My husband is away on a business trip for 8 days. Our nanny recently went on a 6-week vacation. After three days of being alone with them, last night I had one of those I-hope-no-one-who-reads-my-blog-ever-sees-me-now kind of a moment. I’m in the middle of cleaning up after an elaborate, health-conscious, culturally-educational meal of braised sea bass, tofu with mushrooms and minced meat and a special rice dish with baby bok-choy, edamame and carrots. I’ve got dishes piled up to the ceiling in the sink, a table full of half-eaten food and wondering why I had gone through the trouble of cooking any of it. I’m trying to load the dishwasher as fast as possible, with B tugging at my pants saying, “Mama, don’t wash dishes,” It should have been a sign. Well, the girls decided to go into the rice cupboard, dump out 2 giant cups of uncooked rice on the floor then throw it at each other. “What are you doing? Stop! STOP! I knew I shouldn’t have kept this here where you can get to it!” I go upstairs to get the vacuum. When I come back, they had gotten into the flour and was smearing it all over the cupboard door. I grab their hands and pull them into the living room. “Stand here. And don’t move!” I’m absolutely fuming.

Hours later, I realized two things:
1. You cannot keep up a household the same way you did when you have a husband AND nanny.
2. Of the three most important people in B and M’s life, two of them are gone. And they are desperately trying to get my attention.

I’m still recovering from my burst of anger and ensuing exhaustion from cleaning, but I decided to have a conversation with them anyway. Communicating helps them understand what happened and helps me calm down. At bedtime, I held them and said, “Mama yelled very loudly today, didn’t I?” Nods all around. “Mama is very tired today, so when you threw rice everywhere, I got very angry. I’m sorry I yelled.” They don’t say anything. “When Daddy and Ayi are not here, I need you to help me keep the house clean. Can you help Mama keep the house clean these next few days?” It’s a lot to ask of a 2-year-old, but they nod.

This morning on our way to school, B says, “Brooke didn’t clean up.” I ask, “What didn’t you clean up?” She says, “Brooke didn’t clean up Play-doh.” “Do you want me to help you clean it up?” I ask. She says, “No. Brooke clean up Play-doh by herself.”

It took three days of exhaustion, misery and way too much yelling for me to learn this: No more elaborate meals. No more extensive cleaning. It is time to break out the disposable bowls and plates and do more take-out. They need time with me doing Play-doh, storytime and cuddles more than ever. The acting out is merely their way of getting my attention. I’m putting aside the idea of keeping the perfect home – I’m ready to get on with having the perfect time with them.

Well, I’ve found a great solution. I’ve replaced all bowls, plates and cups with the disposable kind. My goal is avoid washing dishes altogether before my husband comes home. And a couple days of take-out is going to be great for us.

在Brooke以及Mackenzie22个月大的时候，她们终于能够自己穿脱衣服了，她们能够自己脱掉上衣，裤子，洋装，袜子，鞋子，以及外套，多数时候她们都能自己做，只需要一点点协助。我承认，在我没有耐心的时候，我的确会动手帮她们，我希望自己帮的次数再少一点！但是，每一次，她们的表现，都让我知道，只要给她们足够的时间，她们就能够独立的完成。

你家的孩子不知道是否跟我的两个女儿一样，对于衣服特别的喜欢，大约在她们六个月大左右，她们的衣服就都放在一个开放式的架子上，就像照片中的架子，孩子是可以轻易的就取得。基本上，任何时候孩子都可以来把玩她们的衣服还有鞋子，她们喜欢看见我们如何穿脱衣服，然后她们自己也同样的去做，也许因为我给她们很多这样的机会，好多练习的机会，她们对于穿衣服可就是非常的自足。

