Car Seat Safety

This is one area where I am paranoid. Granted, I would rather be paranoid than nonchalant!

Please take 5 minutes today to check the following:

-shoulder straps are just below the shoulder (they come up and over)
-the car seat straps are snug enough that only one of your fingers can fit between car seat and baby
-put the handle down on an infant carrier when driving-in an accident this can injure or kill a baby
-only use until recommended weight limit. Baby's legs should not be smooshed into the seat when rear facing. And a baby should not be in a booster seat.
-how old is your car seat? They expire after 5 years. It may not seem like a big deal to use the one that your other kids used, but they may not be up to date with current safety standards.
-if your car seat requires a base (like Evenflo brand does) DO NOT drive without one.
-don't buckle your kids into their seats with a coat or bunting on. They can slide right out of their seat in an accident.
-PLEASE make sure the car seat is buckled into the car so tight that it can only move an inch at the very most. I get in the car seat and kneel on it with all of my weight to tighten it in there with the LATCH system. It's also a good idea to find someone that is car seat certified (call your local fire department or police station to find someone) to put the car seat in for you the first time. They can demonstrate the best way to do it and you will know how from then on.
-don't buy a secondhand car seat if you can avoid it. If you do buy one, make sure you have a clear idea of the car seats history (recalls, accidents, manufacturers date, etc.)

I cringe when I see car seats flopping around or kids not buckled. These safety checks take only a few moments and could save your child's life!

Okay, I'm off my soapbox now! :)

Update to Mother's Instinct

Well, I took my son in to get his blood work done after a week of no improvement.  In fact, he kind of went downhill: didn't want to eat, threw up on Tuesday and Thursday (distended stomach and awful gas pains included), constipation... yeah.

Monday (of this week), he seemed to be doing better.  Had a GI appointment on Tuesday, and yesterday we performed a clean-out on him (2nd time we've had to do this.  Yay for constipation.)  He is also on a dairy-free diet (as mentioned in the previous post.).

ANYWAY, today I get a call from B's pediatrician.  Turns out his thyroid levels are a "bit high", which could be caused by him being sick or from hyperthyroidism.  So, to be safe, the doctor wants B to see a pediatric endocrinologist.  He has an appointment on Tuesday.

Am I glad I listened to myself when I just felt like something was wrong with my boy?

Heck yes.

Thanks for reading; I don't mean to hog the blogosphere.

Dairy-Free Recipes

So, due to several issues we're trying to resolve with my son, the GI has asked us to try him on a dairy-free diet for one month.  I already have a hard time thinking of things to feed him, and I am not a chef or off-the-top-of-my-head cook, so I was wondering if you lovely ladies might have some family-friendly dairy-free recipes you would be willing to share.

Thanks for your help!

Similac Recall

If any of you formula feeding mothers out there haven't heard about the Similac Formula recall, then you might want to head over to their website and see if your formula has been affected.  Apparently, a certain type of beetle got into their formula and has been irritating babies tummies and giving them diarrhea.  They haven't found any serious side effects to it, but it is always better to be safe than sorry.  You can enter the lot number located on the bottom of your formula container into their system and see if your product has been recalled.  If it has, you can return it to the store you bought it at, or return it directly to Similac at no cost to you.

http://similac.com/Recall/?utm_source=ppc

Amazon Mom

If you love to shop online, then you might be interested in this. I love Amazon.com. I think it's the best thing since automatic transmission. Seriously! You can buy anything there. Even groceries! Though I usually by books or electronics. Another reason I love it is because of the reviews. I research any item to see the price (Amazon is usually like the Walmart of online shopping: they have the most reasonable prices) and read through customer reviews. I love to see what people think of merchandise and whether or not a book is worth my time reserving from the library.

Most items are eligible for free shipping if you spend more than $25, so if I buy something, I usually have to wait until I have a few things to buy so I get free shipping on everything. It's a pain, but I do what I have to to save $.

I have never signed up for their Amazon Prime membership because you have to pay heinous amounts of money all to get free 2 day shipping. I love Amazon...but not that much.

Well, I just heard about a new promotion on Amazon called Amazon Mom. If you are a parent, grandparent or guardian of a child in any way, you are eligible to sign up and get a 3 month membership to Amazon Prime for free. Seriously! And now is the time to do it with Christmas and Black Friday coming up. This is especially nice if you have family far away and you have to ship presents. Just buy them on Amazon and ship them to your family for free!

