The TRUTH about motherhood

Picture this.  I’m walking out of Walmart.  My cart is packed so high that I can’t see straight ahead.  I’m about to cross the walkway toward the parking lot when my cart hits a snag somewhere in front.  Again, keep in mind that I can’t see the front of the cart.  I look down and see a very tiny rise in the pavement.  Assuming I snagged that I back up and push the cart a little bit harder hoping it will jump the snag.  I’m still stuck, so this time I RAM the cart, grabbing some boxes that are about to fall off.  Around the third time my sister finally asks me what in the world I am doing.  Turns out I was slamming my cart into one of these…

Potty training is not something I look forward to.  To be honest I keep putting it off simply due to my own laziness.  I came up with a fabulous argument as to why I will start it with him sometime around fall.

Mikey had other plans yesterday….

As his blue potty sits behind our toilet gathering dust he decided he wants to go on the big potty.

It was cute, he sat on it still in his diaper and then Ella, his cousin wanted to try.  They were clapping and cheering for each other.  So before bed time I decided to test the waters and asked him if he would like to go potty on the big toilet.  He said “No, I potty in tub”

So we had a talk for about the 100^th time that we do not go potty in the tub.  Then I pulled out the big guns and bribed him.  I told him if he sits on the big toilet he will get chocolate.  Didn’t even have to ask him twice.

He’s such a trooper.  He sat there for a few minutes and tried really hard to go but obviously didn’t have the need to do that.  At one point he even said, “Help me pee mommy”

Once again Mikey has proven to me that he knows when he is ready for something and he always comes around.  That is why I’m not going to switch his crib to a toddler bed until he lets me know he is ready, and that is why I will not throw out his pacifiers until he does it himself.

A few days ago on our way to the pediatrician to check for an ear infection (which he did end up having) Mikey did something that plainly shocked me.  He decided that he will not be wearing his baseball hat on this car ride and cried, screamed, and threw things at me insisted on wearing his huge, wool, just in case a winter blizzard hits hat, left over from winter.

I really wasn’t in the mood to argue with him and it was one of those pick your battles type things so I let him wear it.  On the way there I was wondering if I made a horrible mistake by giving in to his tantrum.  Have I created “that child’ that goes to school in April wearing his halloween costume just because he wanted to?  I couldn’t care less if other people let their children do this but after working in daycare for the past 4 or so years I always told myself I would never do that. 

After I finished that thought, we parked the car and I quickly yanked that hideous hat off his head and we proceeded to the doctor’s office hatless.

The next evening I was excited after his bath time because I just got him some new pajamas.  Am I the only mother that gets excited when buying clothes for kids and cannot wait to put them on? I don’t get that excited when  I buy clothes for myself! 

Anyways…So I whip out the cutest red pajama set from Children’s Place.  I am so hapy to give away all the footsie pajama’s we have left over from winter.  That’s another thing I swore I would never do.  When I was pregnant with Mikey I was looking at those huge footed Pajamas and wondered why in the world a child that big still needs to wear those.  Well for some reason mine did…in my defense our heating sucks and it was chilly upstairs.

I got off topic again didn’t I? Oh yea, the red pajamas.  So I start putting them on him and once again the little bugger manages to shock me.  He begins to scream, pull off his pajama’s insist that he does not want red pajama’s, he wants blue pajama’s. 

Am I wrong to think he’s a little young to care what he is dressed in?  What am I in for when he gets older?  I know he does not get that from me.  I think his dad needs to stop analayzing his own clothing choices infront of his son.

I’ve always been awful when it came to saving money and sticking to a budget. I never thought things out and planned ahead. I am an in the moment kind of person and just deal with things when the time comes. I decided to work on that though. I was so proud of myself last night after I came back from my retail therapy trip.

I set a budget. I gave myself X amount of dollars and needed to come home with two jackets. I was in desperate need of a fancy jacket and an everyday durable jacket for taking Mikey to the park and whatnot.

Usually in a situation like this I would go into a store, pick the ones I like and buy them, most of the time I wouldn’t even look at the price tag. Then I would regret paying so much for it next few days. Last night though I actually shopped around. and for those of you that know me probably realise what a big deal that is.

