I get by with a little help from my friends.

Posted by on February 26, 2010 14 Comments

Being a stay at home mom can feel really isolating. It’s not uncommon for me to go 6 hours without speaking out loud to another adult. Maybe that’s why I’m addicted to the internet, social networking and technology, and keep my Iphone near me like it’s an IV drip of life saving fluid.

Because even on days when I can’t manage to make a phone call (which, honestly, happens rarely anyway, except to my BFF Bonnie who also has a toddler son and totally understands when I go all Tourettes on her in the middle of a conversation), I can still reach out and touch some sanity saving sistas.

Of course, the street goes both ways, and last night I was on the receiving end of the most hilarious string of text messages I’ve ever received. My college friend Jaimee has a little boy about 6 months older than Kendall. As with all of my friends who have the joy of raising a toddler right now, it seems the topics of potty training and poop really bring out the kindred spirit in us.

J: “Currently sitting in a dark closet…O has a flashlight…while he poops in his potty…he is doing great peeing in the big potty, but prefers to poop in the dark in a closet?!?  Hmmm…Fun times in toddlerville! Thought u may enjoy the visual!”

Me :”Hahahahahahahhaa that’s hilarious! Made my night. Have fun!”

J: “Yeah a blast…whoever came up w/this portable potty was an idiot…the way I see it I just added a step…still clean his bottom…AND  a giant potty of poop.”

Me: “Can I put this on my blog?” I’m polite like that and ask, even though all my friends should know they are fair game for blog fodder.

J: “Of course you can…it was just one of those moments where I was questioning my potty training game plan…he was insisting that I sit next to him in the closet…I told him to hang on, so I could get my Blackberry… then he proceeded to fill that thing with days worth of poop…the smell… ugh!! All to get him to poop in the potty…really?!? Sorry…I could go on forever about this stuff!”

And just to know that my friend, who once joined me and 3 other friends on a 14 hour drive to Panama City Beach for Spring Break, could also go on and on forever in one way or another about toddler poop is enough to make me smile and feel a little more sane, or at least in good company.

Kendall is almost 22 months old and not any closer to potty training than he was 2 months ago, but I haven’t tried the in the dark with a flashlight trick yet.

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Filed Under: Headed to Toddlerhood |Tagged With: , , |14 Comments

New study- This is why your show annoys me

Posted by on February 24, 2010 32 Comments

I’ve admitted on here before, but I’ll say it again- my kid watches TV. The amount varies from day to day and week to week. Honestly, he watches the most when my husband is out of town because, well, I need a break. But on a typical day, when we are both home, he might watch one or two 25 minute episodes of his current favorite, usually when I’m trying to wake myself up in the morning by making and consuming half a pot of coffee or when we’re making dinner.

I realize I owe a lot to his favorite programs. Not only do they keep him occupied while I wake myself from a zombie-like state or unload steak knives from the dishwasher, but they also teach him things. Really! I swear they do. For example, he learned to “waddle” like a penguin the other day thanks to Diego. Hilarious. That should really come in handy down the road.

That being said, the shows range on a scale of annoyance from “Eh.. this is a small price to pay for 25 minutes of peace” to “OMGSTFUSOANNOYING”.

He’s got about 5 shows in steady rotation these days, here’s how they rate on the annoyance scale from least to most annoying.

5. Caillou- Maybe it’s because this is the newest addition to the DVR, but I gotta say, I don’t mind the kid. He’s sweet, well mannered, and speaks softly.  Kendall LOVES him. Plus, I love that once I turn the show off, I’m not bombarded by Caillou anywhere else. He’s not plastered on boxes of crackers at the store, he’s not an action figure, and he doesn’t have his own set of Tickle Hands.

4. Blues Clues- I’m not in love with the show and I don’t think Kendall is either, but it’s manageable and seems to interest him every now and then. He discovered it just before he fell in love with Caillou. What I can appreciate about it is the noise level – quiet. There’s lots of tiptoeing around, looking for “clues”, and it’s all very subdued. Nobody is encouraging my kid to scream. Additionally, I think since the show peaked a long time ago it seems much of the Blues Clues paraphernalia and branded products have disappeared from stores, so it’s pretty easy to escape once we turn it off.

3. Diego- Up until a few weeks ago when Caillou stole his throne, this was Kendall’s absolute favorite show… well, after he fell out of love with Dora, and after Dora kicked Elmo off the top. Diego’s on thin ice with me, though. He’s coming close to wearing out his welcome, and I really don’t appreciate his insistence that “Everybody SCREAM!” all the time. And Diego is one of those we can’t escape. He’s nearly everywhere. I actually almost bought a miniature toilet seat with his face all over it in a moment of weakness while lying to myself, thinking a cartoon rescuer could entice my kid to potty train.

2. Dora- I don’t think I really need to justify why I’m annoyed by Dora, as I’m sure many of you feel the same way. She’s demanding and bossy and always yelling, “Say it LOUDER!” Why must we make the children be loud?! And she’s everywhere. She’s on shirts and shoes and sheets. She’s in your bathtub, your toy box, your laundry, your car. Sure, she’s educational, and sure she’s provided hours of entertainment for my kid, but enough already. We need a break.

