Friends Made Over Cookies...

Lately Dan and Jayden have not been getting along very well...Jayden will NOT listen to Dan, and that just ticks Dan off. They have gotten into a few arguments that just make me giggle to listen to, but then I get reminded by both of them that "It isn't FUNNY!!" It has gotten to the point where Jayden has all out said that he doesn't like Dan and they aren't friends. (The biggest insult that Jay can come up with.) Dan understands that Jay is almost 3 and that it is kind of normal for little kids to say things like "I don't like you!" when you keep them from doing what they want, but it hurt him when Jay told me he wanted a new Daddy after a fight they had over bed time. Dan and I sat down and had a "meeting" about what to do with their relationship, and decided that it was my job (since Jay would talk to me) to find out why Jayden resented Dan so much, and then we would make another plan after that. I discovered that Jayden was hurt whenever Dan left for work because he thought Dan didn't like us or want to spend time with us. I tried to explain to him that Daddy needed to go to work and get money so we could go to the store and buy things. Daddy really loved us, and because he loved us he went to work so we could have a house. He seemed understand, but when Dan got home they got into it again. Dan's problem isn't what Jay is doing, necessarily, but the disrespect that Jay has for him. So, after the kids went to bed, we had another meeting and I told Dan what Jay had told me. We decided that we would start a new daily routine to teach Jayden respect while repairing their relationship. Every morning we all wake up together and have breakfast as a family, Dan takes time with each kid to tell them he loves them and then they plan an activity to do together when he gets home. He gives them hugs and kisses and then leaves for work. Throughout the day I remind the kids of the activity they will do with Daddy when he gets home from work to keep them excited about it. Then, when Dan gets home they immediately get started on their activity while I finish getting dinner ready. Yesterday's activity was baking cookies. Jayden was so excited for Dan to get home and talked about it all day. He was watching a show he earned (he finished all of his jobs on his job-chart) when Dan got home. The kid actually turned OFF the show when he heard the door open and jumped up to meet Dan, screaming "LET'S BAKE COOKIES!!!" They were so cute and precious together. It was mainly a Daddy-Jayden project, but Karah was an excellent spectator. The funniest part was when Dan decided that Jay was old enough to add the eggs. I kept my mouth shut because this was "their time". Dan handed Jay an egg, and then said, "Crack the egg and put it in the bowl". So, Jay chucked the whole egg into the bowl as hard as he could, then exclaimed, "Yay! I cracked it!" It took Dan a few minutes to fish out all of the shells. All in all, we lost about 4 eggs because Jay decided he would help Dan put away the ingredients while the cookies were baking and tripped while he was carrying the huge carton of eggs. I asked him later if he had fun with Daddy, and he said: "Yeah, he's my best friend."