Looser, Tighter

Parenting for Amy and me seems to be an ongoing adjustment between being looser and tighter. Too many rules and the kids are stifled; too few and they run amok. By and large, we are in a good rhythm, but every so often we realize we need to recalibrate.

Such was the case with Jada this past week. Now that the kids and all their stuff are all up on the third floor, the place gets messy easily. And Jada is the chief mess-maker: hoarding random items, playing with lots of things at once, not so great on the whole concept of “putting away.” So we are working to tighten things up there, so she learns to take responsibility for her space.

But we need to loosen up a little in another area. One day this past weekend, she had a little potty accident in the morning, right before we were to head out of the house. We had to hurriedly get her changed and all of us out the door. That afternoon, she had another accident right after Aaron and I had arrived at school to take her home, and again I was curt in trying to get everyone and everything moving along. That night, she had a really bad nightmare about peeing in her pants again, and was so relieved that it was just a dream, but had been really worried that she had done it again, which made me feel so bad for making her feel bad two previous times that day. So I need to loosen up there.

So there you have it. Loose, tight, loose, tight. After all of that, I’m all wound up.