Today was the last day of ECFE for the summer. I walked out the door with happy tears in my eyes and was trying the whole last song not to breakdown in front of the other parents when I was reliving the memories and changes in mine and my children’s lives. It was also such a great year for my daughter and my son, and such a great experience for myself.

My son who was just 9 months when we started ECFE was having trouble leaving me when he was in the sibling care during my daughters class.  He was still having some bottle refusal issues when we started and had just started to master crawling.   Now he is 16 months old, can drink out of a regular cup by himself, runs instead of walks, and is learning how to talk.  His life is totally different and he is a comfortable happy boy.

My daughter was so anxious when we started the class because she had just had the trauma of separating from me at a daycare center and now we had to ease her back into trusting that she can be separated from me without being afraid I would leave her there.  She had to relearn how to trust adults and get corrected by someone other than mom without breaking down into tears. She was just learning how to sit and follow directions, she was just learning how to join in imaginative play with other children and make friends that she chose herself.  Now she can be separated from mom without blinking an eye, or even pausing from her play with her friends at school.  She simply says, “Bye Mom!”  instead of clinging to me in tears when I had to leave the room.  She has learned how to trust other adults again and has regained her funny, outgoing personality, it was wonderful for her.

For myself, I started out the year shell shocked from just becoming a stay at home (professional mom) mom, trying to re-identify myself and feel confident about my decision, instead of the initial embarrassment I felt about it.  I had to figure out how to balance maintaining myself, my home, and my children without the break you get while at work.  I know I have become a better parent, more patient, more present, and enjoying my time with my children.  I went from being frazzled and disorganized on outings to scheduled and prepared when I leave the house.

I am a different person, more comfortable in my parenting, my daughter is older, more self confident and happy, my son is no longer a baby, he is adjusted and comfortable leaving me. What a year, what wonderful changes, and I am glad I got to be here full time to experience each of them.  *Happy Tears*

My son is 16 months right now and he is a professional dismantler.  You clean he messes, you put things away he can take them out at twice the rate you could ever put them away.  It might be one of the more challenging stages and makes me truly appreciate cabinet locks.

Daily the entire contents of my tupperwear cupboard are emptied and carried throughout the house.  I put the tupperwear away with the lids on the left the bowls on the right and everyday they are mixed up and that is still way better than picking them up in every room of the house that he felt like decorating that day.   If you hang something up it is his responsibility to take it down for you and throw it on the floor.  He makes a contented grunt when he quickly puts all things hanging on the floor, as in the dismantle age that is where they belong.  The contents of the hair brush drawer are emptied and deposited in anyplace he can shove them.  I find brushes in the couch, under beds, under the tv stand, under couches, in boxes of toys, everywhere besides the brush drawer.

If there is food in a bowl like I occasionally put crackers in a bowl for the kids to snack on before lunch or dinner, he is very efficient on quickly dumping out every remaining morsel out of that bowl, on the floor on the couch or if I am lucky on the end table.   Any items left sitting on an end table of course do not belong there, remotes, phones, books, cups of water are all quickly swiped onto the floor, again that is his job.

During meals he is the best at sharing with the dog.  He feels it is his obligation to eat two noodles and put two on the floor, eat two bites of cucumber, the rest go on the floor, it must be a strong sense of accomplishment to be able to dismantel more than mom can ever clean in one day.  I have to remind myself daily this is a stage and he will grow out of it just like his sister did.

I like my lawn. I like how green and thick it is in the spring after all of this wonderful rain. The only problem with all of this wonderful rain is it has started the neighbors dandelions blooming like crazy.  Blooming dandelions are fun but the white puffy seeds are enough to put me into a panic when they blow towards my lawn.

Today we were outside playing in the court with the neighbor girl and the big kids and my little guy picked the few dandelions in their yard, so to keep them busy we had a dandelion hunt!  I sent the kids over into my next door neighbors yard who has a ton of yellow flowers and had them pick as many dandelions as they could.  They both filled their bike helmets with dandelions before they got bored.  I said what a wonderful thing!  Saving my lawn from the thousands of seeds blowing into my yard and 20 solid minutes of entertainment and exercise for the kids!