Miss Independent

Cora wants to be super independent these days.  No shocker there.  What 3 year old doesn't?

And with her new preschool, she's getting great practice in doing things for herself.  Sometimes it's hard when she physically needs assistance with things that she's still working on mastering.  And sometimes it's hard because she wants to do things her OWN way, which isn't always the way that works best for me.  Sometimes it's really hard to be patient.

Like today during grocery shopping.  We went to the Trader Joe's that has the perfect sized carts for 3 year old shoppers.  Cora was thrilled.  But she RAN all over the place, grabbing what looked good off the shelves, and shrieking maniacally as she sprinted her cart all over the store.  Was this convenient to me?  Not really.  With Ruby tucked in the sling, and the rest of the groceries in a big cart, Nick and I took turns chasing her around the store.

But did she love it?  Did she get to feel included?  Did she get to practice helping out in a meaningful way? Absolutely.  And that made it worth it.  Maybe it's not feasible every single time, but it's so important to make an effort.