Months ago I posted a blog about my favorite baby product this Fisher Price Healthy Deluxe booster seat. Today I posted my FIRST EVER product review on the Walmart website for our other booster seat, the Safety 1st Easy Care booster seat. Let me give you the summary of my review...
This seat is the WORST!
1. The straps don't tighten well
2. The straps also loosen more if your child moves in the chair.
3. My child leaned forward and toppled a chair, with the booster seat attached, over. In the process she fell on her face, nearly missing the table edge.
4. The seat doesn't fold for travel.
5. The tray is tiny.
If you are a parent, grandparent, or know anyone considering buying a booster seat, tell them that the Safety 1st seat is NOT worth the "bargain" price. We hate it, and after tonight's experience, it will find a new home in the trash can. Fisher Price will get our business and we will be purchasing another of their seats soon.
Showing posts with label a new mother's questions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label a new mother's questions. Show all posts
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Beds
The strangest thing happened last night.
To start with, Kayla poured her water all over Elise when we put them to bed last night. Elise, the pack-n-play, and her blankets were all soaked. We haven't put her crib together yet because we misplaced a piece in the move.
So we moved her to the mattress and wondered how that would go. She's never slept on a bed that she could get out of before. Interestingly enough, she did not even make an attempt to get out of bed--ever. What she did do was scream her lungs out.
We thought maybe if we moved the mattress under the crib frame that was set up already she would feel more at home.
Yeah.....no. More screaming.
So I set up the pack-n-play and put a blanket in there to keep the wet part from touching her. Immediately it was all better again. The silence of a happy, sleeping toddler.
Here she is just before her morning nap today. Happy with her four walls surrounding her.
I guess she's not quite ready for a big girl bed yet?
To start with, Kayla poured her water all over Elise when we put them to bed last night. Elise, the pack-n-play, and her blankets were all soaked. We haven't put her crib together yet because we misplaced a piece in the move.
So we moved her to the mattress and wondered how that would go. She's never slept on a bed that she could get out of before. Interestingly enough, she did not even make an attempt to get out of bed--ever. What she did do was scream her lungs out.
We thought maybe if we moved the mattress under the crib frame that was set up already she would feel more at home.
Yeah.....no. More screaming.
So I set up the pack-n-play and put a blanket in there to keep the wet part from touching her. Immediately it was all better again. The silence of a happy, sleeping toddler.
I guess she's not quite ready for a big girl bed yet?
Monday, June 18, 2012
My favorite baby/toddler product
Well, two kids in and I can safely say that I have figured out what the most useful item I have purchased for the money is. Our booster seat.
We bought ours a few years ago, so I think it was only around $20 then, but even now it's only about $26-30 (depending where you buy it). This seat has been a life saver for when we are out and about and on trips (ones that we don't have to travel by plane to). At home we use it for a high chair for the younger baby, and a booster seat for Kayla so she can reach the table and eat with us.
It folds up, making it very easy to take with you. We have brought it down to Chris' office for work parties, to friends' houses for dinner parties, to my grandma's house for lunch or dinner with the family when they all come to town, and on our travels around CA. It's easy to clean and very sturdy. Unlike some other slightly cheaper booster seats, the straps are well-made and don't loosen by themselves (making you frightened that your child will rock the seat right off the chair you have attached it to).
It has three tray positions for your growing child and the bottom of the seat can be adjusted taller or shorter depending on your needs. We currently use it in the highest position as a booster seat so that Kayla can join us at the big table. She loves it. No more tray, but we can still strap her in if need be(though usually she's well-behaved enough that we don't have to). The tray is large enough to fit a small plate on for the time when you are practicing using a plate, but they aren't quite ready for the table yet. It's just a fantastic buy for your money.
To save a little money (and because I assumed most of those types of seats would be about the same), I bought a cheaper booster seat for Elise, and it has not been a pleasant experience. I hate to feel like I wasted money, but since we've got another one on the way and the fisher price seat is ACTUALLY 100% useful, I think I may very well get rid of the crappy one I bought, and invest in another Healthy Care Deluxe Booster Seat.
On a side note that is slightly related....Elise has learned another word: "good". We always ask Kayla how her food is at meal times, and her response is usually "Good!". We usually ask Elise too, and the other day she answered with a resounding "Goo!" She even answers for Kayla sometimes now too.
We bought ours a few years ago, so I think it was only around $20 then, but even now it's only about $26-30 (depending where you buy it). This seat has been a life saver for when we are out and about and on trips (ones that we don't have to travel by plane to). At home we use it for a high chair for the younger baby, and a booster seat for Kayla so she can reach the table and eat with us.
It folds up, making it very easy to take with you. We have brought it down to Chris' office for work parties, to friends' houses for dinner parties, to my grandma's house for lunch or dinner with the family when they all come to town, and on our travels around CA. It's easy to clean and very sturdy. Unlike some other slightly cheaper booster seats, the straps are well-made and don't loosen by themselves (making you frightened that your child will rock the seat right off the chair you have attached it to).
It has three tray positions for your growing child and the bottom of the seat can be adjusted taller or shorter depending on your needs. We currently use it in the highest position as a booster seat so that Kayla can join us at the big table. She loves it. No more tray, but we can still strap her in if need be(though usually she's well-behaved enough that we don't have to). The tray is large enough to fit a small plate on for the time when you are practicing using a plate, but they aren't quite ready for the table yet. It's just a fantastic buy for your money.
