Clean Slate

Blog post # 104 of 365

My great niece is visiting while she recovers from surgery. She is a little bored without brothers to fight with, classmates to study with and a sister to share her girly moments.

I have been doing my best to get her into some good habits like clean hands, clean teeth, brushed hair, being polite, taking turns, sharing, regular bath/showers, putting things back where they belong, following rules, listening, paying attention, good eating habits (read addition of lots of veggies) and more.

She was reading and studying until the novelty wore off. She is wanting do do nothing but play. There has to be a mix of work and play. "Aunt Cherie you're boring." It makes me laugh. I take as many teachable moments as I can. She is a wasteful little girl. Asking for much and consuming little unless it is candy or goodies. I put limits on those. A different niece came over with candy after candy and she just didn't listen to no. So now I physically put limits on her.

This morning she watched the rodeo with her great Gramie. Then they watched a movie. Goods experience for both of them. Kyle and I needed to have some we time before he heads back to school. (Note to reader; I am writing ahead so I can keep up without a laptop.)

My son played video games with her today. She was in heaven. So easy to give her joy. Oh and he was in heaven too. They played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the Wii. I peeked. So cute.

Every day she wants to play with sidewalk chalk on the driveway and every night I clean it off. It gives her a clean slate for the next day's drawing. Can I just say how nice it is that for all of us every day we get a clean slate? A new beginning. As we progress through the week she is getting better at following rules and whatnot and Gramie Kyle & I are getting better at enjoying the little moments. This is a good experience for all of us. I think by the time the two weeks are over we should have the routine down perfect and then it'll be time for her to go home. I'll be sad but ever so grateful for the time we have had together.