Parenting Children

R: Mom can I have lunch now?

Me: Sure, what would you like?

R: A cheese sandwich

Me: I gave you and L and cheese sandwich yesterday and you both took off all the cheese and only ate the bread.

R: well, that is because I don’t like cheese anymore
giggles,
“yes I do, I do like cheese”

Me: So, what do you want for lunch?

R: cheese sandwich

Me: You just said you didn’t like cheese

R: well I do like cheese but I don’t like cheese sandwiches, only sometimes I like cheese, I don’t want a cheese sandwich, I want lunch.

Me: When does Daddy get home???

funny kids, toddlers, preschollers, SAHM, moms, moms who drink

The question of when you start feeding a baby cereal has come up within my circle of friends recently. One friend has a baby who is four months old and has not yet been introduced to cereal, another friend started her son when he was 3 months old. I started my own kids on cereal when they were almost five months.
So who is right?

There is no perfect time to start your infant on solid foods.
The optimum time to start a child on cereal is between 4-6 months.
How will you know your child is ready? You will know if you follow these guidelines:

-nurses or drinks eagerly and is looking for more when s/he is done

-Has she lost her tongue-thrusting reflex? This reflex -- which prevents her from choking on formula -- could cause her to push solid food from her mouth with her tongue.

-has control of her head and neck muscles

Remember, if you or any family member has any food allergies check with your doctor before starting cereals.
Start with rice cereal, then oatmeal and finish with barley. (remember ROB)
Feed each diluted cereal in addition to his formula or breastmilk for a couple of days to a week before trying a new one.

baby cereal, when to feed a baby cereal, when to start solids, infants, babies, moms, new moms, feedings, breastfeeding, formula

I have shown you the video before. It haunts me to this day.

Go comment over on this site because for every comment she gets she is donating $3 to the non profit foundation started in Kyle’s name.

If you want to donate on your own or find out more information please visit http://www.kyledavidmiller.org

kyle miller, 5 point car seats, 5 point restraints, car seats, booster seats, car seat safety, parents, moms, dads, car safety

Children always seem to have sore throats. Here are some top complaints and how you can help them.

Postnasal irritation signs:Mucus buildup in the throat or a feeling that it is dripping down the back of the throat
What to do: Use a saline nasal spray or an antihistamine if allergies are the cause

Strep Throat signs: cold like symptoms plus a fever over 101 degrees, swollen lymph nodes and white spots or pus on the tonsils or throat
what to do: see a doctor who will give your child antibiotics

Dry throat signs: scratchy and parched throat, often caused by dry air and heat in the night
what to do: use a humidifier in all the bedrooms and make sure they drink plenty of fluids, even bringing a glass of water to bed with them.

sore throats, cold and flu season, colds, flu, sick kids, kids

Five days after I gave birth I was finally ready to leave the hospital. I remember sitting in the wheelchair and holding both of my babies (hospital policy)and a nice man pushed me through the maze of the hospital halls to my husband’s waiting car.
During that walk everyone stared at us, because we had not one but two babies.

Since then every time we leave the house, we get people who stare or comment on how cute they are, or how they too would like to be blessed with twins.

Then we have the “VSTQP”.
Those are the Very Stupid Twin Question People.
If you have twins you know what I am talking about.

They ask silly or personal questions to us, the parents of multiples, who do not know them from Moses.

1) Are they identical? This one is my favorite.
What I want to reply: One is a boy and one is a girl. HOW do you think they are identical? Did you take biology in high school? Do you have any understanding of the human body?
What I have been known to say: “yes”

2) Is it hard? What I want to reply: Nope, it is easy. Really easy. You should try it sometime. It is just like having a kitten.
What I do reply: “yes”

3) Are they natural? Nothing drives me more crazy then this question and every parent of a mulitple gets it. It is as if they were not conceived naturally they don’t count.
What I want to reply: No, they are artificial. How is your fertility? You know, because you casually asked about mine, I thought we were already on that level.
What I do reply: “yes”

So if you see a mother of multiples, please stay away from these questions and just say how cute they are.

To that I will also reply with a “yes”.

twins, multiples, mothers of multiples, silly twin questions, Moms, Dads, fraternal twins

In a school district near where I live there is a controversy brewing. Before Christmas children in the elementary school were shown a film in social studies class about families.
Why would anyone be mad that their child was shown a family video you may ask?
Well the film included children talking about their same sex parents.

Many of the parents of these students are upset their children were shown the video and said that it was irresponsible of the schools to do so without parental consent. There was a general letter that went out to parents at the begining of the school year, but didn’t have any specifics.
I do think the parents should have been informed of the film with specifics so that if they wanted to sit down and talk to their children first about such issues they would have the time to do so.

