There's a Ghost in my Kitchen

This is Daniel's favourite thing to do at the dinner table at the moment. Then he pulls it down quickly and shouts boo! before erupting into laughter and doing it again. I try my best to just go with the moment and not worry too much about food rolling onto the floor. Cody's in scrap-food heaven as you can see.

Danny is so head-strong and adventurous that I can barely keep up. I seem to spend all my time with him saying "get down" "stop!" "danger!" and "no!". It would be so much more pleasant if I could come up with ways to make our interactions more positive but by the time I get home from work, get them fed, dog walked and then clean the kitchen I'm too worn out. I feel less like Maria von Trapp and more like Frankenstein, only not as agile.

Forgetting the power struggles and constant climbing, my lad Danny is a little star he really is. He puckers up now and gives me kisses and he twirls my hair in his fingers (is there anything better than that in the world I wonder?). He dances like a loon and chatters and plays ball. He growls like a monster or snorts like a pig and chases us all around the house as we squeal "A monster's coming!"

I worry sometimes that he gets just a fraction of the attention that Jack does because I keep telling myself that he's too young to notice such things. But I think he IS starting to notice and I think I'm missing an opportunity to have some me & Danny time. But it's so hard when my 4-year old wants my attention so badly right now. I wonder how other mothers balance things out.