Life’s Little Treasures
15 May 2012 1 Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: kids, mom, mothers day
Did you all have a nice Mother’s Day? We have a tradition in our house of taking a drive down the Seward Highway to the Wildlife Conservation Center. (It’s free on Mother’s Day.) Every year, it seems like such a fun idea. But, then, about midway through the drive back, the kids are screaming that they’re hungry, have to pee or someone’s touching them and then I remember why we only go once a year.
Despite the jaunt to Portage, I had a very nice Mother’s Day. It was great to just be with my kids. My son gave me a framed picture of himself. It was the sweetest thing. My daughter cried because she hadn’t gotten me anything (until my fiance gave her a card to give me, which bucked her spirits right up) and my toddler went on with his day, as usual. He threw a tantrum at brunch, to which another mom informed him he wasn’t allowed to do on Mother’s Day…
These last few days, perusing Facebook, I’ve seen tons of posts from my friends about the awesomeness of being a mom. They ranged from your kiddo telling you they love you for the first time, to seeing them learn to do things on their own. So, here’s my simple question to you, this post Mother’s Day:
What’s the best part of being a mom?
Sick of Lying
11 May 2012 2 Comments
in Pimp My Minivan, Timeouts and Tantrums: The Discipline Debate Tags: faking sick, ferris bueller, kids, kindergarten, lying, mom, morning of lies, sahm, sick, wohm
Argh! Can we have a do-over to start my day? Please?
My kindergartener was sick yesterday after school. The sitter called and said he was not feeling well at all. Grandma picked him up and by the time I got home, all was well again. Apparently, he just needed to poop.
This morning, I walked to his room to wake him up. He wasn’t there. I could hear the cartoons from the living room TV upstairs. We don’t do TV during the week and hardly on the weekends. “Hey!” I called up, “You need to get ready for school. Shut the TV off.”
“What? No. It’s the weekend!” he replied.
“No, it’s Friday. You have school!”
“NO, I don’t. It’s the weekend!”
This went on for a while until I walked upstairs and shut the TV off and told him he’d better get ready or we’d be late. And there began the morning… The Morning of the Lies.
“I don’t feeeeeeeeeeeeel good!” he began to cry, out of nowhere, in the shrill whiny voice that makes every parent cringe. (Non-parents may mistake this whine as actual crying or a sign of a serious illness. This, however, is a rookie mistake. This kind of cry is easily detected by a parent who instantly recognizes it as what it is: A LIE.)
At this point, you may start thinking, “Oh, but he went home sick yesterday. Maybe he really doesn’t feel good!” Well, I have a solution for this. My lie detector test is my right hand. If, while the child is crying, I lift my hand to tickle them and they bust up laughing, they are NOT sick. When they are actually sick, they might smile a little sad smile and say something like, “please, mommy, no tickles. I don’t feel good.” But, no. Today, it was all laughs before resuming the shrill, “I don’t feeeeeel good!”
The line was repeated, over and over again. I went through the usual, “Do you really not feel good or do you want some attention?” Normally, he says he just wants some attention and we’ll play a game or something. Not this time. This time, he just wanted to stay in his pajamas and watch cartoons all day.
We went round and round all morning, including an actual slamming on the brakes in the driveway (flashback to childhood: “I will pull this car over!”) He changed his tune shortly after that and we were okay again. Until… I went to drop him off at the sitter’s. “I don’t want to go. I don’t feel good!” began again.
After finally getting him out of the car, I found myself fuming over this on the drive to work. Why must kids lie like that? How do you get them to just tell you the truth? And why is it that my kids pull this stuff when I know, full well, that if I would have tried this when I was a kid, I would’ve gotten a spanking. Are spankings the solution? Nasty flavored “medicine”? (My parents used to make me take Chloraseptic spray. Yuck! That really determined if I was sick or not…To be fair, the Chloraseptic folks seem to have come up with some less-nasty stuff these days…) What do you do? How do you get your child to understand that crying wolf and saying they are sick all the time is really a form of lying?
Or is this the way of my future?
