Mom Talk

On the way to the sitter’s today, my daughter noticed a Highlights magazine in the back of one of the car seats and wanted me to hand it to her.

“I can’t, I have to keep my eyes on the road. Besides I gave all but those two to Lorie so you and Lily could look at them together while you’re there.” (Lorie is the baby sitter.)

Little did I know, I was opening Pandora’s box.

“Why!!!” she whined and started to cry. “It’s not fair that you gave them all to her and only kept two for me.” She was truly distraught. “I want them baaaack!”

“You hadn’t touched them in a month. It was time to get rid of them,” I replied. Trying to keep my cool.

“But I would play with them now,” she said.

Suddenly, my strategy became clear.

“Remember I told you we had to get rid of some stuff to make room for your Christmas presents? Those books were part of what we got rid of.” She’s still crying.

“If you really want them back, I can take all your Christmas toys back to the store and then get the books back.”

“Even the cupcake maker?” she sniffled.

“Oh, definitely,” I knew I had her now.

“I don’t love you anymore!” she moaned.

“That’s okay, I still love you. I think you love me but you’re just mad that you can’t have the books and your Christmas presents.” The wailing stopped but I still heard quiet sniffling.

By the time we got to Lorie’s, she was calm. I asked if they could look at the Highlights today and of course, that was fine. Crisis forgotten. As a side note, I think I’m raising a packrat.

When did 4 year olds start sounding like adults? My daughter amazes me daily with her use of some very grown-up phrases in casual conversation. We were getting out of the car to visit some friends yesterday when she ended a sentence with “doubtful”. Huh? The sentence was so normal until she added that word. Something like, “We’re gonna eat dinner early tonight? Doubtful.” I looked at her like she was a stranger. She’s also been using the word “also” a lot (like my play on words? ) and saying things like, “That’s very disappointing, mommy.” What happened to my baby?

My four-year-old daughter got a Vtech Vsmile game system for Christmas. She enjoys having her own video game system for sure, but doesn’t like to fail. When she comes to a difficult part in the game, she panics and hands the game controller to me or her dad and says, “Quick! Get past this part!”

This practice caused me to beat the entire game for her in under a week. She’s even emotionally involved when I’m playing. During one part, when a bird comes out to pop the balloon the character is riding on, you have to swerve to avoid it. She covers her ears (not sure why) until I pass that part and make it to safety.

When we started over from the beginning, I refused to take over when the going got rough. “You can do it. If you fail, you’ll just start over. It’s just a game, no big deal, “ has been my pep talk for several days. She’s still nervous but getting through it. Who knew a video game could cause such anxiety?

I’m debating with myself about how long I should leave my Christmas decorations up. I didn’t put them up until two weeks before Christmas so it seems like that was a lot of work for a short time. Most of the folks I know only leave their stuff up till New Years but I have yet to tackle the time consuming task of re-boxing all of my ornaments and making the trek back out to the garage attic to put everything away. My daughter loves all the lights and is begging me not to take them down yet. How long do you guys leave your stuff up? Leave a comment and let me know!

When is the last time you had a day when you didn’t even get out of your P.J.’s all day long? We had such a day on New Year’s and it was wonderful. We slept until almost 11 am, had a late brunch and a late nap and just sat around being lazy. I realized at bedtime that I was still wearing my pajamas from the night before and it made me happy. When the whole family has that kind of day, it’s so relaxing. We weren’t on any kind of schedule and even going out to get dinner seemed like too much trouble so we snacked on leftovers. Ah, the luxury.

Tonight, after my daughter was in bed, I quietly began to set up her Christmas morning loot. I placed the wrapped presents under the tree and left a few unwrapped for the “wow” factor as she comes downstairs in the morning. I built a little fort with some Lincoln Logs we got her as part of this ensemble. I finished the project and cleaned up the living room. While I was working, I thought I heard little footsteps on the second floor but my daughter tends to be scared to get out of bed at night so I thought I was hearing things.

