Stomping Grapes

I have two daughters and they are polar opposites.

Alexis is my frilly little diva who wants to be 27 when she is only seven. She likes high heeled shoes, make up, elaborate dresses and any type of jewelry. She has strong opinions about what she wants to wear and how she wants her hair styled. She is a typical girl’s girl.

Well Jazmine is not a diva. She prefers blue jeans and a t-shirt to a dress. She’s not a big fan of ear rings or any type of jewelry. She loves her Nike tennis shoes above all else, and she owns about four pair.

She likes her hair….but just on her head. Jaz is not big into hair styles and she could kind of care less what style it is in. If she could wear a ponytail for the rest of her life, I’d have to buy that girl a life time supply of hair bows!!

But they do share one commonality…….they both like shoes.

For Alexis the frillier the shoes the better. Alexis tends to like high heeled shoes. Three inch heels with bright colors are her favorites. And I will admit, at seven years old she can walk really well in them. I won’t buy three inch heels for her just yet but she is in my closet often and that doesn’t stop her from trying on shoes when we go shopping. Now they do make shoes for little girls with a heel and at every turn she is begs me for a pair.....I'm close to giving in!

Uh…..for Jazmine she's not so much into the girly shoe thing. Jaz is not very good at walking in high heels. The higher the heel the more it seems as if she is stomping grapes. But when we go shopping those are the shoes she tries on…..high heeled shoes. She just wants to try them on though….never wants to bring any home.
I think she tries them on to kind of bond with Alexis and I.

Jaz and I have figured out that if the heel is slightly lower she can walk in them a little bit better. Two inch heels are her ideal height. It makes her feel girly without the full fledged stomping grape walk.

Well my oldest baby, Jazmine, left for school in a pair of really cute, navy blue wedge heels on this morning......stomping grapes.

Maybe we should move to Italy.

Big Decisions

The kids and I were in Wal-Mart a few days ago and Jalen was battling a dilemma. He had earned a treat, and he wanted a toy, but he wasn’t sure exactly which toy….just a toy. His spending limit was $9.99 or lower.

Let me give you a little insight to the happenings in the house, my little people are REALLY into Pokemon. They watch the shows, they read the books….anything and everything they can get their hands on in regards to Pokemon, they hone right in on it. Well, his siblings were trying to pressure him into getting a Pokemon action figure that he kind of wanted but not really. They kept telling him how cool it would be to play with their Pokemon too, how they could stage their own battles….high pressure sales tactics!!

After a few minutes of pressure he just kind of walked away from them and came and gave me a hug with a dejected tilt to his shoulders. I could tell he was close to tears because he wouldn’t look at me when I asked him what was wrong.

See, my baby was torn on making the siblings happy at the expense of his own happiness. I stooped down to his level and told him that the decision was his and his alone and not to let anyone make him do something that he didn’t want to do.

He wiped his tears away, gave me a kiss and decided to put the $9.99 towards the debt he owes me for repairing his bicycle tire he destroyed a few months ago.

My baby is on his way to making awesome decisions in his life!!

Influence

Influence

What kind of influence do you have over your kids? Good, bad and indifferent?

In order to honestly answer this question we as parents need to take a really close look at ourselves and those around us. Influence is not just what you teach them to do, but it is also those intangible lessons they get when you think they aren’t looking, when you think they aren’t paying attention.

To expand on that thought a little further…..what influence does a child’s environment have on them as well? I’m not talking about the run of the mill stuff, school, TV, friends. What about their siblings?

My youngest son, Chase, is Autistic. His older brother, Jalen, is one of the smartest kids I know, but I could be biased (smile!). Everything that Jalen does….good, bad and indifferent; Chase will do the exact same thing.

When we found out that Chase had to wear glasses, the frames he selected look just like Jalen’s.

Jalen took a jacket to school today; because his class room is cold….so Chase went in the closet to get his winter coat!!

During the summer we were always on the go, the library, the tennis center, the swimming pool and the drive in. I had created my own little summer camp. On several of our outings Jalen would forget to bring his shoes. We are a very hippie kind of family and we don’t like shoes very much when it’s hot, and flip flops are the shoes we prefer in the summer. Well on those occasions Chase was paying close attention to what Jalen was doing…..so HE started forgetting his flip flops too!! See what I mean when I say being influenced by your environment!!

So Little Time

The kids are home from school. The quiet of the day has been ruptured by giggling, teasing of siblings and my daughter bouncing around the house singing her own made up song.

I’ve been calculating in my head how many years until they are in high school. The days of them wanting to sit in my lap will be gone because it won’t be cool. I wonder how much time I have before it won’t be cool to kiss me in greeting in front of their class mates.

How much time will I have before they are trying to bribe their way to using the car. “Mom, I promise to wash the car if you let me take it to a party Saturday night.” A line that only my youngest daughter can deliver, with that cute cherub smile of hers. She’s already negotiating her way into being taken to the mall, so using the car can’t be far behind!

What kinds of girls will my boys chose to be in a relationship with? Have I set a good example of the type of woman they should strive for? What about my girls? Do they have good male role models in their lives now to help them make good choices later in life? And if they don’t….what do I start doing NOW to help them step over the land mines that I have stepped on?

So much to think about. So much to plan for. For now I think I’m just going to enjoy the game of Uno I was challenged to play.