Like Riding a Bike…
08 May 2012 10 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: bike, kids, kindergarten, learning to ride a bike, mom, riding a bike, son
Last summer, my then five-year-old son refused to get on his big-boy bike. He was scared to death of the off-kilter training wheels. These little devices are supposed to instill confidence, not freak your kid out. But, because they were so far unbalanced, he was terrified he might fall those death-defying 18 inches to the ground. So, instead of the big-boy bike, he spent the summer careening down our driveway on his sister’s old pink and purple big wheel. It did the job. He loved it.
The other night, we were headed out for some ice cream at the neighborhood ice cream stand, that had just reopened for the season, As we were headed out of the garage, he spotted his big-boy bike. He got on it. This one doesn’t have training wheels, so he struggled to keep his balance. I held the bike as he got on. He panicked. He started whimpering and begging me to take him off of it. I tried to convince him to let me push him around for a bit so he could get used to it. Fat chance. He was done. He moved on to the scooter.
A few moments later, as I was helping my two-year old get onto his tricycle and show him where his feet are supposed to go on the pedals, I saw something. I looked up at the street. There, in the street, was my fiance running behind my son, with his hand on the seat, before letting go and watching him proudly pedal, unassisted, for the first time. I kid you not, it took that man about two minutes to teach my six-year old son to ride his bike.
I ran up there, camera in hand, getting video of him on his inaugural ride. It was going great, by the way, until his sister called his name and said “Look at this!” He turned. He crashed. He cried. I explained the nature of bike riding and how we all fall, and get back up again.
Later, when I’d convinced him it was safe to get back on the bike, I placed my hand on the seat to help him get started. He, in his most tactful way he could, informed me he’d be waiting for my fiance to help him. “He knows how to do it just right,” my son told me.
How old were your kids when they started riding? What tricks did you use to get them to learn?
Help this Mama!
06 May 2012 4 Comments
A friend just texted asking for a remedy for hand, foot and mouth. Her two year old has it all over. If you’re not familiar with this, consider yourself lucky. Kids under five normally are the ones who get it: blisters all over and a fever. Sucks.
So, folks… any home remedies?
Little Kids, Big Hearts
03 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in Pimp My Minivan, Things My Kids Say Tags: accident, aubree, cancer, donating hair, hair, kids, locks of love, mom, wigs
Haven’t we all had a moment when we thought our child was the sweetest thing on the face of the planet? When the child you were just counting to three with, threatening to send them to time-out, does or says something that absolutely stuns you and sets humanity right again? Each one of my children has done this at some point in their short lives. My kindergartener told me the other day on the phone that he hoped my lip healed soon after my accident. My daughter is constantly looking out for the well-being of younger children around her. And my toddler just knows the exact moment when you need a hug… or a laugh.
Today, while squinting from the sun (even though it was overcast) and battling a headache from Monday’s car accident, I drove my way to a car shop in Eagle River to get my tires changed over. Yes, yes, I know studs were supposed to be off earlier this week, but that whole Jeep vs. Minivan thing really threw my plans for a loop. While I sat there in the waiting room, listening/cringing through the “bzz-bzz-bzz” of the tire changeover, I started talking to the woman behind the counter. She saw my minivan, put two and two together and asked me if I wrote a mom blog. Alaska’s a small town, people.
She started to tell me about her kids. She had a baby on her hip and another in school. She told me about how her nine-year old daughter did an amazing thing the other day. It’s one of those “proud to be their mom” moments. I’ll let you read it in her own words. You’ll soon see why she’s one proud mama.
10 inches
I should start this story off from the beginning. This is the story about an amazing little girl named Aubree.
