Midweek Randoms - CRAZY TOWN!!

Everyone who reads this blog knows that I love my son very much. He is one of the many joys in my life. With that said, MY SON HAS ME ON A ONE WAY ROAD TO CRAZY TOWN!!  Let me also preface that with, it is not a very long drive to get me to Crazy Town, I tend to reside half way there all on my own.

For those of you who have younger children let me just prepare you a little. Once you child is around 5 (Ethan started some of this at 4) and/or starting Pre-School they will become a know-it-all. This is a problem in my house only because there is typically only room for one know-it-all in any house and that position is already occupied by ME!  This often makes life tense and my son and I argue quite a bit. I think it is mostly due to the fact that while my son got all his great looks from my husband, he inherited his personality mostly from me, with a little Brian sprinkled in here and there too.  We are very much alike in the way we think and react to situations.

The biggest issue we are having right now is the listening.  He has decided that he does not have to listen to us and he can do what he wants, when he wants.  I am very glad he is a strong person with his own personality but, he really needs to listen. There is only so much reasoning you can actually do with a 5 year-old before he just starts to ignore you.

If there are parents out there who have any ideas, tips, tricks they use I would be very glad to entertain them and report back on whether they worked for us.  The only comfort is that I know I will have friends who will also be driven to Crazy Town and we can all sit around and drink chat with each other.

When did my little boy grow up??

I still remember the day we took this picture, he was so little still (about 10 months old) and this was the first time he fell asleep in our bed. I miss the days when he was this little and all he wanted to do was cuddle with us.

In the last week it seems he has grown by leaps and bounds. Last week he came home and called me into the bathroom. When I went in the bathroom to see what he needed he told me, "look mommy, I can now stand and go peepee!" I praised him for his new skill and quietly died a little inside. That same day he decided he did not need the step stool at the sink to wash his hands and he could complete this task "All By Himself." WHAT?? You don't want me there to help and make sure they really get clean? Then a few days later he was in the bathroom washing his hands and then yelled from the bathroom, "Mom, I'm gonna brush my teeth!" which I replied, "Ok, I'm on my way to come help." to which he replied, "No, I can do this myself!" Ok, now I am freaking out a little bit. Just last week I was doing all these tasks for him and now he does not need me there to help. I guess I have taught him well and he can do these things by himself but I don't think I was prepared for him to grow up all in one week.

Next week we have his graduation from Pre-School and that is another big step for him that I have known was coming but am still not quite ready to face. I still miss my little man that was always so happy to see me come in his room in the morning. Now he comes out of his room and begins demanding food and cartoons from me first thing.  This is the month I guess I have to say good-bye to my little baby and say hello to my big boy.

Single Parents ~ How Do They Do It?

As many of you know, I am an only child who was raised by a wonderful single mom. All of my aunts at one time or another were also single parents to my cousins. I just want to know how they did it for so long.

This week I had a horrible stomach bug that had me down for the count for two days. My hubby works until 9:00 most nights and I have been a faux "Single Mom" four nights a week since he went back to work. Those nights have their ups and downs as they will with a strong-willed 5 year-old boy. This past Tuesday was a true test to my strength. This was day one of the stomach bug and it was in full effect, if you know what I mean. At 4:30 that afternoon, I finally mustered up enough energy to pick Ethan up from the sitter's house. By the time we got home, I was totally exhausted. I sat on my couch thinking, "How do single mothers do this?" How do they find the energy to do this by themselves while they are sick? My poor son had to be a very big boy that night because I had just enough energy to make him a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. He had to get himself dressed for bed, pick up all his toys by himself among other tasks I typically assist him with each night. He was quite the trooper and had a little empathy for his poor sick mommy, but mostly kept on asking when I would not be sick anymore.

I never really recall times when my mom was sick but I am sure I was helpful just like my son was that night for me. I am so grateful to not be taking this parenthood journey all on my own. I admire all the women out there that do take this journey on their own and hope to someday find the strength within myself that they have. Let’s all give a huge cheer for all the single moms out there; they are some of the strongest women in the world I know!

Parenthood is harder than I thought!

When I was a child all I wanted to be when I grew up was a mommy. I was the best mommy to my dolls, changed their clothes in the morning and at bedtime. They had car seats in my mom’s car and their own beds in my room. This is how I imagined my life would be when I was seven years old.

The day we brought our beautiful son, Ethan, home from the hospital, I quickly realized it was much more than “playing” with dolls. He was a real person that we were now responsible for keeping alive. Thank god my husband had one month paternity leave and he was not off to work the next day leaving me with a hungry, crying, pooping being. Don’t get me wrong, I was so happy to be a mother; but, I was scared! I am sure this is how most parents feel when they bring home their first child. Nothing had gone as I had hoped at the end of my pregnancy. I had a beautiful “natural” birth plan. I was going to tough it out with no epidural and very little pain meds as possible. Then I would go home with a perfect little boy who would be the best breast feeder ever know to man. I guess my plan was not in sync with the bigger plan. I ended up with a C-section because my blood pressure was too high to attempt a natural birth. Then there was breast feeding. I quickly learned that this was one of the hardest tasks in the world!! I had a lactation consultant come in and try to help me out, she pinched me, manipulated me and told me that I would need a special contraption to help with breastfeeding. WRONG! This was not the plan I had, so I began to pump and feed our son with a bottle. I was the first time (though not the last) I felt like a failure as a mother.

There I was, sitting on the floor of our dining room, holding my four day old baby, water pouring from the ceiling of our laundry room (from the condo above us) and my husband on the phone telling me that the doctor that discharged me had given me the wrong person’s paper prescription for my pain meds and the only medication she could call in for me was one that was not as strong. The tears began to fall and they were uncontrollable. Thank god for my wonderful husband, he did all he could and got me calmed down. The days went on and we quickly figured out that we had a wonderful, laid back baby. He slept well. He ate well. He was just a good baby!!

As for all parents, life has moved quickly. By the time I went back to work he was sleeping through the night (feel free to cuss us out now). My plan was back on track. His first birthday came and went; he hit all the milestones at just the right time. We made it through the “terrible twos” with no problem. Three was not a very hard age either. We were moving along with the notion that we had a perfectly happy, well behaved child. Then we hit four.  My child seemed to turn a very sharp corner. He turned into a “real” boy and with that came real boy energy. Where had my sweet, cuddly little boy gone? He was replaced by a back-talking, screaming, tantrum throwing spawn of a demon.

I remember thinking that the hard years would be the teenage years. I knew we had a long time to prepare ourselves for this time. I was not prepared for this to happen at age four. This would be a whole year (maybe a little more) of feeling like a failing parent. It was so hard for me to accept that I could not control my child’s behavior at home. He is now five and we still struggle weekly with some of the same behavior, but by in large it has gotten much better. THANK GOD FOR PRESCHOOL!!