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Wednesday, April 27, 2016

When She Drives Me To Tears


Last night was one of those nights. P had an accident with potty training at school where she literally fell off of the potty and peed all over herself. I think it scarred her a bit, and therefore she was very mean to me all afternoon.

Even though I know that she is a toddler, and that she can only control her bodily functions. I understand that she was frustrated and disappointed in herself. I knew she was taking it out on me because she is most comfortable with me. I know that she was doing it because she loves me the most. I know because I used to do it too--to my mom. But it doesn't make it any easier.

Last night we had a 45 minute battle of the wills over going to the potty before bed. P is at the point where she knows that she is not supposed to go in her panties or her pull up. I knew that she had been holding it ever since she left daycare. For whatever reason she was refusing to go, and was visibly uncomfortable. I mean, she was doing the "I have to pee dance."

So she screamed and hit and slapped in my direction. I kept my cool just gently saying, "step up on your stool." She never did. The stand off finally ended with me stripping her pants and pull up off only for her to kick it up a notch into violent rage--therefore emptying her bladder all over the floor and her pajamas. Then she screamed because she is, "Not supposed to pee on the floor."

I felt awful for her. I know that regressions happen. I just hope that I haven't scarred her against the potty for awhile. Mostly, I felt guilty because all I could think about was getting away from her. All I wanted to do was cry for me, for her, and for all the future times I know I will be her punching bag. It's one of my jobs as a mom, but it is not one that I enjoy.

So I let myself cry for her, and for me. Then I went about my night. Hoping and praying that this morning would be different. She did protest slightly at going potty for me this morning, but she did finally go after I bribed her with M&Ms (which didn't work last night).

Last night was one of those nights where being a mom is just hard. We are having a lot of those lately--rebellious toddlers are harder than I thought. It made me appreciate my mom even more--for all the times that I know I took things out on her. She lost it sometimes--but mostly she understood. I didn't deserve understanding--but I always got it. I'm learning how to be more like that--and hoping some day that I will.

Happy Hump Day!



Monday, April 25, 2016

One of the Last Baby Things


Through out my journey into this thing called Motherhood--I have chronicled the lasts of the Baby Things. It seems that we are entering into the last season of Babyhood for P. While this particular baby item was never my favorite--I still found it in me to mourn it slightly. Good thing this particular item is not one that we can get rid of in just a few days. It will take a few weeks at least. I am certainly up to the challenge--but for the first time in forever--I feel very at peace with letting this transition happen at its own pace.

Yes, my friends, P has started Potty Training!!!

OMG--I am so surprised and shocked that this time is already upon us. I was so not expecting it at all. P had not been showing any interest in the potty what-so-ever, and her doctor had told me that most children are not ready until 2 1/2 to 3 years old and some don't potty train until almost 4. (YIKES on that last one there).

THEN--they moved her up to the older 2 year old room. Which I cried over slightly because she is not older twos--she is younger twos. But I would never be one to hold her back if the evidence is saying otherwise. That would be selfish of me. So I let her move up early. The difference is that this room was full of children who were potty-trained. No biggie, right. I didn't think anything of it. Like, good luck with that, sistahs. She is a tough little nugget to crack. Like always--I doubted my girl. (I really should stop doing that. It is when she surprises me most). After day one she had successfully gone in the potty three times. On day two in the class she had kept her diaper dry all day and gone potty successfully for them each time they asked her to. They even claim that she tells them when she has to go. (I have yet to see this myself, so I'm calling BS on that one...See doubter that I am).

The next week she wore panties all week and only had 3 accidents. I had to face the music that my kid might actually be getting potty trained. So I decided that I needed to step it up at home to supplement her training. Here is what I have learned so far:

1. It is totally normal for your kid to be potty trained at school and not at home.
Who knew this was a thing. For the first few days P would not go for me at home. I was really confused so I did some research and apparently it is common. Who knew? SO I had to get creative--which is code word for bribe her with M&Ms.

2. Find an incentive that works for your kid
For P it is candy because she loves sweets. Whenever I ask if she has to go potty she always says no. Then, if I mention that she doesn't get M&Ms if she wets her pants--all of the sudden she has to go. It's magic. I only give her M&Ms for going successfully and not for trying. That is a decision you have to make.

3. You have to act like a fool when they are successful
Kids are people pleasers. Every time she successfully uses the potty--I clap my hands, scream yay, do a little dance, and give hugs and kisses. She now says proudly, "I did it!" Which is so cute.

4. Routine helps
I take her to the potty every 45 minutes to 1 hour that she is with me. This really  helps to keep her from having accidents. I also have a very specific potty routine. It is similar to her school routine. Stand on stool (we use a potty seat on our toilet with a stool). Turn around and pull down pants and undies. Sit and use potty. Stand back up on stool. Wipe. Step down. Pull up undies and pants. Flush. Then wash hands. We do it the same way every single time with no deviation. If it's rushed or different--I think it causes her anxiety and she wont go. I know--I'm crazy.

5. Decide what tools you are using and make sure you have them on each floor
we decided that we did not want to use a smaller potty since she uses a regular toilet at school. So we bought two potty seats and two stools. I like this seat and this stool. One for each floor so that we don't have to continuously move them.

6. Don't sweat the nap and night time battle yet
I'm not in any rush there. I bought a big ole box of pull ups and I plan to use them for naps and bedtime until she is better about being consistently dry each time. I like the Pampers. Plus, we are still in a crib for now. I think some people feel pressure to do this all at once. I think it is too overwhelming. So I am ok with making that a step for another time.