Over the telephone, the director of curriculum told our local news that “the video makes no judgment about lifestyles.” She said, “the video is to teach respect for the diversity of all children . . .”

I believe that no child should be ashamed of their home situation, whether they have a single mother, two fathers or they live with their grandparents. I think if you have a film on families, non traditional families should be included.
I also do not think it is the school’s responsibility to teach children about diversity, it is the parents job.

I am not sure if I think fourth grade is the appropriate age group to start talking about different families. I don’t think I would be mad at the school district, which has been given rave reviews by my neighbors and acquaintances, but I also do not have kids within the school district yet.

Would you be mad if they showed a video on non traditional families in your schools? What age is a good age to start talking to your children about same sex partners?

same sex parents, non traditional lifestyles, school age kids, kids, parenting,

Over ten years ago the American Academy of Pediatrics began its “back to sleep” campaign. Since then the rate of SIDS has dropped 50% which is terrific, but with that comes the fact that now more babies have been diagnosed with positional plagiocephaly a common occurence of babies who have been laying on their backs too often.

Starting at 3-4 months when your baby has more control over his head and neck muscles, start placing him on his stomach during his awake time. It will give him a chance to strengthen his upper body and give the back of his head a much needed rest.
Start with 5-10 minutes a day. Lay a mirror in front of him or a toy. Get down on the floor and play with him. Pretty soon your baby will start reaching for things and even holding their chest off the floor!

You can even start earlier then that and when he is resting or sleeping lay your newborn on your chest so they will get used to the position.

Make it a part of your every day routine with your new baby but remember to always put baby “back to sleep”.

sleeping babies, SIDS, reducing SIDS risks, plagiocephaly, back to sleep, tummy time, play with infants

I am always looking for some new ideas of what to do with my kids, especially when it is too cold outside to play. Here are some craft ideas that you can do with your kids during the long and cold winter.

Let them glue different chapes of macaroni to construction paper. Then they can color it or dye the pasta beforehand with a half of a cup of alcohol and food coloring. When the pasta is the desired color let dry then glue on paper.

Make a tamborine or noise maker. Place dried beans, rice, pasta or cereal onto a paper plate. Place a second plate on top and glue the rims together. Then color, punch holes and add ribbons or glue confetti onto it.
Cute and fun.

kid crafts, crafts, rainy day activities, SAHM

When I found out I was pregnant, I was so excited but I didn’t want to tell my husband right away. I wanted to tell him in a special way, but I wasn’t sure how.
Maybe if I already had a child I would have put one of those cute “I am a big brother/sister” shirts on him. If I could wait two months I could buy him a “world’s best Dad” shirt or mug.
Nah, those were not options for me.

I have heard of such cute ways women have told their husbands or families they were having a baby like framing the first sonogram, wrapping up the pregnancy test at Christmas time or writing it on a big cookie cake.

I decided to order some custom fortune cookies. I had to wait for them to arrive for three days, and they were the longest of my life. I was pregnant for the first time and I couldn’t share it with anyone. I was bursting inside and could barely eat my Chinese food that I ordered the night the custom cookies came.
I made E take a fortune cookie, although he doesn’t really ever eat the fortune cookies.
He reads the fortune and looked at me stunned.
We were going to be parents.

I thought it was a cute and unique way to tell E, and was worth the three days of having to keep such great news to myself.

How did tyou tell your husband you were expecting?

custom cookies, pregnancy, how to tell your husband you are pregnant, new moms

This weekend is a special one for our family, it is our twin’s fourth birthday. I don’t know how I got this far, I didn’t know how difficult or tumultuous it would be nor how unbelievably happy I am to have them as my children.
I will share with you an open letter to my children for their birthday:

Dear R & L,

Time flies even faster now that I am a Mom. It seems like weeks ago you were in my body, days ago you were in my arms drinking a bottle and minutes ago you were learning to walk. The past four years have been challenging, testing, difficult, loving, eye opening and so rewarding.

You have taught me so much, I thought this stay at home Mother thing would be a lot easier then it turned out to be. I have much more patience now, I am a better cook, cleaner and diaper changer. I am a better person because of you both. I am a better wife because of you and a better daughter because until I had you, I never fully realized what having children would do to our family.
It made it stronger.

You also may not know that I had some very dark days when I thought I couldn’t live anymore, days when nothing could make me get out of bed and go on.
It was then in the darkness, in my bed, I would hear your little voices saying your first words and calling for me.
That is what got me out of bed.

