Common Mom

Duma hated her crate, so I bought her a 4×4 kennel. Unfortunately, the kids have thumbs and can open the door

Guess I’ll have to keep payin’ the sitter.

Happy Thursday!

I’ve always said that the key to a happy marriage is separate bathrooms Ever since Hubby and I have been married, we’ve never had to share a bathroom, and I’m SOOOOO fine with that.

But today, my son requested a separate bathroom from his sister. It went something like this . . .

Me: Hey guys - go wash hands. Dinner’s ready.

They both bolt from their writing at the counter and race down the hall to the bathroom. I hear a couple crashes, bumps into the wall, and “Stop it Jason!” “No, YOU stop pushing me Keira!” “But I was here fiwest!” “Well, I’m here now, so get out and wait!”

Never mind that there are THREE bathrooms in our house. And at this particular moment, there are THREE of us living in the house since Hubby is gone flying. So in reality, we each have our very own bathroom. But, it wouldn’t be much fun if you couldn’t argue with your brother/sister over who got to the bathroom first.

Me: Guys! Stop the arguing and wash up for dinner! It doesn’t matter who go there first!

In all reality, it DOES matter who got there first. It’s a competition, man! I am very competitive - everything is a game. I hated when they allowed hockey games to end in a tie. I mean, those men are payed millions of dollars to PLAY A GAME - there should be no ties! It’s a game! And every game has a winner and a loser. Even kiddie soccer games at the YMCA . . . everybody keeps score, except the YMCA. But I digress . . . back to the bathroom.

Keira: HEY JASON! Turn the light on!

SLAM!

Keira: JAY - SON! Turn the light on and open the door!
Me: Dude, get back there, open the door, turn the light on, and get that grin off of your face.
Jason: But it was an ACCIDENT! When I left the bathroom the door got caught on my hand and closed. And I always turn the light off - I forgot she was in there!
Me: Dude, really? An accident? What (pause for dramatic effect) EVER! Get back there.
Jason: But I’m not supposed to go in the bathroom when Keira’s going potty.
Me: Dude - get to that bathroom NOW, open the door, and turn on the light!
Jason: Fine. I wish Keira and I had separate bathrooms!

This is the where I pull a Grandpa moment . . .

Me: You wish you had separate bathrooms? Dude, you’re lucky you have separate BEDrooms! Lots of kids have to share a room with their siblings. I had to share a bedroom with Uncle Pat for a while. And Monster Grandpa - he had to share one bedroom with 7 of his brothers! There were 8 boys in one room! And Noisy Grandma, she had to share a bedroom with her sisters. And I’m pretty sure if you ask any of them, they also had to walk 5 miles to school, in the snow, uphill both ways. So you’d better be thankful that you even have your own room and stop arguing about the bathroom, or you might come home from school one day to find that half of your room is painted pink!
Jason: Whoa . . . they had to walk all the way to school? And it was uphill both ways? That must have been HARD!

Ahhhh . . . the simplest detail to distract a little mind so they miss the entire point of your story.

Last May, we had to put our first “child” Maggie down We were soooo sad, and still miss her every day.

But, last Friday, we finally found a new family member. We got to pick her from a litter of 9 pups . . . 7 female! It was tough to choose just one, but we did it - we wanted a female, so that disqualified 2 right away. Duma actually chose Dan . . . she ran up to him the minute we walked in (this was our second trip to this home to see the litter and the second time Duma pounced into Dan’s arms) and he never let her out of his site. Here’s Duma with Dan, Jason, Keira, and some of her siblings.

 

Wondering where the name Duma came from? There’s a movie called Duma. It’s about a boy and a cheetah. We were watching it and we all kind of thought it was a good name for a dog. Duma means “cheetah” in Swahili.

Anywho - the people we got Duma from were soooo nice! Duma’s mother, Mandy, is a 1 1/2 year old hunting yellow lab. Duma’s dad is a 2 year old field lab - so lots of brains in the family. The litter owners asked us to come in to the house to meet Mandy again and let Mandy see Duma one more time before we left. This gave us the perfect opportunity to rub a teddy bear on Mandy so Duma could have it in her kennel. Here’s Mandy, Duma, and Dan.

Duma was NOT fond of the car ride home, but she did great once we got here. She was a bit timid, but did enjoy herself once she started poking around the house. It’s probably the first time she’s ever felt carpet! Jason and Keira were in love with her from the first minute.

She’s such a sweet puppy. She’s very playful! It’s so funny how she’s just playing and playing then stops mid-jump and lays down to rest.

Keira would much rather have had a baby sister than a baby puppy, but she’s adjusting well. I give her 48 hours until she’s pushing Duma around in one of her doll strollers!

Duma got worn out pretty quickly from all the stress of leaving her family and figuring out a new place. Didn’t take her long to settle in and take a nap!

