What I Love About Molly

Her dimples. I'll honestly be heartbroken if they ever disappear.
Her quiet nature and demeanor.
How she fixates on only one favorite movie for several days in a row. I've come to call them her movies of the week!
She will play along whenever we do a reenactment from something she knows.
Obviously she is JUST like her Mama.
She loves so deeply. It breaks her heart when she has to say goodbye to someone.
How polite she can be, even out in public with total strangers.
How she can completely command a room with her charm.
She's so gentle with animals, no matter how big or small they might be.
Her favorite part of anything is the music!
She is so empathetic with other people, especially if they are sad.
She loves to clink her cup/ glass with someone else at every meal.
Her favorite prayer, "Dear God thank you for Jesus and food."
She is an absolutely precious gift given to me from God!

Time For Class?

The title for this post comes one of Molly's favorite new questions for me each morning. Shortly after moving to WA a friend told me about an indoor playground enrichment center for children that was only a few miles away from my house. I decided to check it out one rainy morning and afternoon. Thus began our many adventures with the Imagination Station!
As we walked through the doors for the 1st time Molly couldn't get out of my arms fast enough! The play equipment and toys, which are sanitized on a daily basis, are in terrific shape. And there's such a huge amount of room for the kids to run around and explore. While Molly enjoys the playground I park myself at a table in the nearby dining area to benefit from free coffee and WiFi! Although I typically find myself watching Molly (or playing with her) most of the time we are there. She's just so much fun!
It didn't take long for me to discover the early learning programs they offer at the facility. To be completely honest, I've never been a huge advocate of the idea of preschool. In general, children spend 13 years of their lives in school. Mark and I have been so incredibly blessed with this precious little girl. And when it comes right down to it, we are the most responsible for teaching and guiding her. Prior to learning about this facility's programs I had no intention whatsoever of putting her in preschool.
Several things attracted me to these classes in particular:

• Molly's class, the Inchworms, only meets twice a week for 3 hours. She's still with me for a vast majority of each week.
  
• They also take a combined traditional and Montessori approach. I have said for many years that should I choose to put my children in school a Montessori school would be my first choice. How fortuitous that they offer something similar to what I've wanted for years!
• Something that I believe I cannot effectively teach her by myself is socialization. When I was growing up I never attended a program away from home with the exception of Sunday school at church. However, I had three younger siblings to interact with! Molly now as the opportunity to learn all the many import components for getting along with other peers!

The transition with going to class has had it's ups and downs of course. Initially Molly would eagerly go into the facility barely stopping to give me a hug and kiss goodbye. Then there was about a 3 week period where each goodbye was pretty dramatic as she began to catch onto the idea that Mama didn't stay for class. I'm happy to report that she is excited to return to class on the mornings we talk about going! Molly almost forgets to say goodbye to me! I purchased a book at a local used bookstore that, I'd like to think, made a huge difference with the absence of Mama at class. It's called, When I Miss You. It's full of situations where a loved one has to leave or cannot be there. It also provides ideas for coping and how joyous the reunions can be! She frequently quotes it randomly throughout the day. It also works well having a parent in the military. We have to say goodbye to Papa so many times each year!
Each week I look forward to finding out what she learned. We receive a calender printout of each lesson ahead of time. During breakfasts before class I let Molly know what she'll be learning for the day. We have a song we sing together about what is planned for class. I love that precious time I have with her. And it makes me feel like I'm also making a contribution to this experience! And, of course, I adore the artwork she brings home to show off! I'm amazed at how much she actually retains! The other night, I was fixing dinner as she patiently waited for her food. Suddenly, she began playing Simon Says by herself! So far we've never done this game at home. It's actually helped quite a bit with undesirable activities and her willingness to cooperate! We no longer have drama with the end of bath and getting out of the tub to dry off if Simon says so ;0)
I'm glad I've found something like this for Molly. I can tell she's benefiting from both the environment she's around the most at home and the supplementation this class provides. She's growing up so fast!

Adventures with Sleep

Last week, I shared some of my frustrations with Mark about escalating difficulties with bedtime for Molly. She usually wakes up around 7:30-8:00 am each morning. It's difficult for us to get going any earlier than that with all of these overcast WA mornings! She's usually ready for nap/quiet time after eating her lunch which lands around the 1:00 pm time frame. After passing out for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours she's usually up by 4:00. It's pretty difficult to wake her up before this amount of time has gone by. At night she always has a bath after dinner and we proceed with our usual routine of lotion, PJ's and brushing teeth/hair. Reading a book and singing a quiet song or two have always seemed to lull her into sleepy time mode. At least that used to be what worked the best.
These last few weeks, Molly has been fighting the going-to-sleep process after I leave her in her room for the night. Lately, she's been going to her door and pounding with her fists to get my attention. I've been doing my best to implement what I've learned from a series called, Parenting With Love and Logic. Which, in a very small nutshell, gives her the responsibility of going to sleep however she decides is best. But she doesn't seem to be taking the lesson to heart. Almost every night I have a discontent toddler behind a closed door. Molly doesn't scream or carry on per-se. But I'm longing for the consistency with bedtime that we used to have.
Mark suggested that I begin cutting down her nap time. Which seems to be a likely fix. She's just so incredibly grouchy when she wakes up before she is ready! Plus, rest and sleep is so important for anyone, especially children. I'm hoping we figure out a solution, and soon, so that Molly can get the most benefit from sleep and awake times each day and night!