I actually spent an hour trying on and comparing two jackets that I actually liked. That’s another thing I never do, try things on. I buy more or less my size and tell myself I can always return or exchange it later…which I never get around to doing.

On my X budget last night I bought not only two but THREE jackets!!! I also got a bag, pants and a wallet. I still had money left over for shoes but at the last minute decided against them…they weren’t THAT nice.

I did so well that I decided to try this thinking on our grocery shopping as well. I actually made a list and am planning on sticking to it, I wonder how much we can actually save by doing this.

I find it rather amusing that two years ago my biggest worry was which club we’d be spending our Saturday night. Now my worries are grocery shopping and being cheap…umm I mean thrifty.

Today is going to be a long day for me. Last night was awful. Mikey has a bit of a cold and was up every half hour until 3am. I was finally able to shake off the sleepiness and think logically enough to give him some Tylenol. That did the trick and I was able to sleep until 7. I have to do some emergency cleaning since w have guests coming from Europe tomorrow. I’m till trying to figure out where to put them. I’ll deal with that when the time comes…

…that Mikey’s 2 year old toddler tummy is unable to digest playdough?

How did I figure this out you might ask…

Think about it…ewww

TreeHouse TV - A channel here in Canada that runs children’s programing 24/7.

They rearranged the schedule!!!! They replaced Diego and Dora, can you believe it?! Two of the most popular shows for some very baby focused new shows.  They’re trying to keep up with the competition from Baby TV but why they would replace Dora and Diego is beyond me.  D was part of our routine and so was Dora.  Mikey would be hypnotised by Diego while I shoveled lunch into him.  He usually would be so engrossed by Diego’s new adventure that he wouldn’t notice the vegetables I was giving him.

Dora was part of the afternoon routine.  The kids would sit on the couch and yell at me to hurry up and give them the snack.  They would get a bowl of fruit and crackers and happily much away while Dora did SOMETHING/ANYTHING.  I need to get new DVDs..

Mikey has three shows that he absolutely loves. 

1.  DORA THE EXPLORER

I have a love/hate relationship with Dora.  It’s on right now as I’m writing this.  Dora is one of three shows that Mikey watches faithfully and will sit through the whole half hour mesmerized.  That is why i like it.  I can get anything I need done…but i don’t really do anything productive at this time.

I hate Dora because I watch it (or listen to it) two times a day EVERYDAY.  Now that they rearranged the Tree House Schedule I’m not sure if it will be on in the afternoon but that’s what DVDs are for.  It’s such a repetitive show that sometimes I just can’t help but make snide remarks at the TV.

THE MAP:  I know where to find blueberry hill

ME: Is there anything you DON’T know?!

2.  GO DIEGO GO

Very similar to Dora but a boy version.  Much to my husband’s dismay Mikey prefers Dora.  This is one of the three shows that Mikey will sit through but it’s usually a hit or miss depending on the episode.  I like Diego better than Dora and I’m not sure why. 

3.  BO ON THE GO

I’m not sure if this is a Canadian show but it’s Mikey’s new favourite.  I cannot stand it but it’s not really up to me now is it?  It’s a blend of Dora and Diego.  I like it because it really encourages kids to move around but Mikey will have nothing of it and just sits there staring.  I don’t like it because its confusing.  It has a weird dragon type thing, animoves (where she moves like animals) which have nothing to do with the actual story line and weird doors and creatures.

I feel I should also mention my all time most disliked kids TV show…

THE WONDER PETS

Whoever created this show should be fired.  The use of grammar and language in that show is enough to drive me crazy.  What kind of research did the producers of this show do that made them think its okay to teach children to talk like that???  Fishes instead of fish, wondra instead of wonder and other horrible things that escape my mind at the moment.  Also musical numbers that make no sense and have no rhyme or reason to them. 

I can’t even see straight this morning….that’s how drunk I got last night.

I’m totally kidding!!! Though sometimes I wish it was true.  But the truthful part of that statement was the fact that I can barley see straight, that’s how tired I am.  I got in around 1:30am from a babysitting favour at my sister’s.  For some reason I could not fall asleep once I got home.  I passed out around 3am and that’s when Mikey decides to play a 3 month old and wake me up every half an hour.