Aubree is your typical 9-year-old. She is in 3rd grade, plays volleyball, loves her family and friends and has an extremely huge heart and tons of compassion for everyone. In October of 2011 my youngest sister lost a friend to a battle with cancer. This was devastating to us all. Aubree was very touched by his story and wanted to help in any way possible. Konnar would often show her pictures of Cody. She made a comment one day about him losing his hair. She said, ” I hate cancer it is not fair for kids to get sick and have to lose their hair. I am going to give them mine.” And that is where our story begins…
Aubree came to me and told me that she wanted to give her hair to kids who needed it. “Because kids like Cody with cancer shouldn’t have to go through this.” I said okay and told her that we would look into options for donating her hair. Locks of love is a non-profit organization which takes in hair to make wigs for kids 21 and younger. I took Aubree into my friend Jen who is a hair stylist. Jen explained to Aubree it takes 10 inches in order to donate. Aubree didn’t think twice, she was committed and knew this is what she wanted to do.
Aubree’s hopes are to spread the word to help out other kids in need. And to one day find a cure to end cancer. A lesson can be learned from this small little girl. One small step can change some one’s entire life! 10 inches is simply that. It will grow back. It gives hope and joy to children who have cancer.
Crash and Tan
02 May 2012 18 Comments
in News You Can Abuse, Pimp My Minivan, Things My Kids Say Tags: angelina jolie, car accident, fat lip, kids, kids tanning, minivan, mom, tanning, wreck
So, we start here. My minivan had an unfortunate collision with a Jeep Monday night. Thank God, my children were not in the car at the time. A woman drove into the back of me on the evening commute, before I had a chance to pick up the kids. Went to the ER. “Minor Head Injury” was the official diagnosis. It had an accompanying drawing that totally cracked me up: a sketch of a head slamming into something. Lovely. Yeah, that’s about right. Brain/Mind feels like mush today.
My ex picked up our children from day care after I called him in a panic, while waiting for the cops to show up. (They arrived really quickly, by the way!) Later, when talking to the kids on the phone, they asked if I was okay. I told them about my face hitting the steering wheel and my fat lip.
“Can I see?” they asked.
“The car?” I asked.
“No, your face,” they answered.
Nice. Gotta love the morbid curiosity of children. It actually didn’t look too bad. A tad like Angelina Jolie lips- but only on my left side.
Of course, after being involved in an accident myself and reading the tragic story of the mother who ran over her child, I dreamed about my toddler running out into traffic. Terrifying. I hate those dreams.
In other mom news, did you all see the story about the mom arrested for allegedly taking her five-year old daughter tanning? A good friend of mine’s sister takes her daughter tanning too. It seems all too “Toddlers and Tiaras” for me. Having made my Judgey McJudgerson comment there, what do you guys think? Is it okay to take your kid tanning? At what age do you reach the tanning threshold? My kids and I are all pale. Tanning would be a bad, bad idea.
You Know You’re A Mom When….
27 Apr 2012 8 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: car, kids, mom, toenail clippings, wee wee, you know you're a mom when
The last few days, I’ve encountered some moments where I have realized, Oh yes, I am most definitely a mom. Not that I didn’t already know that. I have three kids… Anyway, here they are for your enjoyment….
- When you are at the store and your youngest son is talking (loudly) about his “wee-wee” and how he likes to play with his wee-wee and how his wee-wee is hiding. And you – as mom – have to explain to the onlookers that “wee-wee” is his word for “car.”
- When you find yourself, in the middle of the night, trying to wrap your toddler tightly in blankets instead of waking him to put a new diaper on, because his new trick is taking his diaper off when he goes to sleep…. and soaking everything in a five-foot radius.
- When you go to brush your hair at night and wonder “What’s that?” in your hair-line, and realize it’s your son’s toe nail clippings.
- When you are at work and it’s halfway through the day before someone points out you have something wiped midway across your thigh and your realize it’s the toothpaste smudge of one of your children.
- When your washing machine is broken for weeks on end and you explain the concept of the “sniff-test” to your kids.
What else would you add to the list? Oh and Dads… you aren’t left out here. You can play too.
Oh No, B.O.
26 Apr 2012 6 Comments
in Things My Kids Say Tags: b.o., body odor, deodorant, kids, mom, stench, stink, stinky
When my kindergartener pushed open the door to our bedroom last night, I thought we were in for a, “Mommy, I had a bad dream,” or “Mom, (insert name of sister here) won’t stop touching me!” Instead, he walks over to my side of the bed, lifts his arm as high as he can reach and says, “Mom, smell this.”