To save a little money (and because I assumed most of those types of seats would be about the same), I bought a cheaper booster seat for Elise, and it has not been a pleasant experience. I hate to feel like I wasted money, but since we've got another one on the way and the fisher price seat is ACTUALLY 100% useful, I think I may very well get rid of the crappy one I bought, and invest in another Healthy Care Deluxe Booster Seat.
On a side note that is slightly related....Elise has learned another word: "good". We always ask Kayla how her food is at meal times, and her response is usually "Good!". We usually ask Elise too, and the other day she answered with a resounding "Goo!" She even answers for Kayla sometimes now too.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Playground ettiquette
Does anyone else but me get REALLY annoyed when the other kids at the playground are all climbing UP the slides instead of going down them? No? Well, hear me out anyway.
My kids love the playground. If we could spend the whole day there, they would be as close to heaven as they could get on earth. And I love taking them to the playground. They get fresh air, sunshine (if it's out that day), and great exercise running around the place. I especially love it when we have the place to ourselves. No, I'm not against my kids making some new friends; I just hate having to parent other people's children at the playground.
In my opinion there are some basic rules that need to be followed at a playground. They are as follows:
1. If you bring your kids to the playground (no matter what age really) you should stay within a close enough distance that you can keep an eye on them and hear them if they call.
Why? Because they may be old enough to play on their own without being helped and spotted on all the various dangling apparatuses, but they may NOT be old enough to be patient and kind to the smaller children on the playground. The other day, a little boy (about 5 or 6) tried to manhandle Kayla all over the place and he did it right in front of my husband. Hello?? And where the heck are his parents anyway? Chris shouldn't have to tell some kid to "back up off"; that's what HIS parents should be doing.
2. The slides are for going DOWN, not up.
Why? Because it's dangerous. If one kid is climbing up the slide and another tries to go down, there will be a collision. Sometimes it might not be a big deal. Sometimes it might. And frankly, it's rude. That's not the way it was designed to be used, so don't use it that way. If Kayla tries to go up a slide, she gets immediately removed with a warning that if she tries it again, we will be leaving her beloved toys immediately. And we have only had to leave once. She has never tried to test me on it again. And yes, I know it's "more fun" to do it the other way sometimes, and maybe at times I'll make special exceptions when I am watching and when there is no one else at the playground, but we'll see. I'm kind of a slide Nazi. Plus I want my kids to know that it's important to follow rules even when we don't feel like it or another way seems more fun.
3. Take turns.
Why? Because it's safer that way. Plus I don't really want my small child being stepped all over by some bigger kid because she happens to be slower and likes to sit at the top of the slide for 5 seconds preparing herself before she actually goes down.
And that's really it. It doesn't seem all that difficult to me, yet there are so many people who can't or won't abide by them. Arggggghhh!
Yes, i know it's not at the playground, but this is how her face looks constantly when we are there. She LOVEs the great outdoors.
My kids love the playground. If we could spend the whole day there, they would be as close to heaven as they could get on earth. And I love taking them to the playground. They get fresh air, sunshine (if it's out that day), and great exercise running around the place. I especially love it when we have the place to ourselves. No, I'm not against my kids making some new friends; I just hate having to parent other people's children at the playground.
In my opinion there are some basic rules that need to be followed at a playground. They are as follows:
1. If you bring your kids to the playground (no matter what age really) you should stay within a close enough distance that you can keep an eye on them and hear them if they call.
Why? Because they may be old enough to play on their own without being helped and spotted on all the various dangling apparatuses, but they may NOT be old enough to be patient and kind to the smaller children on the playground. The other day, a little boy (about 5 or 6) tried to manhandle Kayla all over the place and he did it right in front of my husband. Hello?? And where the heck are his parents anyway? Chris shouldn't have to tell some kid to "back up off"; that's what HIS parents should be doing.
2. The slides are for going DOWN, not up.
Why? Because it's dangerous. If one kid is climbing up the slide and another tries to go down, there will be a collision. Sometimes it might not be a big deal. Sometimes it might. And frankly, it's rude. That's not the way it was designed to be used, so don't use it that way. If Kayla tries to go up a slide, she gets immediately removed with a warning that if she tries it again, we will be leaving her beloved toys immediately. And we have only had to leave once. She has never tried to test me on it again. And yes, I know it's "more fun" to do it the other way sometimes, and maybe at times I'll make special exceptions when I am watching and when there is no one else at the playground, but we'll see. I'm kind of a slide Nazi. Plus I want my kids to know that it's important to follow rules even when we don't feel like it or another way seems more fun.
3. Take turns.
Why? Because it's safer that way. Plus I don't really want my small child being stepped all over by some bigger kid because she happens to be slower and likes to sit at the top of the slide for 5 seconds preparing herself before she actually goes down.
And that's really it. It doesn't seem all that difficult to me, yet there are so many people who can't or won't abide by them. Arggggghhh!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Go the heck to SLEEP!
I wrote the majority of this post (the part in italics) the day after Christmas....
If any of you have listened to the book as read by Samuel Jackson with a similar title to my post title, you already have a pretty good idea where I'm going with this post (it has language though so don't bother googling it, if that will offend you)...
Why is it that kids can come up with every excuse and reason to never fall asleep, and yet I can barely stay awake while praying my rosary or reading my Bible? It's totally unfair. In a post sometime back in November I mentioned that we were having some issues with Kayla at bedtime. Up until about age 29 months (that's almost 2 1/2 years) she has been a great sleeper. We had our bedtime routine and she was a champ at falling asleep within 20 minutes or so. Usually she'd read herself a few books during that 20 minutes and then drop right off to sleep.