When I was done with everything, I sat down in the recliner in the living room to admire my work. As I was sitting there, half dozing, waiting for the washer to finish its cycle so I could go to bed, I heard an unmistakable creaking on the stairs. I got up and quickly popped my head over the railing to meet two of the most startled eyes I’ve ever seen and a flash of purple snowman pajamas frantically trying to make it back up three steps.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “Sorry,” was her answer. “Are you creeping downstairs to look at your presents?”

“Yes, sorry,” she said. She was examining my face to see if I was angry. I could not help but grin.

“We don’t do that, okay? Now go back to bed.” She hurried back into her room. I went up to make sure she really got in bed and she was lying there, sucking her thumb, eyes wide.

“If you see your presents tonight it will ruin the surprise,” I told her quietly.

“Were you still in the living room?” she asked.

“Yes, but even after I go to bed you need to stay in your bed, okay?” She nodded again. Hopefully getting caught was enough to keep her honest. We’ll see in the morning.

Today as I sat at my desk at work pondering how on earth I was going to accomplish all the things on my list before Christmas, I felt panic began to rise. I’m already tired and it’s only Monday. I need to get the house back in order (from letting it go while I was sick), do a TON of laundry, wrap presents and get packed to go out of town. All this and I have to work Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all day. I got out my calendar to start filling in my time sheet for the week and discovered 4 hours of vacation I had marked off but not yet used! I felt like I won the lottery! Now, I get to leave work at 2:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve. What a relief! Those extra hours will save my sanity. What’s on your last minute Christmas list?

 I think I officially have the flu. At least that’s what my online search of symptoms turned up. Fever, chills, body aches, stuffy nose, cough, stomach issues. . .I’m officially in yuckville. Some friends of ours were nice enough to come get my daughter today so I could get some rest, but yesterday I had to get through it on my own. Here are some tips I’ve come up with to survive the flu with an energetic 4-year-old around.

-Find something she can do in the same room while you sit and do nothing. For us, that meant watching a movie in the playroom while I rested in her bed (the rooms are basically one). She also played with a nativity scene she’s fond of in the floor of the living room while I nodded in the recliner.

-Let your house be the disaster it wants to be. As long as she wasn’t starting a fire or at risk of injury, I have pretty much let her do what she wants. The cushions to my couch are in the middle of the floor and there is laundry everywhere. I’m just not gonna get upset about it.

-Let her fend for herself if she can. Our rule of thumb for the last several days has been, “if it sounds good to you, eat it.” She’s eaten fruit snacks, string cheese, tortilla chips and dry cereal from the box. I have managed to drag myself to the kitchen to pour her a glass of milk or sugar-free Kool-aid. We’ve taught her to use the water dispenser on the fridge and that’s been a life saver.

-Take snuggle time when you can get it. She wanted to nap with me yesterday and I took advantage of it. I’m trying not to expose her to my germs but it’s probably inevitable. I just wash my hands a lot and try to stay out of her face. Beyond that, I hope for the best and prepare myself for the fact that she may be sick on Christmas.

I have nothing profound to offer, just survival tips based on my experience. I’m sure all you veteran moms out there have some time tested tips for us. Feel free to leave a comment to enrich us with your wisdom!

I now understand why my mom was always in such a bad mood when we put up the Christmas tree. While hanging the ornaments and looking at the tree when it’s finished is fun, the preparation is not. I even have a pre-lit tree but that still involves fluffing all the branches and putting on the garland before anyone can really help me. By the time that part is done, I’m tired and cranky, and then it’s time to let my 4-year-old help me hang the ornaments. She doesn’t really get the whole spacing thing so I really end up doing that myself, too. When it’s all done, I like turning out the lights and listening to Christmas tunes as much as the next person. It’s the preparation that gets me down. So here’s to you, Mom, and all those years we bugged you to put the tree up on November 1^st. I feel your pain.

 Putting up the Christmas tree in a smallish house can be quite a challenge. I have had every intention of putting up our tree since the Saturday after Thanksgiving. My daughter has been begging me daily. Unfortunately, we are just getting around to it today. It requires a complete rearrangement of our living room and it means I have to get up into our spider infested attic, neither of which I find appealing (see my arachnophobia post). Today, we are biting the bullet and getting it done. Basically, we get to see just how much stuff we can cram into one room and still have a pathway to walk. It’s time to put my puzzle completion skills to work!