Mothering a toddler...

I know a better woman would never think about putting her kid in a closet for a while when the whining never stops, but I am not that woman. This last week almost got the better of me, but I have a great husband who is totally here for our family, and I called my sister in law who gave me some much needed encouragement and from their help I was able to make a plan that is working for us.
Eirik is spirited, or so the "Baby Whisperer for Toddlers" says. That means he needs a LOT of stimulation and if I don't stay one step ahead of him, he will trample me to the dust, and that is what has been happening .. so I've been implementing these new ideas the past few days, and we are having a great time. Those of you who already have had toddlers, these are probably old news ideas to you... but to me they have been lifesavers.

*we hung a calendar in his room with pictures of things we do on the days. We count down to holidays and his birthday every day.
*I made this awesome schedule chart that is really helping us. He needs structure, but I need it more.
Obviously, this is a "flexible" schedule and we don't adhere to it exactly.
*we have planned a once a week play dates with two of his friends that we can put on the calendar as something to look forward to since he loves to have friends over, (or maybe I love to have less attention on me for a minute.)
*I have started giving him more responsibilities, like sweeping with his broom, clearing his plate, setting the table, helping me load the dishwasher, reading Joren books and making Joren smile. He loves this!
*we started quiet time in his room for 5 minutes a day (which I will slowly make longer and longer). He cries the whole time now, but he'll get the hang of it.. hopefully!
*We set the timer for play time for 30 minutes here, and 30 minutes there so I don't get bored and stop playing and so that I can tell him, it's not play time right now...I'll set the timer when it's playtime." This way I'm able to direct some of his demands better! Phew~
*We started 10 minutes of exercise time where we can't stop moving.. run in place, gallop, somersaults, stretches jumping, follow the leader, do as I'm doing, If you're happy and you know it... etc. This was a great idea!
The schedule really helps with TV too since I hate saying "no TV right now" all day long. If he has set TV time, he knows when he can watch and when he can't and I do too and we can keep it to a minimum. :)
*I've also started making a better point of teaching him how to think through problems. I ask him, "how can you help yourself with this problem?" and then I walk him through it. This helps a lot too. He's fond of saying, "I'm frustrated!" It's really cute actually and he's starting to problem solve instead of just scream about it.
*Choices. I've learned more about choices I can offer. Instead of saying, "you don't have a choice, you have to put on your diaper." instead, I can say, "you can lay there or here to put on your diaper." He still has a choice that way.
*"The One Minute Mother" is a great book. I am going to start on the goal setting ideas from this book with Eirik when he's just a bit older.

To those of you who actually read through this whole post.. wow.. thanks. :)