1. Honestly, it was a close tie between and Elmo and Dora, but I had to give the number one spot to the furry red monster that Kendall has been obsessed with for the last 6 months. I don’t know what it is about him, but it seems like every 16 month old is instinctively infatuated with Elmo. He’s loud, he sticks around way too long, and he’s taking over the world. The marketing monster has grown so big that they now think it necessary and appropriate to introduce us to Tickle Hands. I might be willing to bump him down to #2 if his Potty Time With Elmo book and corresponding Elmo “big boy undies” actually get my kid to use a toilet.

What’s funny is after making this list I’ve found that a show’s annoyance factor is based on a few things, and they all seem to coincide. The longer I’ve been subjected to it, the louder it is, the harder it is to escape it and not run into licensed products at every turn, the more likely I am to be all OMGSTFUSOANNOYING. Now, if that’s not valuable information for… well, somebody out there who’s in charge of making sure parents are not totally annoyed by their lucrative little TV show, I don’t know what is. Unless they don’t really care about the parents because we don’t really have a choice. It’s possible that’s the case. It’s possible they have a deeper understanding of the power of a toddler.

Kendall’s one week shy of 22 months, and now I can’t shake that one time Elmo sang the “Skin” song to the tune of Jingle Bells. “Skin, skin, skin, Skin, skin, skin, Skin, skin, skin, skin, skin!” <Creepy, no?

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Filed Under: Headed to Toddlerhood |Tagged With: , , , , , |32 Comments

Announcing the Modern Bird Studios winners!

Posted by on February 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

Yes, I said winnerS!  Megan and Gregg decided, in addition to giving away one free piece of custom art, they would also give out two 50% off discounts to two random commenters.

The winner of the free piece of art with SOUL is commenter #105 – Amber!

The winners of the 50% 0ff discount are Diana and Ashley, comments #372 and #215.

Thanks to everyone who entered and gave Modern Bird Studios a warm welcome into the blogosphere!

DON’T FORGET you can still get 15% off with the code “BABY RABIES” until February 26th!!

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Is this age related? Or are clothes actually terrible right now?

Posted by on February 22, 2010 48 Comments

So… I turned 29 over the weekend. I still can’t believe it. One year left of my twenties, that’s it! I spent a little time reflecting on where I’m at in life, and wondering if the 19 year old me would approve, but then I quit that when I remembered that the 19 year old me had a deep love for Kid Rock and the Dixie Chicks and wore an orange cowgirl hat anytime she went out to party, which was quite often.

Sure, I may not be as “successful”, career-wise, as the 19 year old me would have hoped, but I can honestly sit here and tell you all I am HAPPY, 110% happy, and that’s not something that even the 25 year old, career-driven me, who had quite the quarter-life crisis, could say.

But, let me not digress and turn this into a post all about how far I’ve come in 29 years or how I’m a little anxious about this next year coming and going, leaving me no choice but to turn 30. No, what I really want to talk about is how HORRIFIED and confused I am by clothes right now.

I can’t say that I’ve ever been super stylish, but I like to think I’ve been able to pull off some snazzy looks in my lifetime. The orange cowgirl hat, after all, was quite the eye-catcher and very “Coyote Ugly” back in 2000. Since becoming a stay at home mom, I’ve obviously had to ditch the pretty numbers from Banana Republic and Ann Taylor, which took me through my days full of  meetings and happy hours, in favor of more toddler and budget friendly apparel. That usually means I spend my days in jeans, a fitted shirt, some flats (or sometimes my good ol’ Skechers slip ons), and a fun accessory, like a scarf. Yup. That’s pretty much my SAHM uniform.

Well, my incredibly sweet husband, who happens to be equal parts frugal and fashion clueless, bought me some clothes for my birthday. It was such a sweet gesture, and luckily he understood when I told him I’d have to take it all back and try to find some stuff that would be more “practical” for me to wear (read- fit me, not show my bra straps, not covered in sequins). I returned to New York & Company the next day, ready to hunt down some new, trendy clothes. I searched and searched, picked and pulled from the racks, turned my head to the side, then back, squinched my eyes and tried to figure out what I was looking at.

None of it made any sense to me.

So leggings are in now, yes? And I’m to pair them with a clingy, long, what appears to be night shirt? And then what? I put a belt over it? Is it just me, or is this an outfit I would have put together at the age of 2 after ransacking my mom and dad’s closet?

And you want me to wear brown boots with my black leggings? This is going against every rule of fashion I’ve committed to memory.

Tie dye and acid wash are back? And tapered leg pants with pleated fronts? I mean, isn’t that exactly what we have all been mocking for the past 15 years? Are you telling me I need a mullet now? Or maybe just a rat tail? Big bangs?

I gave up, bought a plain purple shirt and some clearance flip flops (which I will most likely return because, as my husband said, “ANOTHER pair of flip flops?”), and headed to Target later that day. Not that Target is the Mecca of fashion, but I’ve scored some cute stuff there recently, mainly just more plain fitted tees. I meandered into the trendy Juniors section, hoping to step a bit out of my comfort zone, when my sister and I ran across this number.

Uhm, hi. Kelly Kapowski called, and she wants her dress back.

Is this just a sign that I’m getting old? Am I physically incapable of seeing clothes for what they are now and officially stuck in my comfortable, plain rut? Is this the first sign that I’m thisclose to giving up and turning into the cat shirt lady??

Kendall is nearly 22 months old and I’m 29 years old and 2 days.

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Filed Under: Headed to Toddlerhood |Tagged With: , , , |48 Comments
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