Happy Birthday Peyton!

My daughter is three years old. Three! She has changed so much each year that it is difficult to keep up with her. I am currently dealing with the fact that she wants to do everything herself and has a difficult time taking "direction." Me being the control freak that I am has a hard time letting her do her own thing and make her own decisions. I need to lighten up. I want to have fun with my evolving neanderthal, not be in a battle over wits or clubs. Hubby tells me that the art of offering choices is a study that should not be ignored. Friend Heather recently reminded me that being a "yes" parent makes life much easier and your child much happier. Mix the two together and I shouldn't have to face another time-out, right?! Well, I am currently practicing both mixed in with a little, or a lot of my own no's, stops, don't do thats, and not nows. Hopefully my recipe for discipline will turn out like a french silk pie and not a cowpie. Cross your fingers for my success in parenting a three year old.

It just is so baffling to me how much I need to change. It makes sense, I mean she is changing by the minute and I need to keep up and be sure I am doing the most I can for her at her developmental stage. For one, I don't have to be her only entertainment - she pretend plays and has fun by herself reading or playing, and that is hard for me because I like her needing me. I know she still needs me immensely, but it isn't the same. Since she is getting the hang of potty-training that is one more area where my help will be a memory....not so sad about that, but to think I'll never be changing Dora pull-ups again in the near future makes me tear up a bit.

Miss P is such a sweetie when it comes right down to it. I am very lucky to have her as my daughter. She holds a very special place in my heart that noone else will - and I will never give up the key. Her determination, imagination, intelligence, and kindess amaze me everyday. She loves her family, her friends, and her two stinky dogs. Everyday she HAS to wear princess shoes and a dress. Many times I have had to bribe her into thinking a shirt is a dress or into wearing a skirt because it is like a dress. She complains if I sneak veges into her quesdillas, but will munch on raw carrots and inhale broccoli like it is going out of style. I think it is the whole "what pleases me today attitude." Every little princess at three has it, I'm sure.

Happy Birthday Peytie-pants. Mommy loves you more than the use of her arms and legs.