of course we had to take the kids out for their first sledding experience. As you can see from the photos they had a great time. It's supposed to snow again tonight so hopefully we can go again tomorrow.

Handling an episode of vandalism

Internet, my sisters recommended I post about a recent behavioral dilemma and my proposed response. One sister thinks my solution is awesome and the other thinks it will crush Cameron's spirit. So, in the interest of fairness I'm tossing it over the wall to the Internet to comment and judge. Have at it!

Last weekend we went to the library for story time. Per our usual routine Cameron sat and listened to stories while I perused the bookshelves for new reading material. I found about 10 books and we checked them out and headed home for lunch and nap time.

Cameron has been resisting nap over the past few weekends. She still naps 2 - 2 1/2 hours at daycare so clearly she needs it but she's resisting at home. Typically she gets up and grabs a few books and brings them back to bed. I'm usually OK with that because she is respectful of the books. Unfortunately Cameron was not respectful of a library book and decided to rip several pages out and into itty bitty pieces.

DH discovered this when he went to wake her up. At first he tried to convince me that she somehow did it in her sleep and didn't mean it. Yeah, I wasn't born yesterday so I didn't buy it. Cameron was contrite but she knows that library books are not hers. They belong to the library and we borrow them. She completely understands this which is why saying sorry doesn't cut it for me.

This is what I propose:

1. No more books are allowed in bed. It doesn't matter if they are our books or the library's. She has lost the privilege of having them in bed. This disciplinary action has already been executed with success.



2. Cameron will come with me to the library next weekend when I pay for the book's destruction. She will have to tell the librarian that she ripped it and is sorry.

#1 is clearly not the action being presented to you for commentary. It's #2. So, what do you think? Cameron will be 3 in March and I think she has enough cognition to have this be an effective disciplinarian technique. But I'm asking you to weigh in....

2012 Goals

Seems like everyone else in the blogword is posting goals or resolutions for 2012 so I thought I'd play along. Y'all (I can say that since I live in the South) will need to keep me honest against the list. I'll do periodic updates.

1. Run a 10K. I already have one in mind for mid April. Now I just need to get back on the wagon for training. Fortunately I received a lot of cold weather running gear for Christmas.

2. Have family dinners. This must happen. I have the pickiest eater in the world and am hopeful that family dinners and a wider variety of food will help.

3. Take (and post!) more pictures. And try to be included in more pictures. I always seem to be the person on the other side of the lens.

4. Live in the moment (at least during vacations/trips). As a Type A person I'm always planning. Even when I'm on vacation I'm thinking about what needs to get done at work. I'm already stressing about being away during MLK weekend when work will be crazy. We are also going to Disney in late May and I need to be able to take deep breaths and just enjoy the trip for what it is, not necessarily what was planned.

5. Enroll Cameron in an activity. She will be 3 in late March so she can do ballet or karate at that age. I'm leaning towards karate since her BFF, Holden, would be up for that.

6. Do some small scale home improvement projects. Things like rearranging furniture or changing out pictures or planting new gardens.

7. Dip my toe in the broader job market to identify other opportunities. Despite giving me a promotion BigFinance continues to struggle with providing compensation increases and bonuses. It's time to throw off the fear of the unknown and see what opportunities are out there now that I have a total of 10 years of experience under my belt.

8. Have a yard sale. I am not 100% fully committed yet but it appears as though Cameron is destined to be an only child. Yes, I need to blog an entire post about how I feel about that. But I plan on being fully resigned post Disney and will then need to clean out all old baby stuff.

9. Create an estate plan and execute necessary paperwork. This would include a living will.

10. Read more non fiction books. I am an avid fiction reader but want to expand my horizons. Especially since raising a "bossy" kid is hard and I need to learn how to be a better parent.

I think my goals are doable, what do you think?