My Latest Tweet

4.30.2008

Yet Another Use For Duct Tape

Curing warts!!! Oh my goodness I had no idea.

My daughter has a big one on her foot. At first I thought it was a blister... I even tried to lance it (poor kid) with the aid of some hydrogen peroxide and a very clean needle, but in spite of the fact that it appeared to have a symmetrical fluid filled centre, nothing drained. Confused and annoyed, I took her to our Doc, who told me that duct tape would more than likely do the trick.

Reeeally??? Ohhhhkay.

Then a friend and fellow Mom said "oh yeah, uh huh" when I mentioned it to her, like it was something that everyone and anyone had heard of. In my defense my husband was just as out of the loop as I was.

The nice thing, is that after the attempted lancing episode, Alyssa was thrilled with the tape idea. She even started talking about drawing pictures on it, and cutting it into fun shapes. (Apparently she's never tried to cut duct tape). Still, the creative art instructor child was far preferable to the screaming thrashing kicking one, so I tried for a heart shape wart cover. No such luck - the tape won as the scissors struggled, so she ended up with the basic stock rectangle model.

The net result is that she's tucked into bed, sound asleep, with the tape on her foot. She has swimming lessons tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. Hopefully duct tape sticks to child heels as well as it does to scissor blades...

4.26.2008

What??? Siblings Don't Fight!!!


OK, so.... they're in the playhouse in the back yard. Sun streaming through the windows, snacks on the fold out table, me watching from the window. All is well until... well, they had an issue with whose turn it was to watch the TV.
Now before you start thinking that I'm an overindulging parent who has sprung for a portable TV for the plastic playhouse of my five and three year old, let me just stress that this is a PRETEND TV. As in, it is the shape of a TV, complete with buttons to change pretend channels, molded into one of the inside walls of the playhouse.
And yes, they are seriously fighting over it. Let me reiterate - there's NOTHING on the pretend screen.
"THOMAS!!! I wan THOMAS!!"
"NO, Joseph!!! It's time for Yo Gabba Gabba!!!"
"THOOOOMMMMASSSSS!!!!!!"
You get the picture. (I just wished I could have changed the channel).
All I can say, is that yet again, they're lucky to be so cute....

4.25.2008

Pro-D Day and No Play Date!

My kids live a highly scheduled and structured life. My daughter is just one of those kids who thrives on doing STUFF, and her brother happily tags along.

Alyssa is a November baby, and I started her in Kindergarten when she was still four. She's in French Immersion, which she loves. in September '07, I fought the urge to enroll her in other activities other than school so that I wouldn't overwhelm her with her new 5 day a week schedule. However after a couple of weeks of "Mommy, why don't we have school every day? What are we going to do on Saturday and Sunday?" my credit card magically rose up out of my wallet and my fingers, seemingly possessed with minds of their own, were dialing the phone to the local parks and rec enrollment office.

So now, thank goodness, we still have swimming tomorrow even though there's no school. Yay!!!! (phew). Plus, I do get to sleep in a bit. I can`t lose sight of that ;-)

4.21.2008

15 Heathly Loose Tooth Foods

OK here are some things I've been trying... This is one of those lists that's endless, so I know as soon as I publish this I'll think of ten more things!! LOL

1) Sliced banana (or any sliced fruit, for that matter)
2) Sliced avocado
3) Soup
4) Yogurt
5) Porridge
6) Whole grain pancakes
7) Cheese
8) Eggs
9) Peanut butter
10) Fruit smoothies
11) Cooked mashed veggies
12) Pasta
13) Rice pudding
14) Homemade pudding (made with real milk and reduced sugar)
15) Apple sauce

4.19.2008

Kids and Asthma

Thank you, Dr. Rhonda Low, for pointing out that too clean isn't always better. I'm referring to her story about rising asthma rates in kids, and how under utilized immune systems (created from over clean environments) can overreact to benign things such as dust and pests.

Ah ha! Finally. My not vacuuming daily has been vindicated. OK so I'm a bit of a germaphobe with the kitchen counters and the toilets, but the carpets are lucky if they see the vacuum cleaner more than 2 or 3 times per week. Wahoo!!! Hey maybe I should do less laundry too. Hmmm. This theory definitely has potential. Hey, it's good for the kids, right?

