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So far Maya is having a wonderful time here in Australia. She is keeping busy. She has loved all our little adventures so far and has a bunch of her toys with her to keep her occupied when we are just hanging out in the apartment. Jetlag hit her pretty hard the first few days but she seems to have recovered nicely from that. But, as much fun as she is having and as much as she likes it here, she seems to be a little bit homesick 
The very first day we got here she told me she was going to pretend that the kitty neck pillow we got her for the plane was Lily (one of our cats) since the real Lily wasn’t in Australia with us. Then, over the last few days, several times, she has talked about how much she misses the kitties and how she really wants to give them a both a big hug. Yesterday, when we were hanging out on the balcony after her nap she told me one of the screws in the glass door was a magic button that would turn our Australia house into our green house (our house in St. Louis) and then she could go inside and find Lily and Laura. She searched every where and then asked why she couldn’t find them. Broke my heart. Luckily, our house sitter emailed a couple of photos of the kitties the other day, that made Maya really happy.
Not only does she talk a lot about how much she misses our house and her kitties and the toys she left at home but she also talks a lot about her little friend, Claire, and how much she misses her. Everyday she uses her toy phone to call Claire and tell her all about what we are doing. Yesterday she called Claire’s mom, Heather, and told her that they should ride on an airplane and come stay at our Australia house (I love that she calls it that!). We usually have a play date once a week with Heather and Claire so it is a big deal for her to go so long without seeing and playing with her friends.
Luckily, her little bout of homesickness hasn’t resulted in any crying, but it is heartbreaking to know how much she misses her kitties and her friends. I’m sure she is just adjusting to all the changes and the difference in her environment, but it is still hard. Hopefully by keeping her busy with lots of fun activities here and continuing to talk to her about what she is feeling the homesickness won’t get too bad.
There is nothing quite like living through the imagination of a child. Seeing the world through eyes that are not yet tainted with limitations. Seeing a world where anything, truly anything, is possible.
Maya is full on into imagination mode. And, I”m loving it. The games and adventures she creates for herself everyday are priceless. Sometimes I find myself standing quietly in the dining room trying not to let her know I’m there just so I can peak through the doorway into the family room and just watch her imagination run wild. Sometimes I sit down next to her and become part of the little world she has created. The world outside seems like a brighter, nicer, more joyful place in those moments.
Some days she uses her imagination to create stories. She’ll either pick up one of her books and create a story to go along with the pictures or she’ll even pick up one of my novels, study the cover and then “read” through the pages and pages of no pictures creating a story as she goes along. Some days it is endless parties, tea parties, birthday parties, any kind of party you can imagine. She’ll take her my little ponies, her princesses, her stuffed sesame street guys and arrange them all and then serve them tea or have them dance. Some days she’ll pretend she is camping. Some days she’ll be all about families and she’ll create little families that have fun and take care of each other. She always tells me who is who. Yesterday Eeyore was the daddy, her big Minnie Mouse was the mommy and her little Minnie Mouse was the Maya!
Every day is different when you use your imagination. Each morning when Maya wakes up and comes into the family room she enters a different imaginary world. I love watching as the world unfolds and the days adventures begin.
3 year olds may be little people but they sure do have big imaginations.
Let me just start by saying that having to parent with tough love sucks.
Today was gymnastics class day. The first class of the new semester. A chance for Maya to start out fresh and actually try to go into the class by herself. After last week’s struggle Lorne and I discussed that it was time to exercise some tough love and make her go into class on her own.
Throughout last semester of gym class I had to go into gym class with Maya (it is supposed to be an independent, parent free class). She would sit on my lap by the door and refused to participate for the first 10-15 minutes of class. Eventually she would make her way over to join her class as she saw how much fun they were having. Shortly there after I could leave the room and she barely noticed I wasn’t there. It worked out well but we felt like she needed to try to do it on her own. We felt that not encouraging her to overcome her shyness was not helping her.
So, for the last few days we have been talking to her about being shy and nervous and how it’s okay to be shy and nervous but that she should try to fight through it and not let it her stop her from trying new things. We talked about how important it was for her to try doing new things on her own, like going into gym class all by herself. And this morning, as we drove to gymnastics class I thought I had her convinced to try it, until we got there. As soon as we got to the front door I felt her tense up and hold on just a little tighter. I knew in that moment that it wasn’t going to go well but I had no idea just how bad it would be.
To say it was a disaster is an understatement. She literally cried, not quiet cries, but full on hysterical screaming through most of the class. She didn’t participate in a single activity. She cried for me. She cried that she wanted to go home. She cried that didn’t want to try anymore. At one point she had to go potty so I had to go in and take her. She was visibly shaking and kept saying over and over again “I tried mommy, I don’t like it.” It broke my heart into a thousand pieces.
I made her stay in the class by herself the whole time. The whole hour she cried. The whole hour she just sat there refusing to try a single activity. The girl is stubborn, maybe even more stubborn than me. This was my first real tough love experience and it was a horrible, disastrous experience. When we got out to the car Maya said in her shaky, post heavy crying voice “I didn’t have fun at gym class today. I don’t want to go to gym class next time.”, and my heart broke all over again.
I’m at a loss. I don’t know where to go from here. The whole point of this gym class is for her to have fun, today she didn’t have fun. Do I make her try it again next week, forcing her to go in by herself knowing it may end up being the same as this week? Do I go back to sitting with her for the first 10-15 minutes knowing that she at least gets to enjoy most of the class that way? I just don’t know what to do.
In the fall I was looking for an activity for Maya and decided on a gymnastics class at The Little Gym. For the past several months we’ve been heading out every Monday morning for her gym class. She loves it, well most of it. She still won’t go into the class on her own so I have to sit with her for the first 10-15 minutes. But, she is making progress and since she loves the class I’m okay with having to take my shoes off and sit on the floor until she’s comfortable.
Yesterday was the big grand finale class of this semester. Her little class put on a “show”. Basically, a demonstration of all the skills they’ve learned since the class started. They showed off the different jumps they’ve learned, their balance beam skills, high bar skills and tumbling skills. Watching these tiny little people, especially my little person, the tiniest one in the class, was so fun (and funny). The whole show ended with each child being called up to receive their achievement medal. Too cute.
Although the show started off on a rough note for Maya, she refused to participate until about half way through, she ended up having a great time and we got some great pictures of her performing her mad gymnastics skills.
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The next semester starts next week. I can’t wait to see what she learns this time. I’m hoping that she’ll be willing to go into the class all by herself (fingers crossed).
For Christmas Maya got all new Princess bedding for the big girl bed we had ordered for her. Since the new baby will need the crib she is now using as a toddler bed we decided to get her moved into a twin bed now so she doesn’t feel like the baby is taking her bed (gotta avoid jealousy were you can!). She was so excited about her new bedding it was hard to make her wait to use it until the new bed arrived.
You should have seen her face when the bed was finally all set up and the new princess bedding in place, pure joy. She wanted to hop right in bed.
I don’t think I’ve ever thought she was so big and so little at the same time more than I did when I saw her laying in her new bed. She looked so tiny in that big bed and yet seemed like such a big girl. It reminded me of the first time she slept in her crib. She seemed so tiny for that big old thing and now here she is big enough to sleep in a twin bed.
She loves her new bed, especially since it is all decked out with princess sheets, a princess comforter and princess pillows.
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When I peek in on her at night before I go to bed and see her all snuggled under her covers taking up next to no room in that big bed I wonder how I can slow time down and keep her from getting too big, too fast.