Naptime Blog

After the holidays settle and all the madness of overcrowded stores and last minute shoppers is done, I start to think about all the work that gets involved for making the holidays so special for everyone. For one thing, thank those retail employees for missing time with their loved ones to make sure you get everything you need for yours. I have been known to thank some workers for their hard holiday work and putting up with my “where’s this item??” questions. I also got a taste of what they feel like this past time because I was scheduled to work on black Friday from 3am-3pm and boy was it wild.  On thanksgiving morning, Brent and I ran over to my moms to grab last minute casserole dishes for my sides and decided to stop by my store to see if anyone was camped outside yet and sure enough there was a tent near the entrance and a small line forming,  by the time I went to the store for my shift,  that line had wrapped around the shopping plaza! I also made my Christmas cards pretty late in the month, like the beginning of Christmas week, but everyone received them just before the big day. Then I thought about the USPS workers who worked all those hours to make sure my procrastination still made it to my family. There’s alot that goes into the holidays and even though I have the most fun during them, I’m glad its over. This year though, I’m definitely sending out my cards early!

I’ve written other posts about potty training but I really never knew how hard it is, especially for boys which is what I’m being told. My son is really afraid of the potty and I don’t know how to break him from that. I may have written about how he is just terrified of going number 2, and how our pediatrician says it’s completely normal. Since he was 6 months old, using the bathroom has been a scared feeling and so he will do all dances possible to hold it in and succeeds. After doing that multiple times a day for a couple of days, it hardens and becomes even more traumatic for him and then it’s time for mommy and daddy to step in and try whatever we can to help him. I don’t want to use suppositories often and hate how he’s feeling. When he would get one, or we saw him dance, we’d sit him on the potty and he would scream and cry the whole time and it would eventually come out. I always bring it up to the doctor every wellness visit and he tells me its normal and prescribed miralax for a 2 week period and said his body would get used to going during this time and he will no longer be afraid to go because it will be so easy for him during those weeks and he will get used to it and just go. Well during that period, he went and boy did he go. I felt bad but he was so happy and would run to us and tell us he went in his diaper and we didn’t have to see him sitting in a corner and cry while he straightened his legs holding it in. Sure enough,  after the medicine, he went right back to his “normal” self. We went from the potty seat on the toilet to this new potty his grandma got him that plays music when he goes and flushes. I also downloaded a free potty chart from the learning curve of Thomas and I bought Thomas stickers. I have mini m&m’s as an incentive and has sat on it a couple of times but didn’t do anything. When he has to go we sit him on there and he screams again and holds it in. I’m at the end of my ropes with this one and don’t know what to do. He is 28 months, and I don’t know how long this is supposed to go on for. When is the time he should be completely potty trained by? Any advice?

2011!

So it’s the new year already! I cannot believe how fast 2011 arrived. Did any of you do anything exciting to bring in the new year? I’m so thrilled to say that I graduated school in December and will be looking forward to starting my new career this year. To anyone who thinks you can’t accomplish something while being a full time parent, working part time, and having your spouse go to school full time, I’m here to say it CAN be done. It is alot of work, that’s for sure, but if you want something bad enough and you put your mind to it, you will succeed. There are no doubts about that. It also makes life a ton easier by having a great support system. In my situation, my husband and I share a car and our schooling schedules were quite similar so I had to rely alot on my mom for not only being my taxi driver but also to care for my son during those hours since daycare wasn’t an option for me. Thank goodness she was able to accommodate our needs for as long as we needed it,  as it took away alot of unnecessary stress. I didn’t have to worry about who was with my child and was very comfortable with how it worked out. Now since I am finished with school I am with Shaughn in the mornings again while Brent is at school and can work in the afternoons and evenings at my job which has also been great at scheduling shifts for me making life a little easier to live. What are your goals and aspirations that you would like to succeed at reaching this year?

I seem to be the only person in the world without a Tivo or some kind of DVR! I am so scared of losing any and all of my free time catching up on television shows because I know I would be the kind of person who will want to record everything, especially to watch during the late hours when hubby and I can’t sleep but only find infomercials on tv. Brent and I would fill up that DVR so quickly because we’d be able to actually watch shows we like or even ones that we caught commercial glimpses of but thought, “oh I’d like to watch that, but oh well!” That seems to be on the channels we don’t watch on a regular basis, and then we quickly forget we wanted to watch them. I know some people who cannot live or function without theirs! So, to DVR or not to DVR? That is the question…

Sometimes I am just flat out confused about certain products, more particularly, MEATS. Though we don’t eat red meat all the time, I actually always forget what kind of meat the last one I purchased was. An example would be ground beef. There’s the 80/20, 70/30, etc. I’ve been told before what those numbers mean…but of course, I forgot! All I really go by is taste and the last 2 attempts at buying ground beef have not been very good. There are really tough and chewy pieces all throughout! Some so rubbery and tough that it’s impossible to chew throughout and ends up on the side of the plate with the others. I also would like to hear some tips on meat selections you use or if there’s even an organic brand to consider that tastes great. We already use ground turkey on some occasions also, just wondering what you use if you’re a meat eater!

