I do, it's true. It even has a name. Only it doesn't really exist. It's the blog location for all the thing that just don't fit here.
There are things I think about that would make sense to put in a personal diary, but not to share on the internet. There are things I think about that I know would cause me to lose all three of my readers were I to write posts about them. Trust me, there are things I think about that you just don't want to know about.
So when those ideas come up, and believe me they do, I just pretend to write them up while I sit in the tub relaxing after putting the children to bed. And I smile. Because usually, those posts make me laugh, even though they'd make everyone else cringe.
The Big Boy Update: My son is fond of one of his teachers, Kica. He sometimes tells her her last name is the same as ours, so our running joke with her is that she's a member of our family. Coming home the other day I asked him as we drove into our driveway, "who lives here?" He replied, "daddy." I then asked him if anyone else lived here and he said, "Kica." So I asked him if he lived here and he said, "no, I live at school." Kica tells us about my son's days at school and some of the funny things he says and does. He was having a problem with, "a need to move" and one day he went to the back door, turned to Kica and said, "Kica, I need to run." So she opened the door, he went out and ran around in circles until he was calm enough to come back into the classroom and focus on his work.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: "Happy know clap hand hoo ray" My daughter is picking up new songs more quickly now. One of the most recent ones is, If You're Happy and You Know it. She will go on and on after signing it together with us, but the longer she sings, the more words she leaves out and the more verses she combines. This is true with most of her songs. By the time we got to the grocery store last night, she was happily and enthusiastically repeating, "happy know clap hands hoo ray!"
Fitness Update: Headache, possibly a migraine, but I wanted to go to the gym with my neighbor this morning because she had some news she wanted to share with me that was important to her family. It was a rough workout but I'm glad I went because we did have a chance to talk.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
You'll Need a Lot of Spoons (and the move-in meltdown)
I found out I was pregnant the week we signed a contract to start building our house. My son was born a week before we moved in to that same house, two weeks after our first wedding anniversary. It was a busy year.
If it weren't for the help of our parents, it would have been far more difficult and much more stressful. My son was unexpectedly delivered four weeks early and that didn't help with our schedule and planning either.
But we made it work. It was an exciting holiday season, what with a new baby, a new house and family all around us. And it was busy. We had so much to do house-wise and we had a small child that also needed a lot of our time. There was so much to be done I had trouble prioritizing sometimes and getting anything done.
For instance, I would leave the bedroom to go to the kitchen to get one thing done, see something in the living room that I could possibly do on the way, stop to do that, realize I needed to get something else in the bedroom, go back, get confused at where I was going in the first place and walk to the kitchen, look around and realize I'd completely forgotten what thing I was about to do because I'd seen so much else that needed to be done along the distracted way.
And stuff...we had so much stuff out and in our faces. Usually, most of our stuff is put away and I don't have to think about all the tureens and wine glasses or the paperback books because they're put up. But when so much of your "stuff" is out and visible, it's mentally distracting. Okay, well it is to someone who likes a tidy and organized house. Some people prefer to be in an environment surrounded by lots of things and they find that comfortable. For me though, it was way too much mental static.
It was about this time that a good friend of ours sent over, via my parents, some random things she thought I might be able to use. It was stuff that needed to go in different areas of the house, like the craft area or the children's toy area or the kitchen area and it was all piled into one box. And right about then, I was about to snap from too many things and too many decisions to be made and I didn't want to see a box of random junk I might not even want from someone else.
One of the things in that box was a stack of baby spoons. Our friend had said, "you're going to need a lot of spoons when he starts eating solids." And okay, I believed her, but these spoons were random and different and I had a child that was eight-days-old and I didn't have any clue where my utensils were, much less where the baby spoons were going to go. My husband looked at them and said, "this one's from Dairy Queen. It's not even a baby spoon."
It was about then that I had my meltdown. I just couldn't take any more right at that moment. My mother-in-law was in the room and she said, "give me the spoons" and with a big flourish, she threw them in the trash. And we laughed. And I felt better. It was something little, but it helped a lot.
