Let Them Be Little

My poor Sweet Girl has really had to endure the brunt of my learning curve of being a mom to three kids. Because she's the oldest and she's really smart, I often treat her like she's older than she actually is and expect more from her. Which is not fair to her. I'm really trying to improve in this area. I've been pondering about it a lot. The other day the phrase "let them be little" popped into my head. I've heard it a million times, but it really struck me at that moment. I NEED to let her be little! She's only 3, she's still little! She's still learning, she's still growing, she still needs my help. She can do so many things, but (as I often have to remind even her) she still needs help with a lot of things. And I GET to be that person to help her! I prayed to be that person to help her and love her and teach her.

This has really been a learning year for me and I've really noticed that the cleanliness of my house REALLY affects my mood. If it's total choas I feel so out of control so I'm often so focused on trying to clean it which in turn frustrates me because it is immediately messy again. But after "let them be little" popped in my head I've really tried to let her play. I do still clean, but I try not to be crazy about it. I let the mess stay until it needs to be cleaned up. For example, she's really into making tents out of blankets. Usually we make them in her room so they can stay up for a long time, but today she wanted it by the kitchen table. So I let her put it up. It stayed up all day until just before dinner. We had the sister missionaries for dinner and we need the space and the chairs, so I explained this to her and she was totally fine with cleaning it up! I let her be little and it paid off! I was happy and she was happy!

Another way I've tried to really let her be little is to let her wear whatever (within reason, she needs to be modest and not be super cold) she wants to things that don't really matter, like running errands and play dates. She dresses appropriately to church. But I remember how my mom would let my little brother choose these hilarious outfits when we went places and those are some of my favorite memories. Sweet Girl has this same effinity to accesorized outfits. I love it!

Letting her be little has really made us both happier when I remember to let her be little!

Also, another plug for the Happier podcast, I applied the one minute rule today and it really kept my house much cleaner so I was happier overall throughout the day!