Well that all changed for no apparent reason a couple months ago. Suddenly we have to go potty 16 times, put diaper cream on, give hugs and kisses (as if we haven't done it 5 times already), pick out a few new books to look at from the bookshelf in the living room, turn on all the lights and climb into the closet, arrange our stuffed animals 6 different ways on the bed, "visit" Elise and read books to her, get a drink, sing another song (oh yes, we've done that 15 times already, too), pull our pajama pants off and rip off our diaper and then need it to be put back on, and I'm guessing you get my point by now....
A little side note: It doesn't matter what time we put her to sleep either. Her bedtime had always been about 8:30pm so we thought maybe we needed to make it earlier since she seems to need about an hour and a half to wind down in the evenings now. Nope. We put her to bed at 7:30 and she will still stay up until close to 10pm. Of course if we put her to bed at 10pm, it usually only takes about 20 minutes for her to wind down, but that's not what we're going for.
So I began looking up stuff on the internet to see what other people do when their children won't go to sleep in a reasonable amount of time. We started taking away her baby and blanky for 5-10 minutes at a time, which helped a little, but didn't really solve the problem. I made up a bedtime chart with pictures of all the things we do before bed: brushing teeth, going potty, saying prayers, reading books, singing songs, putting on pajamas, saying goodnight to our fish etc. I made a little box next to each picture and slipped the pictures into a plastic protector. After she completes each task, she uses a dry erase marker to color in the box next to the appropriate picture. When all the boxes are colored in, it is bedtime. She loves the process, but it doesn't seem to help her wind down any faster. :(
For Christmas we got Elise a cd player because Kayla always enjoyed listening to music while she fell asleep at that age. I had heard other people using the tactic of telling your child that he/she has until the music stops to fall asleep. Again, Kayla enjoys the music, but it hasn't really helped speed up the falling asleep process.
I have also tried moving her naptime up so that she will be tired earlier and thus fall alseep faster. No dice. It then becomes the same process AND during naptime, and sometimes because it's not dark in her room during the day, she never goes to sleep because she's too busy reading and playing with her dolls in bed. If she has no nap at all, it sometimes cuts a half hour off the winding down time at night, but it's not a significant amount of time to justify cutting her nap out completely. When I put her down at 1:30pm for a nap, she generally plays and reads until about 2pm, falls asleep, and sleeps for 1-2 hours depending on what activities we did in the morning. 1-2 hours versus going to sleep half an hour earlier at night is not a fair trade. So we are back at square one wondering how to get Kayla to fall asleep a little faster at night.
I have basically given up. I let her keep the nightlight on and read until she eventually falls asleep. The battle has switched from trying to get her to fall asleep faster to trying to just keep her quiet in her room for the 1 1/2 -2 hours that it takes her to wind down and fall asleep.
One point I forgot to mention is that during all this time that Kayla is doing her thing, Elise has a sort of routine too. Her routine is to play with her sister for about the first 20 minutes and then fall asleep. Generally she gets woken up about an hour later when Kayla is nearing the end of her long fight to stay awake. Elise starts crying, still half-asleep, and continues for about 20-30 minutes during which Kayla FINALLY falls to sleep.
And a month later from the original post, she is still taking forever to wind down, will not even stay in her room and read quietly (which she LOVES to do at any other time of the day for hours on end). The ONLY nice part is that she does sleep until about 8 or 9am when she does this.
So.......WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? What have you other moms tried? She's not being bad per se (except the fact that she is not obeying our orders to go to sleep); she just seems to need a really long time to wind down in the evening. She's always very sweet and really comes up with some pretty creative and valid excuses to be getting out of bed a million times, but it's just not acceptable. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If any of you have listened to the book as read by Samuel Jackson with a similar title to my post title, you already have a pretty good idea where I'm going with this post (it has language though so don't bother googling it, if that will offend you)...
Why is it that kids can come up with every excuse and reason to never fall asleep, and yet I can barely stay awake while praying my rosary or reading my Bible? It's totally unfair. In a post sometime back in November I mentioned that we were having some issues with Kayla at bedtime. Up until about age 29 months (that's almost 2 1/2 years) she has been a great sleeper. We had our bedtime routine and she was a champ at falling asleep within 20 minutes or so. Usually she'd read herself a few books during that 20 minutes and then drop right off to sleep.
Well that all changed for no apparent reason a couple months ago. Suddenly we have to go potty 16 times, put diaper cream on, give hugs and kisses (as if we haven't done it 5 times already), pick out a few new books to look at from the bookshelf in the living room, turn on all the lights and climb into the closet, arrange our stuffed animals 6 different ways on the bed, "visit" Elise and read books to her, get a drink, sing another song (oh yes, we've done that 15 times already, too), pull our pajama pants off and rip off our diaper and then need it to be put back on, and I'm guessing you get my point by now....
A little side note: It doesn't matter what time we put her to sleep either. Her bedtime had always been about 8:30pm so we thought maybe we needed to make it earlier since she seems to need about an hour and a half to wind down in the evenings now. Nope. We put her to bed at 7:30 and she will still stay up until close to 10pm. Of course if we put her to bed at 10pm, it usually only takes about 20 minutes for her to wind down, but that's not what we're going for.
