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I am the Bag Lady, Goo Goo G'Joob

May 28, 2010 by melissa

Before I start my bag lady rant, let me state for the record that I had NO CLUE the Beatles song said “Goo Goo G’Joob.” Since the dawn of time, I thought it was “Cuckoo Ka-choo.” I’m sure everyone older than me is snickering because they knew that already and everyone younger than me doesn’t even know what the hell I’m talking about. I’m just crushed that it’s not Cuckoo though. For realz.

The diaper bag. My purse. Big Roo’s backpack for daycare. Little Roo’s bag for daycare. The breast pump bag. My work laptop bag. Daddy Roo’s laptop bag. Reusable shopping bags.

That list would have been what Bubba rattled off to Forrest Gump if he were a mama instead of a shrimper.

It’s like I’m a hoarder. But I’m not.

I’m just a mama with two kids under 4.

Bags are taking over my entire downstairs floor. I’m running out of places to put the darn things. One sits precariously on a bar stool, others are scattered on extra chairs at the kitchen table. The backpack gets stuffed in the hall closet. And the rest get perpetually dumped to the left of the door of our first floor master bedroom.

THEY ARE TAKING OVER MY HOUSE and I don’t know what to do about it. I just know that one day I’m going to reach into my “purse” to pay for a gallon of milk and I’ll pull out a breast pump part instead of a wallet.

Goo Goo G’Joob.

Filed Under: Mommy Ramblings Tagged With: bag lady, bubba would understand, Mommy Ramblings

What I Learned Over Christmas Break about Schedules, TV and Getting Outside

January 20, 2010 by melissa

Okay, so it’s mid-January now. But I can’t get Christmas break out of my head, from the few days in our hometown to the aftermath of getting home. Big Roo was absolutely crazy-hyper like I’ve never seen him. From someone who’s used to an active yet relatively well-behaved two year old, I wasn’t sure what the hell happened.

Christmas break at daycare this year added up to about a week and a half. During that time, there were plenty of quality moments – spending time with family, watching Big Roo open his presents, goofing-off with the grandparents. But there were also two-year-old meltdowns, hitting and kicking for no apparent reason and general i-can’t-stand-still-and-look-like-i’m-doing-the-pee-pee-dance-all-the-time hyperness. I was bewildered, many times in tears of frustration. The chill, funny Big Roo gave way to a defiant, cranky Big Roo, especially when we got back home from our trip to visit family.

On the first Monday of 2010, daycare resumed and everything settled down for the most part. But Christmas break kept gnawing at me. What did we do wrong? Is he ALWAYS like this and I just didn’t realize it because he’s in daycare 5 days a week? Surely, I knew my kid. But guilty working mama was creeping in with all the “what ifs.” He wasn’t typically like this on the weekends nor before and after work.

At the risk of sounding like I didn’t know my own kid, I explained my concerns to his daycare teachers and asked if he’s been acting like this lately. To my relief, his behavior seemed to be a fluke. Apparently all the kids had been a little more hyper in the days before Christmas and for the first few days of coming back into the daycare routine. Whew!

So I thought about this some more and realized it was the cumulation of not sticking to my own parenting tactics regarding three things that doomed us: schedules, TV and getting outside. Smack a big “DUH” on my forehead, right? We’ll just call this all the reinforcement I’ll ever need to keep my parenting skills from slipping into an abyss.

Here’s what I learned from what I’ve affectionately dubbed “The Toxic Threesome.”

Keeping Sleep Schedules
I know the importance of schedules. I really do. But when we’re herding ourselves through our hometown – from my mother’s house, my father’s house and my in-laws – IN ONE DAY – schedules get tossed out with the Christmas wrapping paper. Naps pretty much became non-existent and bedtime became 9:30 or later instead of 8:00ish. We ate at odd times too and at all sorts of different places. Our prize for all this foolishness was that Big Roo turned into a hyperactive terror.