If you want to extend your membership, you can simply make a purchase of $25 (at one time) from the Amazon Baby store. Pretty much anything that has to do with children is in the baby store. Even parenting books! You can do this as many times as you'd like to extend your membership an additional 9 months, making it a year for free.

I will probably only be able to extend my membership one extra month, but I am excited to save a few bucks on shipping.

If you are interested, to go www.amazon.com/mom to sign up. They ask you what kind of guardian you are, that part is required. Then they ask you about your child(ren)'s information, like name and birth date. That part is optional.

If you want to buy from the baby store and extend your membership, go to www.amazon.com/baby and browse. Just make sure you have lots of time on your hand and permission from your husband to spend a few extra dollars this month :).

Labels on Children

I received this email from my Mom.  She and we would love to hear any input or opinions!

I’ve been watching the Ellen Degeneres show today.  Her guest was Brooke Shields and they were discussing being conscious of the labels that are given to children, in Brooke’s case, her looks.  Ellen then made the comment that she has an 18 month old niece that people/her family tell all the time, “You’re beautiful.”  Ellen thinks it’s not healthy to be telling a child that all the time.  They then discussed putting value on what they, the children, are labeled.  I think this would be a great topic for open discussion or comment.

I had a cousin whose mother consistently called her stupid.  She wasn’t, of course, but she grew up thinking that she wasn’t overly bright and in her teens and twenties, I don’t believe she ever saw herself as being of much value.  This all took place many years ago in a land faraway (Zimbabwe) and I’m not in contact with this special cousin, whom I thought was awesome and sweet, but I’d like to think that motherhood helped her find her place with loved ones that didn’t use labels to define themselves.

On the other hand, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with telling your children how special and wonderful they are.  I think all of my children, and now my grandchildren, are exceptionally bright, talented and contributing human beings with kind hearts, strong testimonies and make the world a much better place.

Jeanette

New Jersey

Choices

When we were growing up our parents always gave us choices. Rarely was it 'no' or 'do it' and that's it...there was always a choice. Such as: You can eat your dinner or you can go to bed; or you can choose to be nice to your sisters or you can choose to go stand in the corner.

I, for one, hate being told what to do! I just hate that someone thinks they have the right to tell me what to do and me follow, I feel it takes away my agency, my right at choices. You always have a choice and how frustrating is it when someone assumes they can make that choice for you by telling you exactly what to do. If I feel this way, imagine how a child who is growing and learning and desperately trying to figure out who they are must feel when every decision is made for them?

So I vowed that when I became a mother I would do the same thing. Give my children choices...sometimes I'm sure they don't like the choices (ex: you can stop throwing a fit and go clean your room now or you can stand in the corner and then go clean your room (either way the room is getting cleaned...but its still a choice)) or it could be one they like (pudding or Popsicle). Now as parents we do have to make choices for them (Planning dinner, where they live, ect) but the little things, especially when it comes to their ideas, attitudes and emotions can be put into choice form.

It allows them to express themselves, to realize they always have a choice and to help in the decision making as well as helps us teach them to recognise the good and true choices. So hopefully when they are growing up they can say to themselves - I have a choice and I'm going to make the right one.

Mother's Instinct

Lately, my little boy has been unusually tired, always telling me, " I just need a little rest, Mommy," or, "I'm just going to have a little sleep."  He's also been complaining of headaches; "It feels like a drum, Mommy."  He's not even 3.

Now, I am not one to up and run to the doctor every time my child sniffles or coughs or has a fever; I don't like having to pay to be told to keep doing what I'm already doing.  HOWEVER, in this case, I just didn't feel right about his symptoms.  What almost 3-year-old do you know that just wants to rest?  Or complains of having headaches?  Exactly.  So I took him to the doctor.  Diagnosis: allergies.  I didn't disagree with our doctor (we already know B has allergies), I informed him quite emphatically that I was not one to bring my kids to the doctor for every. little. thing.  THANKFULLY, (loving our pediatrician), he responded very appropriately:  "In circumstances like this, I like to think what I would want the doctor to do for my kid."  THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!  So, he wrote out a prescription for a blood panel to rule out mono, hypothyroidism, and anemia.  He said if B isn't doing better in a week on the allergy meds, to take him in to get his blood tested.

Why am I telling you this story?  Because I believe that Mothers are blessed with the ability to "know" if something isn't right with their child.  We have a connection that is beyond the physical that keeps us in tune with the needs that they cannot always express.  And thank goodness for that!  I am grateful, also, for a pediatrician that realizes that he sees my kid every once and awhile, while I see them 24/7.

