WFMW - Safe from the "Magic Potty"

Today's WFMW edition has to do with those self flushing toilets. These are great and wonderful inventions since it limits the number of times I go in a stall at a public restroom and get disgusted by what is in there. Since I have a child who has to pee every 5 minutes I know intimately all about public restrooms. The problem with the magic potty is that it is not designed for little people. This means that when Sweetpea leans way over to get some toilet paper, the toilet will flush. Many of these have a super flush suck everything down water pressure issue that scares the pants right off my kid even if they weren't around her ankles. When we first started using these bathrooms, there would be much whining if it was magic and I would have to straddle her on the toilet so I could keep my hand over the magic eye so it couldn't "see" her. One day I happened to have a Walmart sticker on my shirt and so I stuck it over the magic eye - voila - no more accidental flushes and no more stretching over a peeing child while trying not to touch anything else. Of course I didn't have a steady supply of stickers on me so I thought of the next best thing, POST-IT notes! These are cheap, easy to come by, self sticking miracles. Now when Sweetpea has to go and it's magic, she asks me for a sticky paper and off she goes by herself. She puts the paper over the eye, does her stuff making sure her clothes are back in place, then pulls the paper off, drops it in the toilet, and runs as fast as she can out of there. These have been our savior at most restrooms. I use the small one inch ones, if you use huge ones be careful about dropping it in the bowl, you may want to put it in the trash can instead. Another thing that is convenient about having a pack of these on you at all times, if you ever need to give anyone some information (phone #, etc), you just happen to have the perfect piece of paper to put it on.

For more WFMW ideas check out Rocks in My Dryer

Elected to office already

Today is a proud moment. My Sweetpea has just been elected as class representative for her kindergarten class. That means she will attend monthly meetings with all the other class representatives to make all of those important school decisions like what kind of Popsicles to have at lunch. I can't wait to hear the details of the intricate workings of student government from the kindergarten level. I'm sure this is only the beginning of a long and prestigious political career. Look out presidency...here she comes.

Closest to God

I am a religious person in many ways. I am a Catholic by choice but I don't agree with every teaching the church has, just the majority of them. I choose to be a practicing Catholic because this is where I feel closest to God. I also have many other beliefs that the church would oppose but in my heart I don't believe that God would. Either way, with or without the support of the church, I choose to believe what I want to. Most of all I believe that yes there is a God, that without God we wouldn't be here and He has a major impact on our lives.

One thing I came to realize by having a baby is just how close they are to God. I truly believe that being that new and so close to just leaving heaven, children have a deep and true understanding of where they came from. I never thought about it this way before Sweetpea though. It probably also helps that their brains aren't cluttered with useless information yet. There were many times that Sweetpea would talk to me about God and heaven. At these times I was always amazed to see the reaction in her face ( I believe she was actually glowing with peace at times) as she talked about heaven and how nice it is there and how beautiful God is. She didn't know the typical words we use and I didn't prompt her for things, often times she would just make passing comments. Through her I was able to get a glimpse of heaven and the peace and beauty that is there and waiting for all of us.


Another thing I have come to have a deeper belief in through her is the existence of past lives. I know this can be a controversial topic for some but as I said earlier, I believe what I want and you can do the same. I always had a casual interest in the possibility that our souls have had the chance to live on this Earth more then once. From the time Sweetpea could put a few words together (and trust me she has been talking non-stop since she was 1) she would occasionally mention things she did before she was with us. She would specifically say that when she didn't live here but somewhere else she did...this and that. Her descriptions were so realistic I can't deny they were the truth. She has also indicated that she was more then one person and she has told me of things that happened to her in different times. I wish I had written down exactly what she said right away so she could see it someday. Instead I have to rely on my fading memory of the few things she mentioned. If I can remember them in detail I will add them later, I am afraid that if I try to force my memory I will add things she didn't say so I will leave my thoughts floating around for a few days and see what I can recall.


As she has gotten older she has stopped talking about these things all together. I suppose you could contribute her ideas to a child's imagination but I think she really did have these memories and that as she gets more involved in this life, her other memories have faded. Now instead of telling me her memories, she asks me questions about the things she is learning in Church and school. It's been at least a year since she's mentioned anything else; she still has her childlike innocence and her basic trust that what we tell her about God is true but I actually miss that insight she gave me. I do wonder though if her obsession with the french language is a vestige of these memories.

Multiple toothbrushes

Today's WFMW edition is all about making things such as basic hygiene convenient and easy in order to avoid battles with the offspring. Getting said offspring back up the stairs to brush her teeth after she has already walked down them was becoming a daily battle. Usually she would just suggest that I give her a piece of gum to make her breath smell good (I guess I should have never told her that one) instead of having to walk all of the way back up the stairs just to get clean teeth. Since I do not like arguing first thing in the morning I decided to move her toothbrush downstairs to our powder room. Then the next problem developed, you have to remember to brush before you head upstairs for bath and pajamas at night. This wasn't working either. So I went to BJ's and bought one of those multi packs of toothpaste and toothbrushes. I then equipped each bathroom with it's very own toothbrush. Now we have have 3 easy to access locations for teeth cleaning. This has led to some very clean teeth in our house. This worked so well I even bought the grandparents their own toothbrush for her to keep at their house so I don't have to pack any when she spends the night. We haven't had a battle over her teeth in months and so this works for me.

