Category Archives: Parenting

Friday Favorites

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If you are reading this then the chances are you read my blog. And if you read my blog you know that I participate in a couple of weekly carnivals that involve me giving tips to my readers and linking my readers to another blog where more tips are involved. Believe it or not, I actually spend a couple of hours reading through a lot of the tips and I learn amazing things from them! Life transforming things! So I started thinking my family, friends, readers all need to hear about the things that I have learned from others. So on Fridays I am going to be posting a thread called Friday Favorites. It will be tips that I have learned through these carnivals that I participate in. So here is the first Friday Favorites.

EYE MAKEUP REMOVER
Ingram Gang posted an awesome idea on Eye Makeup Remover: Mix equal parts of baby shampoo and water. She talks of how she used to use Clinique eye makeup remover and actually uses that container for her new cheap creation! AND it works as good! Baby shampoo is tear free – so it works great. I actually tried this and it worked!!!

BEST CHORE/ROUTINE CHART EVER
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers posted about this chart that she made that had me running to the store to buy the supplies. I wish I would’ve thought about this before. I suck at the whole sticker chart thingy and this is PERFECT!! CLICK HERE to go to her blog to read about it – she has pictures and everything. If you are a mom I highly suggest you check this out.

BABY WIPES
CC posted a little secret that I never would’ve thought of in a million years. Baby wipes can be washed and dried many times before falling apart. I would never do this after wiping up my baby after changing her diaper, but baby wipes are great for rags, napkins, and from what she says has saved her money reusing them. She talks more about it on her blog so if you’re interested CLICK HERE

HOMEMADE FEBREEZE RECIPE
Stepford Wife’s Guide to Home Making posted about this and this one just got me downright excited. I have come to realize that I really do not like Febreeze. I love the idea of it, but the smell has just gotten old to me. Well, this recipe that she’s shared is amazing!! Here it is:
1/2-1 Cup of Fabric Softener (your choice of your favorite flavor!)
1 Cup of White Vinegar
2-3 Cups of Water (If you are using 1/2 cup of fabric softener then use 2 cups of water, if you’re using 1 cup of fabric softener use 3 cups of water)

BEST PARENTING ADVICE EVER
Frazzmom posted a few tips when going out w/your children. They are worth reading so if you are a mom of a younger child please read this. CLICK HERE

I hope you enjoyed these tips and make sure you check back on Tuesday for Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Wednesday for Works For Me Wednesday & Friday for Friday Favorites!! And in between all that for a little bit of love, hate, parenting, stress, happiness basically life and me all rolled up in one.

Struggling with behavior

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Every day it seems like Jayden does something wrong at school. Honestly, I get pretty darn tired of the teacher calling me or giving me that “look” after school like ‘He was an absolute TYRANT today.’ I’m almost at my wit’s end with this boy and just don’t know what to do.

Today we went to go and buy Jayden a new radio. He’s been into music and I thought it would be cool for him to have his own CD player in his room. So, while buying it I got a phone call from his teacher. First thing she had to tell me was that Jayden has been poking other students with his pencil. UGH! I knew this was going on, because Jayden comes home and tells me that his friend does this to him. Then when his teacher gave them their work to do, Jayden put an X on his worksheet because he didn’t want to do it. I don’t know what to do! I want him to listen to his teacher, do his work, be a model example in school (who am I kidding!?!?! LMAO) but seriously, I don’t want Jayden to struggle. I want to get down to what it is exactly that’s causing him to struggle with following directions. This honestly scares the living crap out of me. I can’t imagine how hard it’s going to be when he’s in Junior High or High School. I don’t even want to think about how my vibrant little Ella is going to be. Being a mom is the most wonderful gift from God, but man it’s hard! I know I’m good a mom, but a part of me almost is feeling like a failure since Jayden has a hard time. I know shouldn’t, but I do.

I decided tonight to not let him get away with all the little stunts he pulled today. So, we bought his CD player, which he really didn’t even know we were buying, but we get home and I put the box on the floor and watched him get all excited. I’m so evil! I sat him down and said, it looks really cool doesn’t it? Keep in mind we bought the Pirates of the Caribbean Treasure Chest Boombox. Then I told him unfortunately since he didn’t do his work at school and because he was poking other kids w/his pencil that he wasn’t able to watch cartoons or listen to his new CD player. He was devastated, but I’m hoping that this gives him motivation to do good. Tomorrow if he can at least show that he’s trying I will give his CD player to him, but the first day that his teacher tells me that he doesn’t do his work or is fighting with other kids it’s gone again and he’ll have to earn it back w/good behavior. This also goes w/Cartoons, which if you know Jayden you know Cartoons is his everything.

If you’re a lurker on my blog and have some advice for me PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave me a comment and give it to me.

Devious Little Minds!