7. Pack an extra pair of clothes (including socks and shoes) whenever you leave the house
Accidents can and will happen. So it is important to be prepared. The shoes is the worst to me. My mom bought P 2 new pairs of sneakers that can go in the washing machine for her to wear at school where accidents seem to happen the most. It is easy to throw them in the wash at the end of the day.

So that is all I have on this subject for now. The truth is that this last baby thing is a process. It is not something that can be accomplished in 3 days (contrary to what Pinterest wants you to believe.) So while I am looking forward to some extra money in my pocket once she is fully potty trained--I'm not counting chickens anytime soon.

Happy Monday!

Monday, April 11, 2016

How I Survived Disney With My 2 Year Old


Hello Lovlies!

I know, I know, I have been gone a long time. I know. I am sucking at this whole blogging thing lately. I mostly only write when I am inspired to share something that happened in my life. Over the last 6 weeks I have been planning a disney vacation for my family. We are now back from the happiest place on earth, and I want to share with you all how I survived with my two year old.

First of all, let me say that this is not really a how to post. Since all kids are different, and there were definitely moments that I could have planned out better. More than anything this is just a play by play of what worked for my 2 year old and our family. In the hopes that it might help you.

So... here it goes. 5 things about Disney with my 2 year old


1. I learned so much about my child.

Holy bananas! She was so much better than I expected her to be in so many ways. She was also different than I expected her to be in many ways as well. Overall, it was a great trip, but she was definitely surprising overall. My child HATED taking pictures with Santa. In fact, she refused to take photos with him. So I was very fearful that she would react the same way to all of the disney characters. Boy, was I wrong. SO WRONG! This was by and large the best part of our trip. She loved the characters the most. She would wait patiently to see Mickey and Minnie. In fact she met them at every park that we went to. She met them three times. That was about the only thing that she wanted to do. I think that this is mostly due to the fact that she was prepared and comfortable with each of the characters we met. I showed her lots of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and she loved Frozen and has a Belle Lego Figurine. She knew them. They were real to her. Which was the whole reason I wanted to take her. To see that was a once in a lifetime thing.

I thought that she would love rides like Dumbo and Triceratop Spin. Again, a big WRONG! While she did pretty well on Dumbo. She was constantly saying, "I'm done." By the end of the week she was saying firmly, "NO MORE RIDES, MOMMY." Eventhough this hurt my feelings a bit--ultimately I still felt that it was a good trip overall. If I had it all to do all over again. I would show her videos off of YouTube of each ride I plan on taking her on. I have read since our trip that this fact really helps!


2. It doesn't take much to scare permanently scar a 2 year old!

Before our trip a read a lot of posts on other blogs about rides that were best for 2 year olds. I read about rides that might be scary, and I avoided those. However, my child was scared of even the tamest rides. I made the rookie mistake of thinking that a 4-d show like Mickey's Philharmagic was a good idea. (SO STUPID) Like any toddler would be ok with have water thrown in their face in the dark, and having pictures jump out in their face. I wish with everything I have that I didn't take her in that theater. I truly believe she would have been open to more rides if that hadn't been the third thing I took her to on the very first day. The rest of the trip she didn't trust me when I said, "no scary."


3. Three days with a two year old is more than enough

I signed us up for 4 days, and by the end of the third day it was clear that P could not take much more. On our last day, we only brought her in for the last two hours we were at the park. That was fine because she was free. I will tell you though, I secretly was done too after three days. I didn't want to go back for the 4th day, but I was NOT free. So I had to go. It is a lot for the littles. The stimulation they receive there is unlike any other. AND the great thing about Disney is that they will always prorate another day for you. Next time I will book 3 days, and add on a 4th if she seems like she can take it. Same price, but you aren't married to it.

4. Take the big stroller if you dare!

At first, I was just going to bring a very lightweight umbrella stroller to the park. At the eleventh hour, I changed my mind and brought both the lightweight umbrella, and our gigantic jogging stroller. Both were used, and both served great purpose, and both were not without their downsides.
Here are the pros of each:

Umbrella--lightweight, easy to take on the tram and monorail, each to maneuver.
Jogging--reclines, has canopy, has cupholders, has storage

You can see my dilemma. what ended up happening was that we usually took the jogging in the morning because it was the longer stretch at the park and brought the umbrella back in the afternoon after nap. The jogging stroller did not fit on the trams and was hard to maneuver on the monorail even. So I was mostly walking to the park from the car and back with it. Which is fine until you have walked 20,000 steps in one day. That is not an exaggeration either! I didn't want to buy a mid-weight umbrella stroller just for Disney, but I probably should have.


5. Stay in a Disney Resort if you can

We did not stay in a Disney Resort. My mom has a timeshare and traded it. So technically we paid very little to stay in Orlando. The problem was we were about 6-8 miles away from the parks. This may not seem like much, but it became a 45 minute to 1 hour ordeal every time we went or came home. I have a 2 year old who loves to nap, and who becomes a devil without sleep.  AND she will no sleep anywhere like some children. I wasn't willing to keep her there without a nap. So we spent a lot of time traveling to and from the parks. If we stayed in a Disney Resort that time would have been cut in half at least. We could have taken a bus to and from the resort (this also saves $20 a day in parking)! It's the best way to go with a napping child in my opinion. DO IT!

That is it for now. I will be posting more posts on Disney soon. Check back here. I would love to hear about your little ones and how they have done on Disney trips. I know that we are not the norm in many cases.