Jaden: Weather Girl, Serious Listener & Her Jar of Balls
Well hello there :) I recently said to a few friends that I feel like every time I blog I'm apologizing for being behind. I'm behind on Disney photos, behind on Bristol's monthly posts, behind on many other little things I've wanted to share. I'm not going to apologize today (although I really wish I had 6 extra hours in a day so that I could catch up!), but I will say that things here are wonderful and we are all just very busy with "life."
I wanted to post a few things about my incredible first-born today. Little Jadie-girl, the first of the three most precious gifts I've ever been given :)
Jaden has recently become SO interested in the weather. I should've known I would have at least one child tremendously interested in the likelihood of rain on a particular day, the 10-day forecast, and how cloudy our Cleveland sky is going to be. Afterall, I'll never forget the time (about 6 months after Scott and I got married) when I was talking with my mother-in-law and I said, "Scott is SO interested in the weather. I've never known anyone who checks the forecast more than he does" and Scott's mom, Jan, replied, "I do. His father!" Sure enough, the Vitt's all seem borderline obsessed with weather. And I say all of this with much love and respect--afterall, the family "weathermen" always know exactly how we should pack for an upcoming vacation or whether or not to tell me to throw an umbrella in my bag for the day. It's very sweet and endearing.
Anyway, recently Jaden too has become weather-obsessed. If we're driving in the car and she hears the jingle on the radio that means the weather report is starting, she tells everyone to "shhhhhhh!" so that she can hear it. She's always asking if it's going to rain or storm, if it's going to snow, etc. She's the first to report seeing sunshine or falling snowflakes. And every time she does, I think to myself how cute it is that she's so much like her Daddy and her Papa!
Last Friday, I had to attend a breakfast on behalf of our pre-school parents group. It was at 8am and Scott had been out of town at that point for 6 full days skiing in Colorado, so I had to take all three kids along with me. I was nervous about how they would behave, but hopeful because in my experience, as long as there's something to eat, they're quiet :) I busied myself feeding Bristol as I listened to the speaker at the breakfast and aside from helping to fill their plates, Jaden and Sienna didn't need anything from me at all. They were angels. At one point I looked over at Jaden and she looked so grown up--legs crossed and listening INTENTLY to the person speaking:
Now let me say this, the speech was anything but kid-friendly. It certainly was impactful for the adults in attendance (including myself), but I never thought for a second that my kids would care about anything going on that morning besides what good food they were going to eat. To look over and see Jaden taking everything in, looking through those little glasses of her as if the woman speaking was talking about Disney Princesses, it made me melt. My little girl is growing up. She is interested and intrigued by the world around her. She cares about others and she was amazed by what was being shared. What a serious little listener!!
Finally, I wanted to share today about our new behavior plan because not only has it made a huge difference in Jaden's behavior, but it has affected our entire home. See these jars of pom-pom balls:
Believe it or not, those little balls hold the secret of well-behaved children. Last week, as I mentioned, Scott spent SEVEN days away skiing. It was very trying to play "single-parent" while also having our dog to care for (he's actually Scott's pup and he goes to work with Scott, so I don't do much for him usually), AND it just happened to be a 5-day weekend off school for Jaden. By the third day on my own, all of the girls were giving me a difficult time and there was no rest for this weary mama. So my friend Kristin came over to hang out and while she was here I vented about the girls' behavior. I'm not sure of her title, but I'd call Kristin a Behavioral Specialist--she has studied this area of psychology and works in the field. So she gave me the idea of these little jars.
Each week we start with two empty jars. Every time I catch Jaden (red pom-poms) or Sienna (green pom-poms) being good, doing something kind, improving on something they're working on, etc., I praise them and award them a ball. If, at the end of a week, they have 25 balls in their jar, they earn a prize.
I personally loved this plan from day one because it gives me an added opportunity to praise my daughters. I always felt like I tried to give them praise, but that I didn't do it enough. I also love that just by giving them this added boost of positive feedback, the girls in turn have better behavior overall! It's like a miracle!
Along with using these jars, Kristin advised me to ignore more of the poor behavior and only focus on the good. Children often use misbehaving as a way to receive attention and if you ignore it, they'll realize that the behavior they're showing isn't working for the result they want. So I'm working on that too. Of course, there are certain situations where you can't ignore behavior, but when I can, I am.
