Not A Laughing Matter

Have you raised a son?
Are you raising a son?

Are you pregnant with a son? 
HELP ME!

I have reached my wit's end. 

Luke seems to have SO MUCH ENERGY & SO LITTLE TIME. I can't even wrap my mind around how much energy he's busting out second my second!  He doesn't WANT to be "bad", but regretfully I confess- this has proved to be quite a difficult stage for me as his mother! I'll get back to this topic...

The other day I was telling my sister about a parenting strategy I had read about.  It described a family that had a basket designated for collecting all items in the house that were out of place.  Anytime someone left something not "put away", it was tossed into this basket (NO EXCEPTIONS).   On Sunday, they returned the items in the basket and started it empty for the week.  Eventually I supposed the kids were less careless about where they left their toys, new shoes, or favorite coat.  I've given it more thought, and I think my kiddos are definitely not too young to put this practice into action.  We're starting TODAY.  I think I'll take it a step further and include my own junk in on this.  Although I try not to, I'm guilty too of leaving things tossed about.  I need to be a better model and walk my talk!!!! NO MORE CLUTTER!

Hmmm.... now to NAME this basket???

Okay, so overall... we need things to change around here.  I've raised my voice one too many times lately- a technique I find to be completely ineffective and worse... completely exhausting!  Today, I woke up with a fresh attitude and a new theme in mind for our household.  The plan is:

CALM - CLEAN - QUIET

I've already discussed this with Luke and all behaviors need to abide by these three rules.  These three words encompass all that's been wrong lately.  These words are going to be my prioritized expectations for the next couple weeks.

Now... if I can just come up with

strategies to deter missteps.