Punctuation

Each night Sweetpea and I sit down to read a chapter or two of a book before bedtime (I am so happy to have moved up to the chapter ones). Sweetpea goes and gets the appropriate book and meets me in the "cat room" on the futon to read it. Last night I was putting a load of wash in the washer and she was in the room with the book first. She was looking through the pages when she told me she knew what "these mean". I was only half listening and I just said You do?. She then proceeded to explain what the punctuation marks mean. She described them all. The comma means you pause, the dot means you are at the end of sentence and you stop, the hook one means you are asking a question, and she forgot what the upside down i means. I was in awe because I just didn't expect it yet. See everything you need to know you really do learn in Kindergarten.

12/20/2002 - 09/17/2007

Today Sweet pea lost her first tooth. She has been waiting for weeks for this tooth to fall out and it happened today at school. Yesterday the tooth was very loose and I tried giving it a few tugs to see if it would come out but no luck. Today I went to pick Sweet pea up at school and she came bouncing over to me with a big gaping smile on her face. The right lower front tooth was gone. She pulled it herself in class this morning. My girl decided it was bugging her too much so she twisted it out. Then she held on to it a few minutes until she decided to tell her teacher just because she didn't want to let go of it right away. Her teacher (Mrs.) was well prepared and gave her a small envelope with a laminated tooth on it where Mrs. recorded the date and time. This was her second tooth that came in when she was a baby at a mere 6 months old (12/20/2002) and the first to be replaced by her (sniffles from Mom) adult tooth. I know the other bottom tooth is not far behind, it is already wiggling at us. The tooth fairy will of course be making a visit tonight and I know Sweet pea is super excited about that. She even told me to be quiet tonight so she could go to sleep, forget the typical routine Mom, I need to go to sleep so the tooth fairy can come.

Apple slices to go

With school here and having to pack snacks I have been using an age old trick to preserve those apple slices. Of course we all know that apples brown due to oxidation of the sugar but once they look gross like that, I can't eat them. I know they sell those handy dandy pre-sliced citric acid preserved apples in the store but I think they taste funny so I prefer fresh "made" ones from home. To do this I pull out my quick corer/slicer from pampered chef, slice the apple of my choice, toss it in a Ziploc bag, add a few drops of lemon juice, shake it around, and ta-da no more brown apples. You can't even taste the lemon (unless you use too much - then you get a lemony kick). These only take a few seconds to make. In addition I think it is easier to buy and store fresh apples (especially with apple picking season starting soon). Here's to getting your apple a day!

Waking up in a strange place

In the morning I leave for work before the sun even thinks of rising. This morning I walked into the hall and saw that Sweetpea's bedroom door was opened. Since we typically close them to sleep I walked over to close it and also to check if she is covered since she apparently practices her Karate kicks in her sleep. I walk in to find her missing from her room. OK, first place I check, the bathroom. Nope no girl in there. Next room over is what we call the Cat room since that is where he likes to sleep. We have recently purchased a futon because it is also Sweet Pea's TV/upstairs playroom and there she is, sound asleep, no covers or anything. I grab a cover off her bed and wake DH up to tell him where she is so he can miss the early morning treasure hunt.

When DH went to wake her up for school, Sweetpea gave him a very hard time about who moved her there and why. He kept telling her that she moved herself there and she refused to believe him. This also seems to be a phase she is going through. She has decided that only what she thinks can be true and everyone else is lying to her. This in itself can get very frustrating and make you want to shake some sense into her (which if it would work might be worth it but since I have never heard of this working I guess we just keep arguing). Well they argued back and forth for quite awhile until Sweetpea decided that a swift kick to DH was the way to end the dilemma. This of course earned her a good morning time out and lecture followed by a helping of tears. She then composed herself and off to school she went only complaining that it is cold outside now. I suppose tonight we will talk about changing sleeping locations mid-slumber and about arguing in genearl (again). I don't mind that she went in there though but it makes me wonder if I need to put a gate at the top of the stairs again (we took it away when she was 2) to prevent any midnight tumbles.

School is a lot of work!

