Meltdowns of a Mommy

Finding myself within “The most wonderful time of the year” with toddlers is hard. While countless people over spend on themselves and loved ones in the spirit of giving and consumerism I wanted to find a balance. This is the first year my girls will be receiving gifts from Santa (the big guy and I had an agreement – until the girls understood the situation there was no reason for him to add us to his delivery schedule) and receiving a gift from us. Don’t get me wrong I love Christmas time and the decorations but growing up it was always about being together not the over load of gifts. I think each year my sisters and I got one main gift and then needs like socks, new pants, underwear etc. Believe it or not, I was happy and content. So that brings me to this year when the girls understand the receiving part of Christmas but are lacking on the giving ideas. I have talked a great deal with them about helping others, giving to those less fortunate and they love putting money in the bel...

Prior to having kids I vowed that if I had girls they would never be princess girls. You know the type, the ones enchanted by fairy tales of princesses, princes, and happily ever afters. I wanted my kids to have a realistic view of life and if girls be strong independent females. Well, as luck would have it, I have two princess girls. It was so easy for them to want the dresses, love the stories, and dream of princes. For a long time I let it get to me that I was allowing them to play in this world that is far from reality. I wanted to instill in them that a guy on a horse was never going to come along and save the day. That the world is not perfect and some time the prince is really just a jerk. Then it hit me, I was not against Disney, the stories, or the dresses. I was just already trying to toughen them up for their first heart break, the first time someone will think less of them because they are female and truth that not all endings are happy but that they all make you stronge...

Having two older sisters growing up I cried a great deal about things not being fair. From my view things were never fair but I was a kid and didn’t know any better. It was my parents place to know best on matters of what was fair. As an adult and parent myself now it is my place to decide what is fair for my girls and it can be tricky. I have seen it many times recently, parents too busy keeping things fair between their kids. While as a society we complain about the “everybody gets a trophy” mentality many of us are doing just that in our own homes. Need an example of what I am talking about? The non potty training sibling getting treats and prizes too but they are not doing the work, the other sibling getting gifts on birthdays so they are not left out, everyone having the same bedtime, the child who does not eat enough dinner still getting dessert. You see where I am going now don’t you. The times when we as parents just give in to what is easier than facing the truth with our k...

People are always putting down today’s youth. The claims are that they have no direction, think only of themselves, and think they are above the rules. I remember sitting in high school and college and getting all fired up when the media would make the same claims of my own generation. When I would talk to my parents about it they would simply ask if I really thought that my whole generation had the same drive that I did. They were right, I was above the norm, but all in all I think we turned out just fine as a group. So what about today’s youth, will they turn out just fine? How knows only future will tell but the real question we should be asking is why. Why do they have no direction, think only of themselves and think they are above the rules? I saw a possible answer to this question today while I was at the mall. Yes the mall, the suburbs place to send off their youth with mommy and daddy’s credit card in hand. But it was not in the halls by Hollister and Abercrombie that I fo...

About 10 years ago I stopped loading the dishwasher at my parent’s house. While yes I am completely capable of putting things in the dishwasher and I know it drives my parents crazy when I just stack my things in the sink or on the counter I had to take a stand. I know it sounds silly but you have to understand while I love my mother dearly no one and I mean no one can load the dishwasher to her liking.   After years or her coming behind and rearranging everything I had loaded or complaining about things not fitting correctly I gave up. Sorry mommy, the truth is out. I love you but will not live under your dishwasher ternary any longer. While my mother is currently fuming and getting mad at me the rest of you might be wondering what this has to do with father’s day. Well, a lot. Our children are our dishwashers and our husbands are just trying to help out. I have been on both sides of the “my husband can’t do: the laundry right, buckle the kids in right, give the kids bath rig...

Captain’s log June 2012: While I am happy to report that potty training has be deemed a success it saddens me to note that it was not because of my keen leadership skills but because of the girls (with their father) mutinous over throwing of my plans. Here is how it all went down: After returning from a weekend camping trip in which potty training was still in full swing and the girls learned the harsh fact that in nature there is no potty to flush but instead trees that get watered with the contents of their little potties the girls made a stand. I was told “diapers for babies, we go nigh night in our big girl panties”. I froze in shock and fear. While yes they had remained dry during nap and night for over a week in diapers I still enjoyed the safety net, and so did the washing machine. My husband was on board and said “ok” before I could say anything. And we pushed forward diaper free at nap and night and I have to be honest I have only cleaned the sheets 1 time since the last ...

So, we have been in potty training mode over here for one full week. I am not going to sit here and say the girls are potty trained because they aren’t, but we are working on it. I have one kiddo who went over 48 hours without an accident and stayed dry during naps and night time. Yeah me! Oh wait, until today at the playground when she ran up and said “change me I have poop”. At that moment I was happy to be using pull ups while out. Those pull ups also helped when kiddo number two had to poop at that same playground this afternoon and couldn’t get to the potty in time because some random stranger kid would not leave me alone and get off of our travel potty. I guess this is just her first lesson of others getting in the way of your succeeding and my first lesson to learn to say “I know your mommy is too busy on her I-phone to play with you but I do not want to be your friend”. We have a number of trips to the public potties while out, 8 in one visit to Taco Bell, 5 at the rec cen...