I had an old scrap of fleece from some blankets and hats I’d made for some friends who were having babies. It was the perfect size for Duma. Duma has already adopted it as her own.

Duma was so good and quiet the first night in her crate. She didn’t cry at all. I got up every couple of hours to take her out to go potty - she did very well! But, since she was sleeping every time I came down to get her, we decided to go every 4 hours the 2nd night. Oh MAN did her mood change night #2! She cried all - night - long. No need to set an alarm, that’s for sure! She was great during the day - she’s had a couple of accidents, but it’s been our fault for not having her in our sights constantly. We need to be 100% diligent with this potty training thing - I’m hoping in a few weeks she’ll be totally trained - wishful thinking? I guess we’ll see

At this moment she’s sleeping quietly in her crate . . . I’m hoping we’ll have a repeat of night #1 and not another night #2 . . . but I’m expecting a night #2!

Wish us luck with our new family member! We’re so excited to have her in our house . . . she’s already a total furball of fun

At my expense . . . hey, it’s good to be able to laugh at yourself and admit that you’re a dumbass!

ACT I/SCENE I

The Setting:

After a 4 hour whirlwind tour of homes with yellow lab puppies for sale, a tired family of 4 rides silently, but happily, toward home in their Jeep. It’s late, it’s dark, and the kids are tired.

Everyone is silently jumping out of their skin at the excitement that will crest tomorrow when they get to pick their very own puppy from a litter of 9 bundles of joy. To celebrate, the family pulls in to Mc D’s and gets some good ol’ ice milk cones from the drive through.

The Conversation:

Me: Yumm-Y! This is a yummo ice cream cone.
Hubby: Yup - pretty darn good.
M: ‘Cept the cone’s a bit stale.
H: Hmmm. Ya think?

30 seconds of silence

M: Either that, or I’m a complete dumbass.
H: Are you ACTUALLY eating the paper wrapping?
M: Um, yes, I might possibly be eating the paper wrapping.

ACT I/SCENE II 

The Setting 

Family of 4 continues ride in Jeep, erupting into fits of laughter at Mom’s stupidity. Mom is getting uncomfortable because even though she had to use the restroom 3 hours earlier, they never had a chance with the whirlwind tour of homes selling yellow lab puppies.

The Conversation

M: I have GOT to stop laughing or I’m gonna pee my pants!
H: I was wondering whatever happened with that - didn’t you say you had to go to the bathroom like 3 hours ago?
M: Yes, I did. And NO I have not gone yet.
Jason: (from back seat) Gulp Gulp Gulp Ahhhhhhhhh! This water sure is good! (leaning forward to hold bottle by mom’s nose) Hey Mom, want some? It sure is good. You should really drink some of this great water to stay healthy. Gulp Gulp Gulp

Yes, my 7 year old son is a smartass!

OK, maybe not THE best, but it’s certainly up there! Can something you buy but never actually use be considered “the best” thing you’ve ever purchased? Let me explain. My 5 year old has been sucking her finger since the first time I laid eyes on her tiny bean shaped self on a sonogram . . . yup, her finger was OBVIOUSLY in her mouth. I’m convinced that when the doctors pulled her out of my tummy in the OR on her birthday, she only cried because they pulled that darn finder out of her mouth! She’s pretty good about not sucking it “just because” - like when we’re playing or she’s at school and all that jazz. But, the minute she gets within 10 feet of her mimi (her blanket) or if she’s tired, in goes the finger. She doesn’t suck her finger when she’s scared or nervous, just when she’s tired or touching that damn blanket. We finally decided that at 5, this needs to stop - she’s got my teeth (lucky girl!) and will not need braces - IF she stops sucking that finger!

For the past month or so we’ve been gently reminding her to take her finger out of her mouth. She does it without complaint, but every now and then she will say “But it’s just so hard not to suck my finger when I’m near my mimi or holding my mimi.” So, we took mimi away - for one day. I couldn’t do that. Take away her mimi AND make her stop sucking her finger? Heck, my 7 year old still keeps his mimi on his bed. And, taking the mimi away did not do anything for her finger sucking - if anything, it made it worse. What to do next?

I read a post on my friend Ami’s blog. It talked about this thumb guard her dentist suggested for them. You can view it here. Here are a couple pictures…

 

Looks great, huh? EXCEPT, note which finger is NOT covered with either of these items. Yup, the forefinger, the one finger that Miss Keira puts in her mouth.

