Last summer I discovered a little thing called Instagram. You’ve probably heard of it. If not, you most likely live under a rock. My user name is none other than babblinbrooke22. What else, right? ;)
Here’s a little glimpse into what life has been like… according to Instagram.
It was decided when K was born that all of our kids would be perfect. And they are.
For example: Our kids would never, oh I don’t know, color on themselves or on the walls. And they would certainly never talk back, have runny noses, crusty eye boogers, or unkempt hair. Spitting is rude (see here and here) and would never be tolerated. They would potty train themselves at 18 months and always make it to a toilet when they need to yack. (Because yacking happens. Ya can’t have it ALL.)
And now we’re back to reality.
Those things are great in theory but let me just tell you, that’s not how it works. Big surprise, I know. You’re shocked. I was too when realization hit and guess what… runny noses run rampant in this house, my poor baby with the clogged tear duct has crusty eye boogers constantly, there are days that you wouldn’t even know that we own a brush, and on top of that my little B is potty training… not at 18 months… he’ll be 3 in less than two weeks. We’ve been at it for a couple of days and he’s doing great but I still keep finding puddles on my floors. Thank goodness for hardwood!!
Sometimes I am baffled when someone calls me with a parenting question but it happens. There are a few moms that call me when they have questions. And for a split second I feel like SuperMom. In that split second the only things that run through my mind are all of the happy, non-yelling, brushed hair, made it to the toilet, messes cleaned up moments. The RARE ones.
Someone is asking for MY advice on… whatever it may be. It’s usually one of a few things.
So, let’s talk…… I do NOT claim to be an expert by any means. I honestly don’t know what it is about my parenting that makes others feel like I might know something about any of the topics listed above. I am only an expert in my home. Ha! Let’s face it. Even that’s not true much of the time.
Cry it out – I am a HUGE believer in this method. I know some moms can’t stand to hear their baby cry and run to them at the first sign of a whimper. That is so not me. My baby is still small (is 16 1/2 pounds considered ‘small’ at 3 months old?)… maybe I should say young. He’s still young and I still try to cater to his every whimper. I say try because it’s not easy with five other kids in the house. Lucky for him there is usually a sister around to help out if I can’t be right there.
But there will come a point, probably a few months down the road, that I will consider it ‘the right time’. It’s different for every baby but when I feel he is becoming too dependent on me to rock him to sleep and I can’t lay him down without him waking right back up because I’m not holding him… it’s TIME! There are even times right now that I let him fuss if I know that he is super tired and just wants me to pace with him. Sometimes I just can’t. I’ve got a hundred other things that need to be done. However, I do love that when he wants to fall asleep he will turn towards me and smash his nose against my arm. It’s his favorite position.
Kids in their own beds! – Call me crazy but I can’t stand to have kids in the bed with me. Before I even had kids I knew I would not ever have them in my bed. Anthony is ever so grateful for my persistence on this. Really, he is. Everyone sleeps much better this way. I can’t really say that I have a method for keeping them out. If they come to my room in the night complaining of a bad dream or just being scared, I hug them and pray with them. Then we march right back to their bed. They know that our room is OURS. They don’t even ask. I don’t even know if they realize that there are kids that actually sleep with their parents.
There is one exception. If a child has a fever or illness that we would like to keep our eye on through the night, they can sleep with us.
MISERABLE NIGHT for all of us! I don’t do well with knees in the back or feet in my face. I’m usually pushed right to the edge of our king size bed. UGH!
Best Binky – Some moms will swear that a certain kind is the only kind of binky that their baby will take. From my experience, my babies take whatever binky I give them to start with. They get used to that one and no other kind is acceptable. So, I always give them the ones that I think are the cutest. I think the hospital binkies are ugly so I never use those. But that’s actually a lie… I can’t say ‘never’ because I did with this baby. And that’s the one he would take… until he decided that he didn’t want a binky at all.
Getting Rid of the Binky – THROW IT AWAY!! That’s right, at 6 months I throw them away. The sucking reflex only lasts 4 months and by 6 months babies are able to entertain themselves with toys and such. Sucking is now a habit, not a need. Sure, we have a couple of rough nights but then it’s done. Ta da!! Easy peasy. No Binky Fairy and no fighting a toddler over it. The only exception to this was with A. We were in the middle of a move across the country at that time and I didn’t want to traumatize her by taking away the comfort of the binky so we waited… an extra month. ;)
My boys are even easier. None of them would ever take a binky so I never had to worry about it all. The girls LOVED them!
Potty-Training – The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to wait until they are ready. B is going to be 3 very soon and he’s just starting the process. We tried way too early with K and she fought it the whole way. Put her back in diapers and waited. The second time around went much better!
