Friday, September 07, 2007

Crackdown

Amy and I have decided to slightly tighten the screws with Jada in
terms of discipline. She is by no means a wild child. But at this
age, kids need structure. Life is chaotic when you're 2 1/2, and
structure makes it all more manageable, more doable.

Think about all the tumult in her life. Abandoned outside at 3 days,
7 1/2 months in an orphanage, and then trucked into the big city to
meet her new parents, who whisk her on a long plane ride to a faraway
country. Just as she's getting settled into a routine, we introduce a
second baby and replace her crib with a big-girl bed. Plus her brain
is making more connections, and she's testing everything: how far she
can climb, how many words she can string together, what she can and
can't do.

So without being mean (OK, sometimes we'll just plain have to be
mean), we're going to try to come alongside all this tumult and
provide her with some boundaries within which she can explore and
grow. With Aaron, it's all about maintenance at this stage. But with
Jada, parenting is getting a lot more complicated. Wish us luck!

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