这里是孩子们现在换衣服的地方，在照片里你看不见，但是，这就在她们的工作区域旁边，练习穿脱衣服就跟使用剪刀或者读一本书，有时候，她们就只爱换衣服！

在最上层你看见的是袜子，她们俩可喜欢袜子了，在第二层是她们的上衣以及洋装，在最底层是她们的裤子，训练裤以及尿片，基本上她们已经都完成如厕练习了，但是如果我们要出门的时间超过一个小时，或者是在晚上出门，我就回给她们穿上尿布。在地上的是她们的鞋子。

我不会在她们穿衣服的过程中打扰她们，这表示，每个星期，你都有机会发现某些时候她们的裤子穿反了，有时两只脚都穿上了左脚鞋（来自於不同的两双鞋，因为她们分享同样两双鞋子），两只脚穿的袜子颜色不同，内裤外穿，穿两件夹克等等，我觉得挺有意思的，但是，我不会去纠正她们，如果她们不感到困扰，也不会困扰到我，更重要的是孩子们可以自己做决定，并且能够坚持住。

在巴尔的摩，天气渐渐的凉爽了，所以她们开始穿外套了，在我拍这个视频之前，我只是在门上给她们安上了可以吊外套的吊钩，这就是我们如何利用我们家空间的一个好例子：

在下一个文章里，我将让你知道孩子如何穿外套的好方法，小孩无法像成人一样的自己穿，因为她们的手臂太短，但是你读了下一篇就知道了！

继续看看我们具有蒙特梭利特色的新家，这里是我们吃饭的地方

1. 这是我们从孩子们六个月大就开始使用的断奶桌，这桌子花了我们150美金，但是却非常的物超所值，超过其它我们给孩子们买的东西。我把之前带侧把手的椅子换成重量较轻的板条椅，这种板条椅，是玛利亚蒙特梭利亲自发明的。制作的材料是桦木，所以重量较轻，小孩们可以自己搬动，而且因为设计的好，整个椅子很稳固，同时我觉得这种椅子很好看。如果你也想要订制，可以发电子邮件给我，介绍给你在Denver帮我们制做椅子的木匠。
2. 杯子和小水壶是桌子上的固定摆设，白天的时候，小孩要喝水时，就可以自己取用。
3. 脏碗篮平常放在桌子的下方，用过餐之后，她们会把桌子清洁干净，并且将脏碗盘餐具放进篮子里。
4. 这些是她们用的餐桌垫。我事先在一张纸上头画好盘子，碗，叉子以及刀子的线条，然后护贝。这是我学到的蒙特梭利小撇步，能够帮助孩子们很好的自己摆设餐桌，当她们在摆设餐桌时，她们还会指着叉子的线条，命名“叉子”，然后去旁边的餐车取一支叉子，接着指指盘子的线条，命名之后去取盘子。这些线条给孩子很好的指引，我极力推荐，况且制做简单，又非常便宜，点击视频，看看孩子们如何使用吧！
5. 这是她们用的碗，盘，叉子以及勺子，这些物件都分别放在各自的容器里。
6. 这些毛巾用来擦嘴，擦手，有时候水灑了也可以擦。我在毛巾上头缝了一个环，就容易吊挂起来，这是我在接受蒙特梭利培训时学到的，让我省了好多的擦手纸。
7. 这是小篮子可以装两个海绵，小孩用来擦她们的餐垫，点击视频可以看她们如何做。
8. 这个带轮子的餐车很轻，占用的空间也不大，可以随需要四处移动。

你可以参考以下的视频，看看我怎么规划的，好有个概念。视频中，孩子们在做水果奶昔，摆设餐桌，然后坐下来吃她们的早餐。

在我们开始之前，我先准备了制作水果奶昔需要的材料，每一样材料都分别放在各自的小容器里，让孩子有可能可以自己制作奶昔。

让我们开始动手吧!

如果你对于让孩子制作向日葵子奶昔，可以参考以下链接的影片，非常简单！我自己制作的时候，舍弃了巴西核桃不用，改用了腰果或向日葵子: http://livingmaxwell.com/how-to-make-nut-milk