Use REAL underwear! We never use pull-ups because they feel like a diaper. They catch urine like a diaper. They look like a diaper. The kid doesn’t care if they pee because… it’s a diaper!! With underwear they feel it running down their leg and realize Oh, I need to go potty! Yes, there will be accidents. Lots of them but I promise it’s the best way to go.
Never use a training potty or potty seat. In my experience, using a pint sized potty only creates fear of ‘big potties’ when the little potty is unavailable. If you’re at a store or in someone else’s home the child won’t go because they are scared. Trust me, it’s not good. And those automatic flushers… well, that’s another story.
At first you may have to set a timer for every 15-20 minutes and have the child sit on the potty each time it goes off. This will get them used to the process and eventually they will recognize the feeling of needing to go… after a few accidents of course
Be prepared for regression at some point. It happens to every child I’ve ever heard of. You think you’re all done potty training. The child is going potty like a champ without a single accident. Has been for weeks. Then… all of the sudden… out of nowhere they start peeing their pants again. All. the. time!! And you feel like you’re starting over.
It’s beyond frustrating.
Best Diaper – This is another one kind of like the binkies. There is no ‘BEST’. It’s a matter of preference and everyone has their own opinion. From experience, I would have to say that there are certain diapers better for boys and others that are better for girls. There are some that are absolutely all-around awful and some that are great! Inevitably, with every baby I’ve had someone always gives me a package of Pampers Swaddlers. I know many people that love them. I don’t. They always feel wet on the outside after my baby pees and makes their clothes damp. EW!
With my girls I loved Pampers Cruisers (once they were big enough for those… I think they start at size 3) but they don’t work as well for my boys. I really like LUVS for both genders. And actually the Western Family brand of diapers is pretty good.
And that, my friends, is a rundown of my parenting techniques during the early years. It works for me. I don’t claim to have all the answers but those are the most common questions I am asked.
What advice would you give to other parents?
Do you know how many animals have lived in the White House?
When I was asked to review the book President Adams’ Alligator, I had no clue. Think about it. Other than the occasional dog and/or cat from our more recent presidents there isn’t much to talk about in the way of White House pets.
Little did I know that the White House used be much more exciting than it is these days. What a boring bunch of presidents we’ve had in recent elections!! No alligators, grizzly bears, porcupines, parrots, goats… NOTHIN! Just dogs and cats.
Seriously, I am in love with this book!! The authors themselves… they have a great way of making it fun to read about topics that might seem boring to kids. Heck, even I’ve learned a thing or two from their books. (See here and here).
This one is probably my favorite. The kids all had a great time searching for President Adams’ alligator on each page. An alligator… IN THE WHITE HOUSE!! How cool is that? They also loved hearing about all the animals and the stories to go along with them. Some of those animals were pretty adventurous! And the names of some of those animals were quite… interesting. That was Anthony’s favorite part. I like that my kids can name some of the presidents that they didn’t know before because they can now associate a pet to go along with them.
I highly recommend this book. And yes, it was sent to me for free in exchange for an HONEST review. All opinions expressed are my own. LOVE IT!!
The bets are brewin’ at the dentist’s office, I know it. There’s a pot with my name on it! The pot that all the hygienists, office personnel, and even the dentist herself is throwing money into…
I’ll bet you anything she will be back!
Unfortunately, they’re RIGHT!
Let’s rewind a bit. A few weeks ago my very back molar on the bottom left started to hurt when I chewed on it. Not like a toothache kind of pain. It was a sharp pain whenever I would bite down.
Trusty ol’ Google to the rescue…
Fracture!
No way!! I don’t chew ice (ok, maybe when I’m pregnant but that doesn’t count)… I just eat. FOOD! Food can’t do that, can it?
More research revealed that bruxism is often to blame. Darn bruxism!! Why do you plague me?
Then it was on to study the tooth itself. I turned on the flashlight on my phone and began investigating. Sure enough, I could see the break.
And the next day… it still hadn’t healed. What!? I can hope… that it might heal… overnight. A good night’s sleep can do wonders for one’s body. It just doesn’t seem to heal teeth.
STUPID BRUXISM! Did I say that already?
I called the dentist, got in within a couple of days and really hoped that they would let me in on some groundbreaking new way of fixing broken teeth. Put it in a cast for six weeks? I could live with that! Teeth are bones… bones heal, right?
Um, no. Teeth are dumb. They didn’t get the memo.
And all the dentist did was confirm my fears. ROOT CANAL! I’ve never had a root canal before. Scary!! Plus I had SIX cavities!! SIX!! I went years… 12 years or more without a single one and now I have SIX??? Ugh!
I promise I brush my teeth!
The torture began….
