Before I became a mom, I viewed toy shopping differently. Squirting toys meant fun in the bath and any toy that made some kind of noise would be a huge hit. Once I became a parent myself, I learned that squirting bath toys can get mildew trapped inside and those noisy toys take a long time to kill the batteries they're running on.
Often times a toy looks good in theory, but when put into practice, it turns into quite the disaster. Take the sand and water tables, for instance. Sand on one side, water on the other. Pre-mom thinking says "What an ingenious idea!" Post-mom says "Well, that's going to just go from sand & water to mud!" Water sprinklers made for the bathtub means water all over the bathroom. Extravagant Lego buildings mean spending 9 hours putting it together and then watching your kid tear it apart in 30 minutes. Hungry Hippos bought for the older sibling may require a trip to the ER when the youngest one swallows a marble. Instrumental recorders...I'm wincing at the day that I bought those for the kids I used to babysit. Sorry Marisa...I didn't realize what I was getting you into!
I've also found that it's impossible to do any kind of Christmas shopping with kids in tow. No matter how I've tried to hide what they are getting under other gifts or clothes, Sean still manages to point it out and question why it's in the carriage. Even if he doesn't see what I'm actually buying, he certainly doesn't miss all the stuff I'm not buying.
Then I discovered Amazon. Most items qualify for free shipping if you spend over $25 so shopping online has become financially comparable to shopping at the store. I will admit, I'm rather amazed at how it sucks you in. I search for 'building blocks' and then they suggest other items I might like, which leads to a loss of about an hour or two that can be compared to a visit to the Twilight Zone.
I used to have to deal with finding a parking spot or running to 6 different stores for one thing that no one seems to have. Gone are the days of hiding purchases from curious eyes and public tantrums over the decision to pass on the latest toy craze. This year, I think I'll be saner shopping in my pajamas, complete with fuzzy slippers and a cup of cocoa. With the promise of having a more relaxed holiday season, I'm actually looking forward to it this year.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Commence Christmas Shopping
Before I became a mom, I viewed toy shopping differently. Squirting toys meant fun in the bath and any toy that made some kind of noise would be a huge hit. Once I became a parent myself, I learned that squirting bath toys can get mildew trapped inside and those noisy toys take a long time to kill the batteries they're running on.
Often times a toy looks good in theory, but when put into practice, it turns into quite the disaster. Take the sand and water tables, for instance. Sand on one side, water on the other. Pre-mom thinking says "What an ingenious idea!" Post-mom says "Well, that's going to just go from sand & water to mud!" Water sprinklers made for the bathtub means water all over the bathroom. Extravagant Lego buildings mean spending 9 hours putting it together and then watching your kid tear it apart in 30 minutes. Hungry Hippos bought for the older sibling may require a trip to the ER when the youngest one swallows a marble. Instrumental recorders...I'm wincing at the day that I bought those for the kids I used to babysit. Sorry Marisa...I didn't realize what I was getting you into!
I've also found that it's impossible to do any kind of Christmas shopping with kids in tow. No matter how I've tried to hide what they are getting under other gifts or clothes, Sean still manages to point it out and question why it's in the carriage. Even if he doesn't see what I'm actually buying, he certainly doesn't miss all the stuff I'm not buying.
Then I discovered Amazon. Most items qualify for free shipping if you spend over $25 so shopping online has become financially comparable to shopping at the store. I will admit, I'm rather amazed at how it sucks you in. I search for 'building blocks' and then they suggest other items I might like, which leads to a loss of about an hour or two that can be compared to a visit to the Twilight Zone.
I used to have to deal with finding a parking spot or running to 6 different stores for one thing that no one seems to have. Gone are the days of hiding purchases from curious eyes and public tantrums over the decision to pass on the latest toy craze. This year, I think I'll be saner shopping in my pajamas, complete with fuzzy slippers and a cup of cocoa. With the promise of having a more relaxed holiday season, I'm actually looking forward to it this year.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Wild Imaginations and Dark Places
I am currently on vacation, visiting my family in Tennessee. Compared to where I live, they live in the middle of nowhere, and with my imagination, that is a rather good place to let it run wild. So far, I've warded off my usual nightmares and have slept pretty good...that was until my parents went away for the night to celebrate their anniversary and I realized I feel a lot safer in the house when my dad is sleeping in it.