I will probably get the blood test done, just for peace of mind...for the "what ifs". I'm not hoping for positive results, but it won't hurt to rule them out, right?   In the meantime, I'll be having fun with my adorably-hilarious-yet-a-bit-overtired little boy, and his wonderful little sister.

Do you have any instances where your Mother's Instinct has helped you?

Nursing vs. Formula

My son is adopted. He will grow up knowing that, it's just a part of who he is. Some adoptive mothers are able to breastfeed. My husband and I discussed it and decided against it. There were some pros to trying, but in the end we'd still have to supplement with formula so why not remove one source of possible stress?

If you've ever read a parenting magazine or seen an advertisement for formula, you have seen or heard that nursing is the best thing for the baby.

Can I tell you every time I hear that I get so angry I wish there was a spider nearby so I could kill it?! I just want to yell at the magazine, "My son is adopted! I didn't have a choice!" But I guess I did have a choice, so I have this overwhelming sense of guilt in trying to justify why we didn't nurse our son.

Ugh.

The truth is, a lot of women can't or chose not to nurse for many reasons. It's too painful, the baby is unable to latch on for different reasons, I can't nurse because I work, etc. Does that make them bad mothers?

Heck. No.

If my son were my biological child, we would have nursed him - or at least tried. End of story. But it just so happened that life took turns that we didn't expect and we formula fed our baby. Am I a bad mother? See previous answer. And I seriously doubt his teachers are going to write on his report card, "You formula fed, didn't you?"

So what is the point of this post? Just to spread a little bit of awareness.

If you are one of the many women who can't or doesn't breast feed her child, don't you dare feel guilty. Formula, especially nowadays, is jam packed with nutrients, vitamins and minerals essential to a child's health and well being. They even promote proper eye, brain and heart growth for goodness sake! Babies digest formula slower, which means they are fuller longer (yay for sleeping through the night!!). And even dad can get in on the bonding action. You'll fork over money for bottles and spend more time at the sink. And, unfortunately, you pay a premium for your baby's health. Never, ever, ever be afraid to ask for formula from your pediatricians office. My doc told me that sometimes the formula samples (which they get for free, by the way) expire before they can give it to patients, so they have to throw it away! So pipe up and don't be afraid to ask. In my experience, they're generous, so bring a plastic sack with you to your appointment. Just in case.

If you are one of the many women who can nurse with no problems or hesitations, congratulations! You just saved hundreds of dollars on formula and bottles, plus countless hours washing, drying, and putting away bottles (and I say that with not even a hint of sarcasm. I really, really mean it!). Not to mention having to cart bottles on vacations and pack formula, a bottle brush and soap. You also have that time and ability to bond with your baby in a very intimate sense. Your child is getting your antibodies and is hopefully building a healthy immune system all thanks to mom. Don't forget that breast fed babies need an extra boost of Vitamin D. 

All moms are different. All babies are different. We don't judge each other because that just makes our job a million times harder.

Protecting Your Clothes From One Another

Have you ever put a load of laundry in the washer, just to find that the dye from your jeans or new red shirt has bled onto your other clothes? I found a very simple way to protect my clothes from one another. Every time I purchase a new pair of jeans, or another item of clothing that has a possibility of bleeding or fading in the wash, I use vinegar on it. Yup, vinegar. I put the new item of clothing in the washer with half a cup of vinegar and run the washing machine for a short cycle. Something about vinegar seals the color into the fabric, which not only prevents the dyes from bleeding onto other clothes, but it also preserves the color so that you can wear your clothes (and wash them) more often and for a longer period of time.

It also works to soak the clothes in a sink or tub full of water and half a cup of vinegar. Either way, you can wash your clothes without worrying about runaway dyes ruining your wardrobe.

The Naughty Spot...

I love Supernanny. Call me crazy, but this boistrous little English woman knows her stuff! I love her quote:

"Children need boundaries and ground rules. When children don't have structure, they make up their own rules and negative behavior is what they use to get your attention." - Jo Frost

We started implementing the "Naughty Spot" when J turned 2. There was no point trying to place a 1 year old on a spot for 1 minute. Doesn't happen people.

When he turned 2 we decided on a spot...Beside the Fridge. It worked awesome!

Here's our reasoning behind the Fridge:

1. If you place a child in their bedroom when they are bad, it does no good as a punishment. They have a place of comfort (bed), they have stimulating items (toys), or they will just fall asleep without thinking about or being talked to about what they did wrong.