So then I heard about this product from my sister-in-law. She used it to get her 8 year old son to stop biting his nails and said it worked wonderfully! The Control It! arrived in the mail on Tuesday. I put a tiny bit on my finger just to see how awful it really did taste and OMG! For good measure, I had Hubby and Son try it (you know, that old ‘oh man this is nasty! Here try it - does it taste bad to you?’). Hubby wrinkled up his face and felt compelled to wipe his tongue like Sid in Ice Age. Son pulled out all the drama and faked every form of vomit you can imagine. Daughter, of course, after seeing that Oscar winning performance, would not come near the stuff! I told her that the rest of us tried it and that I wouldn’t put it on her finger, but she had to at least try it off my finger. So she barely touched her tongue to the tip of my finger and immediately shut her mouth, wrinkled her face, and started to cry. Now it definitely does NOT taste good, but it’s not the worst thing ever, either.

BUT, this was the perfect opportunity to explain to her that I was not going to use this on her finger - YET. She had through the weekend to work really hard on not sucking her finger. If she did well, we won’t use the lotion. If she can’t make progress, then we’ll use the lotion.

Not ONCE, outside of her being in bed with her mimi, have I had to remind her about that finger. She’s trying so hard and has not put her finger in her mouth during daylight hours or outside of her bedroom ONCE since the tasting incident of ‘08. I can tell she really wants to, but she’s working so hard at not doing it. I’m so proud of her!

So there you have it - I figure anything that makes my very willful child work so hard to stop a bad habit just by BEING in the house is a good investment - whether we use it or not.

Keep your fingers crossed for my littlest one so we don’t have to use the nasty nasty lotion on her finger.

My friend Melanie at Livin’ With Me gave me this award . . .

Thanks Melanie! Melanie is a wonderful wife, mother to Hailey, and stepmother to Brooke. She always makes me smile when I read her blog.

Why do I “deserve” this award? I guess you could say someone who spends lots of time every day reading other people’s blogs and writing on their own blogs is a blogaholic. But another thing that makes you “eligible” for this award has to be when you start talking about your blogging friends like you’ve known them for years and could meet them for lunch the very next day.

Case in point . . . last night I was talking to my hubby. This is how the conversation went . . .

Hubby: Hey, where’d you get all these recipes on the counter? They sound awesome!
Me: I got them from a recipe exchange with some friends.
H: Cool. We need to try some of them.
M: Ya. And I can’t wait for this month because Pam is hosting a favorite birthday recipe exchange.
H: When is it? Am I home or do we have to find a sitter?
M: It’s on January 18th. And no we don’t have to find a sitter. It’s not at her house, it’s on the Internet.
H: Oh, so you just send emails to everyone with the recipes?
M: Nope. You just post the recipe on your blog and sign Mr. Linky.
H: WHO is Mr. Linky? And WHO is PAM?
M: Pam is a blogging friend. Mr. Linky is this thing where someone puts up a post and you sign Mr. Linky if you’re participating. Then, others see you on Mr. Linky’s list and come to your site to get your recipes and read your post.
H: Oooohhhh . . . so you don’t really KNOW Pam?
M: Um, I think I KNOW Pam, we’ve just never met in person.

So there you have it - not only a lesson in just one thing that makes you a blogaholic, but also a lesson in providing all the information you can when having a conversation with Hubby about recipe exchanges with friends from cyberspace

Do not try to guess the Internet address of a store without first thinking about what you’re typing.

For example, when looking for Dick’s Sporting Goods, do not type d-i-c-k-s-dot-com.

I’m just sayin’.

My little dude loves to get gift cards so he can pick out what he wants at the store. For Christmas, he was ECSTATIC when he received a Barnes and Noble gift card and a Walmart gift card. On his list - Magic Treehouse books and a Gameboy game. He’s also all about bargaining and getting the most for his money (gets that from his Dad, for sure!). So he decided that he wanted to trade us his Walmart gift card for actual money - that way, he could go on ebay and buy a few used games for cheaper instead of buying just one game at Walmart. Smart dude! So yesterday he and The Hubby spent much time surfing ebay for games that Jason might want to buy, and man did Jason get in to that! You woulda thought someone had just told him he never had to go to school again and could eat as much candy as he wanted for the rest of his life when he saw how many games were available for sale! He’s definitely hooked on searching for good deals on ebay. And of course he loves the bidding . . . he thinks it’s just awesome! And I must admit, I’m happy that he’s understanding money and new versus used and all that jazz.

Jason: Hey Mom. My auctions all end while I’ll be at Josh’s house tonight. So Dad told me he’d look for me to see if I won.

Me: Cool dude! What are you bidding on?

J: Robots, Cars, a Hot Wheels racing game, and some other ones I found.

M: Excellent. How much are you bidding?

J: Well, it depends. You see, on ebay lots of people can try to buy the same thing. So I said I’d pay $3 for Robots, but then someone else said they’d pay $3.50! So I figured if he’s gonna do that to me, I’d show him, and I bid $4.50! I’ll show him how to do ebay, that’s for sure!

So my little dude is hooked on ebay. I was wondering out loud to The Hubby last night - when Jason is 38, single, living in our basement, searching ebay all day long, can I blame The Hubby?