Or is it? When’s the right time to start potty training your toddler? I’ve read and have been told that girls are easier to potty train than boys, is there truth to that? My son had notified me the other day of when he was using the bathroom by standing up, staying quiet so that we could both hear him peeing in his diaper and pointing while yelling “pee pee!” If he said something just a little sooner we could have made it to the potty, as it was very close to us. Do you have any tips or tricks on how to potty train your boy? I’ve wondered too, should he be taught sitting or standing? I’ve read both methods but would like to hear from someone who has had an experience that worked for their family. I’ve heard cheerios in the toilet or m&m treats after he’s successfully used the potty, but I know there’s more options out there. What have you tried?

It’s always when you least expect it when a sickness creeps along. A lot of times you’re able to get some kind of warning such as feeling down, the overall pre-sickness symptoms. This time, it was literally a hit in the face when I was attacked by some sort of sinus problem. Ohh and it did not feel good. I refuse to call out of work and have yet to since starting my job four months ago despite acquiring two sicknesses given to me by fellow co-workers. I needed something to help alleviate the pressure I had going on so off to Walgreens I went. With all the choices one thing is for sure, I go for the store brand version. It’s much more accommodating to my budget and I usually get more for my money with a store brand purchase. I went for the wal-phed and saw that they now have pseudoephedrine free boxes. I thought that was what helped the sinus problem? Either way I asked the pharmacist for her advice and what she told me was that if I had used the pseudoephedrine one In the past and it worked, to stick with it. Then starts the whole process of my identification getting entered in their system because some wonderful human beings found a way to turn sinus medication into something terrible and law defying. Granted I still have some left and the next time I need wal-phed, knock on wood, won’t be for a while, I don’t like having to go through some paranoid interview process for my sinuses! It makes me feel like a criminal when I just need medicine. Maybe it’s just me…?

I finally had a relaxing weekend day off to enjoy with my son and husband, so we packed up and headed to the zoo. The one we decided to go to is called Dreher Park Zoo in West Palm Beach. It’s quite a small zoo but very nice, especially for younger children. The entire zoo is shaded which makes even going on the hottest days enjoyable. Everywhere you walk it is covered by huge trees, definitely adding to the experience. The day was a nice day, with a cool breeze. Majority of the year it’s scorching hot out, but now that Fall has arrived we are sometimes treated to occasional wind gusts. In the center of the zoo there is an interactive water fountain that is quite large and no matter how many animals or shows there are, the children all want to be running around in the fountain. Unfortunately it is the first thing you see when you walk into the zoo and every entrance and exit to the different “countries” was built around the fountain making it extremely unavoidable. In the first walk through, Shaughn kept insisting to go back to the water but was distracted by the animals. In the second walk through, he would not go any further until he played in the fountain, so we threw on his swimmers and in he went. This kid and his love for water! We had a great time and I really love family days out!

Shaughn’s 2nd birthday party was a success. The day of big parties or events that I am in charge of planning are always hectic and stressful for me because I over think things. I am also usually the one running out before everyone arrives to pick up all the food, the cake, etc. The party was at 4pm and at 3:30 I was running out with our friend James to pick up everything from the store. Since so many things from Blue’s Clues is discontinued, we had Publix recreate a look-a-like cake similar to the one they used to do when it was popular which turned out great. We got some deli sandwiches for lunch along with Blue Corn chips and french onion dip that I conveniently dyed blue. I made lemonade with blueberries which turned it from blue to bright purple, so I named it Magenta’s Magical Punch. Everyone had a good time and alot of the decorations were hand made which give it that extra little touch. It was complete with a Thinking Chair my mom found on craigslist for only fifty dollars where Shaughn sat to open his gifts. I decided to have a smaller gathering, only family and just a couple of friends. If I had a bigger budget to work with I would have went all out this year, but all in all is was great nonetheless. As favors for the adults, I had my friend who makes (soap among other amazing creations) make me paw print soaps in light blue and a darker blue with the room filling aroma of blueberry fragrance. It was such a cute idea and the guests loved it. If you ever want anything like that for whatever the occasion, she has some great deals including bubble bath for kids who simply cannot get enough of bubbles. You can check her out at http://lelassoapcreations.com/. I am so thankful for everything and everyone in our lives, and look forward to more happy celebrations in the future.

I continue to be amazed by not only my child, but other children who are learning so much and beginning to communicate better. Now Shaughn will say his name perfectly clear and begin to form almost sentences to communicate to us what he wants. I was indulging in an evening bowl of cereal tonight and was surprised that Shaughn was not bothering me for a bite. Before I
Iifted the bowl to sip the remaining milk, he ran up to me out of nowhere it seemed (my vision was being blocked by the bowl being held up) and started to say a word repeatedly. I put the bowl down and asked him to say it again so that I could listen to it more carefully. He was saying “mmm ice cream?” I laughed and told him it was milk and offered a spoonful of it. He shook his head confirming that he wanted it and afterwards said,”mmm that’s good!” He sat back down and continued his activity then came back a few seconds later asking for more ice cream. I had finished the milk already and sadly did not have any ice cream to offer the boy. My husband said he was going to go to the store to get some ice cream for him. Normally I’m the one who falls for Shaughn’s charm, especially when he has been so well behaved lately and has not had any thing too sweet in a while. Seeing Brent so willing to go was cute…until I realized that my husband was also craving it! He bought himself his own little tub! I knew there was an
alterior motive behind his eagerness to run to the store! Men are tricksters, but either way Shaughn got his few spoonfuls of ice cream and was satisfied. What kind of treats do you give your child?