Determination and Independence

Ever since Dominic went to a playground a few weeks ago and was able to do the monkey bars, he has been trying to do the same thing on our swing set.  Lauren has been spending some of her free time going outside and encouraging him. I didn't ask her to do that, she did it on her own. She's such a great sister :)  Dominic knows he can do it, but if Lauren even lets go for a second, he starts saying "la-la, la-la."  That's his nickname for her.  She has been giving him a lot of positive praise, but he wants to be able to do it for himself.  Dominic is very determined!!!

We keep magnetic letters on the fridge.  Dominic requested spaghetti recently, so I asked him to spell it on the fridge for me. I told him the correct spelling and then he did it.  Over the weekend, he tried to spell it himself without me telling him and he spelled it wrong.  I told him so and then I proceeded to use the magnetic letters and spell it correctly. Dominic was not pleased! HE wanted to be the one to do it :) Dominic really loves milk.  It felt like I was pouring a glass for him every five minutes.  About a month ago, I was thinking that he needed to be able to pour drinks for himself.  I took down a cup from the shelf and told him to get the milk out of the fridge.  I told him how full to fill it up and he did it perfectly the first time!  Dominic was so pleased with himself.  He had the biggest smile on his face.  Now, when he asks for milk, my response back is, "I'll get you a cup, you go get it yourself and do it!"   One of the hardest parenting moments for me as Dominic's mom was putting him on the bus for school when he was just three years old.  He still seemed like such a baby.  Deep down, I knew him going on the bus and to school was the best thing to give him independence, but it was still hard for me!

He has come so far since those early days.  Just this afternoon, within a few minutes of coming home from school, he ran down to the basement.  When I went to investigate, he had turned on the computer down there and was getting ready to play an old CD of Lauren's. The only thing he told me was to go back upstairs!!  My two goals for Dominic this summer is to teach him to tie his shoes and ride his bike without the training wheels.  Both require determination, but they are also skills that he will use throughout his lifetime. The more I teach him, the less he becomes dependent. My ultimate goal for Dominic is when he becomes an adult, he is able to live independent from us, whether at college or having an apartment and a job. Stay tuned for updates!