Work It Out

I don't have a lot of memories of fighting with my sister.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we had our share of disagreements and even fights, I just don't recall anything specific.  I do, however, remember that the few times we went to my mom about them (few, I think because she established this precedent early on) her response was always, I don't want to hear it. Work it out yourselves.

And we must have.  Even though I don't remember what we did, we must have worked things out, because I don't begrudge my sister things from our childhood.  And although we now joke about which of us is the "favorite" daughter at any given time, we are not serious.  In fact, I never felt that my parents favored either of us.  Any comparing done was purely my own.

(Now before you tell me that, as the youngest, my memories might be different than my older sister's, I assure you that she and I have had discussions about this very thing.)

With two children of my own, I worry about this.  How do I make my girls feel equally important?  I do not want them to look back on their childhood and feel that one was favored more than the other.  To have memories of me taking sides.

I know that at two and four, they may be a bit young to "work it out themselves"; however, I do think I sometimes intervene too quickly and need to stay out of their arguments more often.

Because, really, what benefit am I giving my children by always jumping in?  My girls need to learn how to work disagreements out between themselves.  They need to gain the tools now so that they can use those tools later, in school, in the workplace, and in any relationship.

But I can promise you that when the time comes, I will take out my mother's saying and use it whenever I can.

A Work in Progress

We are redoing our upstairs.  Of course, what was supposed to be a relatively inexpensive do-it-yourself project has turned into more than we bargained for.  Such is the life of house projects, no?

Which means we have workers at our house, going on week two.  And I am starting to go crazy.

Last week we were stuck at home, and it was Hope's Spring Break.  Not that we would've gone on a trip to Florida or California or anything.  But it would've been nice to spend time out of the house.  Perhaps get to the zoo, the park, away from the mess that is currently taking over.

I am continually discovering that getting out of the house is just as much for me as it is for the girls (perhaps even more so).  My patience seems to be less accessible when we're at home all day.

Our schedule returns to normal this week, and I am hopeful that the workers will be out of the house by mid-week.  I am anxious to get the upstairs done, our house back to normal, and the girls back into their regular routines.  All of which will probably take more than a couple days (especially the "finishing the upstairs" part), but the sooner things calm down the better.

It will all be worth it in the end, I know.  The upstairs will look great when it is done.  I'm just looking forward to when "the end" is now.

Seven Days of Celebration

Project 365 Week 14

This week was filled with birthday joys of my second-born.  With our families over on Sunday to celebrate, gifts coming in the mail throughout the week, her actual birthday on Friday, and another little party thrown today by one of her aunties, Paige got a two-year-old's birthday extravaganza.

Hope has also benefited from the goodies, but of course was quick to point out that she did not have balloons tied to her chair for her party (a subject still up for debate) nor did we go out for a birthday ice cream cone on her birthday (which is true).  (You can stop laughing now, Mother.)

I decided to continue the Paige-themed week and include seven pictures of my newly turned two-year-old.

Party Day

The New Trike

Bubble Bath

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Three Favorite Times of Day

Ready for Play Time

Two Today

Rock Star

* I used PicMonkey to play around editing these photos. *

Two Years of You

Dear Paige,

Happy Birthday, my sweet Little P.

I am so happy and grateful for these past two years, for the love, the smiles, the laughter, the snuggles.  Even the tears.

I love you so much, my heart overflows.

You are a true joy in our lives.  Such a silly and goofy little girl, dancing, making faces, making up words to get us to laugh.

I love that you made us a family of four, and made Hope a sister.

I will sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" every night to you until you ask me to stop.  I will pick you up every time you say, "Hole Me".  I will kiss you, hug you, and love you forever and ever.

I wish for you to always feel our love, to always feel important and special.  To know the satisfaction of a full life.

Happy 2nd Birthday to my toddler, who will always be my baby.

Love,
Mommy

My Safe Place

His body is snuggled close, a strong arm holds me tightly.

Whispered I love yous give way to slow, deep breaths, our hearts beating the same rhythm.

Our warmth, it is the warmth of love.

I relax and know, this is a safe place.