So I began looking up stuff on the internet to see what other people do when their children won't go to sleep in a reasonable amount of time. We started taking away her baby and blanky for 5-10 minutes at a time, which helped a little, but didn't really solve the problem. I made up a bedtime chart with pictures of all the things we do before bed: brushing teeth, going potty, saying prayers, reading books, singing songs, putting on pajamas, saying goodnight to our fish etc. I made a little box next to each picture and slipped the pictures into a plastic protector. After she completes each task, she uses a dry erase marker to color in the box next to the appropriate picture. When all the boxes are colored in, it is bedtime. She loves the process, but it doesn't seem to help her wind down any faster. :(
For Christmas we got Elise a cd player because Kayla always enjoyed listening to music while she fell asleep at that age. I had heard other people using the tactic of telling your child that he/she has until the music stops to fall asleep. Again, Kayla enjoys the music, but it hasn't really helped speed up the falling asleep process.
I have also tried moving her naptime up so that she will be tired earlier and thus fall alseep faster. No dice. It then becomes the same process AND during naptime, and sometimes because it's not dark in her room during the day, she never goes to sleep because she's too busy reading and playing with her dolls in bed. If she has no nap at all, it sometimes cuts a half hour off the winding down time at night, but it's not a significant amount of time to justify cutting her nap out completely. When I put her down at 1:30pm for a nap, she generally plays and reads until about 2pm, falls asleep, and sleeps for 1-2 hours depending on what activities we did in the morning. 1-2 hours versus going to sleep half an hour earlier at night is not a fair trade. So we are back at square one wondering how to get Kayla to fall asleep a little faster at night.
I have basically given up. I let her keep the nightlight on and read until she eventually falls asleep. The battle has switched from trying to get her to fall asleep faster to trying to just keep her quiet in her room for the 1 1/2 -2 hours that it takes her to wind down and fall asleep.
One point I forgot to mention is that during all this time that Kayla is doing her thing, Elise has a sort of routine too. Her routine is to play with her sister for about the first 20 minutes and then fall asleep. Generally she gets woken up about an hour later when Kayla is nearing the end of her long fight to stay awake. Elise starts crying, still half-asleep, and continues for about 20-30 minutes during which Kayla FINALLY falls to sleep.
And a month later from the original post, she is still taking forever to wind down, will not even stay in her room and read quietly (which she LOVES to do at any other time of the day for hours on end). The ONLY nice part is that she does sleep until about 8 or 9am when she does this.
So.......WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? What have you other moms tried? She's not being bad per se (except the fact that she is not obeying our orders to go to sleep); she just seems to need a really long time to wind down in the evening. She's always very sweet and really comes up with some pretty creative and valid excuses to be getting out of bed a million times, but it's just not acceptable. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Sick and Tired of...sick and tired
One of my biggest parenting fears became a reality a few days ago. Ear infections. Ok, I know they don't sound all that terrible. In fact, they are a rather common childhood occurrence. But for me that doesn't make them any less scary.
I have dreaded the day when my child would get an ear infection for several reasons:
1. Especially for young babies who can't talk, it's hard to know that they even have an ear infection for sure without taking them into the doctor.
2. I hate seeing my babies in pain, and I've heard that's some of the worst childhood pain.
3. I have a huge paranoia that my child will lose her hearing because her infection will get so bad.
Both Kayla and Elise have had nasty colds and coughs for the past 2 weeks or so. Kayla got it first, and Elise followed several days later. This is the kind of cold that is bad enough by itself without having an ear infection on top of it. You know, the kind where huge masses of green gloop pour out their noses and they cough as though they have been smoking for the past 50 years or so? This also happens to be the kind of cold that requires Mom or Dad to be constantly wiping some of that green goop off their upper lip before they make a habit of eating it or rubbing it in their hair. As a result, the children usually develop very chaffed noses which makes them very resistant to having their nose wiped at all. This usually leads to either a lot of crying and both of the above mentioned "habits". Gross, and gross!
Needless to say, we were having a bad enough time with the nasty colds and the cough. Did I mention that this cough wracks the entire body and offers little chance of sleeping more than a couple hours in a row without being awoken and becoming very disgruntled? Right. In the midst of that fun, Kayla awoke at 2am one night screaming and crying hysterically. We tried to calm her down so she could tell us what was wrong. This process took quite awhile, but when she finally told us the problem, I knew my fear had just become a reality. She had an ear infection.
I don't often give the kids tylenol or pain relievers, but this was definitely the time for it. She finally settled down and the medicine took it's desired effect and gave her some relief so she could sleep. And sleep she did. Until 10am the next morning.
I took both girls down the hill that day to see the doctor. They both had ear infections for which we received some amoxicillin. I also restocked on Tylenol and since then our lives have been much more stress-free and sleep filled. The girls are still not 100%, but at least the road to recovery will be paved with less crying, less discomfort, and more sleep for everyone.
I have dreaded the day when my child would get an ear infection for several reasons:
1. Especially for young babies who can't talk, it's hard to know that they even have an ear infection for sure without taking them into the doctor.
