Becoming a mother is the accomplishment I am most proud of. This is the one topic I know enough about to write about. So this is what my weblog is about. Motherhood...the good, the bad, the uncertian...It is called Total Chaos for obvious reasons- if you have young children (or children in general), you understand.

I have to say a quick thanks to 'my friend' if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have started this weblog...if you want a great read, check out her junklog you'll be glad you did.

March 12, 2001
I don't have a lot of time today so I'll have to let you pick a subject to entertain yourself...not that I found this topic because I was looking for it, I just happened to stumble upon it. MY kids would NEVER do anything like this. (I'm kidding)

The tip of the day comes from ME... if your child insists on picking his/her own nose (as opposed to someone elses) tell them that if they don't stop, their finger may reach all the way up to their brain and cause brain damage.
...hee hee

March 10 , 2001
I like to clean!! There...I said it. I like to clean and it drives my husband CRAZY!! I would think that most husbands would like to have a wife that cleans instead of one that is a slob. He likes to tease me about there being two cups in the sink..."you should do the dishes, they're piling up"...whatever.
I read an article in Ann Landers once about a man who came home to a house that was a disaster and asked his wife what happened. She replied with "You know how you come home every day and ask what I did today, well today I didn't do it!" I have considered a hundred times of doing the same thing, but have never been able to actually do it. If I tried, I would probably panic at the last second and run around like a madman trying to get it all done before he got home.
I guess my thoughts are that our house is our childrens playground...I like to keep it clean and safe. ( Of course another thought is, if someone were to come over and the house was a disaster wouldn't they think "she's home all day and her house looks like this?".)
Whatever my motivation may be, I just like to have a clean house. I don't like to clean everything...Like toilets/bathrooms for instance. I am the only female living in a house filled with people who pee standing up...do I have to say more?

The tip of the day comes from the Queen of Clean . "Have a tough cleaning problem? The Queen has simple, effective solutions for cleaning up the very worst messes as well as regular, preventive cleaning ideas that will save you loads of time and effort."
...if a man is king of his castle, must a woman be queen of her broom closet?

March 9, 2001
Rock, paper, scissors--I spy--Simon says--Ring around the rosie--Frozen statues (The last of which is a game I'm sure we made up ourselves.) These are the things that we did as children to occupy our time..I know it's hard to believe in this day and age, but we had no computer, no nintendo, not even cable! (gasp) But we somehow seemed to find things to do. My own boys have recently started to play these games...with their own rules. I haven't taught them frozen statues yet, but their rendition of 'I spy' goes something like this: " I spy...with my little eye...something..." When we played, it was "I spy something green".
It's so cute to hear them play although I've noticed that if it's Gabe's turn, whatever Thomas guesses, Gabe yells "yes!!! That's what I spied", and when Gabe guesses, for some reason his answer is never right and Thomas eyes just keep shifting about the room (as if he may be looking for something else that is green). But they play, and if I'm invited, I play too. It takes me back. Try playing a favorite game from your childhood days and see if it doesn't do the same for you!!

The tip of the day comes from Janet B. McCracken at family play . She says"...seek out games that convey positive messages and keep children mentally and physically active"
...Play hard!

March 8, 2001
We may as well have the dreaded "pink medicine" flowing out of our faucet!! In the past month-month and a half, we have been to the doctor, clinic or emergency room ten times. We've had prescriptions 4 times for trimox, once for eardrops, once for motrin, and once for cough syrup. We've struggled through our first 'stich crisis' and are gearing up for our first minor surgery. Uggghhh, I hate winter. I know that cold weather, wind and rain don't cause sickness, but it sure seems worse in the winter!!
Jackson started this round with an ear infection... then a strawberry hemangioma (a teeny tiny blood-blisterish looking bump thingy) on his face broke and we couldn't stop the bleeding (hence the trip to the emergency room at 11:00pm). Three hours and one stich later he and daddy were home safe and sound on one of the coldest, windiest, snowiest nights we've had all winter...
Then Thomas' ears started acting up...we had suspected poor hearing and when we took him in to get tested they found fluid behind the eardrums, which means he needs tubes put in. He's actually looking forward to it a little, he'll be glad to hear better.
Then it was Gabe's turn with an ear infection. He woke me up in the night saying his ear hurt and would I kiss it. Five minutes later he said "it still hurts, kiss it again". In the morning I asked him if his ear still hurt he said "no, but my cheeks hurt when I burb". (?) After a trip to the clinic that afternoon it was confirmed that yes... he did have an ear infection.
This all makes me realize just how lucky we are when they're all healthy...I'm hopeful though, I know that spring is just around the corner...

The tip of the day on how to keep kids free of the common cold comes from american baby. "...Dont let them share cups, teach them to use tissues, enforce hand washing, make sure they get enough sleep,and discourage them from touching their eyes and nose..." Bless you!

March 7, 2001
Wouldn't it be nice to have the imagination of a child? The things that they come up with make you wonder where it all comes from. Take this morning for instance... When Thomas came out of his room, he looked as though he had been awake for awhile so I asked him how long he'd been up. He said "three minutes". (Not to my surprise, when things are measured in time it's always three minutes!!) Anyway... when I asked what he had been doing he said he was looking out the window. I asked if he had seen any rabbits, because I had noticed one in the yard earlier. He said that yes, he had seen a rabbit and that it was brown...then Gabe piped up. "I saw a one... it was pink!" We laughed..."a pink rabbit?" "No, a brown rabbit driving a pink car!"
It seems to be a constant sourse of entertainment around here...listening to them describe their dreams, tell stories, or even to hear them narrate a trip to the store. I could've been on the same trip to the store, but I never notice the things that they do. Imagination is a wonderful thing...I hope that they continue to use theirs and that they never lose the desire to share it with us...

The tip of the day is not really a tip, but it's worth your time...it's at Sanity Central . Read "The top 10 things you really did not want to know, but that your kids will love!!"
...imagine that!

March 5, 2001
Our oldest son has slept in his own bed, all night for 7 nights now. I'm an advocate of the 'family bed', but our family is growing...the kids are getting bigger and the bed seems to be getting smaller. I guess it all starts with breast feeding. At midnight, 2am, 4am, and 6am, it seems logical to bring a newborn into bed instead of having to get up and actually wake all the way up during a feeding. And so the cycle begins...
Now five years later, I still wake up with a man and two children in my bed! (Our youngest has NEVER slept in our bed...not enough room) So we've decided to break the cycle.
The way I see it, If they wake up and come to our bed and we take them back to their own, eventually they'll learn to stay in their own bed. (Won't they?) I don't get worked up by all of this, it's my fault that they're used to sleeping in our bed, but I can say that I'm looking forward to having no kids in bed for an entire night instead of just a couple of hours.
I explained to them that they're getting older and bigger, and need to get a better nights sleep...and that the way to get a better nights sleep is to sleep alone in their own bed with lots of room and no one to kick them or take their blankets. They both objected saying that there wouldn't be anyone to snuggle with, but ultimately they agreed. (...and the fact that I offered whoever stayed in their bed all night a dollar didn't hurt either.) So...Thomas got a dollar and Gabe thought since he slept half the night in his bed he deserved half a dollar (or "dodder" as he puts it). He got 12 cents...

The tip of the day comes from Henry L. Shapiro, M.D. "...nighttime waking is a habit. Develop bed time rituals and pay attention to the sleep environment."
...sweet dreams!!!

« ? Blogging Mommies # » « webloggers »