Today, I think back about that conversation and those spoons. I think about how we scoffed at the spoon from Dairy Queen and I think how foolish we were to shun the spoon just because it was designed to be disposable. Today, the spoons my children love the most are the ones we saved from a frozen yogurt store in Florida two years ago. We saved two then, and we got four more of the same style from another store in another town much later.
Sometimes it takes time to learn something valuable.
The Big Boy Update: "I made Batman." My son had a cookie for dessert. He took one bite out of the left side of the round cookie and then he took a similar-sized bite out of the right side. He held the remaining cookie up and realized it looked a bit like the batman symbol. When he showed me, I realized he was completely right.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: We walked out from the grocery store tonight in rather heavy rain. I was pushing my daughter in the cart and I told her we were going to get wet. She smiled and told me she could feel the rain. She held out her hand and caught raindrops and then wanted to see if my hand was catching raindrops too. After we got into the car, she said to me, "Let's do it again."
If it weren't for the help of our parents, it would have been far more difficult and much more stressful. My son was unexpectedly delivered four weeks early and that didn't help with our schedule and planning either.
But we made it work. It was an exciting holiday season, what with a new baby, a new house and family all around us. And it was busy. We had so much to do house-wise and we had a small child that also needed a lot of our time. There was so much to be done I had trouble prioritizing sometimes and getting anything done.
For instance, I would leave the bedroom to go to the kitchen to get one thing done, see something in the living room that I could possibly do on the way, stop to do that, realize I needed to get something else in the bedroom, go back, get confused at where I was going in the first place and walk to the kitchen, look around and realize I'd completely forgotten what thing I was about to do because I'd seen so much else that needed to be done along the distracted way.
And stuff...we had so much stuff out and in our faces. Usually, most of our stuff is put away and I don't have to think about all the tureens and wine glasses or the paperback books because they're put up. But when so much of your "stuff" is out and visible, it's mentally distracting. Okay, well it is to someone who likes a tidy and organized house. Some people prefer to be in an environment surrounded by lots of things and they find that comfortable. For me though, it was way too much mental static.
It was about this time that a good friend of ours sent over, via my parents, some random things she thought I might be able to use. It was stuff that needed to go in different areas of the house, like the craft area or the children's toy area or the kitchen area and it was all piled into one box. And right about then, I was about to snap from too many things and too many decisions to be made and I didn't want to see a box of random junk I might not even want from someone else.
One of the things in that box was a stack of baby spoons. Our friend had said, "you're going to need a lot of spoons when he starts eating solids." And okay, I believed her, but these spoons were random and different and I had a child that was eight-days-old and I didn't have any clue where my utensils were, much less where the baby spoons were going to go. My husband looked at them and said, "this one's from Dairy Queen. It's not even a baby spoon."
It was about then that I had my meltdown. I just couldn't take any more right at that moment. My mother-in-law was in the room and she said, "give me the spoons" and with a big flourish, she threw them in the trash. And we laughed. And I felt better. It was something little, but it helped a lot.
Today, I think back about that conversation and those spoons. I think about how we scoffed at the spoon from Dairy Queen and I think how foolish we were to shun the spoon just because it was designed to be disposable. Today, the spoons my children love the most are the ones we saved from a frozen yogurt store in Florida two years ago. We saved two then, and we got four more of the same style from another store in another town much later.
Sometimes it takes time to learn something valuable.
The Big Boy Update: "I made Batman." My son had a cookie for dessert. He took one bite out of the left side of the round cookie and then he took a similar-sized bite out of the right side. He held the remaining cookie up and realized it looked a bit like the batman symbol. When he showed me, I realized he was completely right.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: We walked out from the grocery store tonight in rather heavy rain. I was pushing my daughter in the cart and I told her we were going to get wet. She smiled and told me she could feel the rain. She held out her hand and caught raindrops and then wanted to see if my hand was catching raindrops too. After we got into the car, she said to me, "Let's do it again."
