ABC SONG!

Declan sang the ABC song from start to finish perfectly yesterday at dinner time for Daddy! Lately I have been pretending to be various characters that he loves like Sally from "Cars" and June from "Little Einsteins", and the other day he was talking to "June" (me) and June asked him to sing a song for her.  He suddenly launched into the ABC song! It was the cutest thing ever.

On a more serious note, I have taken steps to deal with my stress and short temper by taking 5HTP, which is an amino acid and improves mood by boosting Seratonin. Also, in tandem with that I am taking Holy Basil which helps you have a more positive response to stress. I have been scaring myself and Declan with my yelling and overall bad countenance as of late, and am determined to overcome the poison of anger. It is possible that I am suffering from depression and extreme stress. I know that I do not take enough time for myself, and that I am not taking care of myself properly. For everyone's sake this must change, and it starts with me taking initiative to say what it is I need.
1) Yoga/Pilates
2) Time away from Declan
3) Intellectual and Artistic Pursuits and Goals
4) Structure and Discipline
5) More Meditation and Chanting
6) More education on early childhood

For Christmas I asked for and received books to help me with Declan's new transformation from baby to little boy. I was so sick of spinning down a shame spiral every time I lost my temper and yelled at him, and realized that I needed help. I heard of Positive Discipline from my friend Cathy who uses this method with her son. The Positive Discipline books are by Jane Nelsen, and there are many to choose from. The ones I chose are "Positive Discipline for Preschoolers", "Positive discipline", Positive time outs". I also got "How to behave so your preschooler will too." by Sal Severe. These new books and the medicine are beginning to help. I lost it yesterday when he wouldn't stop playing in the blinds and scared the poop out of him. Re directing or laughter and tickling would have worked just fine, but I chose to yell...ICK. I was sick and puked the day before, and there were gale force winds and rain outside yesterday so we were inside all day. It is challenging to entertain a toddler when you feel ill, and I was not in the right frame of mind. Perhaps when the urge to yell comes on I should start chanting loudly! I have this horrible feeling like I am a monster and everybody knows it.






The other positive side effect of these new vitamins is that I can no longer nurse even occasionally. This is the end of the sixth day, and Declan is having a bit of a hard time. He is asking for it often, but seems to understand when I tell him that "nunga" is gone for good. I told him Nunga knows he is a big boy and went away, and how sorry I am.