I awoke from a frightening dream only to hear a suspicious noise. When I looked out the window, all I could see was a cloak of darkness and I involuntarily thought of every single scary movie that I have ever seen. That was at 2am. I started to doze off an hour after my freakish encounter with the night time view in my father's backyard. Cue Rex and his guard-dog bark, a barking that kept up for a good 3 minutes, though even one solitary bark would've thrown me into just as much of a panic. Though he fell silent and I saw that nothing was there, I was completely freaked out at that point and refused to allow my eyes to shut until the light of the morning sun started to shine over the hills. Logically, I thought, all the scariest parts of those damn movies were at night, so if something bad is going to happen, it will happen before the sun rises. Not logical at all, I know, but I'm wired out from fear and starting to get a tad pissed at myself for even allowing it to get to this extreme, though I will reiterate: one girl with a wild imagination, in the middle of nowhere and it's one dark night. Not a pleasant equation, if you ask me, but then again, I could be biased...I'm that girl!
It is now almost 5am. I'm silently willing that giant star to move across the Earth and start waking up so that I may attempt to fall asleep. I'm also praying that both of my boys will decide today is a sleep-in day. Of course, I pray with an acceptance that God might just tell me no...if I can just fall asleep in the next 30 minutes, at least I'll get in one long cat nap!
I awoke from a frightening dream only to hear a suspicious noise. When I looked out the window, all I could see was a cloak of darkness and I involuntarily thought of every single scary movie that I have ever seen. That was at 2am. I started to doze off an hour after my freakish encounter with the night time view in my father's backyard. Cue Rex and his guard-dog bark, a barking that kept up for a good 3 minutes, though even one solitary bark would've thrown me into just as much of a panic. Though he fell silent and I saw that nothing was there, I was completely freaked out at that point and refused to allow my eyes to shut until the light of the morning sun started to shine over the hills. Logically, I thought, all the scariest parts of those damn movies were at night, so if something bad is going to happen, it will happen before the sun rises. Not logical at all, I know, but I'm wired out from fear and starting to get a tad pissed at myself for even allowing it to get to this extreme, though I will reiterate: one girl with a wild imagination, in the middle of nowhere and it's one dark night. Not a pleasant equation, if you ask me, but then again, I could be biased...I'm that girl!
It is now almost 5am. I'm silently willing that giant star to move across the Earth and start waking up so that I may attempt to fall asleep. I'm also praying that both of my boys will decide today is a sleep-in day. Of course, I pray with an acceptance that God might just tell me no...if I can just fall asleep in the next 30 minutes, at least I'll get in one long cat nap!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Freedom of Time
First & foremost, I would like to extend an immense amount of gratitude to all those who fought for our freedoms, who left their families behind to fight for all the liberties that ours have today. To all the soldiers, past, present & future, God bless you! It is wasn't for you, I may not have the freedom to express myself here today.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It has been quite awhile since I've had a chance to sit down to write. I probably could've done a few simple sentences here and there, but I know that is only a good idea in theory. The moment I sit down to write even a sentence, a whole blog of sentences spills out onto the keyboard. Then, before I know it, I've stayed up a whole lot later than I intended.
Today I have a whole month's worth of inspiration flowing through me, though most of it was acquired in the last week. Going on, in detail, about the last month would require alot of time. I spent the entire weekend focusing on my boys.
Create awesome memories for the 4th of July?
Check.
Clean the house & pack for me & two kids?
Definitely not checked.
Our flight leaves for Tennessee in 36 hours. That ticking wall clock, as usual, is my enemy. Since I have so much to do in so little time, I'll make this short & sweet.