2. I hate seeing my babies in pain, and I've heard that's some of the worst childhood pain.
3. I have a huge paranoia that my child will lose her hearing because her infection will get so bad.
Both Kayla and Elise have had nasty colds and coughs for the past 2 weeks or so. Kayla got it first, and Elise followed several days later. This is the kind of cold that is bad enough by itself without having an ear infection on top of it. You know, the kind where huge masses of green gloop pour out their noses and they cough as though they have been smoking for the past 50 years or so? This also happens to be the kind of cold that requires Mom or Dad to be constantly wiping some of that green goop off their upper lip before they make a habit of eating it or rubbing it in their hair. As a result, the children usually develop very chaffed noses which makes them very resistant to having their nose wiped at all. This usually leads to either a lot of crying and both of the above mentioned "habits". Gross, and gross!
Needless to say, we were having a bad enough time with the nasty colds and the cough. Did I mention that this cough wracks the entire body and offers little chance of sleeping more than a couple hours in a row without being awoken and becoming very disgruntled? Right. In the midst of that fun, Kayla awoke at 2am one night screaming and crying hysterically. We tried to calm her down so she could tell us what was wrong. This process took quite awhile, but when she finally told us the problem, I knew my fear had just become a reality. She had an ear infection.
I don't often give the kids tylenol or pain relievers, but this was definitely the time for it. She finally settled down and the medicine took it's desired effect and gave her some relief so she could sleep. And sleep she did. Until 10am the next morning.
I took both girls down the hill that day to see the doctor. They both had ear infections for which we received some amoxicillin. I also restocked on Tylenol and since then our lives have been much more stress-free and sleep filled. The girls are still not 100%, but at least the road to recovery will be paved with less crying, less discomfort, and more sleep for everyone.
Monday, October 10, 2011
I'm not perfect?? WHAT????
Have I ever mentioned that I tend to be prideful? If I haven't, it's because I'm prideful and didn't want you to know that I struggle with things. If I have, well, then I have.
Anyway, I am the type of mom sometimes who tends to compare her kids to other peoples' kids. It's pretty typical and harmless when it's a passing thought, but there comes a point when I realize that I am fixating. Some of you other moms may know what I'm talking about--thoughts like these... "My child would never do that...", "Why can't they control that kid?", "My child is way more advanced than their kid", or perhaps the most infamous "I would never let my kid get away with that..."
Yeah, I have thought all of those things at one point or another. In the last 24 hours. Ok, so maybe it was the last 48 hours, but you are getting my point. Comparing our kids is something that we all naturally gravitate towards. Guess what? We do it with ourselves too! You may be on the "better than thou" side of the spectrum or you may be on the "everyone's better than I am" side, but we all do it. If you are on the super negative side, usually you just get more negative, because if you constantly think and say that you are no good at things or that everyone else can do it better, then you are setting yourself up for failure. If you are on the super prideful side, keep an eye out, because you are going to eat your words. Like me.
Here is my story.
To preface, I have been quite proud of myself the last few months. Kayla, our 2 year old, is potty trained, knows and recognizes all 26 letters of the alphabet and the numbers 1-9, knows her colors, plays nicely by herself, and generally listens when we ask her to do (or not to do) things. So, I was getting quite the big head, thinking that Chris and I must be doing an AMAZING job as parents. Here's the deal. It's great to be proud of your kid. Kayla is sweet, smart, and fun to be around, but you are asking for trouble when you start to think that it is because of your amazing ability. Somehow I am still so easily able to forget that little verse "But by the grace of God, there go I"....
Anyway, the last few days have been....well, humbling.
I took Kayla grocery shopping on Saturday. She didn't listen to me at all, and wanted to run around touching everything in sight. Later that afternoon, at Mass, she stomped around the small room that we congregate in, making tons of noise. Gone was the little girl who would sit nicely on a chair, reading books and coloring pictures sweetly. No, instead she was crawling around on the floor, flailing herself everywhere, and making strange noises while we tried to sing and the priest tried to talk. Add to that, the fact that we (the AMAZING parents) somehow forgot Elise's pacifier, and you have the recipe for disaster at Mass. I left feeling very humbled.
God, however, wasn't done with His lesson. Several weeks ago, Kayla climbed out of her crib. No big deal; after all, we had lowered the sides to prepare her for a "big girl" bed. We simply raised the side back up. Problem solved. NOT. Yesterday, Kayla discovered that she could slide open her closet, and weasel her way out the back side which we did not raise back up because it was against the wall. Again, we figured no big deal. Chris raised the other side up, and we put her to bed for the night. 5 seconds later, her bedroom door opened, and out ran Kayla. She can climb out of the crib now. Even with the sides raised. Great...
But we still had another trick up our sleeves. I had bought some of those child-proof door knob covers several months back. We pulled those out and attached one to the door knob inside her room. She somehow figured that thing out too in a matter of minutes. So we have a big sobbing mess of a child who doesn't want to go to bed and who we apparently can't keep in her room....we even tried spanking, which would have worked on a child like myself. I always wanted to do everything right and hated to be reprimanded, so even the thought of a spanking straightened me out. Not Kayla. You would have to leave a mark for her to even bat an eyelash, and I think that crosses the line of child abuse, so that's not happening. You can call it bribing, because maybe it is, but "positive reinforcement" worked with Kayla when we potty trained, so I used that as my last resort before bursting into tears myself last night. I promised her a sticker in the morning if she laid down, went to sleep, and didn't climb out of her bed.
I guess God decided I'd been humbled enough. Ok, God, I admit, Kayla's not perfect, and I'm not a perfect parent either. But Elise.........now SHE is perfect. She just hangs out, smiles, and somehow fell asleep while Kayla climbed in and out of bed, screaming and crying, turning the lights on and off in the same room.