Monday, November 25, 2013
The Stinky Closet and Other Odoriferous Issues
We have a closet that smells bad. It didn't start out that way, it developed suddenly, when something died. More challenging, is how to make the closet stop smelling. I'm going to have to rewind to explain how we got to this point and how we're not that surprised or upset.
We have an "encapsulated crawl space" under the house, or the half of the house that isn't basement. By encapsulated, it means the space is relatively sealed in and is factored into the overall envelope of space for heating and cooling purposes. It doesn't mean you're heating and cooling extra space, it means that space is protected from the outside temperatures so the ambient temperature is closer to the inside of the house. Ultimately, it should be a cost savings, when implemented correctly.
It's a nice crawl space. It's lined with thick plastic over the gravel and it's clean because it doesn't get debris from outside blown in from vents we would otherwise have in a regular crawl space. Recently, we had a semi-annual maintenance service done on our HVAC systems and when we opened the internal door to the crawl space, we noticed a smell. And this wasn't the smell we now have in our closet. This was a rodent-like, fecal-ish smell that made us fairly confident there were little critters in our crawl space. Also, there was scat.
We had someone come and do two things at that point, first they swept out the debris all through the crawl space, much of which had been there since the house was constructed. There was a question on if the scat was old or new, because it was quite hard and dry, said the main from our insect treatment company. He also said that keeping out small mice is a very difficult proposition because they can wiggle through extremely small spaces.
But we wanted to make some sort of an effort to make it more difficult. As they were sweeping out the debris, they went around with spray foam and sealed up any small holes in the perimeter. And that went smoothly and we hoped the problem was over.
The thing is, they may have done a very good job, thus trapping a small animal in the crawl space. And it died. It may have died in the wall between the floor and the basement, but wherever it died, we can't see it or get to it. We can't really hone in on it other than the smell is strongest near the closet under the stairs. So, other than tearing up walls, we're going to have to wait for it to decompose and dessicate at which point the smell will fade.
Today is day four of the smelly closet and it is the best and least-stinky day yet. Hopefully that will be the last of the crawl space critter situation. We shall see.
The Big Boy Update: "There's the Christmas man." My son told daddy this the other night as he saw some Christmas decorations that included a Santa.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Hair spray. Okay, this hair thing is getting out of control. Her hair is so thin and fine that we want to keep what we can of it. She doesn't mind bows, but if they annoy her, she'll pull them out. Also, she rolls around so much that they sometimes just fall out on their own, taking strands of hair with them. She doesn't need anything, other than her hair is in her eyes. So today, I implemented, "operation hair spray". If we can spray it back for a while, just until it's long enough to get fully into a band, we'll be making progress.
Fitness Update: Non-stop cardio and core day at the gym. Our trainer was laughing at us as we were all failing at simple things that, done individually, should have been easy, but when it's the twenty-third thing you've done without stopping, makes you look like a wimp.
We have an "encapsulated crawl space" under the house, or the half of the house that isn't basement. By encapsulated, it means the space is relatively sealed in and is factored into the overall envelope of space for heating and cooling purposes. It doesn't mean you're heating and cooling extra space, it means that space is protected from the outside temperatures so the ambient temperature is closer to the inside of the house. Ultimately, it should be a cost savings, when implemented correctly.
It's a nice crawl space. It's lined with thick plastic over the gravel and it's clean because it doesn't get debris from outside blown in from vents we would otherwise have in a regular crawl space. Recently, we had a semi-annual maintenance service done on our HVAC systems and when we opened the internal door to the crawl space, we noticed a smell. And this wasn't the smell we now have in our closet. This was a rodent-like, fecal-ish smell that made us fairly confident there were little critters in our crawl space. Also, there was scat.
