Tag Archives: kids

Another pee story

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Because you can’t really hear enough about pee, right?

There was an accident in the dining room today, as the 3 year old was playing hide and seek with her brother. A pee accident. Because she couldn’t come out of her hiding spot, so what was a girl to do?

After a tearful (on her part) and somewhat angry (on my part) discussion on the merits of peeing when you need to go vs “holding it”…. we came to an agreement. We agreed to still love each other even when one of us decides to pee our pants, and even if the other person is not very happy about it. And also that we really should take time to stop playing and go pee before it decides to make a grand entrance on a very expensive rug that your father may have a stroke over if he ever found out. She missed the rug…but it was close. Too close.

But as my husband hears the story, he seems so shocked….why did she do it?

Oh, I know.

And now for my next pee story.

I was somewhere around 5 or 6 years old. Playing at the neighbors house, and at some point realized I needed to pee. I think I was in a battle with my bladder, not wanting to allow it any power over me. I would be the one to choose my place and time of elimination, thank you very much! Not some brainless, hollow organ that can’t even stretch enough to let me finish playing a summer afternoon game of hide and seek.

At some point the urge grew from nagging to alarming. I crouched down, begging my body to just HOLD IT IN! I was doing fine, until I lost my balance, fell over and released Hoover Dam.

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I then stood, and took stock of what I had to work with. Warm sunny day, very wet pants. Can’t blame it on falling in a puddle….. but I COULD blame it on falling in a puddle of BUBBLES! Of course, I would tell my parents we were playing with a lake of bubbles and silly me fell in. Surely they would buy it!

I still remember crying, insisting it was BUBBLES and not pee!!!  Isn’t it funny how indignant we get when someone doesn’t believe our perfectly plausible lie?

So I get it. I get that I will have to expect these moments here and there, and remind the youngest to pee sometimes when she’s doing her best to avoid it. And I’ll tell her all the stuff, like I did today, about how it’s bad to hold it in, and not good for your body etc….

What I won’t tell her is that I’ve just gotten sooooo much better at holding it. That’s right, pee, I’m totally the boss of you.

freeimages.com

3 year old confidence

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I really hope the 3 year old keeps her spunky attitude. That’s what someone said about her today, “she’s got spunk”. I am taking it as a compliment.

She had to go potty today, just now in fact…. called me when she was done. After I do my clean up job, she walks out of the bathroom singing “Hey mom, pee is #1, and poop is #2!”  She’s holding two thumbs up above her head, as she swaggers past victoriously.

I love that she’s so proud of herself and her poop.

bad dreams = bad mom

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I may have mentioned that I do the “dream magic” for the kids at bedtime. I made it up for the oldest, during the afraid of the dark/bad dreams phase…. and introduced it to the 6 year old not too long ago. Now it’s a ritual, I HAVE to do it.

He’ll remind me so I don’t forget.

Seems to work, or at least he doesn’t usually remember any bad dreams…

Last night though, he woke up crying out. Somehow I didn’t hear but his daddy did and went to lie next to him in bed until he slept again.

This morning, I’m getting ready for work… just about to wake Sammy up for school. He comes walking into the bathroom, looking a little pissed. Hand on hip, he stops in front of me and narrows his eyes.

“Guess who did the dream magic wrong?!”

I had to laugh, out loud, because I wasn’t expecting that…. he believes so much in our little dream magic ritual, that he can’t fathom it not working….unless I screw it up.

Oh, he’ll make a great teen one day.

We drank the water

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my empty chair……….

Ahhhhhh, I’m back from Mexico.

Kind of dazed today…. not sure what to wear in 40-something degree weather, not sure how to feed myself anymore….. I think we were a little spoiled.

It was amazing. Such a good idea to try it instead of the usual trip to Vegas. I still love Vegas, but this is something totally different.

The three year old taught herself how to swim, like a fish, underwater. Even the 6 year old finally broke down and put his face in the water. That was major progress.

There are so many things I want to talk about, things we saw and did, things I learned about vacationing there that I will use for future trips. (Because yes, I am definitely going back).

But right now, I would like to tell you that we drank the water, and lived. EVERYONE told me not to drink the water. Not to brush my teeth with the tap water, to use bottled water instead. Also I was told not to leave the resort because I might be killed, or sold into slavery. I am probably too old for the slavery bit, but I did feel safe the whole time, and we left the resort, TWICE, and still made it back alive.