4.18.2008

Still Hanging

Actually it's a bottom front tooth, so technically it's not hanging. It's still firmly rooted in her little mouth, blocking entry to anything healthy that needs chewing.

I was lucky to get apple in her today - I sliced it into thin wedges, gave her some caramel dip, and showed her how to shove it in her mouth from the side (and told her it was OK to get caramel on her cheek). The sliced carrots would have been as easy to eat but apparently the lack of caramel dip for them was too much for her tooth to bear. At least the avocado slices were soft.

For breakfast she and her brother had peanut butter and banana (banana slices with dabs of PB on them), which made it past the tooth OK. The afternoon snack of ice cream went over well, although she didn't eat the cone, even though it was pink! (So maybe she IS telling the truth about her tooth hurting ;-)

We'll see how tomorrow goes. Refresh my memory, anyone - how long do these loose teeth take to fall out? At least she spends a lot of time wiggling it - showing people, checking it, scaring her brother (kidding, but I'm sure she wishes it did). I don't know why it's such an inconvenience to me - she's almost always been a picky eater. At least now, though, she has some kind of excuse...

4.17.2008

Ouch

Ok I forgot (about the loose tooth). Oooooh, baaaad Mommy. I wash doing my "Mommy brush" of her teeth, vigorously battling my parental fears of inadequacy, when sure enough:

"OOOUCH!!"

Aw geez... as if I don't feel bad enough for not having the backbone to lance the blister on her foot ("NO Mommy, it will HURT!"), now I get to feel guilty about not paying enough attention to to her childhood dental milestones.

At least I hug her a lot. That should count for something, shouldn't it??

4.15.2008

Loose Tooth

My daughter said to me this morning: "Look, Mommy! Look!"

Her finger was madly wiggling one of her front bottom teeth back and forth. "What if I swallow it?"

Wow! She has been listening to my paranoid rants about choking. Now of course I'm at a loss for words (it was bound to happen).

"Uh, um, I don't thing you will. Not today, anyway. It's not loose enough."

We ended up late for school because of the lengthy debate as to the appropriate method of brushing a newly loose tooth. Try as I might to get her to just brush the darn thing, she had a million things to say about it. I won't detail them here. I'm not sure how much storage space Blogger gives us.

Now my next task is to brush up on Tooth Fairy protocol. I've heard that these days payment can range from $2-$5 per tooth! Yikes. Sometimes progress is not good. There was no Internet or blogs when I lost my baby teeth, but then it only cost my parents a quarter. At least I think... maybe it was a dime. Hmmm. My really really blonde hairs are showing.

Speaking of teeth, I can hear my son starting to brush his, which is never a neat endeavour without adult supervision. 'Bye for now...

4.13.2008

Sleep Deprived

I need more kids. At least then I'll feel justified in being tired and strapped for time every day. Hmm... 2 or 3 more ought to do. Actually make it 3 - then I can wear the "I have 5 kids" hat and no one will expect me to get anything done. Awesome!! Problem solved. That was easy.

I can just picture my poor Mom (who came and stayed with us and lived in the hospital with me for the birth of each child) as she's reading this thinking "she better be kidding!!! she better be kidding!!" Not that she doesn't love her grand children, but her daughter (notice I didn't say "me" directly) is not the most, um, un-crabby person after having been surgically invaded and hormonally possessed. Yes, c-sections really do bring out something other than the best in me.

But here I am, after yet another day of "I'll find time later" and "I'll get more sleep tonight", thinking that I wouldn't have it any other way (awww, isn't that niiiice). But it's true!!

That's it for now, as I'm too tired to write anything else, and it's way past my bedtime...

4.11.2008

Tears and Tantrums

Power struggles are fun. You get to see which kid has the best alligator tears, who drives the hardest bargain, and who is the most creative manipulator (ah yes, life skills).