We had someone come and do two things at that point, first they swept out the debris all through the crawl space, much of which had been there since the house was constructed. There was a question on if the scat was old or new, because it was quite hard and dry, said the main from our insect treatment company. He also said that keeping out small mice is a very difficult proposition because they can wiggle through extremely small spaces.
But we wanted to make some sort of an effort to make it more difficult. As they were sweeping out the debris, they went around with spray foam and sealed up any small holes in the perimeter. And that went smoothly and we hoped the problem was over.
The thing is, they may have done a very good job, thus trapping a small animal in the crawl space. And it died. It may have died in the wall between the floor and the basement, but wherever it died, we can't see it or get to it. We can't really hone in on it other than the smell is strongest near the closet under the stairs. So, other than tearing up walls, we're going to have to wait for it to decompose and dessicate at which point the smell will fade.
Today is day four of the smelly closet and it is the best and least-stinky day yet. Hopefully that will be the last of the crawl space critter situation. We shall see.
The Big Boy Update: "There's the Christmas man." My son told daddy this the other night as he saw some Christmas decorations that included a Santa.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Hair spray. Okay, this hair thing is getting out of control. Her hair is so thin and fine that we want to keep what we can of it. She doesn't mind bows, but if they annoy her, she'll pull them out. Also, she rolls around so much that they sometimes just fall out on their own, taking strands of hair with them. She doesn't need anything, other than her hair is in her eyes. So today, I implemented, "operation hair spray". If we can spray it back for a while, just until it's long enough to get fully into a band, we'll be making progress.
Fitness Update: Non-stop cardio and core day at the gym. Our trainer was laughing at us as we were all failing at simple things that, done individually, should have been easy, but when it's the twenty-third thing you've done without stopping, makes you look like a wimp.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
One Foot, Two Foot, Sock Foot, Shoe Foot
Do you remember being a child and having one shoe come untied and after a while you just kicked it off? Maybe you didn't feel like re-tying it or it was just nice to have it off for a while. And yet your other shoe was on, but that didn't seem to matter.
It was an interesting sensation, having one foot taller with the shoe than the socked foot. It was a strange feeling to walk around off-set in height. It was also, in a strange way, fun. I remember one time walking around for hours with just one shoe on many years ago.
My children don't seem to care if they have both, one or no shoes on. Last night I took one shoe off to get something out, like a pebble, and I had to go take care of some child thing immediately, so I launched into action with only one shoe. It took me several minutes to get back to my shoe, but it reminded me of my childhood.
Was it a novel feeling? No. Was it interesting enough to not bother putting the other shoe back on. Definitely not. I felt awkward and just wanted to get back to the missing shoe so I could get some foot-based sameness back in my life.
Children are so flexible mentally. Everything is new and everything is interesting. Once we get old it's all about what we know is what we like and everything else has got to go.
The Big Boy Update: "Papa, turn on the dark." Nana brought flashlights for the children to play with in their tent today. My son wanted to see what they looked like, but it wasn't even remotely close to being night time. After a few minutes he turned to Papa and said, "Papa, turn on the dark."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: The cutest grocery shopper. My daughter went to the grocery store with me this morning. For the first time, she pushed around the little children's cart. She followed me everywhere through the store with adults smiling and commenting all along the way. She helped put canned goods into the cart and on the next aisle, she decided to select a bag of sugar and then two bags of coconut to put in her cart that I put back when she wasn't looking. She presented the cashier with our card at checkout and then she put her cart back in the cart area as we got ready to leave the store. It was, without a doubt, one of those, "cutest kid ever" moments.
It was an interesting sensation, having one foot taller with the shoe than the socked foot. It was a strange feeling to walk around off-set in height. It was also, in a strange way, fun. I remember one time walking around for hours with just one shoe on many years ago.
My children don't seem to care if they have both, one or no shoes on. Last night I took one shoe off to get something out, like a pebble, and I had to go take care of some child thing immediately, so I launched into action with only one shoe. It took me several minutes to get back to my shoe, but it reminded me of my childhood.