His comfort and tenderness and strength, I feel them all.

A conversation riddled with tears has ended.  Our connection closer now than when we started.

Our hearts, still beating the same rhythm.

He is my safe place.

Naps, Revenge, and an Evening Snack

Today, I am admitting to a few guilty pleasures.  Go ahead and judge.  But I know I'm not the only one on some of these things...


10 Guilty Pleasures

1.  "Revenge" on ABC.  The husband calls it smut, which it probably is, but I look forward to Wednesday nights and the drama it brings.

2.   Caribou Coffee.  Specifically a medium coffee cooler when the weather is warm and a medium milk chocolate mocha with a shot of hazelnut and no chocolate shavings when it's cold.

3.  Letting Hope play games or watch shows on the computer in the mornings so that I can sleep longer.  Usually until Paige wakes up.

4.  An evening snack.  Most often a bowl of ice cream.

5.  Nail polish.  I don't wear it often (unless it's on my toes in the summer), but I love the colors, bright, muted, glossy or matte.  And always want more.

6. Baby Name Wizard.  I enjoy looking up different names and different trends, even when we don't have a baby on the way to name.

7.  Naps.  Oh how I adore my naps.

8.  I can't do it anymore because she's too big, but when Paige was an infant I loved letting her take a nap on my chest.  In fact, she was so used to it that she didn't nap well otherwise.

9.  Journaling and writing.  Hence the blog.

10.  Reading.  Which I guess isn't necessarily "guilty" but sometimes I get so engrossed in a book that my children get ignored while I read all day.




Happy Monday!


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Linking up with Stasha for Monday Listicles.

Project 365 Week 13 - In Which I Call Poison Control Center

Hope has been asking for some Magic Grow capsules.  You know, those little sponges that are stuffed into rubbery capsules that you put in warm water and they "magically" expand.

So, after we were at the store a second time, I agreed.  I know they're only, like, a dollar and why would I say no the first time, but I'm mean like that so it took us two trips to the store (unrelated to the Magic Grow capsules) for me to agree to get them.

**You can feel appropriately bad for how deprived my children are.  That I won't necessarily get them a dollar toy when they ask.**

Obviously, I figured a toy that says 4+ on it was perfect for my four-year-old and one-week-away-from-being-two-year-old to enjoy together.

Because second (and third and forth) children are just like that, right?  They suck on dirty pacifiers, play with marbles, juggle knives.  No?  Just mine?

Anyway...

I set the girls up, each with her own little bowl of warm water and we threw in the capsules and watched them s-l-o-w-l-y expand.  When the sponges were full size, I refreshed the water and let them play.  And I went into the other room to start dinner.

Pretty soon I heard, Mo-om, Paige drank the water from her bowl.


My heart did a flip-flop as I wondered just how toxic this all was, because even though I changed the water, I distinctly remember noticing some of that jelly stuck to the side of the bowl.

The package reads Not a food product. Do not swallow. Adult supervision recommended.  I did not freak out.  I decided that it would be okay.  It was diluted water.  No big deal.

After about twenty minutes (during which I merrily went on my way of making dinner), I thought, Who am I kidding?  Just call the darn Poison Control Center so you can know for sure that your child is okay!

So I did.  And I read the employee the back of the package, conveniently leaving off the adult supervision recommended because I didn't need to point out to her that I blatantly left my two-year-old playing unsupervised with a toy that says 4+ on the package.

No emergency room run, no call to the doctor, I was assured that it just might irritate her insides and feel unpleasant on the way out.

Thank goodness for Minnesota Poison Control System.  I feel somewhat sheepish that I didn't call right away, but am glad that I did end up calling, and that the worst we had to worry about was a little tummy upset or diarrhea.  Neither of which Paige seemed to get.

By the way, if you don't yet have the number posted somewhere, you can find your local number here.


**Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, a doctor or Poison Control Center employee.  If your child has eaten a Magic Grow capsule, or ingested the water, I highly recommend calling your own Poison Control Center.




By the way, the rest of our week, while fun, was not quite as exciting/nerve wracking.

Happy Weekend!