Mama's Boy

This has been a bit of a frustrating week as a Mommy. I've been reading some other blogs recently about motherhood-related issues and so I know I'm not the only one who doesn't know what I'm doing sometimes :)
Micah has been going through separation anxiety for the past few months but it wasn't until this week that I realized how bad it really is! At my First-Time Mom's group on Wednesday he was SO clingy that I could barely walk in the house because he was hanging on my legs. He wouldn't let me out of his sight the whole time we were there. He's even a little scared of family (except Grandma) and won't usually go sit with them unless there's incentive (i.e. a treat). And it's been months since he's been able to stay in the church nursery without Erik or I there. Yesterday morning at church I didn't even bother to try to leave him because I knew it was futile - and I wonder if it makes it worse that we are always trying to sneak away. As frustrating as it is to have to deal with his "clingy-ness", I think what worries me most is thinking ahead to 2 and a half months from now when he will no longer have Mommy all to himself. I was expecting to have an adjustment period with Micah and the new baby, but now I'm starting to think we may have some really bumpy weeks ahead of us. I can't help but wonder if I'm doing something to make him more clingy. Is it possible he's getting too much - or not enough - of other people? Am I not playing with him enough - or providing a "secure" enough environment? Maybe the best remedy for this problem will be a sibling - he may not appreciate the change at first, but he'll have to get used to it whether he likes it or not!

The other frustration has been the apparent need for discipline with Micah. Up until this point we've been pretty inconsistent, but I think he definitely needs some rules and consequences. Last week I decided I would use his crib as a 'time-out' location since he no longer uses it for sleeping. Well, he had a BLAST in there! Running around in circles and making himself dizzy. I couldn't help but laugh and pull out the video camera even though part of me was thinking - what am I going to do? Time out isn't supposed to be fun!!

So, now the crib has taken on a new purpose - a fun "play pen" to put Micah in when I need to get him out of my hair for 15 minutes or so. Just toss a few books and toys in there and he's pretty happy!

So as for the time-out, I think we will try to implement a "naughty stool" or something of that nature. I know some of you (like Janelle) have been dealing with discipline issues already. What's working for you?






And here's a collage of pictures from Erik's Dad's birthday supper on Saturday night. Micah with his Uncle Doug; Micah & Daddy playing with a tortilla chip box (Micah preferred it to be on Daddy's head and not his own); and Micah helping Grandpa blow out his 9 birthday candles (I think there were about 40 more missing...)