2. Everywhere has a fridge. When we would travel to Canada to visit my family, anywhere we would go, if J was bad, I would threaten the fridge. Worked everytime.

3. In student housing everything just meshes together, so he would sit at the fridge and we could still monitor him.

Supernanny says that you should place your child in their Naughty Spot for the amount of time they are old. Ex: J is 3 now, he sits by the fridge for 3 minutes.

After his 3 minutes is up he has to come over and we explain to him WHY he had to sit by the fridge, and he has to apologize to either parent that placed him there. We then reassure him we love him and give him a hug.

We have found that it works for us, hopefully what you have discovered as far as discipline has worked for you.

Poison Control 101

I'm sure every parent has found their kid eating/licking/sucking on some kind of non-edible substance. Whether it's soap, cleaner, meat packaging from the garbage (Deborah :), medicine, or mudding??? Yeah that last one would be my child (and I don't mean MUD, I mean the kind of mudding you put on sheet rock when you're finishing walls). When you finish washing their mouth out, you go through the internal debate: "Should I call poison control? He only had a little bit... but what if..."

When Kaleb ate that mudding and after we'd gone through the internal debate and decided that it was better to be safe than sorry, my hubbie and I called poison control. After asking us our names, they asked what our son had ingested. We said, "the mudding you use to finish walls." Then she said, "How much of it did he digest?" Ryan said, "I'm not entirely sure, but I think only a tiny bit and I did wash out any that was in his mouth."

And the next question was... "And how long was the child unattended?"

Now hold it right there, lady. Have you ever had a one-year-old? You turn your back for 30 seconds and he's put something in his mouth that he shouldn't have. It's not like we let him just play in the unfinished basement with all the open sockets, mudding on the floor, and nails sticking out of the wood.

My husband kept a level head and simply said, "He wasn't unattended. I just turned my back for a moment."

The woman then says, "Okay sir, well he should be fine."

Phew. Then she says, "Just a few more questions before you hang up, sir." She then proceeds to ask us our phone number and address. I thought, "Why do they need that kind of stuff?" That's when it hit us: they have to ask so that if you call repeatedly, they can send Social Services to your house!

As if we need to be afraid of calling Poison Control again because we don't want our children taken away...

So while it's a good thing to be cautious and better safe than sorry, just be forewarned that calling Poison Control might just make you feel like a bad parent instead of the responsible, good, caring, worried one who called in the first place!

The number for Poison Control is: 1-800-222-1222

Mornings

I don't know about you, but I like my mornings simple. I like to sleep in, even if sleeping in is five minutes more. I don't like to feel rushed! But with three five year old's, rushed is the flavor of the day.

However, there are a few things I can do to make said flavor a bit more palatable.

- We make sure backpacks and shoes are always put in the same spot so they can be easily found the next morning.

- Uniforms (or outfits) are gathered the night before and laid out, so they are ready to go.

- We even slip making our beds after getting dressed in there (never pass up an opportunity to learn how to do chores).

- while the girls rotate brushing their teeth, I rotate doing their hair, so not everyone is waiting for something to be done.

- We also let them color/write their names on their lunch bags (gets spelling and creative time in there as well)

But the thing that saves me the most time in the mornings....pre-made sandwiches. Its amazing how much time and hassle this does save.

Every Saturday I take a loaf to two loafs of bread out of the freezer (its easier to spread peanut butter on frozen bread and you can buy bulk and not worry about it going bad) line them up and make anywhere from 11-22 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I cut them and put them in zip lock bags and pop them back into the freezer.

Then when I'm putting lunches together, I just grab them out and off they go.

They are unfrozen by the time lunch comes around and are not soggy or anything (just like Crustables you find in the store).

These are great to grab for church or if you'll will be out for a bit, drop one in your purse or diaper bag before you leave the house and by the time that mid-day monster comes about and the kids just can't handle one more minute...out comes the save all.

Its saved me time and my sanity and for me that is worth a lot!!

Bib Laundering

When you are washing baby bibs with Velcro fasteners in the back, be sure to stick the Velcro together before you do the wash. I have lost numberless socks, panty hose, and tights to the clutches of unattached bib Velcro in the laundry. It is a very simple solution and will save you the headache of trying to gently peel the Velcro off your socks when you pull them out of the dryer.

As an added plus, the bibs will be already stuck together and ready to be stacked into neat piles and put away.

10 Minute Clean Up

Does anyone else ever feel like the title of Mother has an asterisk and footnote of: Housekeeper?

I love a clean house, but I hate cleaning. Ok, I don't hate it, I just really dislike it.