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I swear I don’t understand how kids get to be so smart! I’m not talking book smart, I’m talking downright deceivingly smart. Jayden spends a lot of his time upstairs. The computer he’s allowed to play w/is up there, his toys are up there – it’s Jayden’s world up there. However, there are things of mine up there as well…. of course. I walked up stairs and walk in my room to see Jayden sitting on my laundry basket filled with clean laundry. It not only irritated me that his dirty little body was sitting on top of my clean, white clothes, but that he was bending the crap out of my laundry basket. Jayden looks at me and goes, “Oh, Mom, I didn’t hear your footsteps. Sorry.” Greaaat! I wonder what else he does upstairs when I’m not up there for him to have to listen for my footsteps.

Friday Letters

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For Works For Me Wednesday I thought I’d share something special that I do for my kids with other moms. There’s so many memories with kids and not enough space in the baby books to put them. I want my kids to be able to go back and read about milestones they had, funny things they said, and even the bad stuff. I want them to be able to know how much they truly were loved so a few weeks ago I went and bought 2 journals. One for Jayden, one for Ella. I set a reoccurring reminder in my phone calendar for every Friday @ 10:00pm and every Friday I write a letter to each child in their journal. Some letters are a short I love you, and others are detailed. I only wish I thought of this when Jayden was a baby, but better late than never. In the first letter I promised that they would have a letter every Friday. When they’re 18 I’ll wrap the finished journals up and give them as a birthday present. It will be a lot of reading for them, but what a special gift that will be for them.

For other tips on what works for others visit Rocks In My Dryer

Searching for my "Me Time"

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I used to have a lot of this. I had 1 child for 6 years. I had a job that I went to and sat in an office basically by myself and between you and I spent the majority of my time online…. (If you are from any of my old jobs I wasn’t talking about that job – I was talking about the other job) I felt that I was getting plenty of me time. Then I chose to change my life up a little bit. I moved, started to work at home and the topper on the cake…. I HAD ANOTHER BABY. I decided that I needed to scout out my “Me Time” and find out exactly what it is that I need to involve myself in to keep my sanity. I started out with the whole Mommy Forum thing…. catty, drama and so not enjoyable me time. I’d rather not watch girls attack each other on their parenting skills – to each their own right? Why judge? Then I decided that church would be the perfect me time. Yeah, I love church and am beyond happy that I made the decision to go to church, but let’s face it…. it’s a family thing. I have yet to see the “Me Time” in it. In fact, almost every Sunday I find myself hanging out in the mother’s room. So, that has basically turned into Ella & Me time. I finally figured out recently how to get me some “Me Time” I hand my husband my daugher, I go upstairs so quietly and sneak into my bedroom past Jayden and run to my bathroom, shut & LOCK the door. Then I turn the Ihome on as loud as it can go (to drown out the screaming and crying coming through the crack under the door and the “Mommy, I’m thirsty”) and I run my hot, hot, scolding hot bath and sink in and read. Then when my heart just knows that Ella is on the verge of a breakdown downstairs, I drain the water, get out of the bath, look in the mirror and take a deep breath. I open the door and reality slaps me right in the face. But there’s a smile on it, because for the past 8.7 minutes I was alone, with a book and loud music and there were no children or husband in there to ruin it for me. And that 8.7 minutes will get me through the next 24 hours.

To write about your “Me Time” head over to MamaBlogga for this month’s writing project.

I NEED to take a CPR class

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After Ella went through all that heart stuff I swore to myself I would take a CPR class – just in case. I never did. Today I was faced with a situation that scared me more than anything – even more than Ella’s first heart episode. With Ella’s first heart episode I was scared, but she was with her doctor when I found out what was wrong. I knew in my heart that everything was going to be okay. Tonight, I didn’t. Tonight I honestly thought that Ella was going to die. I gave her a teething cookie. She gnaws on them all the time. We’ve given these cookies to her all the time and they’ve NEVER been a problem Tonight was a different story. I was doing dishes and she was sitting in her travel swing eating a cookie. I looked down at her and she was starting to turn blue. I went to grab her and she was buckled in (of course) and nothing I ended up doing was helping. I was screaming “HELP ME!” I panicked. I did not know what else to do. My husband at this point has ran downstairs and has her upside down hitting her back and I’m the phone with 911. Our conversation goes like this:

911 what is the location of your emergency?

MY BABY IS CHOKING!

Ma’am I need to know the location of your emergency.

I DON’T KNOW! MY HOUSE!

Ma’am can you look at some mail and find out your address?

GINO! WHAT’S OUR ADDRESS? OMG OMG OMG OMG I DON’T KNOW MY ADDRESS!!!! (In which case he didn’t know either)

OMG! HE DID IT! HE GOT IT OUT!

So do I need to send paramedics?

NO THANK YOU!! SHE’S GONNA BE OKAY!

End of conversation

Thankfully my husband shoved his finger down her throat and made her throw up and out came the cookie piece that was stuck. I was shaking so badly. When he handed her to me I sat on the couch and cried harder than I think I’ve ever cried in my life.

About 1 minute after hanging up the phone a cop knocked at the door and Ella and I went to greet him. He smiled and rubbed Ella’s tummy (she was just in a diaper) and she was a mess from the cookie. Well, he said “Are you okay little one?” and she took one look at him and flipped her lid. She didn’t like him at all. So he smiled and said, glad all turned out okay. I was pleased with how quickly he responded – that’s a plus on living in such a small little town.

