Parenting is no easy task. Nothing shakes my confidence as a mother like my inability to get my 3 year old to wear a coat or leave the McDonald's playplace without a fight. But there are those times when I can see a glimmer of hope. There are those times when I feel like all the work I have been putting into raising good natured, smart, well adjusted children seems to be...working.

Exhibit A: Anytime Foods.

I can easily say 98 % of Jackson's tantrums in some way relate to food. He wants more cookies, he wants 8 glasses of milk, he doesn't want to sit for meals, he wants, he wants, he wants. So after hearing an idea for "anytime foods" from a couple of people, I knew I had to try it. I got a big bucket and filled it with bananas, oranges, grapes, carrots, pears and apples. I labeled it "anytime foods." I told Jackson he could have these foods anytime he wanted, and did not have to ask permission. Anything else (cheese, bagels, yogurt, juice, etc) he had to ask me. It's been working great so far. Now when he asks for a cookie, I can say "no but you can pick something out of your bucket" and it seems to work. He likes the independence and I like him to eat better foods without a huge tantrum.

Exhibit B: Bedtime Routine.

Jackson thrives on routines and bedtime is the most critical. Book, Song, Prayer Bed. That's it. If we do anything out of the ordinary he is a mess. Once we put him down for the night, he would often call us to come back in 5, 6, or 7 times and stay awake for over an hour in his room. I was finally ready to take back control of bedtime. I came up with the idea to start enforcing the rule a little further than stern words and empty threats. I gave him 5 or 6 books to read to himself before bed. I told him each time I had to come back in would result in one lost book. He went to sleep with no whining and didn't call out once! One point on the board for mom.

Exhibit C: Poop Party

Jackson has been doing very well with his potty training. He often goes on his own without me asking and can do most of the tasks on his own. He rarely has accidents. Except for poop. He refuses to poop in the potty. He would hide in a corner, wait until he had a diaper on, or hold it for days. I was at my wits end. Until we went to the doctor. At Jackson's 3 year check up I voiced my concern to the doctor. She looked straight and Jackson and said "didn't your mom tell you about the poop party? When you poop in the potty you can flush your poop and send it to the poop party under your house. Doesn't that sound like fun? Maybe your mom can tell you more about the poop party. Will you do that for me Jackson?" He was mesmerized. Since then, he has been amazing. His face glows when he goes successfully. He even waves and says "bye bye poop, have fun at the party!" Now I know this all seems very gross, but it's much more gross to clean messy pants so I am one happy mother! Who knew that it was something so small that just clicked with him. Have I mentioned how much I love my doctor?

There you have it folks. I fail in many ways as a mother, but I want to record the successes to keep me on the edge of sanity. If anyone has any ideas on how to teach Jackson about personal space, I am open to suggestions.