My little boy is a morning person, and I'm not. I don't feel like I can do deep cleaning with him around because he will come to me and try to put whatever I'm using (sponge, chemicals, broom, etc) in his mouth. I don't have a desire to call poison control, so I try to do those things when he naps. But what's the alternative? Sitting in a messy house all morning until my son sleeps? I admit, that's how it plays out a lot of mornings - but not every morning.

I read an article one time that had a very practical cleaning routine. 10 minutes a morning lead to a happier mommy in the afternoon. AND it's only 3 steps. (I know I've posted this before, but I'm doing it again)

1. Empty and load your dishwasher.
2. Wipe down your kitchen and bathroom counters.
3. Walk through the common rooms (living room, dining room, kitchen, hall, etc), pick up anything on the floor and put it away.

You have to be willing to do this every morning (or at least most mornings) if you really want it to work. Plus you have to be willing to leave messes. You're not sweeping or mopping the floors. You're not cleaning out the toy box or vacuuming. You're not scrubbing toilets or wiping down shower walls. Not yet at least. You are just quickly cleaning up the major areas first thing for two reasons.

1. You can see immediate improvement - and that is a reward all on its own!
2. You are decreasing your work load later on.

I don't know about you, but house work seems to pile. If you wipe out those major things right away, the pile isn't as big, and neither is the burden. Plus, if ambitious company drops by first thing in the morning, you have a decent house to entertain in.

Like I said, I don't do this every morning, but the mornings I do, the other housework seems more bearable.

Special Needs

With permission, I'm pulling a post from my sister's blog. My sister is an AMAZING mother of 4 1/2 (one on the way) and is having some pretty intense pregnancy issues. I will never know how she manages to do everything she does and keep all her "balls in the air". She's truly amazing!

Tyler (who is mentioned in the post) is 3.5 years old, but is the size of a large 5 year old child, which makes the situation described a little more difficult to deal with.

(Also, Mindi, I thought this might help with your last post, realizing, however, that the situations might not be closely related at all.)

Special Needs (by Sandi)

Having a special needs child is so full of rewards, however, there are some days that you have to dig to find them, others they just appear! I love it when, randomly, Tyler will burst through the door and give me a hug and a kiss for no apparent reason. That makes my mommy-heart feel awesome!

There are also challenges that go with this sort of thing as well. How do you get others to understand? How do you help them cope? These are two questions swirling through my mind right now. He's causing trouble in the nursery, and they want me to tell them how to "fix it". The problem is...I have no idea! His whole world was thrown into turmoil this summer with the lack of structure to his schedule. It's not his fault, they know that, but there are other little children that they're worried about as well. I don't blame them. There are days I'm at my wits end with him, so I know that frustration very well. The only difference between them and me is I still love him very dearly at the end of the day (when he's angelically sleeping...LOL, just kidding, I love him regardless). My best reply to give to them when put on the spot? If he's causing that much trouble, please come get us, we totally understand (been there, done that). They are in the process of getting an extra nursery aid to help out in there (Ty isn't the only one with special needs and certainly isn't the most "needy"...don't take that as a rude comment, because it's not meant that way).

Earlier today, someone asked Celeste where mommy was. She replied something that sounded like "da bom". When asked to repeat it, it sounded more like "da bum". Yes, I am a bum, but I also like to think of myself at the moment as "da bum that is da bom" !! LOL, yes, I'm a nerd, that's ok - I'm at peace with that fact!!

Nursery woes...

All week my 3 yr old (just 3 in June) has been asking to go to church and play with the kids. I was shocked. He doesn't normally ask for that.

Sunday came and I told him he was going to church to play with the kids (all excited high voice inserted here).

He screamed "No church! No kids! No no no!" I knew it would happen. He hates nursery. He cried the entire ride to church, BEGGING us to "Go home! Daddy, turn car around, go home!"

Rewind to when he was 18 months. They asked me and my husband to be nursery leaders. Big mistake. They thought it would be easier for our little guy if we were there. It was, but then my husband was released, and then I got pregnant and was released, and he wouldn't go without us. He bawls his head off if we aren't there. He bawls all the way from the chapel to the nursery room. He's the oldest one in there, and the biggest baby when it comes to leaving mommy and daddy.

We stopped going when the new brother was born. His first Sunday back after that was horrific. We got him all excited to go to play with the kids, and when we got to the door we could hear 2 identical twin girls screaming their heads off, both trying to get the door opened. My little guy started shaking and DID NOT want to go in there.

