Playdates, Homework and Exercise

The highlight of my weekend was successfully dropping my three and a half year old daughter off at her friends house for a playdate. When I picked her up, she didn't want to leave as she only gets to see this friend every two weeks. And now that I think about it, I forgot to schedule the next playdate. I'll have to send her mom a facebook message and set it up.

Speaking of setting it up, when they began being called 'playdates' is beyond me. We didn't make dates to play with our friends when I was a kid. We just showed up, knocked on the door and asked if so-and-so could come out and play. Our parents were just glad we weren't in the house and we knew that when it started to get dark, or our friends were called in for dinner, it was time to go home. And sometimes we called home and said we were eating dinner two blocks away and we would be home afterward.

After we picked my daughter up from her playdate, we tried to get my son to finish up the homework he had leftover from last week. He's got a cold though. With a congested head, cough, sore throat and wheezing because of his asthma. He gets sicker than most kids when he gets a cold because he just can't breathe. This does not help him get his homework done. Every few minutes he's hacking and getting up to toss a tissue. So, we struggle, but we get some of it done and fix some that was not done right. Poor kid has a head full of snot and just can't think.

Exercise is what had to come next. I have been working out every day for the past few days and it feels really good. I've got to continue the momentum or I'll lose it. So, I don my tennis shoes, my exercise pants, my t-shirt and get to working out. Today I chose a dance video I streamed from Netflix via my Wii. Super cool and if you haven't tried it, you really must give it a shot!

I've been watching what I'm eating and exercising every day for only a few days, but I have GOT to get rid of these last few pounds I've been hanging onto for a couple years now. I plateaued quite a while ago and I just have to grab a parachute, sprint toward the cliff and go for it!

So, here goes nothing. A comfortable weight for me is about 15 pounds lighter than I am now. It's not a lot, but it's the end of a very long road as I've already lost 80 pounds. So, by the time I'm done, I will have lost almost 100. Whew, that sure sounds like a lot, but it took me almost 2 years to lose the 80. And I've been hanging onto the last 15 for the past two years.

And now for the drum roll. I have signed myself up for something totally crazy. It is called Warrior Dash and I will be competing with a bunch of other totally nutty people (some are friends that I convinced to do it with me). We will all get t-shirts, viking helmets, and a free beer upon completion of the course. You'll have to check it out. It's just totally insane. And I am totally excited! Something to light a fire under my ass and get me in shape by July. Exactly the kind of motivation I need! I'm locked into participating now, so I have to get fit or I'll make even more of a fool of myself than I would otherwise. You'll see what I mean when you read the description.

As a matter of fact, I think I'll have to dedicate another blog post just to the Warrior Dash. I'll put that on my list for tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment. It's nice to know if people are out there!

Jess

Early Childhood Education and Mothering

I have a daughter (Elektra) who is going to be 15 months old tomorrow. I know someone who has a daughter 6 days older than Elektra.

I made a list of all the words Elektra can say today and she says 16 separate words (I think, I might be missing one or two). The other little girl can say over 75 separate words including naming and pointing to colors, shapes, facial features (nose, mouth) and even counting.

I was astounded to learn this. Not because I think my daughter is behind or even that the other little girl is advanced...just purely because I realized I don't work with Elektra on language as much as I did with my older children.

Why not? Honestly, I don't know. What will I be doing tonight? Sitting with her in her play yard working on the names of colors.

I talk to her constantly when I am doing things with her but I also have two other children at home that take some of my attention.

Tay is 13 and still talking to me (so far). She loves to be within 12 inches of me most of the time and will even still snuggle with me on the couch. I am trying to enjoy that while I can, but also teach her about respecting other people's space while at the same time trying not to hurt her feelings and make her think I don't want to be close to her. I hear that between 13 and 16 children begin to tune out their parents. She is doing that with my husband but not yet with me. *knocks on wood*
Tay didn't talk really early. She wasn't a late talker either; just "on time" I guess. She was a shy one when she was younger, but seems to have come out of her shell a bit. She is much more outgoing and very well liked by her peers.

Tristan is 7 and a very high maintenance child. He loves to be the center of attention and will do all kinds of things to keep your focus on him. He can be very sweet, very loving and very mild. But for the most part, he is jumping, loud and exuberant. My husband has him playing piano. He's amazing and plays beautifully. If we can keep him focused on the music, he will one day be a fantastic pianist.
Tristan did talk early. He also walked early at 7 months. And is a high achiever in school. Many of the kids like him but if he gets to be the center of attention too often, arguments ensue.

It can be very difficult to be a mother and every mother has challenges specific to her family. My challenges seem to stem from my kids being so far apart. Another mother might say her challenges stem from her kids being so close together.

It all depends on our personal experiences.

May all the mothers out there have at least a few minutes each day where you are proud of your mothering.

Blessings and Peace to all Mothers!

Babies, Kids and Mom

I co-sleep with my 14 month old daughter. She is a great snuggler when she is first falling asleep. But once she is out, she rolls over and proceeds to take up as much room as possible in the same position one would use to make a snow angel.

So, I scoot over to my edge of the bed as she sprawls out in the middle and kicks any form of sheet or blanket off her and me. I wrestle with staying covered as she wrestles with staying uncovered.

She is still nursing, so three to four times every night, I hear her fuss and I roll over to nurse her.

There is a form of sleeping that once you become a mother, you can accomplish. It consists of closing your eyes and looking and sounding like you are sleeping, but still being able to feed a hungry baby, rub the hurting belly of your sick child or even get up and get a drink of water and take a potty break. All the while, still getting something akin to sleep...cause we all know mom's don't really sleep. ;)

Mom's are special people. But children are even more so. My baby daughter is so special, that I happen to know it's her nap time at daycare when I can barely keep my eyes open while sitting in front of my computer at work.

As I talk with people at my work, my teenage daughter comes up in conversation easily with people who I had no idea had children 18 seconds before I met them.

I have begun listening to the music my teen son and daughter listen to so I could have an idea of what today's teens are listening to, and I find myself liking it.

My 7 year old pops into my thoughts at least 14 times every day. Sometimes it's 14 times every hour. Any ideas on how to get a child to eat a meal when he thinks eating is something you do with food sitting in your cheek?

Whoa there, I just got sidetracked. You see, this post was supposed to be about how my co-sleeping daughter is causing massive sleep deprivation which is affecting my ability to focus or even stay awake during daylight hours for that matter; therefore, I am considering moving her to her crib which is in a room on the other side of the house.

I can't tell if that is a bad idea or not because I need to repair about 15 years of sleep deprivation.

I need to edit that last sentence, but I'm so tired, I can't tell what needs fixing.

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