With Sweetpea starting Kindergarten I have realized just how much work parents have to do to ensure their children are prepared for school. My day goes like this...
5am - wake up, get dressed, pack my own breakfast and lunch, go to work.
~3:30pm - leave work- go pick up Sweetpea at aftercare and get the daily lecture on how I don't pick her up soon enough.
~4:30 - arrive home and send her out to play while preparing dinner (if it's not a dance class or soccer night). Go through book bag for notes, check her conduct calendar for the day (and she better have a star - I expect perfection), and fill out any necessary forms, fundraisers, etc.
~8:30 - Sweetpea needs to be in bed and I should be leaving the room. This is after getting her inside to eat, chasing her and her friends around the house and moderating any disputes, and bathing her so she isn't the smelly kid in school. Bedtime involves reading books, listening to songs, braiding her hair and tucking her in with kisses and hugs.
~8:45 pm - DH comes home from work, we chat about his day, how Sweetpea was, my day, typical stuff.
~9:00 pm - bedtime (hopefully by 10 which never happens) - pack snack and lunch for Sweetpea, write notes to teacher about if she is buying or packing, write a note for when I will arrive to pick her up, add an envelope with extra money for a treat or drink at lunch. Arrange clothes (after making sure we have clean ones - do wash if necessary) for DH to dress her in morning, arrange all required bags on counter so nothing is forgotten and add notes for DH if anything special is required (i.e - lunch box is in refrig).

After all of the above is done I try to take 15 minutes for myself before heading off to bed. I suppose I will become more efficient at this whole process as the weeks pass but in the meantime I often wish for the simplicity of daycare where they did everything and all she had to be was dressed.

Just kidding ..

These words are the bane of my existence lately. Sweetpea has discovered the joy in kidding people. This means that she says things like "Ouch, I bit my tongue", I of course sympathize with her, and then she laughs and says, Haha, I was kidding. I have told her the story of the boy who cried wolf numerous times now but it isn't the same for her. First of all, she knows it's just a story, secondly she says she isn't asking for help or saying a wolf is coming so it just isn't the same. Meanwhile, I am continually tricked into believing she needs something, hurt something, did something, only to be told she's kidding. In frustration I have tried to explain that she is driving me crazy and that I don't like the lying involved in that kind of kidding. I understand it is just a phase she is going through but it has lasted at least 3 weeks now and mom is very tired of the game.

How do you drive?

Conversation between myself and Sweetpea which occured when I was attempting to explain why I couldn't pick her up early from school aftercare.

Mom - "I have to go get a new picture taken for my driver's license since it expires on my birthday. If I don't get it renewed then I won't be allowed to drive anymore, then what we would do?"

Sweetpea - "Can I see your license"

Mom - "Sure" - as I dig around in the disaster area of my purse to find my wallet and then pull it out. All very tricky considering I was driving at the same time.

Sweetpea - "Aww, Mom, I like this picture you can't get a new one."

Mom - " I like it too but they don't let me pick which picture I get. If the policeman tells me I have to get a new one then I have to listen to the rules."

Sweetpea "Hey Mom, how are you driving now?"

Mom -" What do you mean?"

Sweetpea - "Well if I have your license, how can you drive now? Don't you need your license to drive?"

After that I explained that driving is like riding a bike, once you learn you don't forget how to do it. The license just tells the policeman that you know all of the rules and it identifies who you are.

I love these little odd conversations we have which I cherish saving just for her.

Another moment of over reaction

There have been several trips that we've taken to the emergency room since Sweetpea was born. One was absolutely necessary, one was pretty necessary, and the third was a waste of time. Well the other day I had another case of over-reacting (just a bit). I came home from work and the next door neighbor girl came running over to tell me that Sweetpea hurt her hand. I asked where she was and she said in our house. I thought, OK no big deal I'm sure DH is handling it. I proceed to walk in the house to find DH playing the Wii while Sweetpea is sitting on the sofa crying and holding her hand. I go over to survey the damage (expecting a tiny scratch - she can be a bit dramatic at times) and I see a hand that is rapidly swelling, turning lovely colors, and she's holding it oddly to the side and refuses to move it (OK that was probably due to being a drama queen). With my typical ugh tone, I say to my DH (who has 8+ years of medical experience now) - "Did you even look at this?". He looks at it and doesn't think anything is really wrong, but since I am insisting it get looked at, he agrees to take her to the ER. This time I thought ahead and called our pediatrician first. They agreed to see her immediately. We arrive within 10 minutes and they have the classic doctor's office toy - the bead maze/activity cube - what kid can resist? Off Sweetpea runs throwing the ice bag at me mid-gallop and of course the first thing she does is take the injured hand and begin spinning beads up those lovely wires. Yeah - OK -like we need to be here- she was obviously fine. Another embarrassing trip for Mom. We eventually saw the doctor who assured us that while going down the sliding board with a rope wrapped around your hand is never a good idea, it is very hard to break anything that way. I want to say I have two things in my defense. First, it was getting very black and blue in a short amount of time. Secondly(and most important), the very next day was her first day of Kindergarten. Imagine if it was broken and I sent her in without treatment. I would be remembered as a neglectful parent for the next 8 years. We would have to move or change schools or something. So now I've learned to wait at least 30 minutes before reacting as long as no blood or guts are hanging out. We'll see if I can follow that advice the next time since there's always a next time.