Odds and ends

We had our first bit of snowfall on Sunday. It melted away by noon, but that gave us time to get out and make a few snowballs with the damp accumulation on the front porch. Henry definitely remembers snow, and he couldn't wait to get outside and play in it. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time outdoors this winter, which is why I bought a down-filled coat last week. I may even have to get a pair of snowpants--soon.

The weekend before last I made a quick trip down to South Florida to see my friend Tammy. We had a nice visit. Unfortunately it rained the day we'd planned to go to the beach, but I did manage to dip my toes into the surf on the sunny morning before I flew home. I also went on a major shopping spree at Target. Sigh. I can't tell you how much I miss that store. There's nowhere up here where I can buy a decent, stylish pair of casual pants for $20. I constantly have sticker shock when I shop in Canada.

I plan to write a little piece later this week about Henry, in honour of his reaching the 2.5 year marker. I have lots of positive things to say. In the meantime, though, I just have to vent a bit and say that lately my darling boy has been a bit. . . BRATTY! Most of it is garden variety toddler behavior (is there a 2 year old anywhere who likes getting dressed?), but we're also experiencing more frequent outbusts and tantrums when Henry doesn't get his way. The funny thing is how subtle the line can be between normal toddler exuberance and what we characterize as misbehavior. I suppose it must be confusing to Henry. I mean, how does a young child learn to distinguish that a) throwing a ball is good fun, b) throwing all the pieces of a puzzle on the floor merits a stern look but is no big deal (in our house, at least), but c) throwing a hard plastic toy at Mommy is totally unacceptable? Isn't it all throwing? Of course not, but how to do you explain that to a toddler? Anyway, we're trying to figure out an effective way to teach/discipline him when he crosses that line. It's a challenge. Henry's old enough to understand that certain things are not allowed, but he doesn't yet have reliable impulse control. So I feel like I'm spending a lot of time saying, "No!" and "Don't do that" and otherwise policing his behavior. It's very tiring. We plan to start toilet training soon, and I haven't seen any signs to suggest that process will go smoothly, so between that, the discipline and our never-ending bedtime issues, I think we're going to be taking our lumps as parents over the next few months. Oh well--it's what we signed up for. And there's plenty of fun stuff to make up for the hard stuff. I swear.