Bringing up Bebe

A friend of mine recommended this book to me while we were chatting during a playdate. It was a funny read. It was snooty at times while insightful at others. It is hard to adopt French habits all the time when you aren't living in France and have not had any French influences in your life, however, I did learn a lot from this read.

Since I've read this book I  now have the kids eating 4 times a day at 8, 12, 4, and 8 just like the French do. We no longer snack all day long or carry baggies of pretzels and granola bars around just to appease the kids when they are feeling out of sorts.  Breakfast is fresh fruit and then grains. Lunch and dinner start with a raw vegetable appetizer which is followed by protein and grains and ends with fresh fruit for dessert. Snack time at 4 is the only time they are allowed to eat sweets. But they are allowed one sweet and the rest must be healthy snacks. All beverages are either soy milk or water. Now they are really hungry for meals. They try new foods and don't balk as much about what is served. And I don't spend the whole day trying to prepare food for them. The eating is much more relaxed on the weekend when we sometimes go out or have special treats.

I've also started to make more decisions and I've been saying on occasion, "I'm the one who decides." I try to get the kids to realize that greeting people is important. I'm working on making the "big eyes" to get the kids to take me seriously when they are doing something I deem unacceptable.

I do spend a lot of time with the kids and even more so now that we're homeschooling. The French send their children to school and to wilderness camps so they will become more independent. Maybe one day I'll feel that they are old enough to go to summer camp or to stay with the grandparents for a month.

 Like the French, I do make sure that I have time for myself and time for my spouse. Life can't be all about the kids. It is adult time at 9 pm and the kids must stay in their rooms even if they are not sleepy.

There are still the temper tantrums, loud voices, and messes to clean up . Things are not always perfect but they are definitely improving.