U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 3: Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have to Cost More | Nielsen Wire

U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 3: Eating Healthy Doesn’t Have to Cost More | Nielsen Wire

Motherhood Lesson # 26,105,122

How telling your child not to use your master bathroom will backfire:

 

The decree came about because the cat box is in our bathroom and the old cat doesn't always make it in the box. And she throws litter like an MLB pitcher since the lid had to come off the box. So I told WC not to use our bathroom when they were "watching" TV (aka playing where they think they are not being supervised) in our room. CJ is his shadow and occasionally has to be pulled by his ankles out of WC's posterior. When WC would use our toilet it would leave CJ roaming around on the not-so-clean floor. It was better all around if he went to "his" hall bathroom.

The past week CJ's had a touch of cold. If he ran around too much he would get hot and start coughing. Occasionally he'd cough up phlegm. Luckily for me, whenever he starts this, he runs and sticks his head over the toilet.

Friday night they were playing and I heard CJ begin to cough, the light in the bathroom switch on & the toilet lid open. I knew he was in there. Most of the time when he does this, he doesn't really cough up anything but I listen, just in case. I'm listening to CJ cough, then I hear something else...the sound of a stream of liquid hitting water... then WC's voice,

    

     "Oops...sorry CJ."

 

Alarmed I went to investigate. As I feared, I discovered WC attempting to urinate in the same toilet his brother was hanging his head into. And the back of CJ's head was wet.

 

     "Did you just pee on him," I ask (sound of horror in my voice).

 

     "It was just an accident."

 

     "Why were you peeing in the same toilet he was coughing in?"

 

     "You told me not to use your bathroom."

 

What a time for that kid to pick to listen to something I told him. I never imagined this scenario.

 

 

 

When your kids drive you crazy...return the favor

Phinneas & Ferb just happens to be WC favorite cartoon right now. And his favorite character is their pet platypus named Perry. Now Perry is no ordinary cross-eyed house pet- that is simply his cover. In reality he's a secret agent and battles the evil Dr. Doofensmirtz. While Phinneas & Ferb are busy building roller coasters, clubhouse robots & time travelling, Agent P routinely saves the day from Dr. D's latest scheme.

On Christmas morning, WC found a stuffed Perry the Platypus in his stocking; it's quickly become a treasured toy. A few weeks ago, Cat decided to have a little fun with the boy. So after he goes to school she would move the stuffed Perry from wherever he had left it. Sometimes, WC would come home to find Perry in his bed napping under the covers or the lounging in the living room recliner. He would wonder aloud how Perry was doing this. For a couple weeks this only happened two or three days out of the week. Friday, I decided to play along & have a little fun with the boy myself. He left Perry on the kitchen table when we went to the car. I excused myself back into the house because I'd "forgotten" my keys. I quickly curled Perry up on the sofa and returned to the car. That evening he walked around muttering to himself after discovering Perry wasn't where he left him. I told him that he'd probably just forgotten where he left him. No, he was adamant that Perry had been on the table.

He totally rejected the notion of a 'Toy Story' type scenario. "That isn't real" he told me. His theory though- leaves me scratching my head. He came up with Santa's elves are breaking into our house during the day & moving Perry around! And yet, Toy Story isn't plausible?

Over the weekend, Jay & I had a little fun when we'd snatch a forgotten Perry and place him somewhere else. Last night, after brushing his teeth, WC found Perry waiting at his bedroom door. "How did he get there?"

Tonight, he will find Perry hanging from the top bunk...

The Point Is...

Those of you who have been reading my blog know that I have been unable to keep CJ in clothes in recently. And yesterday morning he began to complain that his shirt was wet. He's teething in the last of the two year molars (or something back there) and drools...a lot. The front of his shirt was soaked with drool but I didn't want him taking off the shirt because he's not pulling the shirts up over his head but taking his arms up through the head hole and sliding it down to his waist. He's stretching out the necks of his shirts. After a couple minutes of back and forth I asked him. "You're just going to drool on another shirt, so what's the point of taking that one off?"