When we got home, I assumed things would go back to normal. But even though daycare was closed the week after Christmas, I still had to work. I was trying to save up vacation for my maternity leave and Daddy Roo had a massive deadline due on 12/30. Luckily, I got permission to work from home the entire week after Christmas. Sweet! I’d get to spend some time with Big Roo, weaving work in and out throughout the day. I knew I could count on a nap to plug away as well.

Instead, naps didn’t come for most of the week and when they did they were REALLY late, knocking off our evening schedule. I’ll save you the details but it all resulted in a cranky, off-his-schedule kid.

What did I learn? I learned that while we don’t have to be militant about naptime and bedtime (OMG- it’s 8:03 and he’s not in bed yet!), we still need to stick to some sort of sleep schedule when we travel. And yes, that means that family visits get spread out instead of every grandparent seeing Big Roo every day we’re there. It’ll be inconvenient to us and probably inconvenient to other people too. But with Little Roo arriving, the schedule calls for a little respect from all of us.

Limiting Television
Again, I know that too much television isn’t a good thing for kids (or anyone really). And typically Big Roo watches maybe an hour a day and sometimes even less. But during the week that I worked from home, all bets were off. He watched DVRed shows such as Jungle Junction and Mickey’s Christmas. Over and over. While this let me squeeze in some work here and there, I DO think it contributed to his rambunctiousness.

In fact, I was researching and found this Baby Center article perfectly titled “Should I worry if my 2-year-old can’t sit still?” which explained that TV “while sometimes calming, does little to encourage active attention.” AMEN to that!

What did I learn? I learned that I need to come up with more ways to entertain Big Roo if and when I’m ever working from home. This goes for other times too when Daddy Roo and I are trying to get something done in the house. Pull out the books, the toys, the puzzles… anything but more TV. While I still don’t believe that TV is evil, I’ll be more aware of the amount of TV he watches because it really does seem to make him more hyper.

Getting Outside
Christmas break was frickin’ COLD. I’m a Southern wuss when it comes to cold weather, which is why living in Phoenix didn’t bother me one bit. Being outside when it’s below 30 is NO FUN unless it’s snowing and then I can only take so much. Cold temps combined with trying to squeeze some work productivity out of my workday meant that we just didn’t get outside.

Oh yes, I also can’t forget that I’m pregnant and had been quite sore for a few weeks there, turning myself into Mama Lazy Bones. So, no park, no walks, not even running around the backyard. Instead, we were inside and antsy with a small dose of cabin fever.

What did I learn? Even if when I’m busy, even when it’s bitingly cold out (don’t mock me- 30 degree IS cold), we need to get outside. A nice stroll around the block would have done wonders for both of us. The outdoors have a calming effect and it’s been proven.

A University of Illinois study of children with ADHD found that performing activities in “green settings” can reduce symptoms. If it works for children with true attention-deficit disorders, it can surely work wonders on my kid who’s just going through a rough week. Now how’s that for an incentive to turn off the electronics and get outside?

Like I said before, all of these lessons have a hearty “duh” component to them. OF COURSE, I should stick to a schedule, OF COURSE I should limit TV, OF COURSE I need to get outside. But sometimes this little thing called life gets in the way of all that’s perfect and ideal and we have to roll with it. Too bad I rolled too far over and landed in a ditch. But at least I learned something from it all. That’s part of what parenting is all about right?

Filed Under: Mommy Ramblings Tagged With: crazy kids, going insane, Mommy Ramblings, outdoors

Why I Almost Lost It Over a Pink Lovey

December 7, 2009 by melissa

Saturday was trouble in loveyland.

Not even a week after writing this post about my son’s slowly-withering companion – a pink bear named Burt – we almost lost him forever in the cramped, crowded aisles somewhere in Toys R Us.

The plan for the day was for Daddy Roo, Big Roo and I to drive to the nearest Toys R Us to finish our toy shopping. I live in not-the-middle-of-nowhere-suburbia but for some reason the closest store was 12 miles across town. Our main mission? Get Big Roo this awesome (and majorly on sale) V-Tech Digital Camera and pick up some miscellaneous things to finish off Santa’s duty for the Roo house.

