Picture perfect...or sometimes not

It was picture day for our little preschooler. Hair was jelled, hair sprayed, his outfit looked great and he practiced his smile the night before. I hate pre-ordering pictures before seeing them. You just never know what will come back with that package and if the 16 wallet pictures will only be given to grandparents because they can never think their sweetheart looks bad. It happens, I've seen it, it happened to me. My 5th grade picture, my bangs were sky high, sprayed with Aqua Net to last for a week, and the shirt I was wearing did not complement my October pasty white skin. That picture did not make it across the ocean to my relatives because it just wasn't my best. Now, I wait to see if the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. :)
We took a couple before the professional shot because mommy can never make this sweetheart look bad. HA!
On another note, our sweetheart received a couple yellow lights and one red light warnings in school for 1. taking away a toy (yellow) 2. knocking blocks and pushing (yellow) and 3. kicking (red). This count is since the beginning of the year, I've heard of worse BUT this momma is taking this seriously.
I have prayed over this for the last several weeks and today I landed at the Family Christian store to pick up a couple of books that I have heard rave reviews about.
1. Bringing up Boys

2. The parenting collection.
both books by Dr. James Dobson. These two books promise to guide me to raise my son properly. I started reading the Parenting Collection first because it has a section on a strong willed child and if you look that up in the dictionary, Daniel's picture will be right there. So far I have learned a few common sense rules. Get your notebooks out parents AND grandparents.
1. The best opportunity to communicate often occurs after a disciplinary event - Dr. D thinks that after spanking a child when they are most emotional you should sit with them and explain to them what they did wrong and why you did what you did-Done!
2. Control without nagging (it is possible) -Work needed here.
3. Don't saturate the child with materialism-Done on my part (most of the time), work needed from others in the family.
4. Establish a balance between love and discipline-Some work needed.
We're ready for the weekend. We're hoping to spend quality time as husband and wife while Ry's parents take D to have a good time.
Have a good one!