A fellow kindergarten Mom was commenting on how sweet my daughter is, and how she's never seen her act up, get upset or yell. I nearly bit a hole through my cheek trying not to laugh out loud. Oh my! Spend a day in our house and you see another side to Alyssa. I don't know whether to be proud that she has backbone, or worried that she lacks tact. What the heck, she's only five. I should be happy she can tie her own shoes.

Joseph is the best fake-tear monster in the house these days. It takes everything I have not to laugh (I'm trying to keep in touch with what good parenting is supposed to be). It may be because it's a newly acquired skill that I find it so endearing and amusing. I've finally figured out how to make it stop, once I've had my fill of soaking up his cuteness:

"Aw, Mister, are you sad? Will you cry some more for me?"

"NO! I all done cry-ning!"

"Pleeeeease... cry for Mommy. Cry like you're in the movies!"

"NO! No more cry-ning!!! I all DONE!"

And that's it, that is until Alyssa strikes again...

4.05.2008

Kids and Cavities


This is SO important:


"Avoid giving sticky food like raisins, honey, caramel, syrups, and molasses to children. Otherwise, insist on your children brushing their teeth immediately after eating such foods"



My husband's co-worker's 6 year old daughter has EIGHT cavities - all from eating those sticky fruit snacks - you know the ones that are in a strip that come rolled up (am I allowed to say the name if I'm going to tell people not to buy them?? ;-)


This girl's dentist specifically told her parents not to buy these fruit snacks. The problem is that anything that sticky stays in the spaces between the teeth, where many cavities can start. I suppose she would have been ok if she had brushed and flossed after every roll-up, but what 6 year old is going to submit to that? Hmmm... maybe she would have if they bribed her with ice cream? (Hey, think of all the calcium!)


4.03.2008

Run!!!


My son runs. He's not a sports star or courier, but a fearless three year old sent by the universe to test my nerves.
What's particularly clever about his escape strategies is that he spends time being still first, to allow Mommy to become distracted. I'm not sure if this is learned behaviour on his part, or innate talent.
An example would be a recent trip to the produce market, where he was remarkably well behaved. He stayed with me while we shopped, and stood beside me in line - until my eyes dropped to my wallet, only to look up again to see a flash of pink hoodie: his older sister chasing him as he bolted out the door (she comes in very handy ;-)
Others have struggled with him aside from myself - soccer coach, skating teachers, swimming teachers, and various friends and relatives. Oh my goodness he was just here - now where the (bleep) did he go?
His potty training has gone extremely well, aside from the fact that when we're in public he doesn't feel it's necessary for me to accompany him to the bathroom, once he knows where it is (on the bright side, he now waits until he's IN the bathroom before pulling down his pants).
In case you're wondering, I have tried restraints. He may be the only 37 pound normally abled kid who still occasionally wears a wrist strap and gets buckled into a stroller. He is also in stark contrast to the way his sister was at his age - she clung to me like holiday season weight gain, and had to be constantly peeled off my leg. As a result I have no prior experience with this phenomena and no clue as to when he'll see the error of his ways.
Hopefully it will happen before he can outrun me...

4.01.2008

Hit The Spot - Or Not

A friend of mine was telling me the other day that her 3 year old daughter has started hitting. Oh I remember those days!! My daughter Alyssa (now 5) went through that phase, and it seemed like nothing I did worked. I had thought that I'd tried everything (short of hitting her back, of course), when I talked to another friend (whose kids are older than mine) who offered me another solution.

She asked me if I'd shown Alyssa another way to express her feelings. (Seriously?? That can work on a 3 year old?) I was skeptical, but was willing to try anything at this point.

It worked like magic, and this is how it went.

First I asked her why she hit (because you're happy? because you're scared? feeling silly? trying to be funny? are you mad?). Ah HA! You're mad.

That's fine. It's ok to be mad, it happens to everyone. It's ok to be mad, but it's not ok to hit Mommy.

It's ok to hit the wall, or a pillow, or your knee, or the floor, or a teddy bear, but it's not ok to hit Mommy. Hey, why don't you just stomp your feet, instead?

And that's what she did - from that day forward (still does, 2 years later). How's that for hitting the ball right out of the park!!

More Posts!

Blog Upp