Monday, July 6, 2009

4th & Shopping

The 4th was fabulous! J did great all weekend. Saturday night when we docked the boat I told G I was going up to put SK to bed and let J go to the bathroom. Thought he understood that J was staying up to shoot the fireworks they had purchased. Not.

I told J to wait on the porch for G to come up and get the fireworks. She did. Very patiently. He didn't come up. He left with friends to go to his sister's house for another firework show. J was so upset. Bless her little heart she cried until she couldn't cry anymore. She fell asleep crying in my arms on the porch.

When G came in I explained what happened. He felt terrible but he didn't express it well so it ticked me off. The next morning J didn't want to hang around because she knew he would be grumpy. I don't blame her. I'm not crazy about hanging around with grumpy either.

We came on home and the girls played all afternoon (after a nap). Daddy G came over and sincerely apologized and all is well. I was very proud of J for voicing her feelings. She did a great job.

Today we spent in Atlanta shopping for clothes for J. She has outgrown every.thing. that I bought her 2 months ago and they were huge on her when purchased. It is horrible trying to find things that are really cute (she is a huge girly girl) in her size. Everything looks like they would be more appropriate on a lady of the evening standing on a street corner.

Cindy joined us (after I did some whining and begging) since she is fully aware that I am a fashion challenged individual and detest shopping. Thank goodness she came with us because there's no telling what we would've come home with us. J's going to have to do some major sucking up to Cindy so that in the future maybe Cindy will take J shopping and it won't be so much torture like it is with me. I am NOT fun shopping. It's a fact.

The really great news: Cindy doesn't see J that often so she's able to see significant gains in J. It is noticeable. She even remarked that J was a lot of fun to be around. This is a huge compliment coming from Cindy because she's very astute at picking up on behaviors. Yay for J!

Dia commented that maybe J would benefit from some 60-70's television such as The Brady Bunch and The Electric Company. Everything is much slower so perhaps it won't cause the dreadful meltdowns. (SK doesn't have this problem.) I've ordered some and we'll see how it goes on a rainy day. She's also posted some more great pics of the kids having fun. It was such a great time!

11 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I;m so glad you had such a great time!

Tracey said...

Hooray for J! She's an amazing young lady.

C said...

We watch a lot of Andy Griffith, too.

The other day we saw the one where Opie's friend was teaching him how to throw a big tantrum to get his way. Opie tried it and Andy just looked at him and said, "Are you okay?" and kept on working.

The kids were talking about what a great RAD Dad Andy Griffith would be! :)

Torina said...

I'm with you on the shopping thing. Torture. Glad you had a nice time though!

Holly said...

What a great time (well minus the whole firework thing). Glad you had fun shopping and hope the 70's TV thing helps. That's all the Butterfly will watch. We also got Family Affair which was a hit too.

Jillene said...

I wish I would have spent the day shopping today. Instead I spend it cleaning. Boo!!

obladi oblada said...

My kids love the old shows like Brady Bunch, Little House on the Prarie, and Leave it to Beaver! I love to watch them to so its a good family time.

BT said...

Know exactly what you mean about shopping. I detest it. I have boys, too, so it's a lot easier, and I still hate it. I wasn't too much older than J when my mom started teaching me to sew some of my own clothes. I was hard to fit (gangly), and nothing of an acceptable style would fit me. Sewing patterns can be worked with to make whatever length you need. I remember I learned very quickly how to make these tops we called "smock tops" that I loved to wear. They were blousy and had little puffy partial sleeves. Very simple, just a round neckline. You could do them in just about any fabric, put pockets on them, or not, put other embellishments on them or not. Do you know anyone who could teach J to follow a simple pattern and operate a sewing machine, or simply sew WITH her?

We do only throwback screen-viewing with our 7 and 9 year olds (9 year old is our RADish). We find that movies from the 70s and early 80s are higher quality in terms of requiring attention span, the type of music in them (more calming), and the themes (not at all sexualized, and rarely even rude humour). Benji is a good example. We have also done a few TV shows. Our kids only get TV time on weekends, and only for about 45 minutes each of those two days, so we go through movies gradually. Our public library has a lot of older movies.

Tudu said...

I do not shop with the kids. I bring it home. I can't deal with all the choices they can't make. LOL Now I know not to take you. Thanks for the heads up.

I was heartbroken for J when I read that she missed the fun.

marythemom said...

Poor J!

Wish you guys lived closer! I love shopping and have kids who hate it. I feel your pain on trying to find "non-hooker" clothes. My daughter is sooo big for her age that she's been wearing adult/junior size clothes for years. Shoes especially. My choices are tennis shoes or hooker heels. *sigh* "Luckily" now my 12 year old daughter wears a men size 13 and women's shoes aren't really an option.

Mary in Texas

Miz Kizzle said...

I love it!
You're a wonderful parent. As someone raised by being beaten with a stick, followed by screams of rage and threats to either kill herself or have me sent to a reform school, depending on whether it was my mother or my father delivering the punishment, I can personally affirm that all that will get you is an angry child who is adept at lying and deception.
When I had I own children I found that my so-called horrible behavior was typical little-kid stuff: making messes, losing things, accidentally breaking things and so on.
It's much better to let the dust settle before addressing the problem and never, ever hit or make frightening threats.
Every parent should use your "consequences."