Was it a novel feeling? No. Was it interesting enough to not bother putting the other shoe back on. Definitely not. I felt awkward and just wanted to get back to the missing shoe so I could get some foot-based sameness back in my life.
Children are so flexible mentally. Everything is new and everything is interesting. Once we get old it's all about what we know is what we like and everything else has got to go.
The Big Boy Update: "Papa, turn on the dark." Nana brought flashlights for the children to play with in their tent today. My son wanted to see what they looked like, but it wasn't even remotely close to being night time. After a few minutes he turned to Papa and said, "Papa, turn on the dark."
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: The cutest grocery shopper. My daughter went to the grocery store with me this morning. For the first time, she pushed around the little children's cart. She followed me everywhere through the store with adults smiling and commenting all along the way. She helped put canned goods into the cart and on the next aisle, she decided to select a bag of sugar and then two bags of coconut to put in her cart that I put back when she wasn't looking. She presented the cashier with our card at checkout and then she put her cart back in the cart area as we got ready to leave the store. It was, without a doubt, one of those, "cutest kid ever" moments.
Saturday, November 23, 2013
The Freshman Float Failure
As I was driving home today from running errands, I passed two trucks carrying floats behind them. I couldn't tell what the floats were for because they didn't have a particular school listed on the side for say, a homecoming parade. Both floats were fairly empty, one having only a small tricycle in the middle. It was a bit strange, but it brought back memories of high school and my one and only float experience.
I offered to help construct the freshman class float and for several days we met after school at one of our classmates houses to put together this float. I thought floats were made of flowers, but no, as it turns out, most floats are tissue paper and chicken wire.
I got good at stuffing tissue into the holes of the chicken wire as we built a shape that looked sort of like a very angular football player. We used our school colors and made him look proud. When we were done, just before the homecoming parade, the float was delivered to our school by one of the parents and we eagerly awaited for school to be over so we could participate in the parade to the football field.
But there's more to this story, and that's that our high school didn't have our own football field. This was a strange situation but it was based on the school being located in an urban area with little free land coupled with lack of funds to build a football stadium from the city. What this meant was that we shared a football field with another school in the city.
So imagine this: you have a home game and the away team happens to be the school you share a stadium with. Your home game will be on their campus. This means you get to be on their "home" side and they have to go all the way across the stadium and act like they're from somewhere else for the entire game. And yeah, they hated us when that happened.
After I graduated, we eventually got our own stadium and I was so happy for those students that followed me. But back to the float and the homecoming parade. We're at our school and we have a float, but we have to make it to our stadium at that other school and the drive is close to ten miles. Also, imagine that we don't know what we're doing when it comes to float making.
The cheer leading squad was going to be sitting on the float and we were going to be cheering to all the random people we drove by that had no idea what was going on. I was one of those cheerleaders and I was on that float. We were so excited. We were fired up. We got on the float and we were ready to parade away.
You know where this is going, right? Disaster. We were no more out of the parking lot of the school when our square-ish football player couldn't handle the stress and fell over backwards onto the bed of the truck pulling him. Uh....Um....Gah.
We didn't know what to do. We felt embarrassed. We didn't know what to say. We laughed to the people we drove by, saying things like, "he's resting before the game." We knew those people didn't care. What we cared about right at that point was that we didn't have to ride around the football stadium in a broken float, because we weren't the class president and vice-president.
I don't remember, but I think they propped him up for the stadium parade. I think it was obvious, but it was better than nothing.
The Big Boy Update: Cat allergy? At practice thanksgiving at friends tonight my son had a bad allergic reaction on his face. He got very red and his eyes were blood-shot. This occurred just after he put the cat bed on top of his head. It could be, and most likely is, a cat allergy as both my mother and I have one. But I also have a dust mite and mold spore allergy and either of those items could have been in the cat bed. Bendaryl and some Calagel on his face and he didn't seem to care. He was most interested in playing with his friend, Gavin.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Clingy sad. We went to practice thanksgiving tonight at a friend's house. My daughter fell asleep before we left, but that didn't explain her intense clingyness or unhappyness while we were there. She did eat food and eventually warmed up to the location, but it was a rough go for a while.