We tried again the week after that. A little girl in there is socially not all there. She's mean. She hits. She kicks. I stayed in there with J a few minutes and he was playing quietly by himself, SHE came up to him, wanted his toy, grabbed his hair, pulled him to the ground, punched him and kicked him. I couldn't have been over there fast enough to rescue my already-scared-to-be-there-boy. (My child is not the only victim of hers either...)

*SIGH*

What do I do to get him to go and stay and not cry? We've tried bribing. He begins to cry during the last song of Sacrament meeting, KNOWING where we are taking him next. He will be going into Sunbeams in January...I have 4 months to cut the apron strings. This is also the reason we don't go out (me and my husband). The only person he liked to have babysit him, moved out of our ward. He has panick attacks, freaks out screaming if we leave him. We also don't do play-dates.

Help!

Picky Eaters

My little boy is P.I.C.K.Y.  It's frustrating to make meals for him.  I have talked to lots of my mommy friends who have children of similar ages, and it seems to be a consensus: preschoolers are hard to feed.  My guy has about 5 things he will eat on a regular basis: chicken nuggets (I at least try and buy the least nastied-out ones), grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese...okay, that's 3 things.  More often than not he'll eat what I make for dinner; he loves mashed potatoes and gravy (which he seems to think is rice...who cares if he eats it, right?!?), and he'll eat pretty much anything if it has "dip" on it.  Thankfully, he also likes fruits: apples, applesauce, pears, blueberries, oranges, bananas.  I cannot get him to eat veggies.  If it's green, it's a no-go.  I'm tired of coercing him to eat!  Do any of you have suggestions on how to help my boy be more adventurous with his foods?  There's only so far I can go in trying to disguise healthy stuff in the foods he likes!

I need to add a few things about my boy:  he has GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease).  He's had it since he was 2 months old.  It's hereditary.  And he's medicated.  However, I still have to take into account the acidity of his foods.  Secondly, he can't have peanuts (neither can his sister - hooray for allergies!). 

A Lesson in Kindness

I was on a walk with my girls yesterday when I noticed that my two year old daughter had something on her shoe. She was dragging her shoe along the sidewalk to try and scrape it off, smearing whatever it was behind her. I also noticed several snails (the big ones that look like Spongebob's pet Gary) out on the sidewalk. I squatted down to point out the snail to my daughter and ask her to say hello to it. Then the most disturbing thing happened.

My little girl raised her foot, smashed that little snail, and ground it into the concrete.

I was shocked. I was horrified. I was speechless for a minute. I knew that I had to do something, but I didn't know what. I couldn't bring the snail back to life, its shell was shattered and its slimy body was plastered across the sidewalk.

Finally, I decided that the only thing I could do was express to my daughter the importance of showing respect and kindness to animals. I told her that God created all the animals, even the snails and that he expects us to be kind to them and take care of them. I explained that it is our job to keep them safe, and not to step on them. It hurts them when we step on them.

I am not sure if my message got through to my daughter, but she did apologize to the snail before we continued on our way. Hopefully the next time we meet a snail, it will be greeted with a friendly hello, and left to meander on its way.

To Nap or Not to Nap?

My 2-year-old is at that stage when he's in between wanting/needing a nap and not wanting/needing a nap. There are days where he CANNOT!!!!!!!!! do without one (also days where I can't handle him if he doesn't nap). And there are days when he will not, with no amount of coaxing, take a nap.

Today, for instance, he was up almost at the crack of dawn and went and played and played and went and, and, and.... Right up until about 6 p.m. when he came to me and gave me the "I'm going to go to sleep now and you've been designated as my pillow" hug. Knowing that I didn't want to be up until the wee hours of the morning with a hyper kiddo who just won't go to sleep, I decided to put him in a bubble bath because he loves them and I knew it would wake him up.

After playing in the tub for about 45 minutes, I pulled him out and took him back into the living room to sit with my DH for awhile. The TV was off for a change, and we started playing. Then came on the terrible two's mood swing (also a precursor to I'm going to sleep and you can't stop me). Trying to get him to hang on for as long as we could, DH turned on the TV and let him watch a Wiggles video. He got bored after about 20 minutes, so we switched videos to another of his favorites...one called You Make Me Feel Like Dancing. After asking me to dance with him (and happily obliging...I hope he still loves dancing when he's older), things wound down a bit, and he climbed up onto the couch beside me.

One second he was kind of singing along and bopping his head, and the next thing I know, the head bops had turned into head drops/jerks as he tried hard to stay awake. By this time, it was 7:30-ish, so I figured he'd be good to go for the night...at least I'm hoping that's the case.

