Choose to be a Tigger!

I recently saw the last 15 minutes of a special with Diane Sawyer on Randy Pausch. I wished that I had seen the whole thing b/c it was an inspiring story of a man fighting for his life. Randy has pancreatic cancer and was given a bleak prognosis of 6 months to live. He has a wife and young children. I could not imagine being in that situation! He has decided to not take the words of the doctors, and try to make his own destiny. He hosted a lecture at the University where he works and gave his philosophy on life, which is ultimately a message for his children. He talked about the difference between being an Eyeore and a Tigger in life. Even though I only saw the last 15 minutes of the broadcast, I am trying to take this to heart. Keep track of his battle http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/ In my day to day struggles with my strong willed two year old, I can lose sight of what's really important and teaching Kylie life lessons. For instance, in the car, Kylie has this annoying habit of just making loud yelling noises over and over again. In the past, I feel myself getting angry and asking her to just be quiet. Does this stop her? Of course not! I think it actually makes her continue. So I stopped myself in the car the other day from repeating our same pattern. I decided to yell louder than she did at the top of my lungs. This surprised her and for a moment she was quiet and unsure what to do. Then she yelled back and I yelled back. It was actually fun letting out some pent up anger in a productive way. Kylie thought it was the funniest thing ever! I found myself smiling and then laughing too. What a great way to turn things around. I don't want to raise quiet compliant children! So choose to be a tigger and participate in life!