I offered to help construct the freshman class float and for several days we met after school at one of our classmates houses to put together this float. I thought floats were made of flowers, but no, as it turns out, most floats are tissue paper and chicken wire.
I got good at stuffing tissue into the holes of the chicken wire as we built a shape that looked sort of like a very angular football player. We used our school colors and made him look proud. When we were done, just before the homecoming parade, the float was delivered to our school by one of the parents and we eagerly awaited for school to be over so we could participate in the parade to the football field.
But there's more to this story, and that's that our high school didn't have our own football field. This was a strange situation but it was based on the school being located in an urban area with little free land coupled with lack of funds to build a football stadium from the city. What this meant was that we shared a football field with another school in the city.
So imagine this: you have a home game and the away team happens to be the school you share a stadium with. Your home game will be on their campus. This means you get to be on their "home" side and they have to go all the way across the stadium and act like they're from somewhere else for the entire game. And yeah, they hated us when that happened.
After I graduated, we eventually got our own stadium and I was so happy for those students that followed me. But back to the float and the homecoming parade. We're at our school and we have a float, but we have to make it to our stadium at that other school and the drive is close to ten miles. Also, imagine that we don't know what we're doing when it comes to float making.
The cheer leading squad was going to be sitting on the float and we were going to be cheering to all the random people we drove by that had no idea what was going on. I was one of those cheerleaders and I was on that float. We were so excited. We were fired up. We got on the float and we were ready to parade away.
You know where this is going, right? Disaster. We were no more out of the parking lot of the school when our square-ish football player couldn't handle the stress and fell over backwards onto the bed of the truck pulling him. Uh....Um....Gah.
We didn't know what to do. We felt embarrassed. We didn't know what to say. We laughed to the people we drove by, saying things like, "he's resting before the game." We knew those people didn't care. What we cared about right at that point was that we didn't have to ride around the football stadium in a broken float, because we weren't the class president and vice-president.
I don't remember, but I think they propped him up for the stadium parade. I think it was obvious, but it was better than nothing.
The Big Boy Update: Cat allergy? At practice thanksgiving at friends tonight my son had a bad allergic reaction on his face. He got very red and his eyes were blood-shot. This occurred just after he put the cat bed on top of his head. It could be, and most likely is, a cat allergy as both my mother and I have one. But I also have a dust mite and mold spore allergy and either of those items could have been in the cat bed. Bendaryl and some Calagel on his face and he didn't seem to care. He was most interested in playing with his friend, Gavin.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Clingy sad. We went to practice thanksgiving tonight at a friend's house. My daughter fell asleep before we left, but that didn't explain her intense clingyness or unhappyness while we were there. She did eat food and eventually warmed up to the location, but it was a rough go for a while.
Friday, November 22, 2013
The Night Night Fight
Times change and with children, those changes can come quickly. Or, they can sneak up on you and suddenly you realized you're stuck in a pattern you would have never voluntarily entered into, but now that you're there, you're going to have to figure a way out. Right now for us, it's sleeping routines.
Way back, our children slept for twelve hours straight, plus a nap. And we found that nice. As they got older, they slept a little less and they napped a little less. Not too long ago, we moved bedtime from 7:30PM to 8:00PM because they were waking up too early.
Most recently, we decided to make an additional change as needed: the removal of naps. And no, we don't want to do this. That bit of time in the middle of the day where you, as a parent, get a break, is nice. Our children aren't old enough to play unattended for stretches of time yet so they need to be watched or supervised and for an adult, that ends up being tiring mentally or physically or possibly both.
Toddlers need to be re-focused and kept on track all the time. They need reminders of what they can and can't do and they need firm implementation of those expectations. And that can make an adult weary.
