Forget Spelling It Out Now

There was a time when Aaron and I could have entire conversations about things around Cordy without her knowing. We’d just have to S-P-E-L-L out the word we didn’t want her to hear and/or repeat, like C-O-O-K-I-E or I-C-E-C-R-E-A-M or the ever popular W-I-N-E.

Problem is, she’s been watching Word World and Sesame Street and Super Why, all of which are encouraging her to spell. And one in particular (I’m looking at you, Word World, with your obsessive, sweets-loving Pig) teaches kids how to spell cookie.

Do you know how hard it is to talk about cookies without being able to say or now spell cookie? We can’t even use a food code word, like lettuce, because the kid likes lettuce and nearly every other food we mention. And it’s just too weird to say to your spouse, “Hey, when you’re at the grocery, can you pick up some….uh…uhm… socks? You know, the…uhm… socks with the brown spots – one might say “chunks”- in them?”

We try to give our daughters healthy snacks, and save the sweet treats for special occasions. They normally have snacks like bananas, apple slices, fruit and cereal bars, goldfish crackers, homemade applesauce (from my mom’s apple trees) and yogurt.

But hiding in one of the cabinets, on the tippy-top shelf, are the secret goodies – cookies, candy, and those little Betty Crocker molten lava cakes that you make in the microwave in 30 seconds. Hiding in the deep freezer is the ice cream that Aaron and I love – ice cream that doesn’t exist to our children and if they ask about it we will deny-deny-deny.

It’s a little ironic that we care so much about our daughters’ eating habits, and then pull out the naughty snacks when they go to bed.

Do you have mommy/daddy snacks that you hide from the kids?

(Wine doesn’t count.)

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as an entry for a contest sponsored by Brothers-All-Natural.



Haiku Friday: For The Kids…Or Not

I drive down the road
The radio plays softly
to not bother kids

My fingers are cold
the A/C roars to reach the
backseat passengers

I’m uncomfortable
But it’s a small price to pay
for happy children

Suddenly I have
a revelation: I am
alone in the car

So, anyone else
torture themselves needlessly?
No? Uh…me neither.

Isn’t it amazing what we do for our kids? Cordy hates loud music, so I always keep the music low in the car for her. Mira gets warm quickly, so even though I’m freezing, I keep the air conditioning cranked up to get back to her. So when I realized I was driving without kids today, I felt like an idiot for suffering needlessly. I quickly cranked up the music, turned down the A/C, and relaxed into my seat.

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky below or at Jennifer’s blog with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). DON’T sign unless you have a haiku this week. If you need help with this, contact Jennifer or myself.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button at the top.

REMEMBER: Do not post your link unless you have a haiku this week! We will delete any links without haiku!



Toy Cah-ray-zee!

I’m so grateful that in the past two years there hasn’t been a single must-have toy that the under 5 set desires at any cost to their parents. We all remember the Tickle Me Elmo craze – thankfully I had no children at that point. I can’t imagine the anguish of parents actually going out of their way to obtain one of those red muppets so it could torture them with his maniacal laugh.

Remember the Cabbage Patch Kid craze of the early 80’s? Yeah, I was one of those kids. And I remember my grandmother went out in the pre-Christmas crowds to fight for one of those moon-faced dolls. I’m amazed she didn’t get trampled by the more aggressive parents – who knew grandma was so tough? At Christmas I unwrapped that yellow box, and got to hold my first (of many) Cabbage Patch dolls – her name was Madeline Eva. I still have that doll, and she still holds a place in my heart, even more so now because I know my grandmother put so much effort into making sure I got that special toy.

Would I do the same should that must-have, hard-to-find toy come along that captures Cordy’s attention? Of course! After all, Aaron and I have plenty of experience, after hunting down the rare PS2, Wii, and the Furby. (What? Can’t a woman in her mid-20’s want a Furby? They were cute!) Aaron has also been through his fair-share of doorbuster deal crowds the day after Thanksgiving. We can deal with the crushing crowds, the line jumpers, and the store-to-store searching. It’s the thrill of the hunt, right?

Sure, that toy might soon become some trinket tossed aside for the next obsession, but it also just might be the doll that still brings back warm memories every time she looks at it, 25 years later.

This post is part of the blog blast for the Parent Bloggers Network and sponsored by Hasbro and their Hot Summer Toy Event. Join in by writing a post before midnight tonight for your chance to win Hasbro toys and games!



I Wish Some Gifts Came With Receipts

As much as I wanted my girls to not be themselves for Mother’s Day, I have to say that it wasn’t as bad as I expected. My husband – always the bright one – caught on when I said I only wanted a card for Mother’s Day, and nothing more. He recognized that this meant I have no idea what to ask for, so make it good, buddy and took the appropriate action.

