Day 2, Day 5 (or is it 6)

Today is my kids' second day of school.  Yes, I know we start early, but we also get out before the end of May. J loved his first day of Pre-K, although he was mosted excited about getting to ride the bus.  He didn't blink when I left, but it was all I could do not to shed a few tears.  He's so big, but still my baby, although I'm not allowed to call him that anymore.

M & E are enjoying the second grade and I am pleased with their teachers.  The first struggle of the year is transitioning to "real paper" from the stuff with the red/blue lines and the dotted center line (you know the stuff).  They used it all through first grade, so the change is a bit of a struggle.

C is in 5th grade - so far so good, but the home work hasn't started yet.  This is the last year that C will be in the same school as M & E until he's a senior and they are freshmen (and even then the high school here has a seperate ninth grade campus).

 

As for P -- she is on day 5 or 6 of living without a pacifier.  She was down to one last pacifier, and we explained that we weren't buying any new ones.  One day last week she couldn't find it when she woke up, so we knew it had to be in her room, but we didn't search very hard. She has gone from only taking the thing out of her mouth to eat to not having one at with very little trauma.  She occasionally asks for it, but it hasn't even been a problem at night.  I found this missing paci last night, and rather than throwing it away, I put it in my nightstand drawer -- the last paci, a final reminder of the time when my kids were babies. 

Potty Time

I am not a pushy mom when it comes to potty training.  I’d really rather not deal with accidents and I just can’t get behind reminding the kid every 30 minutes – if they can’t take the responsibility to at least tell me when they have to go, then they just aren’t ready.

 

So my oldest was just over 3 when he trained.  The twins were 3.5 (and finally took the plunge because I told them Santa would not be bringing toys to 3.5 year olds who were not potty trained).

 

So when J, my fourth, turned 3 I started making noise about it being time to put away the diapers, but he wasn’t really interested.  So I let it go.  6 months later he still had no interest even though we promised him a great truck and a new bike.  Somewhere along the way he’d transitioned to pull-ups rather than diapers, without the desired results.

 

But a few weeks ago while we were traveling I sensed an opportunity.  Regular potty breaks, complete control of the liquid intake, etc.  So I bribed him with a car at the end of the day if he was dry.  And for 3 days he did great and I thought we had this beat.

 

Then we got home and he was back to his old ways.  And then I ran out of pull-ups and decided we just go for underwear.  After a day of accidents I popped his little toosh in a real diaper and called him a baby. (Not the best mothering, but the child was a month away from being 4.)

 

He cried and said he wasn’t a baby and he wanted his big boy underwear back.  I gave him one more chance.

 

Four down, one more to go, but she’s only 2.5, so I’m not worried . . . yet.

Things that bother me about Caillou (other than the whining)

Somehow P, now well past 2 and speaking in full sentences with attitude, fell in love with Caillou.  I blame it on the little girl my mother baby-sits.

Although not nearly as bad as Barney or the Teletubbies in my book, most mothers would probably agree that Caillou is a whiney little boy and we’d rather not be forced to listen to him.  But the tantrum that will be thrown by the 2 year old in love with Caillou is more unpleasant and easily avoidable, so Caillou it is.

Aside from the seemingly constant whining, there are several other things I have noticed that bother me about Caillou.

1. Why is Caillou bald?  I mean really.  He’s 4.  Shouldn’t he have hair?  And if his parents are shaving his head on a regular basis to maintain this look, I think that ought to be explored in a future episode.
2. Why does Caillou wear shorts and a short-sleeve t-shirt when all the adults in his world are wearing long sleeves?  Yes occasionally he wears a snow suit or a jacket, but generally he looks a little under-dressed compared to the rest his world.
3. What do Caillou’s mommy and daddy do to put food on the table?  We’ve seen his mommy in the office a couple of times and a few times Caillou’s daddy has been wearing office clothes, but mostly it would seem they are at home.  Or maybe the show is just about what happens on the weekends, because if it’s not, Caillou’s parents have a lot of time off.

Anyone have any answers for me?  I’m not going to go crazy thinking about it, but I sure would like to know.  Especially that hair thing.

 

Emailing It In

So did you miss me?  No?  Well that’s okay.

 

I’ve figured out how to email a post in, so maybe I’ll post more often.

 

But first let’s just test this new method.

 

Promise I’ll be back.

Happy Valentines Day!

Hadn't you noticed?

A few days before Christmas I was wondering a store (okay Target) looking for that one gift that I should have picked up when I saw it the first time, but didn't and now couldn't find, and what to by wondering eye did appear but clothing that looked remarkably springy and pink and covered in hearts and was I imagining it but was that all the winter stuff on clearance?

No!! We hadn't even finished Christmas and they were clearancing it and putting out Valentine's Day and even a little St Pat's green!

And then I was out at the same store earlier this week and I saw SWIMSUITS in the toddler section.

I'm not sure what's worse -- the fact that swimsuits are already in stores, or the fact that I bought TWO!

The Loosing of Teeth

Loose teeth freak me out.

When they were my loose teeth I wasn't bothered. But when C started wiggling his first loose tooth, I got all grossed out. I survived the initial spate of teeth falling out (4 years ago) and have peace in the wiggly tooth arena.

Until . . .

M came home from school on Monday thrilled that she finally had a loose tooth. And now, Friday, she has THREE of them.

And E could get a wiggly tooth any day now.

The mere thought of all those possible loose teeth sends shivers through my body.

What strange thing grosses you out?

Christmas Tan

There is something wrong with getting a tan while hanging the Christmas lights.

I know there is only a week left before Christmas, but the kids have been begging me to decorate the house and when I started the project there was almost two weeks left until Christmas, and I have been looking for the suction cups I needed to hang the wreaths on the windows even though I could only reach 4 of the 10 windows that should get wreaths and any way we now have a 5 of wreaths, 3 strands of rope lights along the porch - and just so you know the clips that hold those ropes lights on are not coming off - and 3 small lighted trees. Hopefully the kids are happy with it, cause we don't have a ladder tall enough to reach the rest of the windows and it just might be too much work to borrow one from the neighbor and I just don't think I'm up for hanging the icicle lights - but again I'd need the ladder. But now back to the point of the story.

It was 70 degrees yesterday while I was hanging Christmas lights. I had to change into a short sleeve shirt. I worked up a little bit of a sweat. It's just wrong.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't want New England winters. I am morally opposed to jackets (you do the jacket thing for 5 kids and see how fond of jackets you are). The putting on to walk to the car, the complaining because they are too hot with their jackets on while in the car, the taking them off and keeping up with them while in the store/church/where ever. I'd just rather not.

But 70 degrees a week before Christmas? I don't need to freeze but a little chill would certainly help me feel like it was Christmas.