Mathematical Mama

Couldn't resist the little nod to my husband's newest passion... GOLF! Anyway... I like to say that if I had life to do over, I wouldn't change a thing.  I learned from every mistake I made.  As time passes, I think I have gained wisdom and tact from my mistakes... which are many more than a few, I can assure you!  Raising children is different.  There are a few things that I would change, given the opportunity.  My kids wouldn't be anymore awesome... cause that's not possible.  They are at the highest peak of awesomeness.  But I think knowing then what I know now would have made me feel like a better mom. So... here are the things I would change: 1: Breastfeeding. I did breastfeed both of my kiddos.  JP for 9 months, and Z for 6.  I feel like I gave up both times without a real fight.  With JP, I was working full time and pumping 3 times while I was at work, but we still needed to supplement with formula.  His first meal was formula cause I was scared and h

...and by joy, I actually mean the exact opposite of that. JP is a really good kid.  Seriously. I'm not just saying that cause I made him from scratch.  He's pretty rad. We have our days, tho.  And one of those days just so happened to be yesterday. He was refusing to listen to me.  Every time I asked him anything or corrected his ridiculously bad behavior, he would either shout "NO!!!" or scream and run into his room. Extraordinarily frustrating... After several time outs and lots of yelling from both my son and me, he turns to me after getting out of time out and says, "Stop saying NO to me, mom!  You're being really mean!" I could feel the anger boiling up into my face.  Where is the well behaved little boy that all his grandparents love?  Where is my fun-loving son who doesn't talk back?  What have I done wrong?!?!?!?!? Then a teeny voice inside me told me to be calm and ask him to elaborate. (yes, my 4 year old knows what elaborate means.