God must have known my pain was going to be so great, so very, very terrible, that I needed two babies at once to save me from the depths of my grief.
I may have gave you life, but you both saved my life.

It is so great seeing you become people with your own likes and dislikes, your own opinions and your own voice to let them be known.
You are both such individuals but you are almost the same person, and Daddy and I are so happy that you both have each other for all the firsts in life. You have each other to lean on and for security for when, in the not so distant future, you will be separated from us.

Sometimes you will test our boundaries, mother and child boundaries, and then you will come running back to the security of my grasp and right there you both have learned a lesson I wanted you to learn.

That no matter what, you can go away, even very far away from me but you will always be able to come back to me and I will be waiting for you both.
With open arms.

Happy fourth birthday
Love, Mommy

birthdays, fourth birthday, kids, toddlers, parents, parenting, moms, letters to children, love

All new parents are faced with the same problem, the baby is crying and you have no idea why. Are they hungry, mad, dirty or tired? Are they all of those things?
It is difficult to figure out and stressful.

There is a baby whisperer that has been on Oprah who says she knows what every cry your baby makes means. Great, but can she come live with me?

Now there is a new handheld machine out that listens to your babies cry and lets you know what they need/want. It is called the Whycry.

I do not know anyone who has this, but I would love to know your experience with it if you have used one before.
It seems like a great idea, if you did know what your infant wanted maybe, just maybe, one of you could get some sleep!

whycry, infants, babies, crying babies, baby whisperer, moms, new parents, new moms, pregnancy, getting ready for baby, baby stuff

There are so many buzzwords that float around the parent community every day. “Playdate or playgroup” are examples that you can hear every single day spoken by a parent.
Another new buzzword is “organic”.
Why shouldn’t it be? Since 1997 sales of organic food has increased 20% annually.
(more…)

The Ball

R pooped tonight and when she called for someone to wipe her butt, I do what I always do. I turned to E and said “not it”.
I figure if you are a master wiper like he is, why not show off your “skillz”.

He went above and beyond though, on this call of duty (heee) and pushed on the poop with a wipe to see if anything was inside.
There was.

A small little ball that was silver when it went in but was now black.

Thank goodness.

R wanted to hold it and keep it but that went straight into the garbage never to return to this house.
We don’t keep anything that came out of our bodies in this house.
It is a silly little rule we have.

Well, except the kids and even that was a debate.

My daughter upon her arrival home from the hospital, fell in love with her pacifier. They have been inseparable ever since.

My son, however, never liked it. He would swoosh it around in his mouth a little and spit it out.
Is it a boob? Is it a bottle? Does milk come out of it in any way? No?
Then he didn’t want it.

Fast forward almost four years. R still has a pacifier.
Her reserve has dwindled and now she only owns two and those have seen their last day.
Now that their fourth (FOURTH!?!)birthday is coming up this weekend I decided drastic measures have to be taken. She has got to get rid of them.
I have tried to get her to give them to her new baby cousin last year but she wasn’t going for that.
Although she doesn’t use it very much at all, it still needs to go. I am not a fan of paying thousands of dollars for braces. Call me crazy.

I thought of a plan and called R into the room yesterday morning.
“now, that you are going to be four it means you are a really big girl now and sometimes we have things when we are small that we don’t need anymore when we get older.” “Like your pacifier” I told her.

“”Ok” she agreed.

“Good, I am glad we agree. Now, the pacifier princess is going to come when you are sleeping and take that pacifier from your bed and leave you a gift for being such a good girl.”
Then I waited for the uncontrollable crying and fit throwing.
It didn’t come.

“Ok!” she said “what kind of gift will I get?” “I am sure it will be a good one” I told her.

We talked about it again later and still no water works. Maybe my baby really is a big girl and realizes she doesn’t need her soothers like she used to.

I will have to let you know how it goes after the “pacifier princess” comes to our house.
I sure hope she leaves a terrific gift because that pacifier was worth its weight in diamonds!

pacifiers, nuks, giving up a pacifier, soothers, babies, infants, toddlers, parenting

We are overly anxious to see R poop because of what we hope is the impending arrival of the ball.

She said she needed to do poopy after her nap this afternoon and asked if I could come in and se eif the ball will come out.

I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Then she proceeded to pass gas and tell me “Mom, my hiney sounds like a honker nose!”
“yes” I replied.
Thinking this was the most hysterical thing she has ever heard, she calls her brother in and then repeats what she said to L.
“wow, that is cool R” L says
“yes! High five!!” R says to L

Me? I am just cracking up in the corner.

funny things kids say, kids, toddlers, life with kids, moms