Life can be amazing. It sure can throw a mean curve ball sometimes, but the most important thing to do, every day of your life, is to live it like it's going to be your very last. I have been attempting to practice this philosophy all my adult life and for most of it, I have succeeded. But I'm sad to admit that there were stints of time that I ran through my days in a haze, when I wouldn't let Sean stop to pick the dandelion and let him blow it in the wind. That isn't to say that we had a rush of days every day, but there were enough in which there was no "wasted time". I thought I would be able to slow down the moving hands, and really enjoy my kids, especially with Connor growing up through his first year. As I watch him crawling around, eating on his own and playing with his older brother, I am baffled by the fact that he's already nine months old. I feel like I had a baby for a week! Then I look at Sean and realize he's going to be 4 and it dawns on me how fast the days are going by. Even looking back over this last month, I can't believe it's already July!
In the passed 30 days, I've been making amazing memories, spending good time with friends and family, sharing the most precious thing of all...time.
Life. It's precarious. Like the fireworks exploding in the sky right now, that is how our life is: big... brilliant...beautiful. And over before we know it.
Life is about falling in love and getting your heartbroken, it's about forgiving yourself when you're the one who did the breaking; about loving and losing; about making tough decisions and making easy ones; about letting go and moving on. Sometimes it's about not listening to someone else and just following your heart. Other times, it's about taking good advice. No one is perfect, but most of us have good intentions. We are going to fall, then get back up, then most likely fall again. We all get hurt. We all suffer. We all have baggage. We've all had successful attempts at something, only to have it followed by a failure of a different nature. But we also have these amazing things called emotions, and they let us scream and yell or cry or break into tiny hysterics with your best friend over the 'funniest thing ever!'
I'll admit it: I sometimes find myself chuckling over something that happened forever ago...Who cares if I look a little schizophrenic, quietly laughing to myself. It was a good memory.
There is something magical in every day life, something extraordinary in the ordinary everyday. That's what this blog is really all about...I'm telling you to stop. I'm telling you to look. I'm telling you that when you make time, you can stop time, even if just to freeze a moment to go back to in memory someday. Because in the end, nothing will matter more in death than knowing that you lived. In the end, when you have time to look back on your life, what will you see on rewind?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It has been quite awhile since I've had a chance to sit down to write. I probably could've done a few simple sentences here and there, but I know that is only a good idea in theory. The moment I sit down to write even a sentence, a whole blog of sentences spills out onto the keyboard. Then, before I know it, I've stayed up a whole lot later than I intended.
Today I have a whole month's worth of inspiration flowing through me, though most of it was acquired in the last week. Going on, in detail, about the last month would require alot of time. I spent the entire weekend focusing on my boys.
Create awesome memories for the 4th of July?
Check.
Clean the house & pack for me & two kids?
Definitely not checked.
Our flight leaves for Tennessee in 36 hours. That ticking wall clock, as usual, is my enemy. Since I have so much to do in so little time, I'll make this short & sweet.
Life can be amazing. It sure can throw a mean curve ball sometimes, but the most important thing to do, every day of your life, is to live it like it's going to be your very last. I have been attempting to practice this philosophy all my adult life and for most of it, I have succeeded. But I'm sad to admit that there were stints of time that I ran through my days in a haze, when I wouldn't let Sean stop to pick the dandelion and let him blow it in the wind. That isn't to say that we had a rush of days every day, but there were enough in which there was no "wasted time". I thought I would be able to slow down the moving hands, and really enjoy my kids, especially with Connor growing up through his first year. As I watch him crawling around, eating on his own and playing with his older brother, I am baffled by the fact that he's already nine months old. I feel like I had a baby for a week! Then I look at Sean and realize he's going to be 4 and it dawns on me how fast the days are going by. Even looking back over this last month, I can't believe it's already July!
In the passed 30 days, I've been making amazing memories, spending good time with friends and family, sharing the most precious thing of all...time.
Life. It's precarious. Like the fireworks exploding in the sky right now, that is how our life is: big... brilliant...beautiful. And over before we know it.