Right about now, you must all be thinking "What an idiot, there she goes again, thinking her kid is perfect. Won't she ever learn?" No. probably not. Elise woke up in the middle of the night and cried for an hour. And I think I am going to begin sticking post-it notes around the house to remind myself that neither myself or my children are perfect.
And on that note, I have been the prideful mom, and I have been the humbled mom. Just in case you see a "currently being-humbled" mom out there today, give her a break, and don't judge her. Say a prayer for her instead. She needs it. :)
Anyway, I am the type of mom sometimes who tends to compare her kids to other peoples' kids. It's pretty typical and harmless when it's a passing thought, but there comes a point when I realize that I am fixating. Some of you other moms may know what I'm talking about--thoughts like these... "My child would never do that...", "Why can't they control that kid?", "My child is way more advanced than their kid", or perhaps the most infamous "I would never let my kid get away with that..."
Yeah, I have thought all of those things at one point or another. In the last 24 hours. Ok, so maybe it was the last 48 hours, but you are getting my point. Comparing our kids is something that we all naturally gravitate towards. Guess what? We do it with ourselves too! You may be on the "better than thou" side of the spectrum or you may be on the "everyone's better than I am" side, but we all do it. If you are on the super negative side, usually you just get more negative, because if you constantly think and say that you are no good at things or that everyone else can do it better, then you are setting yourself up for failure. If you are on the super prideful side, keep an eye out, because you are going to eat your words. Like me.
Here is my story.
To preface, I have been quite proud of myself the last few months. Kayla, our 2 year old, is potty trained, knows and recognizes all 26 letters of the alphabet and the numbers 1-9, knows her colors, plays nicely by herself, and generally listens when we ask her to do (or not to do) things. So, I was getting quite the big head, thinking that Chris and I must be doing an AMAZING job as parents. Here's the deal. It's great to be proud of your kid. Kayla is sweet, smart, and fun to be around, but you are asking for trouble when you start to think that it is because of your amazing ability. Somehow I am still so easily able to forget that little verse "But by the grace of God, there go I"....
Anyway, the last few days have been....well, humbling.
I took Kayla grocery shopping on Saturday. She didn't listen to me at all, and wanted to run around touching everything in sight. Later that afternoon, at Mass, she stomped around the small room that we congregate in, making tons of noise. Gone was the little girl who would sit nicely on a chair, reading books and coloring pictures sweetly. No, instead she was crawling around on the floor, flailing herself everywhere, and making strange noises while we tried to sing and the priest tried to talk. Add to that, the fact that we (the AMAZING parents) somehow forgot Elise's pacifier, and you have the recipe for disaster at Mass. I left feeling very humbled.
God, however, wasn't done with His lesson. Several weeks ago, Kayla climbed out of her crib. No big deal; after all, we had lowered the sides to prepare her for a "big girl" bed. We simply raised the side back up. Problem solved. NOT. Yesterday, Kayla discovered that she could slide open her closet, and weasel her way out the back side which we did not raise back up because it was against the wall. Again, we figured no big deal. Chris raised the other side up, and we put her to bed for the night. 5 seconds later, her bedroom door opened, and out ran Kayla. She can climb out of the crib now. Even with the sides raised. Great...
But we still had another trick up our sleeves. I had bought some of those child-proof door knob covers several months back. We pulled those out and attached one to the door knob inside her room. She somehow figured that thing out too in a matter of minutes. So we have a big sobbing mess of a child who doesn't want to go to bed and who we apparently can't keep in her room....we even tried spanking, which would have worked on a child like myself. I always wanted to do everything right and hated to be reprimanded, so even the thought of a spanking straightened me out. Not Kayla. You would have to leave a mark for her to even bat an eyelash, and I think that crosses the line of child abuse, so that's not happening. You can call it bribing, because maybe it is, but "positive reinforcement" worked with Kayla when we potty trained, so I used that as my last resort before bursting into tears myself last night. I promised her a sticker in the morning if she laid down, went to sleep, and didn't climb out of her bed.
I guess God decided I'd been humbled enough. Ok, God, I admit, Kayla's not perfect, and I'm not a perfect parent either. But Elise.........now SHE is perfect. She just hangs out, smiles, and somehow fell asleep while Kayla climbed in and out of bed, screaming and crying, turning the lights on and off in the same room.
Right about now, you must all be thinking "What an idiot, there she goes again, thinking her kid is perfect. Won't she ever learn?" No. probably not. Elise woke up in the middle of the night and cried for an hour. And I think I am going to begin sticking post-it notes around the house to remind myself that neither myself or my children are perfect.
And on that note, I have been the prideful mom, and I have been the humbled mom. Just in case you see a "currently being-humbled" mom out there today, give her a break, and don't judge her. Say a prayer for her instead. She needs it. :)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Kids=PICTURES
In this era of digital cameras, it is so easy to take thousands of pictures of your little one in the first year alone. We are talking ONE kid. So what if you have 4 or 5? or 10? Of course, your time behind the camera will be limited with more kids so you will take a few less with subsequent children, but the point here is that many pictures will be taken. And what exactly are you planning to do with them? REALLY?
If you are like me, then you took thousands of pictures of your first child, and within the first 3 months had already made copies of about 200 of them. I set them aside saying I'd do something with them later. 5 or 6 months later when I looked back at those pictures, I wondered WHY did I make all these copies? She has almost the same facial expression in all of them. The biggest differences from picture to picture are the outfits.