Jaden had been having a hard time listening to me and now, she's working hard on filling her jar with red balls so she always wants to listen hoping that her good behavior earns her a ball. It's been a wonderful week for her, and a good one for me too!
I wanted to post a few things about my incredible first-born today. Little Jadie-girl, the first of the three most precious gifts I've ever been given :)
Jaden has recently become SO interested in the weather. I should've known I would have at least one child tremendously interested in the likelihood of rain on a particular day, the 10-day forecast, and how cloudy our Cleveland sky is going to be. Afterall, I'll never forget the time (about 6 months after Scott and I got married) when I was talking with my mother-in-law and I said, "Scott is SO interested in the weather. I've never known anyone who checks the forecast more than he does" and Scott's mom, Jan, replied, "I do. His father!" Sure enough, the Vitt's all seem borderline obsessed with weather. And I say all of this with much love and respect--afterall, the family "weathermen" always know exactly how we should pack for an upcoming vacation or whether or not to tell me to throw an umbrella in my bag for the day. It's very sweet and endearing.
Anyway, recently Jaden too has become weather-obsessed. If we're driving in the car and she hears the jingle on the radio that means the weather report is starting, she tells everyone to "shhhhhhh!" so that she can hear it. She's always asking if it's going to rain or storm, if it's going to snow, etc. She's the first to report seeing sunshine or falling snowflakes. And every time she does, I think to myself how cute it is that she's so much like her Daddy and her Papa!
Last Friday, I had to attend a breakfast on behalf of our pre-school parents group. It was at 8am and Scott had been out of town at that point for 6 full days skiing in Colorado, so I had to take all three kids along with me. I was nervous about how they would behave, but hopeful because in my experience, as long as there's something to eat, they're quiet :) I busied myself feeding Bristol as I listened to the speaker at the breakfast and aside from helping to fill their plates, Jaden and Sienna didn't need anything from me at all. They were angels. At one point I looked over at Jaden and she looked so grown up--legs crossed and listening INTENTLY to the person speaking:
Now let me say this, the speech was anything but kid-friendly. It certainly was impactful for the adults in attendance (including myself), but I never thought for a second that my kids would care about anything going on that morning besides what good food they were going to eat. To look over and see Jaden taking everything in, looking through those little glasses of her as if the woman speaking was talking about Disney Princesses, it made me melt. My little girl is growing up. She is interested and intrigued by the world around her. She cares about others and she was amazed by what was being shared. What a serious little listener!!
Finally, I wanted to share today about our new behavior plan because not only has it made a huge difference in Jaden's behavior, but it has affected our entire home. See these jars of pom-pom balls:
Believe it or not, those little balls hold the secret of well-behaved children. Last week, as I mentioned, Scott spent SEVEN days away skiing. It was very trying to play "single-parent" while also having our dog to care for (he's actually Scott's pup and he goes to work with Scott, so I don't do much for him usually), AND it just happened to be a 5-day weekend off school for Jaden. By the third day on my own, all of the girls were giving me a difficult time and there was no rest for this weary mama. So my friend Kristin came over to hang out and while she was here I vented about the girls' behavior. I'm not sure of her title, but I'd call Kristin a Behavioral Specialist--she has studied this area of psychology and works in the field. So she gave me the idea of these little jars.
Each week we start with two empty jars. Every time I catch Jaden (red pom-poms) or Sienna (green pom-poms) being good, doing something kind, improving on something they're working on, etc., I praise them and award them a ball. If, at the end of a week, they have 25 balls in their jar, they earn a prize.
I personally loved this plan from day one because it gives me an added opportunity to praise my daughters. I always felt like I tried to give them praise, but that I didn't do it enough. I also love that just by giving them this added boost of positive feedback, the girls in turn have better behavior overall! It's like a miracle!
Along with using these jars, Kristin advised me to ignore more of the poor behavior and only focus on the good. Children often use misbehaving as a way to receive attention and if you ignore it, they'll realize that the behavior they're showing isn't working for the result they want. So I'm working on that too. Of course, there are certain situations where you can't ignore behavior, but when I can, I am.
Jaden had been having a hard time listening to me and now, she's working hard on filling her jar with red balls so she always wants to listen hoping that her good behavior earns her a ball. It's been a wonderful week for her, and a good one for me too!
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