So losing the nap (for most days at least) wasn't our ideal solution. But we were running into another annoying problem at both bedtime and in the morning. When they would go to bed they would take longer to get settled. Sometimes, we'd need to sit in the room as an "enforcer" for a half-hour or longer until they fell asleep. It wasn't a hard job because they understand they have to stay in their beds while we're in the room. But it's not a good use of our time when we have lots of other things to do. And it's no fun.
Then, we developed a morning problem. They'd be going to sleep later, sometimes not falling asleep until nine o'clock even, but they'd be waking up at six o'clock, messing up their pants, possibly trying to clean themselves up and in the process, making an even bigger mess in the bathroom. Or they'd be awake and noisy and generally kept us from getting that hour of sleep we'd like to have before our morning starts at seven o'clock. So we made a change.
We thought, "fine, if you're not going to sleep at night, you can forget the nap so you'll be extra tired when it's bed time." Tonight was a test, and I have to thank my husband for wearing them out all day long. He is tired, I know he is because I've done that job before. I had school obligations from drop-off this morning until after six o'clock tonight so I was of little use. He kept them awake and wore them out all afternoon and evening.
At just before eight o'clock, my daughter got up, came over to me and wanted to be picked up. The television was on with a show they like so they could watch while I cleaned up. For her to get up and ask to go to bed when a show is on meant she was very tired. She went straight to sleep, not a sound, not a complaint, right away.
Then my son went up, just after eight o'clock and while he initially (for the first minute) said he didn't want to go to bed, he truly did. He lay down, closed his eyes and I walked out of the room. It's the first time in a long time that I remember where one of us didn't have to sit with them for a period of time.
I wonder if they'll sleep until our expected wake up time in the morning...
The Big Boy Update: We went to eat sushi the other night. My son and daughter got a kids meal that was more "tame" than sushi. But my son, unlike his normal self, wanted to try all sorts of things. He wanted to try sushi, raw fish, ginger, salad, soup and other things I can't remember. I was really pleased he wanted to try new things. I hope the trend continues.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Jump and dance. She likes to jump on the bed and dance when music is on. And giggle. She loves to giggle.
Fitness Update: Circuit work with up to five of us at once at the gym this morning. Our trainer was out to get us but because he laughs as he picks on us it makes it all fun, despite the pain.
Way back, our children slept for twelve hours straight, plus a nap. And we found that nice. As they got older, they slept a little less and they napped a little less. Not too long ago, we moved bedtime from 7:30PM to 8:00PM because they were waking up too early.
Most recently, we decided to make an additional change as needed: the removal of naps. And no, we don't want to do this. That bit of time in the middle of the day where you, as a parent, get a break, is nice. Our children aren't old enough to play unattended for stretches of time yet so they need to be watched or supervised and for an adult, that ends up being tiring mentally or physically or possibly both.
Toddlers need to be re-focused and kept on track all the time. They need reminders of what they can and can't do and they need firm implementation of those expectations. And that can make an adult weary.
So losing the nap (for most days at least) wasn't our ideal solution. But we were running into another annoying problem at both bedtime and in the morning. When they would go to bed they would take longer to get settled. Sometimes, we'd need to sit in the room as an "enforcer" for a half-hour or longer until they fell asleep. It wasn't a hard job because they understand they have to stay in their beds while we're in the room. But it's not a good use of our time when we have lots of other things to do. And it's no fun.
Then, we developed a morning problem. They'd be going to sleep later, sometimes not falling asleep until nine o'clock even, but they'd be waking up at six o'clock, messing up their pants, possibly trying to clean themselves up and in the process, making an even bigger mess in the bathroom. Or they'd be awake and noisy and generally kept us from getting that hour of sleep we'd like to have before our morning starts at seven o'clock. So we made a change.
