Monday, April 28, 2008
With Five You Get Minivan
For a long time Brandon and I really debated about whether or not having three kids was such a good idea. We have a pretty good thing going on right now seeing as we have the two most awesome kids ever (all of my readers' kids excluded, of course). Are we just setting ourselves up for some really lame kid that maybe won't be as cool as our other two? What if no one really likes this new kid? Or they are the type to always stir things up and want to play cowboy when Emma and Charlie want to play space explorers? What if they hate all things princess and transportation-oriented?
Plus, you pretty much have to get a giant car once you have three kids. Our hip, small car days are numbered. We considered all these possibilities and decided to go ahead and tempt fate in the hopes that we will have a third kid who is just as awesome as the other two. Plus, I am a third child myself, so I am biased toward third-born children everywhere. My parents probably had all these same worries and discussions and went ahead with things anyway. Hopefully they don't have any regrets? There was probably a moment of regret there in my late teens.... We won't go there now, though.
Baby number three is due November 5th-ish and we couldn't be happier. The first trimester is pretty much history and I am glad to be back to my non-nauseated self. So far, this baby is quite the mexican food aficionado. I had the realization recently that I incorporated guacamole into just about every meal we ate last week. I am all about the avocados (and the chocolate ice cream) lately. He/she also already gets the hiccups and seems to be very laid-back--both traits we witnessed on the ultrasound last week when, save for a spastic hiccup every now and then, we could not get the little bean to wake up and show off his/her spinal cord and profile.
Well, the kids are home from preschool now, so I better pay them some attention. The kids are talking to me in their robot voices right now. WE-ARE-TALK-ING-LIKE-RO-BOTS-TO-DAY-A-PPAR-ENT-LY. IT-IS-PRET-TY-FUN-TO-TALK-LIKE-A-RO-BOT. GO-A-HEAD-AND-GIVE-IT-A-TRY...YOU-WON'T-BE-SOR-RY. HAVE-A-GREAT-DAY-MY-FELL-OW-RO-BOT-FRIENDS.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Fight for Your Right to Potty
- "Acquire all items on the Potty-Training Essentials list ( potty chair, baby doll that wets, doll underwear, training pants, disposable pull-ups, big-kid underwear, potty chart, flushable wet wipes, waterproof mattress covers, waterproof blanket)
- Purchase the items on your chosen party theme list (I think our theme will either be "spiderman scooters" or "super dinosaurs.")
- Buy and wrap a present for yourself that you really want (totally on board with this one).
- Wrap the doll.
- Wrap and hide your child's big-kid underwear.
- Cut fabric or alter big-kid underwear to make a dozen big-kid underpants for the doll--these underpants should match or have the same theme as your child's big-kid underwear.
- Place the potty-chair in the bathroom.
- Decorate the bathroom and party room with the chosen theme.
- Wrap party prizes.
- Wrap your child's Grand Finale Big Kid Celebration gifts from you and your family members.
- Prepare a variety of enticing bite-size treats.
- Stash a handful of potty-training books in the bathroom and a handful in the party room.
- Stack the potty training videos next to the VCR.
- Purchase a variety of drinks and prepare ingredients to make fruit smoothies .
- Place the waterproof blanket or rug on the sofa in the party room."
I estimate that this potty party will cost me about $500 and will take about six months to prepare for. I think I'd rather change disgusting underpants for the next six months than spend the time sewing tiny doll-sized spiderman underwear and acquiring potty videos and books by the handfuls. I do like her idea of buying myself a "present that I really want," but do I really have to wrap it?
I also worry a little about post-potty-party letdown. I'm not sure I can maintain the potty joie de vivre for the time it will take to make this no diapers thing a reality. The author recommends having a "potty parade" the day after the potty party. I guess I will consider that option. I don't know...there has to be an easier way. Right? I have a few more minutes left before I have to go pick the kids up from preschool...just enough time to run to Target to pick up some more diapers and wipes for Charlie. Or I could use the time to study up on potty party themes and surf the web for places to buy a waterproof blanket. Stay tuned and I'll let you know which way I decide to go...
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Free Range Kids
On DC Urban Moms (a local mom listserv I read) people have been talking about the "subway kid" and reminiscing about the good old days of their childhood when they were allowed to ride the subway, take international flights and ski behind school buses without so much as an adult peeking between the blinds to check on them. I'm sure that there was the occasional injury and natural consequence as a result of this much independence, and I'm not saying that people should send their four-year-old off on a trip to backpack through Europe by themselves, but a little independence and the trust in the basic goodness of humanity would be nice. Yesterday I watched my kids ride their wheeled vehicles of choice (Hello Kitty bike for Emma and Spiderman scooter for Charlie). I was sitting on our front steps while they rode on the sidewalk in front of our house. I told them not to go past a certain point (which was pretty far away...almost beyond yelling distance) and then gave them the freedom to go up and down the sidewalk by themselves while I sat and watched. It was so amazing to watch them zoom away from me (well, Charlie zoomed...Emma sort of moseyed along, riding her bike the way a muppet might ride a bike). I watched them get farther and farther away, wondering with a tiny bit of anxiety if they would zoom and mosey away from me into some sort of danger zone, and then I watched as they stopped themselves when they got to the designated boundary and turned around and came back to me. My heart filled with pride as I watched them. It seems like if you never let your kids have a little freedom in life, you never get the opportunity to teach them how to stop and come back to you. I think we both learned important skills yesterday: me, how to let go and them, how to come back.
Apparently, my sub-conscious was still working through some of this though, as last night I had a very vivid dream about Emma taking a trip solo to the mall in our car. (!) She came back totally unscathed, but the car was returned to the garage mangled and dented. I'm no psychiatrist, but I'm guessing that dream means I'm not completely ready to let go just yet.