How concise

Something I have been considering lately is the lack of respect shown by children to deserving adults and the "I want" attitude displayed by many children today and especially Paige in particular. Even more so in the wake of the recent financial crisis that sent the world and many a share portfolio/superannuation account into a spin. I came across this article today and it reflects, extremely concisely, how I am feeling. I thought I would share.

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/parenting/community/shoe-me-the-future-20081103-5gq9.html

Unusual

Completely out of character for me.....I love the Dixie Chicks. Normally I cannot stand country music unless it somehow has Johnny Cash attached to it. In fact, you will find in a list of music that I like "anything except heavy metal and country music". However, I have always had a soft spot for the Dixie Chicks. They are all quite lovely looking and their music is fun, catchy and often has a really great message in the lyrics. Tonight I watched their documentary Shut up and Sing relating to the controversy that was created when Natalie Maines made a statement about George W Bush and the war in Iraq which was about to start. This statement was then blown completely out of proportion and came to a climax when there was death threats issued against Natalie. I found it quite moving and inspirational that not only would Natalie not back down on what she had said, but the entire band stood up for her and the statement she made even though it was looking like their music careers would suffer. What a great group of girls, loyal, strong-willed, determined and intelligent.

Poor Things

I feel really sorry for the girls today. Not only did they not get a great sleep last night, but they had to deal with a sleep deprived, grumpy and impatient Mumma today.

Charli is currently suffering from a HUGE ulcer on the underside of her tongue. I took her to the doctor as she is getting them fairly often, but he just said to give her vitamins and put bonjella on there. It doesn't seem to be working as I am still getting up to her 4-6 times a night for either "my mouth hurts" or "scared of my bedroom". Not sure what the scared is about, but I can understand the hurt as I get ulcers and have first hand knowledge of the pain. I took her with me to the pharmacy tonight and the guy there is lovely. He gave me vitamins as well as SM33 gel (yes Shell you were right....lignocaine over the counter) which seems to be working a treat. So far tonight she has only woken up once and that was for the scared, no mention of the pain so fingers crossed for some sleep tonight.

So that is the reason for the lack of sleep. Even Paige this morning didn't want to get up because "Charli kept crying all night and waking me up". A very kind and concerned person told me that I should get some sleep during the day, but unfortunately I have a 2.5yr old and 5yr old. I don't think sleep is something that happens during the day, especially if you don't want to wake up to the aftermath of Hurricane Preschoolers and/or World War III. Besides that, if I do get some sleep during the day, it takes me until bed time to get my brain moving again and to get rid of that nagging "I slept during the day" headache and that kind of defeats to purpose to begin with. I am thinking that the best thing to do is to go to bed early. Revolutionary idea, now if I can just convince my Lord of the Rings playing fingers that that is what I need to do......

Comparisons

I know that a lot of Mum's either compare their children with other people as if it is a competition as to who did what first. You know the whole "little Johnny started walking at 13 months"....."well little Jenny was walking at 11 months" like there is something meaningful in your child doing something earlier than someone else's. It somehow makes you feel like a better or more successful mum, which we all know is not the case, but sometime you catch yourself doing it all the same.

My thing currently is, do you compare your own children with each other? I have 2 girls, so for a start there will always be comparisons as they are the same sex. Then add to that the fact that my first one was quick at picking up everything, walking, talking, toilet training, feeding herself, saying goodbye to her dummy, dressing herself and so forth. On the other hand, my second one is not so quick. It is not like she has a problem, it is just that she is different. I often find myself thinking, well Paige was doing this by now so why isn't Charli? For example, Paige said goodbye to her dummy with no complaints at approx 18 months, Charli is 2.5 years and is still sucking her thumb. Paige was toilet trained at 2 years and Charli is not interested and doesn't have a problem sitting in wet pants.

So....what to do. I know I shouldn't compare them as they are totally different both in looks and personality, one sits and watches the other does and this goes for most things in their lives. About the only thing they really share is their lack of inhibitions as they are both extremely outgoing and sociable. I must remember that each is different and Charli will do things when SHE is ready, not when Paige was ready.

Yummy

Tonight for dinner we had the most amazing meal. I have to say that I was a little skeptical when my better half suggested it, but I will admit that I was totally wrong and he was totally right, to the point that it may even be worth the "I was wrong" dance.

So, what was it I hear you asking, well, to end the suspense we had lamb cutlets with couscous, sounds boring, but then you add the rest. The lamb cutlets were marinated in the new Master Foods Marinade in the Moroccan flavour and the couscous was made with tarragon, vegetable stock, onion and sun-dried tomatoes. Quite surprisingly, Charli loved both the lamb and the couscous whilst it took a little convincing and a little bribery (icecream and strawberries) and a little if you don't eat it by the time the monkeys wake up you wont get any icecream and strawberries to get Paige to eat the couscous. All in all, a total success. I am sure that will now go on our high rotation list as it seems to be healthy and yummy.

Then the day was ended by Paige getting her knee stuck in her bed....but that is another story for another day.

Thumbsucking

My youngest is a thumbsucker....the problem is, she is now 2.5yrs old. When the older one was 2.5yrs old, she no longer had a dummy, so why should Charli still be able to have her thumb (yes I do realise it is attached to her which makes it not so easy to get rid of). We decided that we should try to get her to stop sucking her thumb, or at least start now or she will be sucking it forever and while it is really cute the way she sucks her thumb and rubs her nose with her puppy's ear, it would not be so cute if she were 18. So far we have been doing ok, when she is told to take her thumb out, she simply does it and says "ok" sometimes she follows up with "Thumb in Mama" and when I say no she says "ok". The best one so far is when I told her to take her thumb out and she said "ok, finger in?" holding up her pinkie finger.....very funny. Anyway, it has been 2 days so we will keep going with telling her to take it out and see how we go. Updates to follow.

Bunkbed Chaos

Bunkbeds are pretty much the only way that we can get both the girls into full size beds in their tiny bedroom. The only other way was to get a bed with a trundle and that would be a pain. Before I bought the bunkbeds I did a lot of research as I wanted to make sure that the ones I bought were as safe as possible. Anyway, I ended up deciding on one that has a really low bottom bunk and the top one is not too high and has a guard rail the whole way around, no gaps apart from the ladder.

What I didn't take into account however, is the 5 year old who thought that it would be really fun to try and do a backflip off the top bunk using the ladder as her brace. She slid down the ladder backwards and head first only to land, surprisingly to her, on her head. The funny thing was, as usual, she was wearing a headband so now she has a 10cm rail line on her head from where the teeth of the headband pushed into her head when she landed on it. Oh and to top it all off, there was blood.....oh dear, end of the world, epic stuff.

Whilst it wasn't very funny at the time, 15 hours later, I am starting to see the funny side. 10 minutes later, she was putting on another head band and told me in very certain tones that she would not be trying that again.....at least, not until next time. I just reminded her to take off her headband next time.

Staying up too late

Why is it that I always stay up too late. I know I need to get some sleep, but I just keep getting distracted by other unimportant things.....