Although I know we have at least a couple more months of this transitioning period where every day is different, some days needing a nap and some days not, I'm caught wondering, when do other kids decide they don't want naps? What do you other moms do to help with the transition? Are other kids as night owlish as mine (sometimes staying up until past 10 and there's nothing you can do about it)?

The Dishes Can Wait...

...is what my mom tells me almost everyday. I'm sure my family is sick of hearing "Holy crap, I had THE WORST NIGHT". But as my mom has said, "Isn't it funny that EVERY night is THE WORST night? And then we get up and do it all over again."

It's true. We have our good nights, our bad nights, our terrible nights, our restless nights, our "I'm crying at 4am while my husband does the 'there-there-dear'-pat on the back". But, if we just remember one thing....

The Dishes Can Wait.

You hear 'them' (whoever THEY are), say "When your baby sleeps, you sleep." What a bunch of crap...pardon the language. I can't follow "their" ruling. When my baby (and 3 year old) are sleeping AT THE SAME TIME (I love using CAPS, it helps me get my point across), I am doing dishes. My mom (whom I will mention LOTS in my posts) always says "Dear, the dishes can wait. They'll still be there later, or in the morning. Rest."

I've had to listen to that advise, although it's taken me 2 boys to figure it out...when they rest, I rest.

To each his/her own. For me, resting is photoshopping pictures (which I do, so if anyone needs help, I'm here!), or scrapbooking online (which I also do!), but anyhow, to each their own.

I just hope I don't add to that list...The laundry can wait, the mopping can wait, the vacuuming can wait, the ironing my husband workshirts can wait, my face and hair can wait....oh dear.

Learning Resources

Ok, apart from being a mom, I'm a teacher, too. So I'm very interested in keeping my sponge of a 2 year old son engaged in learning. I have been since he was old enough to... well... look at me.

When he was old enough to mimic, I taught him what few signs I knew (like 5 or so), hoping it would help him feel more confident in communicating and help me understand and differentiate between the grunts. My older sister had a copy of My Baby Can Read and she let me borrow them. Joshua loved them, and we watched them together for a few months.

For Christmas last year, my little sister gave me a copy of season 1 of Signing Time. After first watching those videos again, and again, and again, there was no turning back. My baby didn't really care for the My Baby Can Read videos, but preferred the Signing Time because of the visual, auditory and tactile format of them...and for the very catchy songs included in them.

As we watched these videos together, his vocabulary exploded to much more than his pediatrician said was normal. In fact as we went in for one of his check ups, she told us that his vocabulary was closer to that of a 3 1/2 - 4 year old. I wasn't sure that was true, but of course I was a proud mommy.

As we worked with him, not only with his signs, but with colors and alphabet and shapes, we realized we had a sponge for a son. He absorbed everything we threw at him and read to him. By his 2nd birthday, he knew by sight his ABC's and would identify them on demand.

And because I'm an online high school teacher, I new I'd need to have learning activities for him to work on this year as I took on some new responsibilities for my job. I started asking some teachers I respected and family and friends for resources they use or have heard are good. I got several, but struck gold on the first one we looked at. (I'll look at the others when he gets tired of this one.)

What, you may be asking, is this wonderful learning resource? It's an amazing website called Starfall.com. Truly amazing! It has literacy learning for kids pre-school to about 3rd grade or so. My husband taught Joshua to work a mouse so he could run the site on his own. It took him about 2 hours to learn and now he's a pro at working the computer and the first part of the site, which teaches not only the ABC's, but also the sounds each one makes.

After about 3 weeks of using the site, Joshua can now tell you the letter and the sound it makes. He'll see a letter like K somewhere on a sign and say, "K. Kuh!" It's rather fun to drive around and see what he notices now. Those darn letters are EVERYWHERE!

I'll post more learning resources as I find them. What are some resources you use with your children?

Thrifting 101

As you will quickly learn, I am CHEAP. I rarely pay full price for things and usually do not buy new. We have been grateful for this as our kids have grown like weeds! We buy secondhand and sell it ourselves when we're done.

Moral of the story, your kids WILL grow like weeds! Why not buy gently used items for 1/2 the price (or less)?! Here are some things to remember when buying used-

-Check all gear (strollers, cribs, etc.) for recalls. If I purchase a big toy, I check it for recalls as well. There are some recalls that don't affect the function of the product, so I will still purchase it and contact the company right away for a replacement part. Obviously, if it poses a safety hazard, I won't buy it and I inform the seller.

