Wild Island Love: My Parenting Style

In my true fashion of the quest for self-awareness, I was analyzing my parenting style the other day, looking at my strengths and weaknesses.
I came about like this: On Bloglovin' I scrolled across a post (that I didn't read) with a caption about how everyone has an age that they are good at with kids. It got me to thinking about something I heard about some men having a harder time bonding with infants, but being great fathers as the kids age and become more interactive. This, in turn, spurred me to think about what age of kids I have historically worked "best" with, and what are my strengths (and weaknesses) in working with my own kids in this age of toddlerhood.

So there is my thought process in its entirety, in case you wondered how my mind worked.

The thing I realized is, I'm not really that great at playing with my kids. Depending on what it is, I really find it a stretch and can only do it short bits at a time. As a kid, I don't even think I was that great at playing, until it came to imaginative make-up-stories kind of playing. I was just too logical, or analytical and enjoyed playing games with strategy or using stories involving emotion. I just wasn't your rough and tumble play kind of kid.

The other main realization I had is that what I love best about parenting this age is the provision and the education of my children. As I have mentioned, I love homemaking tasks. I love making healthy meals and organizing drawers and folding laundry. I love providing for those basic, functioning needs of my babies. The other thing I also love is watching and assisting my toddlers in their learning. By far, this is my favorite part of parenting right now! I would like to say I put more effort into it than I actually do, but the basic provision takes up most of my time. Still, we read a lot, and I like to teach them what things are, and sing the ABC's and practice counting. I love showing them how to do something new, and I love love love it when they all of a sudden start to do something that I had no idea they could do! When I have time, I do scan the internet (THIS site is a great inspiration) for ideas on simple ways at home to teach and show them new things. Sometimes they're a bomb, but I still like trying and finding ways to get through to their little brains. This is such a great part of parenthood that I never anticipated I would enjoy so much. The other day, my hubby said that I could have been an educator for a profession, and I think he is right. For now, my "job" will be to teach these little beings all that I can while they're still young and teachable!

Here is just a small sample of some of the learning activities we have tried: