Justifiable Homicide Tuesday: Suzie Q’s Mom

Suzie Q, age six, was at our house during cooking time and when she had a chance to open a can of soup she said, “I’ve never opened a can by myself before.”

My back was turned to the sink and before I could finish saying, “Wait and I’ll help you—“

I was interrupted by a wailing “owwwwwa, owwwwwah, owwwwwahhhhh!”
She pulled the lid off herself and sliced into a finger.

Comfort, pressure, call the mom.

Guess what? No answer at Suzie Q’s home. [Can I just say right now I hate it when parents leave their six year olds to wander the neighborhood? I also hate it when kids are at my home and their parents don't know where they are and I don't know where the parents are! Grrrrr!]

Call the mom’s cell phone.

Me: Suzie Q’s finger is cut and you need to come get her

The non-Mom: Ummm… will you please hold on a second?

(pause of about 30 seconds)

The non-Mom: I think the thing to do in this case is apply steady pressure for 10 to 20 minutes

Me thinking –oh, did you just google ‘what to do about cuts’ on your phone while I waited?

Me: She’s really upset. The gash is uneven. We’re applying pressure. You need to come home & get her.

The non-Mom: Let me talk to her.

She talked to Suzie Q AND HUNG UP without checking back in with me!!!

Suzie Q continued to bleed despite constant pressure and elevation and even ice. I called The non-Mom after 10 minutes, after 20 minute, after 30 minutes. She came after 45 minutes. I called later to check up on Suzie Q and the non-Mom said, “It still would stop bleeding, not even for me, I ended up taking her to the clinic for stitches.”

Again, it’s not like me to wish a kid motherless, but I kind of think poor Suzie Q already is.

Happy Hour Friday

I'm following Otin's lead and posting some Friday happiness.

I'm happy that people are still reading this blog, even though I haven't posted in days!

I'm happy that Sara without an h got her SITS day

I'm happy that Dear Mr. Man is back to blogging again

I'm happy that all 3 of my children managed to get through their winter performances at school without falling off stage, starting a fight, or wetting their pants.

I'm happy that I managed to stay cool during the entire performance even though William was touching me - holding my hand, rubbing my neck, tickling the inside of my arm and I really wanted to throw him on the floor and jump on top of him. but I didn't because I know it damage my kids if we were hauled out of our kids' school in handcuffs. (If only we still lived in my hometown and the performance were in my high school, I would have know a few closets we could of hid out in!)

I'm happy that I've never ever gotten a ticket for any 'out and about' adventures (though I was caught and questioned 2x)

I'm happy our heater is working (but sad we're not sneaking home in the middle of the day to check the heat)

I'm happy we're going to abandon the kids at the movie theatre this weekend so we can make out in the car, go shopping, make out in the car, go shopping, make out in the car, go shopping. Okay we haven't exactly figured out what we're doing when the kids are at the movies with their grandparents (I love my inlaws!) but it will be some combination of shopping and kissing!

Checking the Heat

Normally I would think having a heater on the fritz could work to our advantage.

There are some seriously FUN ways to stay warm, right?

Our heater working only half the time was just one major issue to deal with this week and I'm surprised at how we've changed from being so Thankful last week to this week of STRESSNESS. Taking showers at the gym with the yucky too strong showers that practically blow my nips across the room, don't adjust for temperature, and spray so strong my clothes hanging 4 feet away get wet...turns me into a B-!

But yesterday something great happened. William decided to come home EARLY to make sure the heater didn't do its usual trick of shutting down hours after the repairman claims it fixed.

And I decided to come home early because I didn't think that William would be home to check it.

And -wonder of wonders- we were both home ALONE an hour before the kids came home from school. The heater had died again. There was no hot water.

Who knew a heating fail could be so wonderful??

Before calling the repairman, we enjoyed some private time at home! There is just something great about s3x in the early afternoon!!!

BTW heater is fixed as of this morning....but I think we should still find time to come home and "check the heat" once in awhile, right?

Speaking of Thanking

There I was talking with my mil and fil about s3x.

We discussed the time that she pulled him into "one of those shops" "just to look around"

Somewhere in the conversation my mil said, "I don't thank"
I didn't understand.
She said, "I'm not a thanker"

I clarified - it was a 'th' not an 's'

Then I figured it out. She doesn't say "thank you" afterwards.

I think that I am a thanker, not every time, not in any sort of dramatic way but sometimes in a playful way. But whenever I say it, I mean it every time.

Still, it's not like we have a rule or any expectation of what will be said before, during, and after.

I found her comments something to think about.

The way she said she was a NOT a thanker made me feel a little bit embarrassed to admit that I was, until I realized my s3x partner is her son and every mother wants her son to be well 'thanked' right? So I gave William his praise and told her I'm a thanker.

I have a lot to be thankful for today!!

No More Food Wars

Want a more peaceful home? Stop fighting about food.

Really! If your toddler won’t eat, don’t worry. If you’re preschoolers being picky about food, stop stressing. If your elementary school kid seems to need seconds (or thirds) for a week, don’t sweat it. If your teenager stops eating breakfast, just chill.

We want our kids to eat healthy and grow strong. But sometimes they know better than we do. I often tell parents, “Don’t force your child to eat something unless you really want to clean if off the floor when it comes back up.”

In my opinion, respecting a child’s eating preferences goes along with respecting themselves and their bodies. It is taking a step back and saying, “you are in control of you and no one is allowed to force you to do anything.”

Did I just say, cook you child whatever he wants to eat for every meal? No
Did I say let your child starve? No
Did I say I think it is totally cool if your kid will only eat red food for a year? Double No.

Of course medical issues need to be taken up with your pediatrician. If your infant isn’t eating enough. If your toddler had failure to thrive. If your pre-school child has food aversions. If your school child has diabetes or autism or allergies. If your teenager is heading for anorexia. All of this must be taken into account.

But for the most part, most of the time, kids’ food preference and the amount of food that they eat varies. A toddler may not be able to tell you that they don’t feel well. But you’ll sure find out if you force a bunch of food down their throat.

The best advice I have is:
1. Offer a wide range of healthy foods and snacks through the day
2. Let kids be involved in the food preparations
(when they get older they’ll cook for you, how cool is that?)
3. Make mealtimes / snack times fun
4. Don’t go to battle over what they chose to eat or not eat.

ENJOY!!

Justifiable Homicide Tuesday - Movie Lady

This feature was started by Vodka Logic

I was going to write another post like this one about some unparents I know, but instead I'm going to rant about the lady who sat one row behind us on Saturday.

It was a kids movie. But hey, that doesn't mean William and I can't kiss a little -right? Our kids were a few seats away from us . . . looking at the screne.

Well kiss number one, she cleared her throat. When we didn't stop she said, "Please, give me a break." In this kind of voice said she might vomit.

Next kiss she sighed and siad, "This is a children's movie." And I have to say that she was drawing more attention to us than we were to ourselves.

Okay, I know everyone doesn't stop and watch people kiss with a big grin on their face like I do. But we were in a dark movie theatre. We weren't trying to put on a show. She made it a big deal.

Really!

We try to sit in the crying room - this place didn't have one. Or the back row. It was full.

Still did she have to zero in on us? With every kiss? And make a big loudmouth comment?

Couldn't she do what 99% of the rest of th people in the room were doing and look up at the movie?

We varied the timing and lenght of our kissing. And, okay I'll admit it, a few times I started kissing William to see what she would say next.

She was a pain. The worst ever (well, except that time we were stopped by a police officer, but that's a different post).

I'm sure she thinks we were out of line.

What do you think??

knock knock!

If you have a toddler in your home, this is the perfect time to teach them to knock on closed doors. A wonderful thing about toddlers is that they like to copy what you do. So start knocking.

Knock on the front door when you come home before getting out your key.

Knock on their bedroom door before you take them in for naptime / nighttime

Knock on the bathroom door before bath time

Especially teach your toddler to knock on mommy and daddy’s door – on ALL bedroom doors

And keep playing and practicing and let’s hope this good habit will last a lifetime!!