Mr. Independent

I think it stems from a combination of his age and his school's philosophies (they focus a lot on independent work and play), but lately, most of the meltdowns in our house have been a result of Josh and I trying to help Olin do something.  How dare we help him put his coat on or clear his dinner dishes?  How dare we cut his food for him?  Don't we know that he is 2 now and capable of so many things?  The only problem is the time it takes him to do something doesn't always fit in with our hurried schedules.  We are learning... or at least working on it.

I am definitely not complaining though.  This independence has been great - particularly on those afternoons after school when he plays in his room (often while singing to himself) while I clean the kitchen or make dinner.  We've even found ourselves enjoying adult conversation over our Saturday morning coffee just like in the old days.  Maybe, just maybe, we could even begin a subscription to the weekend paper, although we might want to wait awhile... I would hate to jinx it!

And in a note of personal victory for me, I did this...

I saw Josh cringe when I brought this bulb home from Whole Foods last Friday, but as you can see, these paperwhites are thriving under my care and actually bloomed!  Maybe I am not a lost cause with plants after all.