From then on, I vowed to let myself take as many pictures as I wanted, but THEN I had to go back and delete pictures that were blurry, or basically doubles. The NEXT step was choosing only about 5-6 pictures from each month to make copies of. Some months would have a few more, and some would have a few less. I had to tell myself to choose my very favorites. The others would still be on the computer anytime I wanted to look at them. Well, actually we move them to the external drive every few months so our computer doesn't run slow. But you get the point.
The FINAL step for me was picking a way to actually organize the pictures that I'd made copies of. I love scrapbooking, so I chose that route. Now, mind you, I used to be a more detailed scrapbooker with ALL the fun stickers, papers, scissors, etc, but if I am actually going to get scrapbooks done for my children, I knew I'd have to simplify my methods. For Kayla's first year scrapbook, I used markers, normal scissors, and a few fun background papers to change it up. See an example below of several pages.
We are expecting #2 in about another month or so, and I have come up with a plan that Ithink hope will work in the future. Each child will end up with a full and complete scrapbook by the time they are ready to leave the nest. The first year will be more detailed (about 10-12 pages worth). Each year after that will get a page of the highlights from that year, possibly two pages if I'm feeling really artsy. I figure if we have several children, I can spread some of the favorites out between scrapbooks and that way if you look at them ALL you get a more complete look of the family. And I will not have all these photographs lying around my house with no place to go and no one to look at them.
Below is a page of Kayla's firsts that I included in the first year section of the scrapbook. I did some of the normal "firsts" and put in a few that were more original to our family/life.
Another fun idea. On one page, I let Kayla color with the markers (she was about a year and a half then). I put pictures on top, so I have a record with the pictures, and some of her art work at the same time.
I also included a page of "Favorites" from her first year of life. I know I will forget all these things as she gets older and we have more kids to keep track of, so this page was a fun way for me to save these memories. I didn't have pictures of every single favorite, but just wrote some of them in, so I'd at least have the written memory.
If you are like me, then you took thousands of pictures of your first child, and within the first 3 months had already made copies of about 200 of them. I set them aside saying I'd do something with them later. 5 or 6 months later when I looked back at those pictures, I wondered WHY did I make all these copies? She has almost the same facial expression in all of them. The biggest differences from picture to picture are the outfits.
From then on, I vowed to let myself take as many pictures as I wanted, but THEN I had to go back and delete pictures that were blurry, or basically doubles. The NEXT step was choosing only about 5-6 pictures from each month to make copies of. Some months would have a few more, and some would have a few less. I had to tell myself to choose my very favorites. The others would still be on the computer anytime I wanted to look at them. Well, actually we move them to the external drive every few months so our computer doesn't run slow. But you get the point.
The FINAL step for me was picking a way to actually organize the pictures that I'd made copies of. I love scrapbooking, so I chose that route. Now, mind you, I used to be a more detailed scrapbooker with ALL the fun stickers, papers, scissors, etc, but if I am actually going to get scrapbooks done for my children, I knew I'd have to simplify my methods. For Kayla's first year scrapbook, I used markers, normal scissors, and a few fun background papers to change it up. See an example below of several pages.
We are expecting #2 in about another month or so, and I have come up with a plan that I
Below is a page of Kayla's firsts that I included in the first year section of the scrapbook. I did some of the normal "firsts" and put in a few that were more original to our family/life.
Another fun idea. On one page, I let Kayla color with the markers (she was about a year and a half then). I put pictures on top, so I have a record with the pictures, and some of her art work at the same time.
I also included a page of "Favorites" from her first year of life. I know I will forget all these things as she gets older and we have more kids to keep track of, so this page was a fun way for me to save these memories. I didn't have pictures of every single favorite, but just wrote some of them in, so I'd at least have the written memory.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
My view on SIDS and babies sleeping on their tummies
First off I would like to quote the definition of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
"SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history." (Willinger et al, 1991).
So we have established that by definition (at least currently) the actual cause of SIDS is unexplainable. YET, we are told many ways to "lessen the risk of SIDS" for our babies. If it's unexplainable how can they really know how to prevent it? They don't even know what causes it.
For instance, we are told babies should sleep on their backs because there is more of a chance of them having sleep apnea (pauses in breathing) when sleeping on their stomachs. Not true. Any baby can have sleep apnea; it is more common in premature babies and it is often caused by an immature nervous system in babies. Pauses in breathing can occur whether your baby sleeps on his back or his tummy. The factor is whether they have sleep apnea or not.
Next point with regard to putting your child to sleep on their tummy. Supposedly they tend to "rebreathe" and thus it can raise their levels of carbon dioxide. Kids and adults sleep all night on their stomachs and there's no problem. Plus even if that IS the case, then wouldn't a lack of oxygen and therefore a type of suffocation be the cause of death instead of SIDS which is supposedly UNEXPLAINABLE. One would think the levels of carbon dioxide would be detectable in an autopsy, therefore ruling SIDS out since the death would then have been explained with a true cause.
Also, we are encouraged to not put baby to sleep with pillows, covers, toys etc in the bed with them because that raises the risk of SIDS. What it raises is the risk of suffocation. The blankets and pillows either caused suffocation or they didn't. Suffocation is a clear cause of death and if pillows and blankets were the cause of death, it was a suffocation, not SIDS.