We ate all the things I was warned about, fresh fruit and salad, meats, ice cubes, water poured from pitcher that may or may not have come from a tap instead of a bottle…. and guess what? No one got sick.

We stayed at a large resort, Iberostar Paraiso Maya, and ate there as well as their surrounding properties.

This week, I am going to focus on my trip, and post about all the awesomeness we saw and did in Mexico. Right now however, I’m exhausted from taking care of myself and the kids today. I had to make lunch just now, and go grocery shopping before that!! I’ve got 3 suitcases of laundry to finish washing, and I’ve got to find the time to daydream about our trip and wish we were still there while all these things are going on. I need a nap.

 

 

 

Hiding from germs

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We are leaving in a week to vacation in another country.

Now that time is almost upon us, I feel like I’m in the danger zone. Afraid to leave the house, afraid to let the kids go outside, touch anything, breathe around anyone….

NO ONE can get hurt, or sick!!

Vitamins all around, extra vitamin C, probiotics….

Just let us get on that plane. And stay healthy there…..

Because let’s face it…. with multiple kids who are exposed to crap all the time, sickness sometimes descends out of nowhere…. and when it gets here, it lasts. And lasts.

When I’m home and not planning to leave the country, I can handle it. I have access to things like puke buckets, ibuprofen, the sick couch, and all the sprite and jello anyone could want.

But away from home, I feel a little bit like we might not be able to handle sickness so well. And I know it happens!  I once saw a little girl puke all over the lady next to her on a plane. It wasn’t her mom. Poor both of them.

I’ve been out with the kids locally, and had them get sick. Last time it was Sammy a few  years ago, felt sick out at dinner. Started puking as I carried him to the bathroom. I automatically caught it, directing his stream of vomit into my sweater to save the carpet. But home was just down the street.

I guess it’s on my mind because my oldest boy is sick right now. He stayed home from school a couple days ago and has been coughing and just really tired and achey.

As I get him tea, popsicles, cough drops, I am also praying he doesn’t infect anyone else. Not now!!!

So I’m trying to lie low. I want the germs to ignore us completely. We are not interesting, move on!!

wellnessweekly.net

 

Charlie saves the day

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We had a play date today, me and the 2 youngest.

Jenna at any moment is usually carrying one or several pet dogs or horses, the stuffed variety. Today she insisted on bringing “Chip”, a beagle looking stuffed dog with her.

after 3 hours of playing, we left. All of us forgetting Chip behind.

The mom sends me a text, they found him…how do I want to arrange getting him back?

I made an executive decision, counting on Jenna to not remember that we forgot her baby behind. Just send him to school with her youngest on Monday, I’ll have Sammy bring him home.

Wouldn’t you know, Jenna sure did remember her dog…..

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She didn’t take too well to my plan of letting him stay away for a few days. Even promising to get him tomorrow didn’t stop the tears.

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I thought she’d taper off, go do something else, but she stayed focused on her misery. The only thing that slowed the tears was actually watching me take her photos…she would slow down enough to inspect each image. I pointed out tears and tried some filters to catch her anguish at its best advantage.

She is excellent at expressing her despair.

Finally, in desperation, I made a deal. I offered her the companionship of my own best stuffed friend, Charlie. With me since the age of 3, he is kept in a place away from grabbing hands where he can sit in peace and reflect on all the good years he’s shared with me.

I every so carefully brought him out and told Jenna she could take care of him until Chip comes back. She was taken with the idea of befriending my elderly raccoon.

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No, Chip is not forgotten….but for now she is content.

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And tomorrow….tomorrow that beagle is coming home.

 

Daddy’s girl

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nails1

When we had Sammy, the husband was over the moon. Not because he was a boy, but because it was his child, his first.

In truth, I believe he was actually hoping for a girl when we found ourselves expecting.

He has a niece, Jenna, and swore if he had a daughter he was going to give her the same name because he just loved her so much.

He talks about his younger sister, born when he was a teenager, and how he loved helping take care of her, she was like a little doll. He is such a softie. I have often compared his personality with the kids to a grandma, because he is seriously that doting.

Obviously, I’m the mean one.

