Crappy Parents

I can scarcely believe that it is nearly November.

Smooch has been in school now for two months...he is so happy there. I, on the other hand, am struggling.

I have worked hard to keep Smooch innocent.

I've avoided using sarcasm with him and, anyone who knows me well knows how difficult this is for me.

Alan and I have practiced manners with the boys, tried to keep them from being innundated with commercial messages, encouraged them to talk about their feelings, to be kind and loving.

It's at this point that I must complain, just a little.

A message to SOME parents of Kinder-garten and Grade One children; Your kids are mean. Cynicism, sarcasm and eye-rolling in a 5-7 year old is NOT attractive. Bullying is even less so. It is a token of your parenting that your children are unkind and rude. Pull up your socks and parent.

There...I said it...and I meant it. I just want to add that there are plenty of wonderful families at Smooch's school.

Other than that, we are all enjoying the Waldorf school, especially me...I have learned to knit, under taken a large volunteer project and met some amazing Moms!

Fall is here

I can nearly smell it...fall creeps in quietly, but it can't hide from me...I know it's here...I haven't failed to notice the tips of some leaves changing...the wind and the rain...I being to get the itch to stay home...cook...sew even(?)...

I LOVE this time of the year!!!

Smooth...

I love days that go off without a hitch. Today has been one of those kind of days.

I'be been reading a new book - "Have a New Kid by Friday" by Dr. Kevin Leman.

Don't get me wrong. I think my kids are fantastic...in my opinion, books like these deal far more with parenting problems than with kid problems.

I am a softie and let things go until I yell...there, I admitted it and admitting is, apparently, the first step.

The idea behind the book is that you should only have to ask your kids to do something (or stop doing something) once. It gives strategies for parents to turn kids who tune out into kids who listen...and reasons to stay calm. I think most of us can use some of these.

I am already using some of these strategies successfully and I can honestly say that I have not yelled once today...so far, so good.

We tidied the upstairs and throughly cleaned the kitchen, had a playdate, a snack and played with playdough. Visited the park, had lunch and put a loaf of bread in the breadmaker. Liam voluntarily pooped on the potty (which is good because it would have been messy) then I went upstairs with the boys and told them it was time for a nap...they are still sleeping.

Alan is due home in 2 hours and we will have a salad, fresh loaf of bread and soup for dinner.

I love smooth days...

Mumbo Jumbo Part Deux....

So...remember Aunt Moira and the funeral?

I was wrong...SO incredibly wrong...bad things don't happen in threes...they just HAPPEN.

Smooch had a headache last week...actually, both boys did. It was HOT outside and we played a LOT in the sun (but always with a hat and sunscreen). I chalked it up to the heat and maybe a little dehydration. I upped the boys fluids and Noggin seemed to feel better...but Smooch, not so much.

Saturday, while I was at a massage appointment, Alan, Smooch and Noggin attended a birthday party. They were there approx. 2 hours before noggin started to HOWL. He had a headache...on the way to pick me up, Noggin announced that he was going to throw up and promptly did...in a bag, thankfully.

He spent the next 12 hours gagging and retching. Eventually he stopped and was fine. That is Noggin for you, he gets sick and it's over.

Sunday night, Smooch goes to bed and all is well...he wakes me at 4 am, vomiting, with a headache and...(insert mumbo jumbo here)...stiff neck.

I get him some Tylenol and Advil (both work great together for migraines), we sit on the front step for an hour admiring the Tamarack in our yard while he vomits in an old ice cream bucket and eventually he is ready to go back to sleep.

He wakes up, no more vomiting, eats breakfast and I take him into the chiropractor (who does very gentle, non-manual adjustments) to see about the headaches and stiff neck. After his adjustment, he begins to throw up again...I take him back for another adjustment...his headache returns.

By 7pm I am convinced that he has Meningitis and take him to the Alberta Children's Hospital.

I was right.

After bloodwork, an IV and lumbar puncture it is confirmed that Smooch has viral meningitis.

Viral meningitis is caused by everyday cold, flu or entero-viruses and there is no vaccination to prevent it...not that it would help as Smooch is completely unvaccinated.

He is hospitalised and spends 3 days recuperating. He loves ACH...you get to lay in bed all day, watch treehouse, and they bring you food!

We are home now and he has no long-term effects...no short-term effects actually...he is completely back to his normal self.

Moms, listen to your intuition...it will not steer you wrong...

Oh and Aunt Moira...you suck.

Potty-training Part-2...Poop

Ok, so Noggin has been doing really well with the whole potty-training thing. We went out today, sans pull-up and he stayed dry.

Of course, I did put him on the potty every 15-20 minutes...which is no easy feat since he fell into a public toilet last month after his portable potty seat broke.

He completed a respectable #1 and spent about 1/2 an hour playing enthusiastically with Smooch, M & L when I lost sight of him for a few moments.

When I did finally catch sight of him, he was standing by a railing, shifting and looking somewhat conspicuous and uncomfortable.

"Oh CRAP"...I said to my friend, S, who was seated beside me, supervising her two completely potty-trained angels.

So Noggin and Mama began the long trip out to the car to retrieve clean clothing, then the bathroom where the pants he was wearing (thankfully old, worn-out sweatpants with a cuff that just kept holding on) found a new home in the garbage.

So, today I am grateful for several things;

1 - Extra clothes
2 - Paper Towel
3 - Foaming hand cleanser
4 - Good friends who are willing to watch (and discipline, if need be) other children when disaster strikes.
5 - (and really, most important), I am grateful for the close relationship I have with my kids, and that I know, just from a facial expression, everything that I need to.

Motherhood rocks...even when it gets crappy.

The "Rules" for families

We are at a crossroads in the Urbane House.

Do we establish a formal set of rules for our home, complete with consequences for breaking said rules?

Do we try and "talk it out" every time an incident occurs??

A combination of both?

I think the lack of formal house rules leads to problems...at least in our home.

Nature Table

The last few weeks we have been working on our nature table.

We hand-dyed some nice wooden candle-holders and went for a nature-walk or two...adding interesting things we found...

This week we encountered a friendly squirrel, under a large Spruce and Smooch had the presence of mind to toss him an unchewed spruce cone... We could almost see the look of surprise on his face as he glanced back and forth between the cone and Smooch...finally grabbing it and scampering up the tree to have a bite to eat.

We gathered spruce cones, a lonely dandilion and a few twigs, swatted mosquitoes, played in the park with a group of children and eventually made our way home for a snack and to sketch what we found.