Life is about falling in love and getting your heartbroken, it's about forgiving yourself when you're the one who did the breaking; about loving and losing; about making tough decisions and making easy ones; about letting go and moving on. Sometimes it's about not listening to someone else and just following your heart. Other times, it's about taking good advice. No one is perfect, but most of us have good intentions. We are going to fall, then get back up, then most likely fall again. We all get hurt. We all suffer. We all have baggage. We've all had successful attempts at something, only to have it followed by a failure of a different nature. But we also have these amazing things called emotions, and they let us scream and yell or cry or break into tiny hysterics with your best friend over the 'funniest thing ever!'
I'll admit it: I sometimes find myself chuckling over something that happened forever ago...Who cares if I look a little schizophrenic, quietly laughing to myself. It was a good memory.
There is something magical in every day life, something extraordinary in the ordinary everyday. That's what this blog is really all about...I'm telling you to stop. I'm telling you to look. I'm telling you that when you make time, you can stop time, even if just to freeze a moment to go back to in memory someday. Because in the end, nothing will matter more in death than knowing that you lived. In the end, when you have time to look back on your life, what will you see on rewind?
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Sun Safety: The Danger of a "Healthy Glow"
This morning I woke up and fell into the normal routine. I got the kids settled with breakfast & cartoons, had my coffee and did a couple of chores. Once Connor was down for a nap, I thought I'd take a quick shower while Sean was still engrossed in Word World. While standing in the mirror, I noticed a little scratch on my neck and I leaned in closer to investigate. That's when I noticed a nearby mole had changed drastically since the last time I'd done an all over skin check. I poked it and inspected it, trying to see if maybe my son had accidentally scratched it and maybe it was just irritated from a close-call in-home biopsy, courtesy of baby fingernails. But it didn't hurt, wasn't bleeding or scabbed over and just looked strangely different.
Always the hypochondriac, I phoned my doctor's office, but couldn't get in until tomorrow afternoon. Now it's probably nothing, but my first instinct screamed, "it's melanoma! get a diagnostic test immediately!" My rational husband made a good point when he said that I'm weaning our son from nursing and it's possible that it's hormonal changes...My I'd-rather-be-safe-than-sorry mentality still made the appointment.
I will be honest here; I wasn't always safe about the sun. I'm sure I sported a sunburn or two as a child, and I visited tanning salons in the past. I wasn't smart about the sun then, and used to believe that tanning beds were safer than sun exposure. I wasn't 'tanorexic', but I had gone maybe 10-15 times, enough to exponentially raise my risk for melanoma. When the summer came, I would always apply SPF 8, enough to tan without burning, thinking that burning would cause skin cancer and that as long as I saw brown, and not red, after a day at the beach, I was safe. During our honeymoon, I wasn't good about applying sunblock and I got burned so badly on a kayak safari that I blistered my scalp and my shoulders peeled for days after. I'll admit it: I was stupid about sunblocking that day, and it was definitely the only time I've ever burned that bad and it was certainly the very last.
Today I'm insane about sun safety. I sunblock my kids until they glisten white, keeping Connor under an umbrella and making Sean keep his shirt and sunhat on at all times. I own a wide-brimmed straw hat that I will sport if I'm not under the umbrella with the baby and will usually leave my tank top or cover up on over my bathing suit, but not without sunblocking everything first (even under the clothes). I use globs of sunscreen and I am consistent about reapplying every few hours (more if we're in the water). We use up about 1 bottle of sunscreen for every 5 beach trips we make. I learned sometime last year, after reading an article in Parents magazine, that most people don't apply enough sunscreen and I vowed not to make that mistake this year. Sure, each bottle of block is around $5 and can run us around $50 for the summer, but compared to the cost of surgery to have a suspicious mole removed (which can range from $150-$400), we're actually saving money.