He replied, "The point is, cause I want to."

By the time I finished laughing he was shirtless.

Excercising With Kids

It was a calm Saturday afternoon, the laundry finished, the boys were playing in their room, football was on the television. I had the idea to grab 30 min on the treadmill before dinner. Quietly I informed Jay of my plans and slipped into the bedroom to retrieve my workout wear. I made sure no one was watching and quietly went into the office to change and get started. FIVE minutes in the tweedle brothers burst through the door. They stand there and stare at me wanting to know what I am doing. I explain that I am exercising. CJ makes his way towards the treadmill. I warn him not to touch it. With all the moving parts, I didn't want him to get hurt. OR myself get hurt trying to keep him from injury. So there they are but Jay still had not made an appearance. CJ stays back but both children keep staring at me. Finally Jay shows up and apologizes for not realizing where they were (great). He attempts to make them leave but that is met with screaming. I didn't mind them in there as long as they didn't get near the treadmill. I tell him to start a slide show of photos on the computer. They would sit and watch. And this worked. Except WC would keep looking over at me. Eventually he asked me why I was jiggling. I typically workout in a sports bra & yoga pants. He's seen me in this before doing the workout dvd. But I guess he didn't notice then. But now he's pointing to my midsection asking me why it jiggles. And he keeps asking. He wants to why my stomach jiggles? He is exhibit A and sitting next to him there is Exhibit B. It just does, I tell him. Meanwhile, thinking that if he doesn't quit I'm going to get off the treadmill and throw his ass out the back door. After a couple more times, I tell him if he doesn't turn around and watch the pictures he will have to leave the room. End of that. This is why I get up at the crack of dawn to do this alone. After I finish, I leave the room to get water and on my way back to hit the shower I look in on them. There's CJ, standing in the middle of the treadmill, shirtless and holding one of my 3lb hand weights. WC is also shirtless but he's in front of the treadmill with the other weight. "What on earth are you guys doing?" I take the weight from CJ and make him get off the treadmill. WC explains that they were exercising too. "Why are you shirtless?"

"To be like you," WC replied.

Wow. As a parent, we really have to be careful what we do because our kids are watching, listening and learning. We are who they have to model adulthood after. We model what people are to them. It's huge. It makes me want to strive to be the best person I can.

Sigh...

1 drip pan from under the old washing machine

+ 1 old cell phone charger

-any accumulated snow

= Hillbilly* Sled

*If we were real Rednecks there would have been a four-wheeler and some duct tape involved.

Southern Blizzard

It's 14 outside right now. Only supposed to get to 21 today. 25
degrees below normal. Ice covers the road outside. I'm sitting curled
up on the couch drinking coffee. My lap is being stalked by Rhi.
Several days ago weather forcasters began to say we would get up to 7
inches of snow. I had to laugh. What happens here is that we don't get
that nice powdery snow that piles up in yards and looks quaint. We get
ice. If it doesn't fall as sleet then what little snow that does come
down melts on the road, then temps dip well below freezing after dark
and produces skating rinks where roads once stood.
Wednesday night they closed the schools before a single flake had
fallen. Thursday morning arrived & still nada. Friends of mine were
dissapointed. Not me. I wasn't ready to use a vacation day that I just
accumulated Jan 1. Luckily Thursday I could leave the boys with my
sister. The snow finally started falling around ten that morning. We
had a decent falling of tiny flakes. I received a pic message from Cat
w/ pics of WC playing out in the "snow". Including one of the most
pathetic little snow angels I've ever seen.

Cat chose to brave the icy roads & leave back to her boyfriends house late last night. Since she is now referring to his house as "home" I
guess she moved in w/ him without telling me. I hate to tell her that
just like the last one his place is not her home. When he's tired of
her she'll be back here full time. I hate that she's falling into this
pattern again. She's setting herself up to bounce from my house to the
place of whatever dude she's doing the mattress mambo with at the time
& never getting anything for herself. But I can't tell her any
different.
The boys are already fighting. This is going to be a long day.

Sent from my iPod