"Little Miss Not A Princess Bébé played on her own for a whole hour without fuss while mommy cleaned the house and did the laundry!"Since starting on The 52 Project, I've been inspired to start a project of my own. Mainly because lately for the pass two days, Little Miss Not A Princess Bébé has been throwing tantrums at the most random of times for no reason, one tantrum session a day to be precise, lasting about twenty minutes each time. But right after each session, she would be the most angelic baby ever - well mannered, cheerful and always willing to learn and help with chores.
It hasn't been easy filtering out her cries and screams during those tsunami moments, and not lose my temper at the same time, but somehow I managed. I realised that if I took myself back to just a few hours before and focus on the joy and laughter that my little two year old has given me, my anger would quickly dissipate. When I've calmed myself down, I would stay within her line of vision and reach while allowing her pour her emotions out (read more on Awareness Parenting, I don't believe in letting a child cry alone or shutting her out somewhere she can't see you). She comes to me on her own terms when she's done letting out all the stress accumulated during the past few days (or month, as far as I can remember she hasn't cried like this for a looooong time). It is a very wonderful feeling aftermath, knowing that I've given her space to express and explore her emotions, and that in the end no matter what, she will always have me to turn to when she needs loving, healing and support.
So then I realised, keeping sane while parenting is really all about seeing the positive side of your baby. If we could all list down all the positive things that our baby has done or achieved everyday, I'm sure the list will be way longer than the negative. And if we were to actually praise our children everyday about something good that they've done, they will grow up feeling better about themselves and in turn, become better human beings.
I probably won't have the discipline to jot down every single positive behavior every hour every minute, and I really don't want to be focusing on the negative, so I think I will just go with one positive behavior a day. I'm sure as the days go by towards day 365, I will become a better and positive mom.
So go on, focus on the goodness of your child and give him/ her a praise everyday. I know I will. <3