It didn’t seem like anything was bothering him like teething or a tummy ache.  I think that since I wasn’t the one who put him down at bed time, he was just checking to see if I came back.  Once he saw I was back he decided to check every half hour to make sure I didn’t leave again.

So needless to say, I’m cranky due to lack of sleep and so is he…great combination!  He’s on his 3rd episode of Dora already and it’s only 10am…it’s going to be a loooooong day.

I desperately need to clean.  Mikey’s new favourite activity is play dough, which is now everywhere.  I keep finding those annoying dried up little snot looking balls everywhere.  I need to do some serious vacuuming but I think I’ll be a bad mother and housewife today.  I will let my son watch cartoons all day, I will not clean and I think I’ll go wild and order pizza for dinner.  And I’m taking a nap when he is! Mother of the year award right here!!!!

Right around the time Mikey threw a fit over me putting in the wrong movie for him to watch and me spilling coffee all over my laptop  mouse I realised it’s Monday.  Now it all makes perfect sense. 

So Mikey’s tantrums seemed to have repearred for reasons unknown to me.  I’m soooo happy about that!!! <—- Sarcasm intended!

Saturday morning he had the worst tantrum EVER.  We took him to get his  haircut and once we came home I wanted to give him a bath to get the hair off that kept sticking to his neck and under his shirt.  Obviosuly Mikey had different plans and he decided to show me his distaste for baths by kicking the door as hard as he can, screamimg like a wild animal and gagging.  He also pulled out the big guns and did the whole limp like a noddle fall on the floor while hitting it with his fists and legs trick.  I wish I had my camera with me so you all could see what an angel of a child I have.  —> insert eye roll here <—-  The only plus side to his tantrums is if he has them right before nap time or bed.  He gets so tired out he actually sleeps!   

I have this friend whose daughter is one and she keeps saying how she can’t wait until she’s a toddler.  Why in the world would you WANT a toddler?  I made the mistake of wishing for that too.  A toddler, at least a few of the ones I know, is like a little Tasmanian devil.  They can destroy a room in 2.5 seconds, they bite, and they start their animal like behaviour for no apparent reasons.  I’m officially stopping the ” I can’t wait until he is 4, or 8 or whatever”  He will be that age eventually, that wonderful age where he will have his own friends and his own life and hopefully so will I again. I can dream  little on a Monday morning can’t I?

On Saturday we had Mikey’s and Ella’s Birthday party.  Since they’re only 1.5 mos apart in age we always do it somewhere in the middle between the two birthdays.  It saves hassle and money.  Surprisingly, after the show he put on in the morning he was a complete angel during the party.  He was so good I kept losing him at the playground.  Usually I can tell where he is by following the screaming and crying, but not this day.

Here are a few pictures.  I would put in more but my mouse still won’t work and this is my first time using the stupid touch pad on the lap top and its taking me forever to do anything. 

Birthday Boy

Birthday Girl

It wouldn’t be a birthday without Mikey sticking his hand in the cake

I’m off to clean, do laundry, and deal with many tantrums….all together now M O N D A Y  S U C K S ~

You have to love my original title right?

Mikey has been working on his last two molars and it hasn’t been a fun couple of weeks.  Completely unexpected tantrums and ZERO appetite had lead to one stressed out mother.  Oh yeah, I’m sure he was somewhat miserable as well.

I hope I’m not getting too ahead of myself but I think the teeth finally broke through and we’re back on the road to having 8 not 14 tantrums daily.

He hasn’t eaten dinner for the past two weeks.  I’m not even exaggarating, not even one bite of ANYTHING.  Welll last night my mother suggested I give it to him earlier than usual and I did, an hour ealier and he ate ALL of it!

It could have been a combination of a few things,

1.  He’s done teething so his appetite is back

2.  Eveveryone else was actually eating

3.  There were beets, he’s crazy over beets (Like you Fabs hehe)

Whatever it was I just hope it will be a repeat from now on.

 I’m looking forward to Vanessa coming over today.  She has a day off from school and will most likley spend it with us.  I know this sounds horrible but I basically get a day off when she is here.  Aside from meals and diaper changes she takes care of Mikey and keeps him entertained.  What  a nice way to start the weekend…

Here are a few pictures of them together.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!