Following In My Shoes | Houston Mom Blog

Boy Rule Number 432

2012-02-22T03:29:10Z

Go ahead. Let them tell you you’re cute….

But don’t let them wash your face.

Run away.

Throw fits.

Turn your head.

Do whatever it takes to preserve the dirt.

You worked hard to accumulate it.

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Kid Activities and Crafts – LIVE CHAT

2012-02-22T01:46:01Z

The first year or so of the Little Lady’s life was easy: clothe her, feed her, change her, love her.

But after she hit the twelve month mark, I realized something had changed. She needed structure and mental stimulation beyond what Playskool or Fisher Price could offer. I couldn’t just put her in the exersaucer or playpen and expect her to entertain herself.

She wanted and needed challenges and intentional learning activities to thrive and be happy.

When I made an deliberate attempt to spend time with her — whether play, learning, or craft time — I saw a little girl who was happier … and a little girl who didn’t “act up” as much. And, as Mr. Boy grew, I realized the same was true of him.

Water Color Butterflies

Sensory Boxes

Edible Paint

I know I’m not the only Mama always looking for new kid crafts and activities so I’m THRILLED to announce that, as part of the International Delight Community, I will be co-hosting a LIVE CHAT tonight with Kim from Today’s Creative Blog.

We’ll be discussing EVERYTHING kid related when it comes to crafts and activities — so please join us to share and learn!

Topic: Family and Kid Crafts and Activities

When: Tuesday (2/21), 9pm EST

Where: Here and There! You can participate in the chat here (using the embedded chat box below on this post), or through Kim’s blog. (That’s right — a live chat via blog. I love it!)

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525,600 (Meaningful) Minutes

2012-02-21T15:01:51Z

Yesterday, I posted a picture of the kidlets — all three of them — sitting on our living room couch.

Three children in matching Dr. Seuss shirts.

Three of them, y’all.

There was a time when I cried and despaired to have children, believing the doctors who told me it wouldn’t happen. Believing in negativity.

Now, I take silly pictures of three children.

I write about the ridiculous antics of three children.

I hear the voices of three children crying, laughing, singing, and squealing…. and, of course, arguing and tattling –but we won’t dwell on that.

I wash thirty little toes.Whisper in six little ears.Kiss three little mouths.

Every day — even in the moments when I am craving for peace and a moment to run to the bathroom alone — I’m awestruck by the fact there are THREE of them.

When I was asked to write about my most “meaningful” moment of 2011, I shook my head. One moment? Impossible! Try 525,600 minutes.

How could I choose between finding out I was pregnant and the second I first saw the beating heart on the doctor’s ultrasound machine?

Or choose between a gorgeous afternoon of bubble play or the day I realized myLittle Lady was growing up.

Or what about those moments when I should have been disciplining the kidlets but I wastoo busy laughing?

Or the moment I gazed upon the face of a child for the first time?

Am I able to select one moment as the most memorable, the most meaningful, the most special? No … no more than I could choose my “favorite” child.

Ultimately,every single moment of 2011 was a moment I was a mother… a title I had been told, in a moment fifteen years earlier, I would never hold.

And because of that, I had a year of meaningful moments.

Tell me what your most meaningful moment was in the last year for a chance to win one of 10 complete skin care Anti-Age Systems from Meaningful Beauty.

Keep your skin looking great in every moment with Meaningful Beauty- Cindy Crawford’s break through secret for younger looking skin.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Meaningful Beauty. The opinions and text are all mine. Contest Rules.

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Lovebugs

2012-02-20T21:04:44Z

With every kiss comes a bonked head.

With every hug comes a squeezed (too tightly) neck.

Love is dangerous when you’re the little brother.

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I’m a Potty-Training Failure

2012-02-16T09:00:56Z

Happy, happy, joy, joy — we’re smack dab in the middle of potty training here in Houston.

Mr. Boy decided he wants to be a “big boy.”

I suspected he was ready a few weeks ago when, while visiting a few elderly friends at a retirement home, a diapered Mr. Boy stood in front of one octogenarian and yelled, “WATCH THIS!”

He “hunkered down,” face turning crimson, and then stood back up, grinning.

“I poopie!”

Thank the LORD in heaven the sweet, white haired lady was (1) a trifle deaf and (2) had horrible short term memory problems. She smiled her confused smile and turned to Hubby, asking what our smelly boy had said.

Hubby played dumb and I pretended to be VERY busy with Baby Barney.

About thirty seconds later, the woman had forgotten about the whole situation.

Yeah — if a child can control his bodily functions enough to perform them at will — it might be time to start potty-training said child.

Just my take on it, anyway.

When it was time to train the Little Lady, it was a three day piece of cake. EASY. By the end of that third day, we were 100% day-trained.

I congratulated myself on a job well done and KNEW training any future kidlets would be just as fuss-free.

I. Was. Wrong.

Boys are different when it comes to the whole potty training business and I’m learning very valuable lessons this month.

Tips to Remember When Potty-Training Boys

(1) Boys Wear Underwear … NOT “Panties.”

I get in trouble every. single. day for referring to Mr. Boy’s Buzz Lightyear under-roos as “panties.” Hubby is so exasperated over my misnomer — “Underwear, underwear, underwear! BOYS WEAR UNDERWEAR!“

Sorry, Hubby — I’ve spent 30+ years living in a panty world. I’m a girl.

(2) Boys Like “Targets.”

Because he is so little, Mr. Boy doesn’t stand, yet, at the toilet. He sits. But that doesn’t stop the boy-game of target practice.

On Valentine’s Day, after dinner, he spent 5 minutes scooting all over the toilet, trying to “hit” a piece of chocolate that had fallen off his face and landed in the water.

FIVE MINUTES.

And since then, he continually asks, “Where da’ choc-o-yut?“

Y’all…. no one told him to “aim” for the chocolate. The child just instinctively knew target practice would be fun.

(heaven help me, but I have a bad feeling about this in future years)

(3) Boys Don’t “Dab.”

Another mistake I made — teaching Mr. Boy to “dab” with toilet paper when he has finished his business.

“Dab? Dab?”, Hubby incredulously asked when he heard me instructing Mr. Boy. “Boys DON’T dab!”

Uhhhh … then … uhhhh … how do you keep clean? Nevermind, Hubby — you teach that trick to the child.

(4) The Toilet Seat Is Not A “Seal.”

Did you know that there is a gap between the toilet seat and the actual toilet bowl? I learned that yesterday. As did Mr. Boy.

And he was highly amused to see what happens when one doesn’t make sure … ahem … things are pointed in the right and downward direction.

Highly amused.

(Mommy was not)

Sigh … I should have stocked up on Mommy’s chocolate instead of focusing on character underwear and Pull-Ups. Mama’s not cut out for potty-training a man-child!

(of course, if I did have chocolate to help me stay sane during this process, it probably would end up as a “target” … which, I don’t care how much fun “aiming and firing” is, that’s just a waste of chocolate!)

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