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...

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...

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"

source: http://12070.blogspot.com/2008/03/kids-and-food-for-better-dental-health.html

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!)

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...

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!!