Turns out....parenting is hard.

I don't know about y'all, but for me, parenting toddlers/preschoolers is proving to be freaking hard. Every single day I am discovering something that I should do differently. For example, a few months ago, I learned that you shouldn't let your toddler sit on the counter at Chick-Fil-A.....because he will probably fall off. The problem, however, is that I have no idea what the "right way" is when it comes to parenting. Teach them important lessons? No idea. Discipline them in the right way? No idea. Teach them to be awesome, respectful, well mannered children? No idea. 

Let me explain....

• Yesterday at recess (my class shares recess time with Jonathan's class,) I looked over and saw Jonathan fighting with another little boy. My first instinct was to rush over there and discipline my son....but before I did, it came to light that the other little boy was messing with Jonathan first and stole his favorite toy by force. Apparently, Jonathan was just defending himself. And apparently, not just standing there and letting yourself get beat up is a good thing. So now, I am trying to figure out how to teach Jonathan that it is important to stand up for yourself, but really, we NEVER hit or hurt others. It is proving a tough lesson to learn.
• The other day, Jonathan told my Mom to "chill out." Take a guess where he got that from....So we talked about words that adults can use, but that little boys probably shouldn't use. Again, a tough lesson...this time, for both of us. At least I don't use cuss words....
• Lately, Jonathan and Matthew are having a hard time sharing. Matthew wants to play, so he grabs a toy. Jonathan doesn't want to share that toy, so he starts screaming. I yell at Jonathan for screaming and being mean to his brother, but forget that it's pretty lame of Matthew to steal the toy in the first place. Especially since Matthew is plenty old to know what he is doing. So we practice sharing, using our words etc....so far, no dice.
• Matthew has been screaming for no reason. A lot. I try to tell him no and usually swat his hand or something. We have tried time out in his crib when he does it.... He doesn't care. Like, for real.
• A few times this week, Jonathan has corrected his teacher at school for ridiculous things. For example, they were together at the sink today and she had to raise her voice so a student on the other side of the room could hear her. Jonathan looked at her and said, "we do NOT yell!!" I mean, the kid is right....but he can't be telling his teacher what she should and shouldn't do. So how do I teach him that those things are true, but he can't say them to his teacher?!

Somebody please tell me how to raise my boys. Somebody give me all the answers. I just want happy, respectful kids. And I want this to all be much easier. Think, unicorns and rainbows....Oh, even better, think Rainbow Brite riding her unicorn down a rainbow....I want parenting to be like that.