To reduce the risk of SIDS, we are also encouraged not to have our baby sleep in bed with us or fall asleep holding them in a chair. Are you serious people? Again, if a baby dies in bed with their parent, it's likely that they got rolled on and suffocated. Or it's possible they suffocated because of the sheets, blankets, pillows etc on the adult bed. See my last point. The cause of death would be suffocation.
My rant is almost over. My point being that obviously there are MANY cases of infant death that are misdiagnosed. Which means that the studies concerning SIDS are not accurate. Not many years ago, it was perfectly normal for moms to put baby to sleep on their tummy. SIDS has no rhyme or reason. In my opinion, people just still refuse to accept that sometimes there is NO REASON and you just have to accept that. God is still God and he knows what is ultimately best for us whether that is keeping our child on earth for many years or gaining a little Patron Saint in heaven if they pass. Instead we find ways to try to explain the unexplainable. If sleeping on your back or stomach was a real factor, then research would show that the only babies who died of SIDS slept on their tummies. But that is not the case. Babies die of unexplainable deaths when they are sleeping on both their back and their tummies. I, for one, am going to let my babies choose their sleep preference and leave the rest up to God. Ultimately they were given to us as parents to guide them and help them grow in the love of Christ so they ultimately they return to him. If He calls them back sooner than we would hope, I have faith that He will also give us the Grace to endure the pain involved, and realize that their journey has ended happily in Heaven with Christ.
"SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history." (Willinger et al, 1991).
So we have established that by definition (at least currently) the actual cause of SIDS is unexplainable. YET, we are told many ways to "lessen the risk of SIDS" for our babies. If it's unexplainable how can they really know how to prevent it? They don't even know what causes it.
For instance, we are told babies should sleep on their backs because there is more of a chance of them having sleep apnea (pauses in breathing) when sleeping on their stomachs. Not true. Any baby can have sleep apnea; it is more common in premature babies and it is often caused by an immature nervous system in babies. Pauses in breathing can occur whether your baby sleeps on his back or his tummy. The factor is whether they have sleep apnea or not.
Next point with regard to putting your child to sleep on their tummy. Supposedly they tend to "rebreathe" and thus it can raise their levels of carbon dioxide. Kids and adults sleep all night on their stomachs and there's no problem. Plus even if that IS the case, then wouldn't a lack of oxygen and therefore a type of suffocation be the cause of death instead of SIDS which is supposedly UNEXPLAINABLE. One would think the levels of carbon dioxide would be detectable in an autopsy, therefore ruling SIDS out since the death would then have been explained with a true cause.
Also, we are encouraged to not put baby to sleep with pillows, covers, toys etc in the bed with them because that raises the risk of SIDS. What it raises is the risk of suffocation. The blankets and pillows either caused suffocation or they didn't. Suffocation is a clear cause of death and if pillows and blankets were the cause of death, it was a suffocation, not SIDS.
To reduce the risk of SIDS, we are also encouraged not to have our baby sleep in bed with us or fall asleep holding them in a chair. Are you serious people? Again, if a baby dies in bed with their parent, it's likely that they got rolled on and suffocated. Or it's possible they suffocated because of the sheets, blankets, pillows etc on the adult bed. See my last point. The cause of death would be suffocation.
My rant is almost over. My point being that obviously there are MANY cases of infant death that are misdiagnosed. Which means that the studies concerning SIDS are not accurate. Not many years ago, it was perfectly normal for moms to put baby to sleep on their tummy. SIDS has no rhyme or reason. In my opinion, people just still refuse to accept that sometimes there is NO REASON and you just have to accept that. God is still God and he knows what is ultimately best for us whether that is keeping our child on earth for many years or gaining a little Patron Saint in heaven if they pass. Instead we find ways to try to explain the unexplainable. If sleeping on your back or stomach was a real factor, then research would show that the only babies who died of SIDS slept on their tummies. But that is not the case. Babies die of unexplainable deaths when they are sleeping on both their back and their tummies. I, for one, am going to let my babies choose their sleep preference and leave the rest up to God. Ultimately they were given to us as parents to guide them and help them grow in the love of Christ so they ultimately they return to him. If He calls them back sooner than we would hope, I have faith that He will also give us the Grace to endure the pain involved, and realize that their journey has ended happily in Heaven with Christ.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Teething?
What is the deal with teething anyway? I think it is another of God's ways of showing me that I am not in charge and I don't have the answers even if I was in charge. I mean, think about it, you never actually know if your kid is teething until the tooth actually pops through and by that time, it's pretty much over and all those days and nights you spent wondering all the different possibilities of what was wrong with your child are over and all it was was teething. I am in the midst of wondering if Kayla is getting her next two teeth in because she has many of the signs that the books give you (drooling excessively, a little cough, biting, chewing, irritability, etc...), but since I don't really KNOW it's hard to know if I should just give her some Tylenol or something. Rest assured, in a few days the tooth WILL in fact pop through, and I'll end up wishing that I had known for sure it was teething so I could have given her something for the pain that she must have been in. Hmmmm, maybe I should just go get the Tylenol now.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Airing out?
Why do books tell you to let your child's bottom go bare and get some air when they have a diaper rash as if that's all you need to do?? Hello, it's not like they know to stop urinating and pooping just because they don't have a diaper on. And like any new parent, I'm just not thinking of all the possibilities while I'm running around trying to do a million other things and let my daughter's rash get some "air". Why don't those books just assume you are stupid and tell you to put 10 pads underneath them since they most certainly WILL poop all over the place?
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