I get a full head-to-toe skin check every year and perform a routine self-exam every month. I've made myself very aware of the possibility that I could be one of the five Americans diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime. So when I noticed a changing mole, I went online and did my research. I found that skin cancer is the most common cancer, but it's the most preventable and, if caught early, the most treatable. I learned that melanoma took the lives of almost 9,000 Americans last year. Though it is the least common form of skin cancer, is it certainly the most dangerous. Two other types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma (which is the most common) was diagnosed in about one million Americans last year and squamous cell carcinoma followed in second, with over 250,000 new diagnoses every year.
As I browsed through pictures of people with advanced stages of skin cancer, I was completely horrified. I used to think that a tan gave a person a healthy glow and that some sun exposure was good for you, but looking at the pages of people who were living proof of the dangers of UV rays, I came to a new realization: The healthiest skin is the skin without the tan lines, that glows it's own color and not the given color of the sun. Not even considering cancer, tanning is evidence that UV rays have penetrated the skin and caused damage, leading to wrinkles, sun spots, lose of elasticity and photodermatoses. Premature aging of the skin should be enough to make one thing twice about visiting the beach without a generous slathering of sunscreen. Tan skin today may look great now, but what happens in 10 years...15...25? No one wants to be 35 and look 50! Not to mention, there is a point at which a person can be too tan...I've seen Jersey Shore and let me just say, being that tan doesn't even look healthy, it's actually borderlining Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory helpers.
I write this blog today because I was inspired to reach out to whoever follows it in hopes that it plants a seed in the mind and gets you to think about being safe about your skin. Many of us are conscious that eating healthy and exercising are good for us. We know that it's important to eat well, drink plenty of water and get 30-minutes of exercise a day, but how many of you have a bottle of sunscreen (30SPF or higher) next to that yoga mat and organic food? Our skin is a part of our body and it's just as important to take care of the outside, as it is to take care of the inside. As the season begins and the sun burns hot, I urge you all to be safe while you're having your summer fun. If you really feel the need to have that tan skin, check out Neutrogena. They have a great selection of tans you can lather on...just imagine the elasticity of skin that's been lotioned instead of baked.
*Research for this blog was done at http://www.skincancer.org/. If you want more facts on sun safety, it's a great site!
Always the hypochondriac, I phoned my doctor's office, but couldn't get in until tomorrow afternoon. Now it's probably nothing, but my first instinct screamed, "it's melanoma! get a diagnostic test immediately!" My rational husband made a good point when he said that I'm weaning our son from nursing and it's possible that it's hormonal changes...My I'd-rather-be-safe-than-sorry mentality still made the appointment.
I will be honest here; I wasn't always safe about the sun. I'm sure I sported a sunburn or two as a child, and I visited tanning salons in the past. I wasn't smart about the sun then, and used to believe that tanning beds were safer than sun exposure. I wasn't 'tanorexic', but I had gone maybe 10-15 times, enough to exponentially raise my risk for melanoma. When the summer came, I would always apply SPF 8, enough to tan without burning, thinking that burning would cause skin cancer and that as long as I saw brown, and not red, after a day at the beach, I was safe. During our honeymoon, I wasn't good about applying sunblock and I got burned so badly on a kayak safari that I blistered my scalp and my shoulders peeled for days after. I'll admit it: I was stupid about sunblocking that day, and it was definitely the only time I've ever burned that bad and it was certainly the very last.
Today I'm insane about sun safety. I sunblock my kids until they glisten white, keeping Connor under an umbrella and making Sean keep his shirt and sunhat on at all times. I own a wide-brimmed straw hat that I will sport if I'm not under the umbrella with the baby and will usually leave my tank top or cover up on over my bathing suit, but not without sunblocking everything first (even under the clothes). I use globs of sunscreen and I am consistent about reapplying every few hours (more if we're in the water). We use up about 1 bottle of sunscreen for every 5 beach trips we make. I learned sometime last year, after reading an article in Parents magazine, that most people don't apply enough sunscreen and I vowed not to make that mistake this year. Sure, each bottle of block is around $5 and can run us around $50 for the summer, but compared to the cost of surgery to have a suspicious mole removed (which can range from $150-$400), we're actually saving money.
