May 14, 2008
For more WW, click here.
April 22, 2008
Spring is here. We are busily spending our entire days in the great outdoors. Not much time for blog writing since I outlaw electronic devices (i.e. TV) for my own children once it is warm enough for short sleeves. This time also coincides with TV Turn Off Week. So, in honor of Earth Day, get yourselves outside and enjoy Mother Earth. Or, find some form of other interactive way to play with your kids. I will be updating from time to time, but I will be on hiatus from the blog world because we are too busy outside playing, as it should be!!
April 6, 2008
Better Safe, Than Sorry
Posted by goodideamomma under Mommy Mistakes, My Favorite Things[7] Comments
Today was our first day that the temperature flirted with 60 degrees! In Michigan it is a big, big deal. We spent the entire day outside, literally. From about 9:45AM until 7:15PM. We even ate our lunch and dinner outside. It was that nice of a day. I cleaned and mulched my neglected flower beds. My husband played with his cars, of course. The girls rode bikes and ran around all day. I knew from our wonderful meterologists that the temp was going to be warm, but I totally forgot the most important thing–sunscreen! My poor fair skinned beauties got their cheeks, noses, and foreheads sunburned. I am usually very diligent about sunscreen, but I totally forgot because it is spring, not summer. Not an excuse for exposing them to future skin damage, but like my children’s natural consequences, I won’t forget tomorrow or ever again. That is until next spring, I hope not anyways. So, please learn from my misfortune, and lather up you and yours in a healthy layer of skin protection. From now on my children will be sporting these lovely hats and lots of sunscreen.
FYI: During a lifetime, 70% of total sun exposure occurs before the age of 17, this is why it is important to protect your child’s skin today to teach them to preserve their skin tomorrow. The skin has a memory, and damage caused by the sun during childhood is irreversible, cumulative and often only revealed during adulthood.
This post contributed to the Group Writing Project sponsored by MammaBlogga.
March 26, 2008
For the second time in two months, my oldest daughter has a stye in her eye. The first time around I thought that her little sister just smacked her because they are known to have some good WWF moments. Then it never really went away. By the second day, it was starting to get swollen. I took her in to the doctor and he said, “It is a stye”. He gave me some antibiotic drops for it and told me to try and get her to put a hot washcloth on it for 3-5 minutes a couple of times per day. I agreeably shook my head yes and knew that was never going to happen! I was able to get a minute or two with the hot washcloth, but lucky for us, it was gone a few days later.
Now Monday I noticed her eye getting red again. I am again thinking that her sister scratched her. However, it was getting worse. So by Tuesday afternoon, I called her doctor and left a message, “Hi, this is so and so, and I think my daughter has a stye again. Please call me back if you think that she should be seen”. Isn’t it amazing how your perception of child emergencies evolves over the years?! I didn’t hear from them, so I figured no big deal. Then at 5:50PM, the nurse calls me and tells me to bring her in. We live less than a mile away, so off we went. Yep, it is a stye again. However, this time it is starting to become infected and swollen. So not only is she on a topical antibiotic, she is on an oral antibiotic. Now for most people this would not be a big deal. However, for me it is. This is the first time in her entire 4-1/2 years of life that she’s ingested an oral antibiotic! In the past, I would just use breastmilk on all of their ailments ranging from scratches to pimples to yucky eyes. However since I am not lactating anymore, I felt a little uncomfortable asking my friends for some of their breastmilk for my daughter’s eye. So my daughter is now on manufactured antibiotics. There is nothing natural about them. However, if it cures her stye in the eye, than I guess I am happy. A little discontented, but happy, I think?
March 19, 2008
For more Wordless Wednesdays, see 5 Minutes for Mom.
March 14, 2008
There are days like this that I am so glad that my children are less than 20 months apart. They can be the best of friends at times. Today my oldest was showing my youngest how to trace her hand using markers. She even put on finger nails! Mind you, she also pretended that the marker was nail polish and proceeded to ‘paint’ her and her sister’s nails the most lovely shade of magenta! :) I so remember doing that when I was a kid! Unfortunately the markers were not so washable back then! Anyways, sometimes the washable markers that I have at home are a bit more stubborn. Here is my little trick for removing marker from skin: Baby oil on cotton balls rubbed gently on the skin is a quick way to remove the marker. If you’re really adventurous, you can also let them play with shaving cream on a table and just spreading it around cleans the skin. Shaving cream is a little messy so I take a garbage bag, cut off the bottom seal and cut a slit all the way up the side of the bag. Before putting down the ‘work mat’, I make sure that the table is damp to ensure the garbage bag stays on the table. When they are all done, just fold the garbage bag up and toss! For more ways to remove pesky stains, visit the Crayola website.
March 12, 2008
March 6, 2008
Natural Consequences the Hard Way
Posted by goodideamomma under Growing up the Hard Way[3] Comments
I love for my children to get the “I told you so” from their own choices. I try to warn them and keep them safe as much as I can, but there does come a time when they have to experience things first hand in order to get it. That is exactly what happened today. My youngest and I do our shopping when the big sister is at preschool. My youngest gets to feel important in our very own one on one time. When shopping, I usually let her walk next to me unless we are in a hurry. If we are in a hurry, she gets the choice of sitting in the small baby part or the large basket part. She usually asks to be in the larger part, however, she tends to want to stand instead of sit. I told her on numerous occasions how unsafe standing in the cart could be. She never listens and instead of fighting with her, I just kept a good eye on her. Usually this really is not a problem because most shopping cart baskets are tall enough to keep her safe. However, today we visited a store with much smaller, shorter baskets. So I go through my whole “its unsafe to stand in the cart. You could fall out and hurt yourself” lecture and she kept on standing. Today was the day where the natural consequence unfortunately came into play. She was leaning backward on the cart as I was slowly pushing her and out she tumbled onto the floor. I hear a small thump as her head bumped the floor and the eruption of crying and screaming. Lucky for me this is winter in Michigan and she was wearing a winter coat with lots of padding and her hood, so that cushioned her fall. But she unfortunately learned a very valuable lesson. Now I don’t recommend this as a teaching tool, because kids can get seriously injured falling out of grocery carts. She had a little guardian angel with her today as she recovered quite quickly with no apparent bruising. However, she probably will never stand up in the cart again! Mission accomplished??!!
Here is what the American Academy of Pediatrics says about shopping cart safety:
March 1, 2008
Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.
- St. Augustine of Hippo
I read these words today and cannot be more blessed for all the wonderful people that have walked into my life. I am forever grateful to have known you all.
March 1, 2008
Time to Throw in the Towel, Girls!
Posted by goodideamomma under Random Rantings, at home with kids[2] Comments
The other morning, I was enjoying a nice cup of hot coffee and watching my oldest child pretend to be the mom to my youngest. She was covering her up with a blanket, bringing her a drink and some snacks, reading stories to her. It was the sweetest thing, that is until one of them crossed the line with the other. I don’t know what or how it happened and I was in the room with them. But all of a sudden, the mood changed. Being only 20 months apart, they still have a problem with the yours, mine, and ours part of their relationship. They tend to get into some pretty heated disagreements that to me resemble a girly, WWF match. Imagine lots of scratching, hair pulling, and smacking during one of their love fests. Mind you, this typically lasts only 30 seconds, because I will intervene and have them get back into their separate corners (insert bell sound here), but nonetheless they both end up crying and losing. Some days I feel more like a referee than a mother. They find out quite quickly and concretely that there are no winners when problems are solved with violence. Kids are so smart to figure this out at such a young age. Too bad the leaders of our country don’t take advice from young children.