I do know my address, but it’s amazing how when you’re in that situation you lose all knowledge in your head. So I’m going to actually put on the fridge w/her medical information(already on there) our address for myself in times of chaos.

Go here to watch a video on what to do if your infant is choking.

No more carrying a formula can!

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It is Works for Me Wednesday!! This week I want to share my new favorite bottles and the most exciting part about them. I guess I should first say I HATE (YES HATE) Avent bottles. I swear it takes me so many tries to get those lids on right and nothing makes me more mad than going to shake that bottle and having formula spray all over you…yeah, that is what happens w/Avent bottles…so if you’re a new mommy or new mommy to be and you plan on using bottles – I HIGHLY suggest these ones.

Okay…. Soothie bottles have these fun little “snack containers” as you can see in the picture and you actually can pre measure formula, put them in the little containers and then stack the bottle on top of them. You can just keep stacking and stacking too. This works wonders for me because I already have so much crap in the diaper bag and toting around a can of formula is no fun. Now all I have to do is fill 3 of the little “snack containers” with pre-measured formula (1 for each bottle) fill 2 bottles w/water, then stack one bottle on top of one “snack container” and then the second bottle I stack on 2…and even stacking it on 2 my bottles still fit perfectly in the bottle holders on the diaper bag.

So, this is what works for me. For other tips from other’s visit Rocks in My Dryer ~ and Happy Wednesday!!

Guilt

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Why is that no matter how good of a parent we are we are still faced with guilt almost every day of our lives. Maybe this isn’t the case with every parent, but it is with me. I’m a good mom. I know I’m a good mom. But let’s give last night for an example. I was busy working downstairs and I looked at the clock and though ‘Uh oh…I need to get upstairs and tuck Jayden in and get him into bed.’ I went up there and he was sleeping. I didn’t get to tuck him in. Didn’t get to read him a story. That guilt ate at me all night long. He did brush his teeth though, because his mouthwash was out…very odd for him! Makes me so proud!

Food is such an issue in our house. Like my post yesterday, Jayden has issues with food. I cannot force this child to eat anything otherwise he WILL throw it up. He’s pickier than I was as a child and that’s pretty darn picky! I feel guilty when I pop chicken nuggets in the microwave. Crap, I even feel guilty when I make him fish sticks. No matter what he eats I feel guilty that he’s not eating veggies or something super healthy. However, he does eat fruit all day long and prefers wheat bread over white bread and that puts a smile on my face 🙂 And he drinks water, which some kids HATE…well, Jayden would rather have water than anything to drink.

Another overwhelming guilt that I have is that my one on one time with Jayden is nothing like it used to be. He was an only child for 6 years. That’s 6 years of having my undivided attention. 6 years of the world (well our world) revolving around Jayden. That changed drastically. All of our attention shifted quickly to Ella. Rushing her to the hospital so many times right after bringing her home. Having to be away from me while I was at the hospital in Portland and he was home w/my husband. Through it all he is still sweet. Still loving. Not jealous. And I feel guilt. I feel guilty that Ella sometimes takes up all of my time and I can’t go read him a story at that second. I can’t peel that orange, because if I move she’ll wake up, please just wait 5 more minutes. And he waits. Very rarely will he get his feeling hurt over Ella getting put in front of him. I know things will get better, and I know Jayden understands, but that doesn’t help the guilt I feel inside.

I guess this post is just for me to talk about how it’s hard that no matter how good of a mother you are, you still have this overwhelming guilt inside of you that you should be doing better. Are there other moms out there that feel this way?

Monday Goals – 1/14/08

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Parenting: Buy Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons ~ most of my advice on my WFMW tip request pointed me in that direction, so we’re going to give it a whirl.

Marriage: This week I need to work on thinking before speaking. I say this because lately I’ve been working a lot and the little things that normally wouldn’t bother me are completely bothering me… so, instead of saying some rude little snotty comment I’m going to just stop and take some deep breaths and then hopefully I won’t be so snotty (can you believe I’m actually admitting that I can be snotty?? Who knew?!?!) when addressing the situation.

Household: Work in the current Flylady zone and do ALL missions from Kelly and find a housekeeper to come and deep clean once a week

Work: Get through entire box of stuff that was sent to me

Faith: Read through the lesson that I missed at Relief Society on Sunday since I was a loser and didn’t attend church (horrible of me!)

Self: Drink at least 5 glasses of water/day, finish reading Wednesday Letters, and do at least 20 minutes of exercise

Got Purpose?

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A friend of mine and I were talking today and she was saying that she saw a bumper sticker that said “Got Purpose?” If you really think about those 2 words they really are amazing. You can’t really be happy unless you have purpose. I know my purpose. My purpose is to be the best mom I can be to my kids. To be the best wife I can be to my husband. And to live my life according to the gospel. That’s my purpose, and since I know that and strive to do my best at these things I’m happy.