I get a full head-to-toe skin check every year and perform a routine self-exam every month. I've made myself very aware of the possibility that I could be one of the five Americans diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime. So when I noticed a changing mole, I went online and did my research. I found that skin cancer is the most common cancer, but it's the most preventable and, if caught early, the most treatable. I learned that melanoma took the lives of almost 9,000 Americans last year. Though it is the least common form of skin cancer, is it certainly the most dangerous. Two other types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma (which is the most common) was diagnosed in about one million Americans last year and squamous cell carcinoma followed in second, with over 250,000 new diagnoses every year.
As I browsed through pictures of people with advanced stages of skin cancer, I was completely horrified. I used to think that a tan gave a person a healthy glow and that some sun exposure was good for you, but looking at the pages of people who were living proof of the dangers of UV rays, I came to a new realization: The healthiest skin is the skin without the tan lines, that glows it's own color and not the given color of the sun. Not even considering cancer, tanning is evidence that UV rays have penetrated the skin and caused damage, leading to wrinkles, sun spots, lose of elasticity and photodermatoses. Premature aging of the skin should be enough to make one thing twice about visiting the beach without a generous slathering of sunscreen. Tan skin today may look great now, but what happens in 10 years...15...25? No one wants to be 35 and look 50! Not to mention, there is a point at which a person can be too tan...I've seen Jersey Shore and let me just say, being that tan doesn't even look healthy, it's actually borderlining Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory helpers.
I write this blog today because I was inspired to reach out to whoever follows it in hopes that it plants a seed in the mind and gets you to think about being safe about your skin. Many of us are conscious that eating healthy and exercising are good for us. We know that it's important to eat well, drink plenty of water and get 30-minutes of exercise a day, but how many of you have a bottle of sunscreen (30SPF or higher) next to that yoga mat and organic food? Our skin is a part of our body and it's just as important to take care of the outside, as it is to take care of the inside. As the season begins and the sun burns hot, I urge you all to be safe while you're having your summer fun. If you really feel the need to have that tan skin, check out Neutrogena. They have a great selection of tans you can lather on...just imagine the elasticity of skin that's been lotioned instead of baked.
*Research for this blog was done at http://www.skincancer.org/. If you want more facts on sun safety, it's a great site!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Jennifer and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day
In honor of my son's favorite book (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day: by Judith Viorst)...
I went to bed with an ache in my head and woke up to it even bigger and when I got out of bed this morning I stepped on clean laundry that I forgot to fold the night before and accidentally hit my shin on the side of my hope chest and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
For breakfast, Sean wanted juice with his oatmeal. He attempted to pour it himself. He spilled it all over the floor. For breakfast, I wanted a bagel. I burned it...Connor made a mess of his bananas and Sean made a mess of his oatmeal.
I think I'll move to Hawaii.
There was a poopy diaper to change and after twenty minutes of being in his bathing suit, Sean peed in them. I tripped over toys I'd just cleaned up and still hadn't made the bed and didn't feel like packing for the beach. Sean watched too much TV and fought me when it was off and ended up waking Connor up from his nap. It was turning out to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
We drove to the beach and when we got there, it was definitely not a beach day. The wind was cold, the sand was cold, the water was even colder. Sean said he was freezing, he whined he was cold, he put on a sweatshirt and proceeded to go in the water. He was soaked. Connor was fussing. I was freezing. I decided it was time to go.
Sean didn't want to go. He said he wanted to stay. So he waded out into the ocean and in capris, with a baby strapped to my chest, I had to wade out up to my thighs to drag him back to shore. I was soaked and I was hungry and I still had an ache in my head. Sean slipped off the sidewalk and cried all the way to the car and Connor screamed getting in his seat and I stubbed my toe on the wagon.
That's it, we're moving to Hawaii!