Well, sort of. On Saturday he did misinterpret my go buy my gift and enjoy spending some time alone, and hey, maybe you could bring home some ice cream as a message that said go buy my gift quickly and spend the rest of the evening at a gaming store until midnight, because I didn’t want to spend any time at all with you, and oh, I wasn’t serious about asking you to bring me home ice cream or asking you to call if you were going to be late. I can see how that mistake could be made.

The girls, too young to drive themselves to Target to pick out a pretty gift, instead showered me with gifts that were, shall we say, more intangible and less wanted. A quick round-up of the gifts that were bestowed on me this weekend:

From Aaron: Two martini glasses, a cosmo shaker kit, and a box of Choxie dark chocolate truffles. Hmmm…you think he knows me? It was a nice gift, and nearly made up for me going to bed alone the night before.

From Cordy: Blow-out diapers all weekend long. I still haven’t figured out if it was some kind of gastrointestinal virus or a reaction to something she ate on Friday, but either way I didn’t expect to spend the weekend wondering if it was worth the risk of a toxic spill in public to leave the house.

Sick girl

From Mira: Attitude. I can already see this child will somehow be involved in my demise. She’s doing a great job at making me feel like a first-time mother again. This is the age we’re supposed to be setting limits, right? She should get upset when I use a firm, strong NO, right? So why when I give that firm no in my best mean mommy voice, I now get this in return?

Scary (drooly) evil grin

Teaching her new friend Evan all her tricks

Razzing me

Oh yeah, attitude galore. And as soon as I tell her no and pull her away from what I don’t want her to do, she goes right back to it, giving me that impish, scrunchy-face grin as if to say Oh, you’re in for it, lady. Is she my Stewie?

From three random little girls: A pretty carnation. We went out to dinner on Sunday night because I wanted a nice dinner and decided any risk of toxic spill was an acceptable trade-off. The restaurant had been giving carnations out to each mom, but they ran out about twenty minutes before we arrived. No big deal. Sitting across from us was a family who had three girls. They were cute and funny and clearly having a great time together.

Shortly after we ordered, they finished and gathered their things to leave. I saw the youngest (maybe 4 years old?) lean over and whisper something to her mother, and her mother replied, “I think that’s a great idea.” They walked away, and less than a minute later, the manager came to our table and handed me a carnation. He explained that the girls said they were planting a flower garden and didn’t need the flower, so they wanted to give it to me, since I was a mommy and didn’t get a flower. Awwww….

Overall, not a bad day. But maybe my daughters can take a lesson from the little girls in the restaurant and just give me flowers next year?

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Another cool gift I got this weekend was my first monthly delivery of photos from Kinzin. Check out my review of this photo sharing and printing service.



This Mother’s Day, Just Leave Me Alone

Aaron asked me last week what I wanted for Mother’s Day. I tried to convince him that the Vera Bradley purse I just bought should count for a gift, but he wasn’t having it.

I know, this is the ideal time to beg for that new gadget or gizmo, when I can say, “But look at how much I do – don’t I deserve it?” But honestly, I really don’t need a gift to show appreciation for the hard work I do as a mother.

I could be rewarded just as much by being left alone. I don’t mean I want the kids to disappear for the day, but I would love it if just for one day, I didn’t have to:

– swipe some small object out of Mira’s mouth before she swallows it (where does she find this stuff?)

– yell at Cordy to “Stop hugging your sister like that! Hugging is nice, but knocking her over from the force of your hug is NOT nice!”

– answer the whisper of “Mommy, I’m stinky.”

– pick the couch pillow up off the floor 100 times a day

– yet again remove carpet fuzz from Mira’s hand before she tries to eat it

– deal with the whine of “I’m hungry!” ten minutes after Cordy stuffed herself with a large lunch

– have my mouse pulled away from me yet again by a baby with an electronics fetish

– play the mind-numbingly dull game of crawl up the stairs then demand to go to the bottom and do it again

– spend an hour trying to find “the green buzzy-bee” Cordy has lost and won’t stop talking about, only to realize it was a toy from school and she knew that it was still at school

– erase Mira’s contribution of letters and numbers from my most recent post

– retrieve spoons from the trash after Cordy tries to help me clean up lunch

I normally do all of these without complaint. After all, they’re my girls and they need me. But I can’t say the thought of them not bugging me for a little while is an unwanted dream.

Surely I’m not the only one who wishes her kids would stop doing specific behaviors for just one day. What do you wish your kids would not do just for one day?

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This post is part of the Johnson’s Baby Cause blog blast from Parent Bloggers. Johnson’s Baby Cause is working to raise money for several charities that promote the health and well-being of mothers and children around the world.

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