-Make sure you're getting the best deal. There's usually some wiggle room in the price, even at a consignment store.

-Some items can be turned into something else, so try to look for the potential in the item instead of immediately saying no. There are so many great items that can be recycled into something else for your own house too, rather than selling it off. I've seen kid's dressers repainted, or baby bedding sewn into a quilt. The possiblities are endless.

-My favorite place to look for deals besides thrift stores, yard sales and consignment shopes is online, craigslist.com. SO fun. I think buying secondhand is so neat because you can afford things you wouldn't normally have and brand names from stores you've only dreamed of entering. When someone asks where something is from (if they know me at all, they already know it's used) I love saying, "Pottery Barn" all the while thinking, "you would never believe how much I found that for!"

Now we've talked about a couple of my favorite tips, what are yours? Happy Bargain Hunting!

Do What Works For You

Back when I got pregnant with Kaleb, I started reading the parenting books. I read and read and read and read some more when Kaleb came along. And while I was glad to be more educated, I realized something: those parenting books stressed me out.

Each one had a different theory on how to get a baby to eat, sleep, poop, stop crying, etc. One would tell me, "You must have your baby on a schedule." And another would say, "A schedule? Just go with the flow." One would tell me that breast feeding was essential to your baby's good health. Another would say that formula is just fine.

I found myself constantly worrying about whether I was doing things right. I was freaking out if Kaleb wasn't on the same schedule every day and analyzing his poop to make sure it looked okay. Does this sound familiar?

Eventually I came to this conclusion: Do what works for you and your kid. If your parenting book, best friend, sister, or even your mom has a different opinion, IT'S OK. Just do what works for you and your kid.

By all means, still read the parenting books and ask for the opinions of those around you. But in the end, the choice is all up to you. Life was so much nicer when I realized that!

21 Safest Booster Seats

My husband showed me this clip on the Today Show, so I thought I'd share. Read through it, watch the video. It's pretty interesting and I think it's something all parents need to be aware of.

The 21 Safest booster seats are:

•Britax Frontier 85 (combination highback); about $210
•Chicco Keyfit Strada (dual highback); about $170
•Clek Oobr (dual highback); about $275
•Cosco Juvenile Pronto (dual highback); about $30
•Cybex Solution X-Fix (highback); about $200
•Eddie Bauer Auto Booster (dual highback); about $80
•Evenflo Big Kid Amp (backless); about $25
•Evenflo Maestro (combination highback); about $60
•Graco TurboBooster Crawford (dual highback), about $45
•Harmony Baby Armor (dual highback); about $115
•Harmony Dreamtime (dual backless);about $50
•Harmony Dreamtime (dual highback); about $50
•Harmony Secure Comfort Deluxe (backless); about $20
•Harmony Youth Booster Seat (backless); about $30
•Maxi-Cosi Rodi XR (dual highback); about $120
•Recaro ProBOOSTER (highback); about $130
•Recaro ProSPORT (combination highback); about $280
•Recaro Vivo (highback); about $90
•Recaro Young Sport (combination highback); about $250
•Safety 1st Boost Air Protect (dual highback); about $240
•The First Years Pathway B570 (highback); about $75

If yours isn't on the list, that's fine. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety posted a list of Best Bets, Good Bets, Not Recommended, and Other on their website, here.

Just be sure that while your child is in his/her booster seat, the seat belt goes across their thighs, NOT their tummy, and the strap crosses their shoulder at the joint. Too high and it's irritating to the child, who eventually wiggles out of it. Too low and the child could fly out in the case of a car accident.

Binky Bowl

My son is a binky lover. Binky, pacifier, soother, boo-boo, pacy...whatever you want to call it, he'll put it in his mouth. I never liked the idea of it, but I came to terms with it and finally appreciated it for it's value.

1. It puts my son to sleep.
2. It keeps him quiet during church.

The problem with value #1 is that if Seth wakes up and realizes the binky is gone, he's upset.

After months of waking up, stumbling down the hall, bumbling in the dark and searching for a binky in the blanket, under the stuffed giraffe, under the crib, caught in the baby's collar...I finally had a genius idea. Why not keep spares in a bowl on the dresser?!

Every night I make sure I have at least one spare though I usually keep two or three. Every morning I scoop up scattered binkies and plop them in the bowl. I wash them once a week and replace them.

Now if I have to get up in the middle of the night, I walk straight to the dresser, get a binky and sooth my baby, all with my eyes closed.