I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, I told the boys. Sean mocked me by peeing on the side of the car. He argued over lunch and didn't want his banana and fussed over his yogurt and then cried that his hands weren't clean enough. Connor took his bottle and dropped it while I was driving and proceeded to scream until I pulled a muscle to keep the car steady while getting it off the floor and back into his mouth. We sat in traffic and ended up singing 'Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun' about 200 times so Connor would stay quiet and when we sang something else, he cried, but if we sang only that, Sean cried.
When we got home, the house was a mess and the kitchen smelled funny and the trash needed to go out. I hadn't eaten lunch but there was nothing I wanted to eat. The beach gear was still in the car and I definitely didn't want to drag it all back in.
Sean was whining and I hate whining.
Connor wasn't napping and I wanted to nap.
I never got the dishes done or the house cleaned up and I only have my crummy jeans to wear if I don't do laundry tomorrow. I hate my crummy jeans.
Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
But I know that somedays are like that...Even in Hawaii.
I went to bed with an ache in my head and woke up to it even bigger and when I got out of bed this morning I stepped on clean laundry that I forgot to fold the night before and accidentally hit my shin on the side of my hope chest and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
For breakfast, Sean wanted juice with his oatmeal. He attempted to pour it himself. He spilled it all over the floor. For breakfast, I wanted a bagel. I burned it...Connor made a mess of his bananas and Sean made a mess of his oatmeal.
I think I'll move to Hawaii.
There was a poopy diaper to change and after twenty minutes of being in his bathing suit, Sean peed in them. I tripped over toys I'd just cleaned up and still hadn't made the bed and didn't feel like packing for the beach. Sean watched too much TV and fought me when it was off and ended up waking Connor up from his nap. It was turning out to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
We drove to the beach and when we got there, it was definitely not a beach day. The wind was cold, the sand was cold, the water was even colder. Sean said he was freezing, he whined he was cold, he put on a sweatshirt and proceeded to go in the water. He was soaked. Connor was fussing. I was freezing. I decided it was time to go.
Sean didn't want to go. He said he wanted to stay. So he waded out into the ocean and in capris, with a baby strapped to my chest, I had to wade out up to my thighs to drag him back to shore. I was soaked and I was hungry and I still had an ache in my head. Sean slipped off the sidewalk and cried all the way to the car and Connor screamed getting in his seat and I stubbed my toe on the wagon.
That's it, we're moving to Hawaii!
I'm having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, I told the boys. Sean mocked me by peeing on the side of the car. He argued over lunch and didn't want his banana and fussed over his yogurt and then cried that his hands weren't clean enough. Connor took his bottle and dropped it while I was driving and proceeded to scream until I pulled a muscle to keep the car steady while getting it off the floor and back into his mouth. We sat in traffic and ended up singing 'Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun' about 200 times so Connor would stay quiet and when we sang something else, he cried, but if we sang only that, Sean cried.
When we got home, the house was a mess and the kitchen smelled funny and the trash needed to go out. I hadn't eaten lunch but there was nothing I wanted to eat. The beach gear was still in the car and I definitely didn't want to drag it all back in.
Sean was whining and I hate whining.
Connor wasn't napping and I wanted to nap.
I never got the dishes done or the house cleaned up and I only have my crummy jeans to wear if I don't do laundry tomorrow. I hate my crummy jeans.
Today was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.
But I know that somedays are like that...Even in Hawaii.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Exceeding Expectations
When Sean was just a baby, and still waking up in the night, I was able to nap when he napped. It was essential that I did so, because I needed to function during the day. I was a new mom, with only one child and he was my biggest responsibility at the time. It was a new lifestyle that I certainly had to adjust to, which I think is true for all new mothers. Due to my frequent napping style, I once overheard a comment, indicating that the consensus was I wasn't going to be able to handle my job. Guess some people have never heard the advice: 'Sleep when the baby sleeps'.
Years later, I am getting up as the sun rises to play with Connor, who has decided that the new wake-up call is 6am. I will need a nap later, I'm sure, but it will probably only be a 20-minute catnap, since it's all I have time for these days. I don't expect to get one, I just have to hope. When I have another child who's awake when Connor is sleeping, 'sleeping when the baby sleeps' is less a definite option, and more a possibility.