1st visit – Confirm my fears
2nd visit – Root canal performed. Not as bad as I anticipated during the process but the aftermath was a nightmare. I have a hard time numbing on the bottom usually because the anatomy of my jaw is different according to every dentist. And my tooth had a hard to reach root. Anatomy… who needs ya? And the hygienist left the temporary filling too high, so…
3rd visit – same day as the second visit. Had them drill it down a TON so I could actually close my mouth. That tooth and the one above it were the only ones that would touch. OUCH!! That tooth was SO sensitive.
4th visit – prepare the tooth for a crown
5th visit – molds for crown
6th visit – right side cavities filled by endodontist who listened when I told him the fillings felt wrong. Filed them down accordingly. (Fillings don’t match my teeth… good thing they’re all on molars. Isn’t that the whole point of white fillings?)
7th visit – Crown placed… WAY too high and after drilling it down to fit so I could close my mouth again, she had drilled all the way down to my real tooth. Appointment set to try remove that crown and start over.
8th visit – left side cavities filled by the dentist this time who doesn’t believe me that they feel too high because her ‘special blue paper thing’ says it’s fine. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that you ARE my mouth and you KNOW how it should feel. IT’S TOO HIGH!! FIX IT! **Sigh** (Once again they don’t match.) Also, first crown removed and new molds taken.
9th visit – back the same day as the 8th visit to make her file the fillings down more. She wanted me to wait until the numbing wore off to ‘make sure’. Pretty sure I know they don’t feel right when only that side of my teeth will clench together. I didn’t wait for the numbing to wear off, either. I got home from the previous visit and called right away to get in. Still too high but better… she DOESN’T LISTEN!! Can I get the endodontist back?
10th visit – Got my second crown placed. It’s a much better fit than the first but still a little high in the back… which is why I’ll be going back…. for an 11th visit.
Can’t……… wait……….. woohoo. **Said in an Eeyore-ish kind of way**
And when I come through that door, they’ll put on their cheesy smiles while rolling their eyes behind my back. It’s written all over their faces and I don’t care!! You’re getting paid good money and I want it done right!!
That’s all I have to say about that…… I don’t wanna talk about it anymore. NIGHTMARE I tell you! STUPID BRUXISM!!
On to happier dental news.
This little snow princess just lost the second of her two front teeth.
And if you can believe it, the Tooth Fairy forgot to come 5 NIGHTS IN A ROW! We figured it was all the snow storms we were getting :). When she finally did show up guess what she did… she left H a dollar that was already hers!! (How was I supposed to know the dollar with the small blue ink smudge from the dryer was the one she had in her back pocket?) WHOOPS!
And these two handsome devils just completed their first SUCCESSFUL dental visit (different dentist, thank goodness)! C has been a few times before this but this was the first time they were able to actually clean his teeth and get some x-rays. He was so nervous about certain parts of it that he would literally shake. Being the mean mom that I am I laughed. B was nervous at first but he got over it pretty quickly. No cavities for either of them!
Any dental nightmares you’ve had to deal with?
This is how awesome I am at decorating and getting things up on my walls….
Christmas 2011 we got a Family Home Evening board from my aunt. We’ve always wanted one, finally get one, and it sat. It sat until just last month. For over a year it sat and collected dust.
Our intentions were good. We loved the gift and planned to hang it right away. The problem is, Anthony and I are 90%-ers. It’s a sad story, really. Every project we start gets done 90%. The last 10% of the project gets left out completely. And after all, actually owning the FHE board and planning to hang it up is 90% of the battle, right?
But we did it!! Be proud! Sure, it’s a year late BUT it’s hanging up and getting used. The kids love knowing who’s in charge of each part of FHE and I love not feeling like I have to plan the whole thing. Being a 90%-er is hard work!
Last week it was H’s turn to make the treat. That’s the job that all the kids want each week because I don’t let anyone help except that one person. Normally they have to take turns pouring ingredients in.
Taking turns… ICK! Nobody likes to do that. At least not around these here parts.
But I digress.
H chose a recipe that we had never tried before from one of my cookbooks. I’ve had peanut butter bars before but these were super yummy! Better than any I’ve ever tried before. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. It makes a HUGE batch… a large cookie sheet full. Anthony couldn’t keep his hands off of them!
BARS:
Preheat oven to 325*. In large mixing bowl cream first 4 ingredients. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl and add to wet mixture. Mix well and press into the bottom of a large cookie sheet. Bake at 325* for 10 minutes then raise temperature to 375* and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
FROSTING:
Melt butter with coca in a saucepan. Remove from heat. Add sugar, vanilla and milk. Stir with whisk until smooth. Poor over COOLED bars and spread. Refrigerate to harden frosting.
Recipe Source: Worldwide Ward Cookbook: Mom’s Best Recipes
