Dummy Dilemma

Headbanger, who will be two in a few months, is hooked on her dummy/pacifier, even though she only gets it when she sleeps. I would be happy for this to continue, but she often wakes up during naps and in the middle of the night and can't find the beloved pacifier. She then starts to cry, waking everyone up, and continues to cry until I find it and give it back to her. I've used pacifier tethers, clips and strings, but she knows how to remove them and usually does.

I would really like to get rid of the pacifier but I'm dreading all of the crying that will happen before she learns to live without it. I have a goal of throwing the last one in the bin by the end of the month, but I doubt that I'll have to resolve to do it.

So I need to hear your dummy tips and experiences. Are there ways to make this process less painful? Should we just throw it out and make her go cold turkey?

Potty Kitty

Before becoming a parent, I often imagined parental work as changing lots and lots of diapers. Now that I changed lots and lots of diapers for two children, its really not so bad. In fact, its probably one of the easier things that I do. Still, it would be nice to cut down on some of that work and not to have to buy so many diapers. Headbanger has been showing signs of potty training preparedness for some time, and yesterday I finally bought our first potty.

My goal for today is to get her to sit on the potty and she got there, though I started out a little too fast. I got her pajamas and diaper off and sat her on the potty and she started to freak out. She was clearly bothered by the fact that I was asking her to sit on a hole. Not wanting to traumatize her forever, I got her dressed and we left the bathroom. Since then, she has returned to the potty and started to play with it and gradually they are becoming friends. Kitty, her favorite toy, has even spent some time in the hole and has shown Headbanger that its not so bad. After that, Headbanger worked up the courage to sit on the potty, which she has now done a number of times, though fully clothed.

So for those of you who have done this before or observed the process - how do I proceed?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Wise men are tasty...

Food. Its what's for dinner

I read the Salt Lake Tribune online most days - or at least look at the headlines. In the last few months, there have been several articles on food pantries. Apparently, food pantries in the USA have received fewer donations this year while demand for food pantry services climbs in the midst of the recession.

Yesterday, I happened to drive by our local food pantry just before it opened. There was a long line of families on the pavement, with a number of mothers holding pre-school age children in their arms. This particular pantry has been holding a lot of food drives in an effort to meet the increasing need.

So chicken little's advice for today is to consider donating to your local food pantry. If you don't feel comfortable or able to give money, please consider a donation of non-perishable food items. Perhaps you've got some cans in your own pantry that you could give. Food. Its what's for dinner...

A Second-Hand Christmas

This is the first Christmas is years that will be a proper Christmas for my family. We've moved during the last few and I'm excited to be at home and looking forward to establishing some of our own Christmas traditions. Hairbaby, who is only 5 months old, will be too young to remember it, but Headbanger is almost 20 months old and will be able to appreciate the fun of big family meals, decorating and opening presents.

As the kids are still very young and will play with anything, I've been trying to find second-hand toys to give them. I've been looking on Ebay, but have had better luck on Craigslist. Last week, I bought a Little People Car Garage set for Headbanger for $10. Its in good shape and it retails for about $30-$40.

Flashlight and I feel that saving money is important this year. New gifts will be kept to a minimum and we'll spend a lot of time making candies and other treats. We've also decided that every Christmas season from now on will involve a Lord of the Rings Extended Edition marathon.

What are your holiday traditions and how will you be saving money this year?

Defeating the Sunday Morning Mommy Monster

Ever since I posted about my Sunday morning struggles, I've been trying to slay the Sunday Morning Mommy Monster. I took an objective look at the time between waking up and leaving the house and observed the following things:

1. I spend a lot of time looking for shoes - baby shoes (2 pairs) and my own. They get lost because Headbanger likes to play with them during the week. She puts individual shoes in her secret hiding places, like the kitchen cabinets, and then I can never find what I need. This, more than any other thing, triggers the monster within to start raging.

2. I spend some time trying to find the pieces to cute baby/toddler outfits. It takes me at least ten minutes to decide what outfits the girls should wear and then find matching tights.

3. The diaper bag is never as ready as I think it is. There are always lots of last-minute additions.

4. 50% of the time, Headbanger pulls her pony tails out before we even get to church, so its not worth spending a lot of time on them.

Solution: find the baby shoes the night before, set out the girls' outfits the night before and get started on the diaper bag the night before and don't stress about toddler hair.

During the last few weeks, I've been trying to get organized on Saturday nights and its helped a lot. I can't say that the Sunday Morning Mommy Monster is absolutely dead or that we've arrived at church perfectly on time, but we're getting there. This past Sunday, we even arrived at church during the opening prayer and I wasn't feeling stressed at all. We're making a lot of progress and when Flashlight sees me putting in the effort, he tries harder too.

How have slain your inner demons?

Threats and bribbery

I have a problem. I can not get anything from my kids unless I threaten them of being spanked, or I promise them something they would really like (like a piece of chocolate). That is how they go to bed or they tidy up the living room. When they are doing something obviously bad (like hurting their younger sibling), I have nothing better than to tell them:"Stop that immediately or you'll be spanked. I count to three, ONE, TWO, " and they usually scurry away at THREE. My problem is the following : they start doing the same thing between them, and this is obviously not right. When they tell their sibling, "if you don't come play with me, I won't let you play with my brand new birthday gift anymore". What should I do? How do you do to foster a positive atmosphere into your house? Why do people need to threaten each others? Fortunately, the relationship between Monsieur and me is based on sound grounds of love and speechless cooperation. Why can not it be the same between my children and me? And why are they so cute when they are sleeping and you forget everything!!