The smell that wafted out of his pit and into my nostrils had me wincing and nearly gagging. What’s odd, it smelled like cayenne pepper. I’ve been noticing this stinky-boy phenomenon over the last couple of weeks. I’ve caught a whiff here and there. But, now it was obvious: my six-year-old has B.O.
I went through the same thing a couple of years ago with my now-nine-year-old daughter. After a full day of play in the “hot for us” Alaska sun, she flat-out stunk. I started by telling her to wash her pits more regularly. With soap. (Parents: you know we have to specify that one.) When that didn’t work, we tried an all-natural deodorant stone. That didn’t work either. I finally gave up. In summer or high-activity situations, the girl needs some deodorant. The real stuff.
Now, years later, it’s my son’s turn. My little boy is becoming a man, stench and all. My fiance gave him a stick of deodorant (not the antiperspirant kind) and let him have at it. My kindergartener giggled as I swiped it under his arms. “It’s cold!” he said. Then, after sniffing his pit, he smiled. I’m not sure if it was the scent or the idea of being a big boy. Either way it was cute.
Kids at any age can stink. My two-year old’s feet would nearly knock you out if you took a big breath while changing his socks. An article I read says while kids may stink at a young age, puberty is likely the right time to introduce deodorant. What do you think? Besides a bath, what do you do to conquer the smell?
To Quarantine or Share?
23 Apr 2012 25 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: chicken pox party, kids, mom, mono, pox party, sick kids, strep, strep throat
I was looking at a chicken pox scar on my right arm this past weekend, thinking about how my kids will likely never have to experience the joys of the pox. They have vaccines for that now. It got me thinking about that whole concept of Chicken Pox Parties. That’s when parents would deliberately get their healthy kids together with kids who had chicken pox, to expose their immune systems to promote immunity.
If you read my post Friday, you’d know my kindergartener with sick with Strep. (The doctor later called and said it might be Mono, as well.) I sent my daughter to school and my toddler to day care, in hopes of stopping the spread. (Love how kids who don’t normally want to share are all about coughing in their sibling’s faces when they are sick…) Now, after my chicken pox thoughts over the weekend, I’m wondering, how many parents purposely expose their kids to illness to “get it over with.”
Were you ever part of a Pox Party or have you exposed your kids to illness deliberately?
Solos and Sickos
20 Apr 2012 5 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: home sick, kids, minivan, mom, school play, sick, sick kids, solo, strep throat
My daughter jumped into my minivan earlier this week after school, super excited.
“MOM!!! Guess who got the solo in the school play?!” (Pause for effect.) “I’ll give you a hint… she’s in the car!!!!”
Can we tell she’s a little excited? I’m so proud of her. It’s great to see her completely jazzed up about something. When I told her I was proud of her, she said, “I’m proud of myself!” I think that’s awesome. Although, it was only a matter of minutes before she told me she was nervous and afraid she’d get what her brother referred to as “stair fright.” Stair, stage, it’s all the same. A little case of butterflies in the tummy is normal, I told her. Just so happy for her.
In other news, I got “the call” yesterday that my kindergartener was essentially a puddle of goo at school. He was feverish and sweaty and not feeling well at all. Oh, and strep throat is going around. When I arrived at the school, their description had been right-on. He just sat there, a mix of pale and pink. “Mommy, I don’t feel good.”
As we were leaving, his teacher pointed out his swollen glands. I’d been planning on doing the “wait and see approach.” Not after I checked his glands! His right one was so swollen, it felt like he’d shoved a whole walnut in there! $30, one hour and a strep test later, Strep throat it is…
We are home today, enjoying some mama and middle child time. We’re watching “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.” Again. I should be happy, it’s only the second time in a 12 hour period. That’s not so bad.
I’m thinking we’ll get outside for some fresh air today. What things do you do with your kids when they are home sick? Any family traditions?