When Sean graces the day with his presence, usually around 8, he has his breakfast before cartoons and I let him watch about an hour of TV (maybe 2 if it's that kind of morning)...And that's all he watches all day. I make him shut down the tube and take out toys, books or games or when Connor's napping, we set-up the baby monitor and play out front with his bike or soccer ball. I really can't find any reason to allow him to be comatose in front of the TV all day. I don't even watch TV during the day...It's actually really nice to just have it off.
As I reflect on my life, I look around my house. There are no dirty dishes piling up on the counters. There are no piles of dirty laundry strewn about the house. The bookshelves are dusted, the kitchen is clean, the bathrooms are up-kept, my closets are organized and every morning I make the bed. My kids are fed and in clean clothes. They are entertained. I get them out of the house to see their friends and I plan special days, like going to the beach or museums.
So in the end, people can think what they want, but I feel I've done a pretty good job. I'm not out partying, getting drunk all the time and since we seldom get help with babysitting, Ryan and I have taken to catching up on the DVR as our date nights. My vacations and weekends away are with my kids in tow and that is OK with me. I've learned to adjust to life as a mom. I've learned that you aren't always going to have a strong support system, that family isn't always going to be so helpful, but you might have some really amazing friends. In the end though, the best person to rely on is your partner. I've also learned you can't always shave your legs when you take a shower, you aren't always going to have time to do your hair or makeup and sometimes the day is going to start getting crazy before you've even had your coffee. I know it's important to take time for myself, but it's also important to be with my kids.
I personally think I've exceeded expectations, but I'm not so naive that I don't expect similar comments along the way. I've just have to learn to ignore the negativity because it's really just a mental poison. Of course, it did take me over an hour to write this blog, but really what can I say? I can't spend more than a few minutes at a time on the computer...I've got kids to take care of.
Years later, I am getting up as the sun rises to play with Connor, who has decided that the new wake-up call is 6am. I will need a nap later, I'm sure, but it will probably only be a 20-minute catnap, since it's all I have time for these days. I don't expect to get one, I just have to hope. When I have another child who's awake when Connor is sleeping, 'sleeping when the baby sleeps' is less a definite option, and more a possibility.
When Sean graces the day with his presence, usually around 8, he has his breakfast before cartoons and I let him watch about an hour of TV (maybe 2 if it's that kind of morning)...And that's all he watches all day. I make him shut down the tube and take out toys, books or games or when Connor's napping, we set-up the baby monitor and play out front with his bike or soccer ball. I really can't find any reason to allow him to be comatose in front of the TV all day. I don't even watch TV during the day...It's actually really nice to just have it off.
As I reflect on my life, I look around my house. There are no dirty dishes piling up on the counters. There are no piles of dirty laundry strewn about the house. The bookshelves are dusted, the kitchen is clean, the bathrooms are up-kept, my closets are organized and every morning I make the bed. My kids are fed and in clean clothes. They are entertained. I get them out of the house to see their friends and I plan special days, like going to the beach or museums.
So in the end, people can think what they want, but I feel I've done a pretty good job. I'm not out partying, getting drunk all the time and since we seldom get help with babysitting, Ryan and I have taken to catching up on the DVR as our date nights. My vacations and weekends away are with my kids in tow and that is OK with me. I've learned to adjust to life as a mom. I've learned that you aren't always going to have a strong support system, that family isn't always going to be so helpful, but you might have some really amazing friends. In the end though, the best person to rely on is your partner. I've also learned you can't always shave your legs when you take a shower, you aren't always going to have time to do your hair or makeup and sometimes the day is going to start getting crazy before you've even had your coffee. I know it's important to take time for myself, but it's also important to be with my kids.
I personally think I've exceeded expectations, but I'm not so naive that I don't expect similar comments along the way. I've just have to learn to ignore the negativity because it's really just a mental poison. Of course, it did take me over an hour to write this blog, but really what can I say? I can't spend more than a few minutes at a time on the computer...I've got kids to take care of.
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