Eating Ice Cream With Love and Logic

We welcomed the official start of fall with a family trip to Jersey Junction tonight for pumpkin ice cream and a caramel apple cider shake, which I of course will spend the rest of the fall trying to replicate at home. (Unlike last year's quest, the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, I think this one will be easy and, therefore, dangerously addictive and high-calorie. Good thing I took that run this morning while I had the chance.) It was great to ride there on bikes with the girls mostly behaving in the bike trailer. Progress there can be credited to my new read, Parenting With Love and Logic. Recommended to me by a few teacher friends and a neighbor, it's given me a new way to look at discpline. More importantly, it's given me a new slant on my philosophy as a parent. I love the real-life examples strewn throughout the text, I enjoy the emphasis on natural consequences (instead of arbitrary punishment), and I appreciate the inclusion of so many phrases and language choices that can change the way you relate to your kids. In general, I've spent the last two days trying to implement this system for Annie and I feel really good about it. No matter what else happens, I have some strategies to deal with the dramatics that don't leave me wanting to kick something; I'm taking myself out of the power struggle and forcing Annie to own her choices. We will see how it plays out in the weeks ahead, but I am hopeful.