Teething Hell

I cannot fathom the pain my little bit is in right now.  She is currently cutting about 4-5 teeth.  I have given Motrin, Hylands teething tablets, and vodka...the vodka was for me, not her.  I can see the teeth, just below the surface of her gums, sitting there, wreaking havoc with no regard to her discomfort or my sleeplessness.  At night she is sleep talking, and sleep kicking the living bejeebies out of me.  You know it is serious when the actual bejeebies get kicked out of you. there is no recovering from that. 

She is sitting in my lap right now, just sitting here in her Motrin haze. I feel so bad for her, and by her I really mean me.  Well, her too, mostly her, and a little bit me.  I feel like there is nothing I can do to take the pain away, and I cannot help force the teeth through, and the worst part....there are more teeth to come.

I think this may be the worst phase of childhood....teething.  There is no telling when it will stop, when they will cut through the gum finally.  There is no explaining to a toddler what is going on, and why Mommy cannot make it better.  She is just stuck, in teething Hell....and I am there with her. 

So, my prescription....extra snuggles, extra cuddles, and extra boobie, since those are a few of her favorite things.  Oh yeah, and I let her play with my cell phone....I think she called the Canadian Mounted Police or something, but they cannot help her either.  So she babbled something incoherent and hung up on them.  I tried to tell her they would not send Dudley Do Right, but she did not listen to me, eh.

Okay, so we are off to try to get something accomplished, even if that something is just  a nap for the tired toddler of the house.  Teething, who needs it...I mean you just end your life gumming your food all over again anyway.

The Art of Being Mom is a Juggling Act.

The past few weeks have been hectic at best. Sometimes the roller coaster moments of parenthood can be exhausting.   I have this complex where I try to do more than I can actually handle.  This leads to exhaustion, and the repeated smacking upside my head of reality and what I can and cannot do.  There are times when I just have to say no, or come to terms with not being able to juggle everything at once.  

Prioritization and time management are a Moms best friend,  but life with kids sometimes throws that out the window.   Our best is all we can expect from ourselves,  and that is okay!!  One of the most important things we need in our lives is a great support network,  a cheering squad, a rock, a shoulder, whatever you name it, a support system is what it boils down to.  We need someone who loves us for us, accepts us for us, flaws and all. We need someone who is as dedicated to us as we are to them.  

Life is too short and precious to be spent feeling insecure, unhappy, and overwhelmed. We should enjoy our families, ourselves, our friends,  all the relationships in our lives. We should be happy, not miserable. We should have fun, and be responsible. We should teach our children how to be loving, independent,  responsible,  and silly.  Lead by example and the kids will follow.  Do not fall into that do as I say, not as I do frame of mind.

Live life to the fullest, never regreting any moment. Teach the children well...and they will blossom like flowers in a garden. 

See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil?!?!

What do you do when you see a parent completely screwing up their child in public?  I once watched a dad in the doctor's office call his 2 year old son a "sissy," because he was crying...because he did not feel well.  Hello, you are in the doctor's office for the sick kid, he is allowed to not feel well.  The mother jumped up and yelled at the dad and then took the boy and moved to the other side of the waiting room.  I was privately cheering with mental pom poms as she did.  I was also wondering how long THAT relationship would last. 

I have seen many a parent threatening their children in the stores, grocery stores, toy stores, department stores, where ever.  I have heard more moms count to three than I can even count.  Only to get to the number of desperation and have the child still acting out.  Then what?  They have called your bluff, and now???  I have seen a mom smacking her child for telling her no.  The minute she saw me and realized that she had been seen, she scooped him up and started hugging and kissing him. 

So what do you do when you see some bad parenting going on?  Do you say something?  Does it depend on how bad it is?  Does it depend on whether or not you know them?  What is the protocal? 

I feel like we have an obligation to all children to keep them safe.  I think it is a personal decision as to what the point of needing to get involved is reached. 

Sooo It Happened Again.

Being a stay at home mom has some inherent BS that comes along with the title.  First and foremost is a feeling of complete and total disrespect from those that do not stay at home, would not stay at home, and think those of us that DO stay at home are lazy.  This happens more times than I care to even acknowledge.  It can come from other moms, from dads, husbands, neighbors, whomever.  It hurts, and I do not know if these people realize that how insulting they are being.

I get up between 5-6 every morning.  I start cleaning, making lunches for the kids, doing whatever household chores will need to get started.  I also make time to sit down and get online.  Yes, I really do.  Most of the rest of my day I will be chasing my toddler around while trying to clean my house, and teach her shapes and colors, cook for her, run errands, chauffer her sisters to and from school, etc.  So yes, I take some personal time and blog, check Facebook, whatever I want to do at O'dark thirty in the morning.

The rest of my day is centered around the tornado that is my toddler.  She does not like to nap, still nurses, and is a ball of energy.  I love her to the moon and back and would not trade a moment with her.  What I do trade is any sense of privacy, any hobby I had previously, any sense of freedom that I had without a toddler attached to my hip.  That is okay, I find my moments.  Yes, I wish they were longer and not at the ass crack of pre-dawn, but whatever.  I digress.

The last thing anyone in my life would call me is lazy.  I may take a lazy day on the weekend, or during the week and make up for it on the weekend, but I am one of the busiest people I know.  I manage my household.  I take the kids to school, pick them up, take care of any and all appointments that they need to be at.  I make their breakfasts and lunches, the hubby and I share dinner responsibilities.  We do not eat out.  I would say we have eaten out maybe 5 times in the last year...MAYBE.  We cook and eat at home.  It is time consuming, but it is our health we are talking about.

