It is a bad way to start the week when it is noon and your child is still in their pajamas, bed-head in full effect. Did I mention that her pajamas do not even match? Nope. One half is purple and brown toile the top half beige and pink flowers. A round of applause for all you other mothers out there who are having a day like this as well.Now seriously, go check out the giveaways over here!!! … [Read more...]
What is Pink and Squishy and Family-Friendly? BARBAPAPA!
Sure you have your Cabbage Patch Kids, The Golden Books, your Strawberry Shortcake, throw in some Winnie the Pooh or Where the Wild Things Are and you have yourself many childhood favorites. All things many of us look back on with happy nostalgia. However, it was while I was visiting Paris during my pregnancy that I discovered a toy in a French department store that brought back much of my childhood to me. It was Barbapapa! I knew instantly I had to have him. Excited and in utter disbelief (this toy is still popular?!) I had him rung up at the register and brought him home to await the arrival of my daughter, T.D. That and Holzspielzeug für Kinder are my favorite toys I bought for my daughter. As a kid Saturday morning cartoons dawned early in my house. Barbapapa (the cartoon is based … [Read more...]
Poof! You’re Two!
From this to thisin what seems like 0 to 60 in no time flat.Look at you, you are two today. Because of that, I suppose I should write some sappy hearts and flowers post about how it is hard to believe that two years ago on this very day, you my sweetie face munchkin dumpling with cheeks so cute your Aunt E wants to bite them, was born. Right, then. Let’s get started shall we? I think that’s what the midwife said when I asked if it was OK to push. To T.D., my tiny dictator, who I wouldn’t have any other way. I love everything about you no matter what I may say under clenched teeth and furrowed brow. I love your big brown eyes that mirror my own. I love your tiny teeth and even the fangs. Actually, I am quite proud of those and I must say, a bit envious. You have the most infectious … [Read more...]
She’s Two- does she really need that party?
T.D. turns two on Sunday. It's T.D. the 2.0 version. As the date draws near I have begun to feel real anxiety about my lack of planning for her big day. There will be no party. Only cake. No balloons, no company invading our home for hours with little tykes to hurl cake around. We’ll take pictures as she blows out the candles, if she even does that and we’ll make a fuss, but that is all.We thought about taking her to lunch but her favorite eatery, except Chick Fil A is closed on Sundays. We thought about a lot of things and came to the decision that we not only wouldn't go nuts on a party but we would not be buying her loads of presents. Christmas was only two months ago.When I look at what we’ve bought her thus far for presents I feel like I’m looking at birthday gifts from the … [Read more...]
Angel Pins & Mardi Gras Beads
I'm all over the place today. I actually allowed myself to flop back into bed this morning thinking, eh... I've got a post topic or two rattling around in my bean, I'm fine. Psssht. Then I went to the gym and had my ass kicked by one cheerful instructor who likes it when we silently curse her. When I came home I had an email from my mother, my aunt passed away at 4:45 a.m. She was 94. We knew it was coming, in fact, I said a silent prayer this morning asking that my aunt be made at peace. By the time I said it, it was already done. So allow me a moment to regroup and greeve a bit. She made a mean martini. She wore Mardi Gras beads all year long, no matter what the occassion.She drove a white, zippy little car with a red racing stripe and a spoiler on the back for extra edge.Her cat, … [Read more...]
Verizon Customer Service is No Friend of Mine
Scene: My home, afternoon, precious naptime/work minutes ticking away. I am on deadline. My internet connection goes down and after fiddling with it all day I decide to call Verizon.After spending a few minutes on hold I am finally put through to a person who doesn't sound like she is from halfway around the world. Is this even possible? That has never happened before! Yet, her voice does sound suspicously not human. I've verified my name, number, address, H's name, my third cat's birthday and how old I was when I learned to ride a bike and I think, "Are we done yet?"Customer Service Rep: Please state your telephone number again ma'am.V: 875-3425.CSR: Is that 759-3324?V: No, (tight smile forms on my face) 875-3425.CSR: 875-3427? Is that correct?V: N00... 8 7 5 3 4 2 … [Read more...]
Mayday! Mayday! Mom Down!
Sometimes I wish, secretly hope for and yes, beg for a Command Center of sorts that would monitor my home (only for purposes of good and well-being) from a remote location. They would be able to hear and see what is going on and see what a nightmare lunch time can be. Yeah, it's not always that cute when your child smears sour cream on EVERYTHING. Life with kids is not always one cute photo op after another. Just when it looks like Mom is about to lose it a little alarm would go off in my house sending out a signal of distress to the Command Center. The Command Center would be on high alert on the days I'm alone for long hours with a million things to do. Like when my husband has decided to change plans or just not call to say he isn't bringing people by our house for a visit, people that … [Read more...]
Cherry Nyquil Makes Me a Donkey’s Patootie
You know those moments that you wish you could take back? Those times when you laugh at a really inappropriate point and then you just can't stop laughing. Everyone around you looks at you like your a total ass and in fact you probably are? I had one of those moments last night. H has been sick this week. The cold is a bad one. The man has been a trooper all week including last night when he took care of the infamous T.D. while I had a party for a friend (Silpada anyone?). I'm very grateful for that. Is it my fault that I actually found it funny rather than repulsive when he burped cherry Nyquil in my face last night as I fell asleep? It happened once and I thought, "Huh. Never had that burped in my face before. Of all the things my kid, strangers or family has burped in my face … [Read more...]
The Next Evil Knievel?
I walk into her room. She is sitting sweetly, quietly in her rocking chair holding a pink bear. A pink bear that used to be on the shelf above her chair. Way, way above that chair. I ask her how she got the pink bear and she states, all sugar and sweetness, "I reached it Momma." Her first sentence! No. Not really but reached? She reached it? It is not possible. Unless...Unless she climbed the armrest up to the back of the chair and then she would be the correct height to reach the pink bear and only if she first moved the rocking chair up against the wall. Eesh! The kid is not even two yet!ONE DAY LATERI hear a loud thud coming from her room. She is supposed to be napping. Clearly no cute toddler dreams are taking place. I crack open the door just enough to peek in to find a … [Read more...]
Damn this Consistency Thing Called Parenting
I knew it would be hard. I knew there would be sleepless nights, bad diapers, crying jags and sickness. I knew that some days I would just want to throw in the towel. That I would flop down on the couch too exhausted to even watch 'The Riches'. But really? I just never knew parenting could be this hard. This exhausting. That the amount of consistency that is needed would be this constant.Call me a moron right now ladies and gentlemen, but damn toddlerhood is tiring. Parenting is exhausting. The energy factor alone can be daunting but when they get in that Rain Man mode of repeating things with the exact same pitch in each word each and EVERY time they say it (which would be 80 times in a 30-second span) no one told me that you would want to run screaming out the front door. No one told me … [Read more...]