When we found out we were having a girl the next time around, I expected him to be thrilled. After all, Sammy wasn’t a month old before he was asking when I was going to give him a daughter. (you don’t want to know how that conversation went…. )

He was not thrilled. He was terrified. Hoping the ultrasound was wrong.

I was shocked. And kind of pissed at him. And thrilled because I “knew” it was a girl. I was ready for another girl after having boys the last 2 times.

the husband fretted about the responsibility of having a daughter…. I heard him muttering things about boys….and periods…. a bit overwhelmed.

We named her Jenna. And at first…. I worried that she wouldn’t get the same love from the husband that he gave to Sammy. I feared that he loved his first child so much, there couldn’t be room for another. Especially now that he seemed so scared of having a daughter.

As time has gone on, Jenna has made her place in the family. She is not gentle natured like her brother and her dad. She is bossy, and sassy…. and the tougher of our two little ones.

But still, it happened. He is a slave to her whims. He begs for hugs and kisses, and she doles them out very sparingly. She blatantly uses him to stay up late when I say no, or to get things I say she can’t have. He knows this, but he is powerless to tell her no. (that grandma syndrome again)

She is three now, and very secure in her dads affections.

And he has turned into a hair-styling, nail-polishing, awesome dad who is grateful for his boy and his girl, even if she is as prickly as a cactus sometimes.

a funny happening

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blog

courtesy of thewritingnut.com

When I started this blog, I had no idea who I was writing to, or always what to write about.

It was my sisters idea, actually….. she knows I’ve always loved to write. “Start a mommy blog” she told me…. “you will become wildly popular and wealthy beyond all your wildest dreams”.

Or something like that.

I quickly realized that when forced to research topics to write about, things that other people might want to read about, I was less than inspired to write. Too much like work.

So it’s evolved into whatever it is right now… I guess it’s still a mommy blog, I do talk a lot about my kids…. sometimes I think the only people who will truly find some worth in it are my kids.

Which is why I find it so surprising and strangely flattering to hear that my oldest daughter has friends who actually read this too. And they tell her things like “OMG, your mom is so amazing and cool…. I wish she was my mom.”, and ” your mom is hilarious, I wish I was her.”, and “I’m so in love with your mom, I’m going to kidnap her.”

Or something like that……

And you know, this is a big deal for me…. never having been a “popular” kid in school. I was way too shy and blushed a lot….. and of course I didn’t have cool shoes so that alone set the stage for 4 years of high school misery.

And so, at the age of 40, quite past the age of my daughter and her friends…. they are somehow sucked in by the effortless charm I seem to exude, the breezy way I handle challenges and disappointments (with chocolate donuts..), and no doubt… by the rock star attitude with which I approach everything from potty training to bathing suit shopping.

…..or something like that.

 

temptation and motivation

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sometimes, your gummy vitamins just aren’t enough to tame the cravings. When I find myself considering self harm because I’m dying for junk food… I tend to give in.

So I got this cute little mini muffin pan and decided to make some chocolate chip something or other cookie cups to tame the inner beast. I ended up making these peanut butter chocolate chip cookie cups that only took about 20 minutes to make.

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YUM. Recipe from averiecooks.com

They totally satisfied 🙂

Of course, I felt like I could give in to temptation today because I’ve been working out more. Partly because the two younger ones have been really into it, and frequently harass me into working out with them.

We all have to put on matching tank tops, or Sammy goes topless to showcase his guns….

And they actually work out with me.

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ah yes, our 10 minute bootie blast……

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the pilates “100”

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king of pilates

probably I would have a more effective workout if I would just focus on sucking my belly button into my spine instead of snapping photos and forgetting to breathe…. I’ll figure it out….

 

 

waging a war

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There is a point all kids reach… at least all of MY kids…. when they suddenly realize picking up toys and putting them into the organized bins or containers is NOT as much fun as just tossing them around and walking away.

Seems like the 3 year old has reached that threshold.

I just spent 45 minutes…. 45 MINUTES!…..listening to her groaning, crying, yelling, and attempting to sneak away because I refused to let her do anything until she cleaned up the marbles. There are over 300 I think.

I stayed strong.

It was hell, but they are picked up. She doesn’t like me much right now, but at least she did it. With minimal help from me.

I know she learned nothing from this.

I’m pretty sure she still feels like she won.