My house may not be IMMACULATE, but my mother in law tells me she has no idea how I keep up as much as I do and that she could not get done all that I do.  My friends tell me how clean and neat my house always is, and those two things together tell me I am doing a good job.  It may not meet everyone's standards, but have I mentioned the toddler that still nurses and does not nap??  Yeah, good luck....

My job is to manage a household.  My household runs relatively smoothly, without too many hiccups.  Sounds to me like I am a good manager....not a lazy, bon bon eating slug who sits around waiting for the house to clean itself. 

My 15 month old has an extensive vocabulary in both English and Spanish.  She knows sign language too.  She says please and thank you for everything.  Those things do not just happen.  Her stay at home mom makes them happen.  Could someone else teach my child these things, absolutely, but that would detract from our relationship, and bond her with someone else. 

I used to be a single, working mom, so please do not think I do not understand, I do.  I think it was easier then.  Yes, I said that.  I think it was easier for me then.  I cannot explain it, but I have other single Mom friends that have agreed with me, and others that think that statement is crazy.  But, I know I am not the only one who thinks it.

So the next time you see a stay at home mom and wonder what she does all day....smack yourself on the hand and give her a pat on the back for a job well done.

Some Kid Funnies...

Please feel free to share your own kid funnies...

My daughter used to think that the words to Adele's "Chasing Pavements," went like this, "Should I give up, or should I just keep chasing penguins? Even if it leads nowhere."  Now, we sing it her way.

In our house, the song, "Arizona" goes like this, "Arizona!  That's where el coucho lives."  Yes, we know that el coucho is wrong on many levels, and that it has nothing to do with Arizona, the song, or anything related.  But we love it anyway.

The song "Jimmy Mack."  Well, in our home, we eat a pasta dish we call chili mac.  My husband used to sing the song "Jimmy Mack" but replace the Jimmy with Chili.  One day, while watching the Music Channel the real song came on.  My daughter was shocked to find out the real song, the fact that it has nothing to do with dinner, and is still offended that my husband lied to her. 

Several times a week while going in and out of the rooms upstairs our dog gets trapped in a closet somewhere.  We all play find the Tai Tai, by following his barks.  But he stops barking whenever someone enters the room he is in, thus making it nearly impossible to really find him. 

The toddler in the house mimicks everything.  If she does not stop saying, "Oh sh*t," we may really be in trouble when she goes to preschool.

My toddler knows how to work my tablet better than her Daddy. 

Last night the baby went over to the dog, opened her own mouth really wide and went in for a kiss....he licked her open mouth.  She then got pucker face, and I hope she will now listen when I say he has caca mouth. 

That is all for now.  I love my girls, all three of them.  They are in different stages, and keeping on my toes for all of them can be a challenge.  Thankfully they offer me enough humor to make it all wonderful. 

Parenting, It's A Full Time Gig...

On the weekends I watch Dr. Phil in the mornings.  I love his no nonsense approach to helping people.  I love the way he shoots from the hip, with the intention of helping people, but with the attitude that they can either take it or leave it. 

This morning he had on a mother of 5 that has no relationship with her older two daughters, a craked relationship with her second to youngest child, another daughter, and is considered the fun mom by her two sons.  She lets her sons throw parties in her home that involve underage drinking.  The police watch her house because she is notorious for having huge parties for the teens with alcohol included. 

It was heart breaking to me to hear her daughters say they just wanted a normal mom.  What exactly is a normal mom?  I wonder if I am a normal mom?  If I am not, do my kids wish I was more "normal?"  I hope not, because I am who I am, and I do my best to be the best mother I can to all three of them. 

Being a parent is not a "job," despite the title of my blog.  Being a parent is a choice, an obligation once that choice is made.  It is both the most rewarding, and difficult relationship on planet Earth.  When the position is taken as seriously as it should be, parenting is the most time consuming, emotion consuming, worrysome, tiresome, rewarding position ever.  I really wish parents would more often stop and consider what parenting really involves. 

We parents are raising, teaching, guiding, rearing the future of our society.  We are enabling, empowering, molding, shaping the adults that will decide our futures as well as their own.  We are raising the future doctors, lawyers, politicians, teachers, mechanics of the world.  Somewhere out there a parent is raising a child that will grow up and murder people, is there something in their parenting that could prevent that path?  Maybe, maybe not.  Ultimately, when people reach adulthood they are responsible for their own actions.  But we parents influence every aspect of our children's lives. 

The way we parent influences how our children will make decisions, how they will eat, how they will be in relationships, how they study in school, how they drive a car.  Parenting is the biggest, most important position of anyone's life.  A parent should never, EVER take it lightly.  Will we screw up, certainly, we are human and to err is human, right?!?!  But here is the key, let your kids see you screw up AND take responsibility for your own actions.  TEACH your kids how to be good adults, BY LEADING THROUGH EXAMPLE. 

Devote yourself to yourself and your kids over and over again every day.  Commit to doing the best for your family and yourself every single day. 

Reach out to those in need.  Reach out to that pregnant teen in your neighborhood, help her be a better mother, help her parents help her.  Guide not only your own kids, but every child that comes into contact with your own. 

Love those children, spend time with them, and guide them in order to help them grow into adults that are responsible, funny, healthy, and HAPPY. 

Join me on a little ride...

You know I often consider myself to be positive and uplifting, especially on here where I do not want to come off like some crazy b*tch.  But every now and then the need arises for some realness.  I think that time is now.  So join me on a little ride through the real world.

Instead of posting all the niceties that a good little mommy should post, I intend on keeping things very real.  I will probably give opinions that many do not agree with, and you can feel free to share your opinions as well.

Instead of trying so much to use this blog as a nice way to earn a little money, I am going to just do what I set out to do in the beginning, speak my mind, express my opinions, and let the creative juices flow.

So please, buckle up, it might get bumpy around here...but it is going to be a fun ride nonetheless.