New Year's resolutions (and deviations)

The new year usually marks resolutions of change for the worldwide masses as a way to overcompensate for last year's faults. People think that if they lose the 10 pounds they gained over the holidays, the other faults from the last year won't matter nearly as much. The problem with that logic is that by March, most people have forgotten what they were trying to change about themselves to begin with. I'm just as guilty as the rest of you: I made my fair share of New Year's resolutions, all of them a slam-dunk on improving my life. Of course, it is February now and not only have I already "forgotten" my original resolutions, I am sad to say that at the Pind household, we have not even acknowledged others.

Max and I sat down at the beginning of January and decided to implement a few changes around the house to help our lives run more smoothly. Most of these changes included Cooper and his schedule and discipline. We decided to be more strict with our bedtime schedule and routine so Cooper will become easier to put down for bed and a little more responsible. We decided not to give in to his demands during dinnertime, and we decided not to encourage any of his bad behavior.

For bed time, we decided that bath time would begin at 7:15 p.m., followed by toy cleanup by 7:45, teeth brushing by 8 and story time by 8:15. The goal of this was to get Cooper to be responsible enough to clean up his own toys and get him to sleep by 8:45 p.m. at the latest. I also read that you should do bath time right before bed because it's calming. Before, we would do the bath right after supper at 6 or 6:30 p.m. I'm sure you have guessed by now that this did not last or work to my advantage.

After about a week of the new schedule, we rescinded. With Max's schedule being so crazy, we were not made out to be this strict with a bedtime routine. We went back to bath after supper, and as long as Cooper is in bed by 8:30 p.m., I could care less about everything else. We did (sort of) stick to him cleaning up his own messes. If he doesn't do it, I don't fight with him. He just might be missing a toy in the morning or he might find a toy with teeth marks courtesy of Banjo, our rat terrier.

For our dinnertime resolution, we decided that if Cooper doesn't eat what I fixed, then he doesn't eat. I decided that I was tired of fixing chicken nuggets or peanut butter every night along with what Max and I were eating. I knew when Cooper got hungry enough he would eat, and I was right. Some nights this works great for us; others he doesn't eat a thing and then eats the babysitter out of house and home the next day. We have been pretty good at sticking with this, though sometimes I do cave and make a PB&J.

As for the bad behavior that is prone to explode at anytime (i.e. temper tantrums, hitting, talking back, etc.), we have decided that threats are an amazing tool, and that if we do actually have to spank our child -- well, we got spanked as kids, and we turned out fine! The threats have worked amazingly. Cooper knows that when mommy starts counting to three, he better get his act together or it's a spanking and timeout in his room, neither of which he enjoys.

So, we might have deviated from the resolutions that we originally decided on, but like in all things, you learn as you go. Sometimes your good intentions work marvelously. Other times you are stuck with a toddler screaming, "That not fair!" from his bed. Either way, the important part is that you never stop trying to improve. I know that we will continue trying at our house. Maybe by this time next year I will have the best-behaved child around!

---------------------------------

Kristen Pind, a native of small-town Gower, Mo., came to Southeast Missouri State University with big dreams of being the next Katie Couric or Diane Sawyer. She never thought that by age 25, she'd be married with a baby and living in Cape Girardeau. Keep up with Kristen's adventures as a first-time mom -- one who's still a girl trying to figure out how her own life fits together. Turns out, she's living a dream she never knew she had, and loving every minute of it. Kristen invites moms of all types to find her "Baby Steps" page on Facebook.