Daily Discipline Inspiration

As I was vacuuming the stairs today in an attempt to drown out the sound of my son's latest temper tantrum, I thought, what I need is a daily dose of inspiration to stay calm through the toughest days of raising my son (and on occasion his sisters). I need an encouraging voice whispering my ear, saying, "You're doing great! Way to ignore that bad behavior! Stay focused on being calm, and your son will learn to be calm too." Kind of like the Flylady for moms. So, I'm starting this blog. I figure if I have to tell the world about my daily parenting, I'll do a better job. Some days, I'll share tips that I've learned. Other days, I hope I find some readers who can pick me up.

I don't think my parenting life is any more difficult than anyone else's; but some people would say it is. I'm single, 40, and I adopted three kids (now 6, almost 5, and 3 1/2) last January. They were with me for 3 1/2 years before our adoption was finalized. I've been a middle school teacher for 15 years so the whole kid-thing isn't as new as it might sound. I also spent my life from 5th grade through college babysitting and working as a nanny. Even so, three kids full-time has some difficult moments. Added to that are the problems that are pretty normal in the world of foster care: attachment and control issues, lack of prenatal care, and prenatal exposure to alcohol (and who knows what else).

Today is actually going really well...for me. Our behavior specialist wants me to ignore my son's (the six year old) temper tantrums. Leave him in his room until he's calm. So I discovered that vacuuming helps me tremendously. It allowed me to get some needed housework done; the girls (the almost 5 and 3 1/2 year old) to play; and my son the time and space to figure out how to get himself calmed down. Yes, it took over an hour, but you should see how nicely he's playing right now, and how clean my house is!

I think blogging is going to help me stay focused on the positive. I feel better already. Now for the afternoon...