11.29.2010

The Value of Venting

Do you ever vent - full of frustration - with your husband and then turn around and just DO the thing you were complaining about? It could be the silliest thing: having to buy Christmas gifts, not knowing how you're going to organize your house (EVER) or what you're going to make for dinner this week. But once you actually sit down and actually DO the thing you were trying to postpone, it wasn't that bad. At all. I always do that and then wonder why I made such a big deal about it.

Remember my post about not knowing what I'm doing? I vented to the blog world about my lack of toddler knowledge, especially how to transition my boys to taking their afternoon nap IN their cribs and then transitioning away from their bottles. Both issues seemed too large for me to tackle. It took me a while to get to a place where I feel more confident. More in control. Why in the world would I want to mess all of that up in order to "correct" something? Well, I still don't know exactly what I'm doing. But I stopped to make a plan and therefore, have been seeing results!

I tried to remind myself about the "take one thing at a time" concept I've been learning during the past few months in order to correct some of the bad habits I've fallen into.

Three weeks after that post, I am PROUD to say that the boys now soothe themselves to sleep in their cribs (and have for the past two weeks) and they have had one bottle a day for the past three days!!! I'm telling you, folks. This is huge.

I could say that I won't vent any more in the future. But I already know that's a lie. I actually think venting is therapeutic for me. Getting it all out there, talking with someone that knows me (and knows that I am, in fact, very capable) and trusts me enough not to give me advice. I'm able to leave those venting sessions more aware of the mountain that lies ahead of me and confident of what steps I need to make in order to conquer it. Because we ARE capable. We CAN do it. Just not all at once.

We are soo much more capable than we give ourselves credit for.

I think it was Elenor Roosevelt that said, "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know her strength until you put her in hot water."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

2 comments:

  1. Yay!!! Great job Mindy! And great job boys!! How fantastic! I've been praying for you about this.I knew you would get a handle on things. :)

    (and I love that E. Roosevelt quote!) :)

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  2. Mindy, I enjoyed reading about this. It's like we are never at the true top of the mountain. We win one victory and then keep climbing , maybe struggling with something else until we figure that thing out. I remember back to when we just had Diego. It was so much work but I had no clue having 2 and now 3 would be even harder in a different way. It's great to know that everyone struggles and that's part of life. There's always something more to learn and when we think it's about them sometimes it's really about US! Go figure!

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