We thought, "fine, if you're not going to sleep at night, you can forget the nap so you'll be extra tired when it's bed time." Tonight was a test, and I have to thank my husband for wearing them out all day long. He is tired, I know he is because I've done that job before. I had school obligations from drop-off this morning until after six o'clock tonight so I was of little use. He kept them awake and wore them out all afternoon and evening.
At just before eight o'clock, my daughter got up, came over to me and wanted to be picked up. The television was on with a show they like so they could watch while I cleaned up. For her to get up and ask to go to bed when a show is on meant she was very tired. She went straight to sleep, not a sound, not a complaint, right away.
Then my son went up, just after eight o'clock and while he initially (for the first minute) said he didn't want to go to bed, he truly did. He lay down, closed his eyes and I walked out of the room. It's the first time in a long time that I remember where one of us didn't have to sit with them for a period of time.
I wonder if they'll sleep until our expected wake up time in the morning...
The Big Boy Update: We went to eat sushi the other night. My son and daughter got a kids meal that was more "tame" than sushi. But my son, unlike his normal self, wanted to try all sorts of things. He wanted to try sushi, raw fish, ginger, salad, soup and other things I can't remember. I was really pleased he wanted to try new things. I hope the trend continues.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Jump and dance. She likes to jump on the bed and dance when music is on. And giggle. She loves to giggle.
Fitness Update: Circuit work with up to five of us at once at the gym this morning. Our trainer was out to get us but because he laughs as he picks on us it makes it all fun, despite the pain.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Phonathon
Is it phone-a-thon or phonathon? I was told tonight it was the latter. Now if someone can just explain to me when to use, "fundraising" versus "fund raising" I'd be grateful.
Tonight was our school's annual fund phonathon. Last year I participated with high levels of anxiety. I didn't know the parents. I was new to the school. I didn't want to ask people for money. I hoped people didn't answer their phones. When they did, I stumbled over my words.
This year was different. I remember last year people grabbing the parent cards and saying things like, "I want to call them" or, "I can get them to donate, I know it." But this year I was that person. I knew lots more families including some of their children from the substituting work I've been doing. I walked off with a large stack and started making calls.
I didn't get a lot of answers, but I did have some successes with those that did answer. Tomorrow, I'll follow-up with an email to each of the families I called. Hopefully we'll see the results in donations to the school in the coming weeks.
The Big Boy Update: My son makes this quick, deep intake of breath a lot. He does this as he's suddenly discovering something. I have no idea how to spell it but imagine this: we ask him if he can find the puzzle piece with the narwhal on it. He looks around, sees it, gasps in excitement and says, "there's the narwhal!"
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Angry nose. She's had a runny nose for over a week now and her nostrils and just under her nose area is raw. She doesn't want you to touch there, no matter how gently we wipe. She is very helpful though in putting on chap stick or antibacterial salve to help it heal. That must make it feel better.
Tonight was our school's annual fund phonathon. Last year I participated with high levels of anxiety. I didn't know the parents. I was new to the school. I didn't want to ask people for money. I hoped people didn't answer their phones. When they did, I stumbled over my words.
This year was different. I remember last year people grabbing the parent cards and saying things like, "I want to call them" or, "I can get them to donate, I know it." But this year I was that person. I knew lots more families including some of their children from the substituting work I've been doing. I walked off with a large stack and started making calls.
I didn't get a lot of answers, but I did have some successes with those that did answer. Tomorrow, I'll follow-up with an email to each of the families I called. Hopefully we'll see the results in donations to the school in the coming weeks.
The Big Boy Update: My son makes this quick, deep intake of breath a lot. He does this as he's suddenly discovering something. I have no idea how to spell it but imagine this: we ask him if he can find the puzzle piece with the narwhal on it. He looks around, sees it, gasps in excitement and says, "there's the narwhal!"
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Angry nose. She's had a runny nose for over a week now and her nostrils and just under her nose area is raw. She doesn't want you to touch there, no matter how gently we wipe. She is very helpful though in putting on chap stick or antibacterial salve to help it heal. That must make it feel better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)