The Selfish Part

I am learning that there are definitely times when the selfish part of me, as a mother, gets the best of me.

There are so many things I need to be working on with my children... and we sort of, kind of are trying to work on them... but the reason my children have not mastered the skills yet is complete selfishness on my part.

At two-and-a-half, we are working on potty training with Tracey.  We have been working on it since June... and it is going okay, but she still has a lot of wet pull ups, and we don't really keep the training up when we leave the house.  Selfishly, I am not looking forward to the day when I have three kids out at the park playing and Tracey comes running over to me telling me she needs a restroom.  The diaper is a lot more convenient for me right now... so I'm on board with potty training... but selfishly, I'm not rushing her.

At two-and-a-half, Tracey still takes great comfort from her pacifier.  She is only allowed to have it at bedtime and for naptime (although she often tries to commandeer the passies of her brother and sister because they are not on the same passie restrictions).  If I really wanted her to no longer use the pacifier, we could have made that a summer goal... but the truth is, I really like the comfort that it gives her.  It is a comfort to ME that I have a sure-fire way to soothe her, almost immediately, if I have to.  I am not looking forward to the day when she is upset and the passie does not soothe her.

Finally, at eight months, both Howard and Caroline scoot around and reach for toys, but neither are actually crawling yet.  They are very close and lift up onto all fours, but then don't go any where.  I know they will crawl any day... but selfishly, I have not really tried to get them to crawl because once they're off... they're off -- for the rest of my life.

The the absolute chaos that is our life right now with all the fall responsibilities, I have found great comfort in the status quo -- Tracey is not potty trained, Tracey uses the passie at night and nap, and the twins are not fully crawling yet.

I really want the best for my children, but, especially this week, they have just had to be self-motivated, because selfishly, I am not pushing them into anything new until I have a better grasp on the current skills.