After Big Roo’s nap, we packed up and headed out on a dreary, drizzly and cold afternoon to Toys R Us. When we arrived, Big Roo as usual wanted to take Burt inside (along with the red AND blue Lightning McQueen). So we stuffed the cars in his pockets and I tossed Burt in the shopping cart.

While we were in line to check out, Big Roo started peering into the cart a wee bit too much so Daddy Roo decided to walk him around the store while I paid. As I waited in line, I heard Daddy Roo say, “We’re going to go search for a bathroom. He has to pee pee.”

I think it was here that it all went downhill.

As I was annoyingly rattling off my last three phone numbers hoping desperately that one of them was THE number I used for my Toys R Us Rewards Card (man I hate being THAT person but there I was), Daddy Roo huffed past me and muttered, “We didn’t make it.” He took Big Roo over near the exit to wait. As Big Roo turned around I saw the tell-tell sign of a kid who “didn’t make it”– a big dark spot right in the crotch! I was so flustered trying to pay and feeling hurried to get the kid home for dry pants that the cashier had to remind me to take the bag of toys!

We rushed out into the cold drizzle, strapped Big Roo in the carseat and shuffled into the car to warm up and get home. It was starting to get dark, we were getting hungry and – oh yeah – Big Roo is sitting in wet pants. We hop on the highway and sit painfully through stops, starts and red brake lights a plenty. About 15 minutes later, Big Roo proclaims “I want Burt.”

My heart sank.

My stomach dropped.

Somehow I KNEW Burt wasn’t in the car, even before I turned around. I twisted my preggo body around to scan the back seat. Then I checked the abyss between the carseat and the door. I looked everywhere but Burt was gone. He was lost somewhere among all the shiny, new toys at Toys R Us. Ah, crap.

Daddy Roo zips into the next exit lane. Time to turn around and see if Burt was a goner or not. The whole drive there my senses were acutely aware of our surroundings and it threw my annoyance level into overdrive. The rain hitting the windshield, the traffic, the fact that we weren’t quite able to go the speed limit– it was all slowing us down. My mind was racing, simultaneously trying to remember when the last time that we actually saw Burt was as well as picturing how Big Roo would go to sleep tonight if Burt wasn’t in his bed. Or the next day when Burt wasn’t there for him to squeeze when he woke up. Big Roo didn’t quite understand the severity of what was happening in loveyland, but me, well, I was freaking out. Panicking.

You can’t just buy another pink bear, roll him in the dirt, wash him a zillion times and call it Burt. No, that would be an impostor. Burt was a one-and-only. And he was currently somewhere in or near a store full of hurried December shoppers.

I tried to call Toys R Us but kept getting a busy signal. And the worst… Big Roo, a rare complainer, starts whining that he’s gotta pee pee, totally in agony trying to stop himself from going again. Miserable.

An eternity later, we arrived at the store. We drove slowly past the cart return to make sure he wasn’t lying in the wet parking lot. Nope.

We pulled into a spot then walked up to the store planning our attack: Daddy Roo would retrace our steps through the Lego aisle, PlayDoh and more, while I would ask customer service about Lost and Found. As I was waiting for someone to help me, Big Roo locks his knees together and squeals “I gotta pee pee!”

I screwed waiting and picked Big Roo up to situate him around my preggo belly. I didn’t want anyone to see his pants soaked in the front. Plus, we can get there faster this way. I start walking somewhere, anywhere hoping to spot an employee who can point me to the bathroom that eluded Daddy Roo just 30 minutes earlier. I grabbed the first person I saw, asked for the bathroom and told her we lost a pink bear. She points me to the potty and said she’d go see if someone turned him into Lost and Found.

As I was hustling to the bathroom, I swear I felt it get warm around my waist. Not sure, but I think poor Big Roo peed again.

If he did, he still managed to go again once we were in an actual stall. As we walked out of the bathroom and turned the corner, I saw the most relieving sight in recent mommy memory.

The Toys R Us employee stood there, shoulders up straight with her hands behind her back.

I just knew by the stance.

She slowly pulled a tattered pink bear known as Burt out from behind her. “Were you looking for this?” She asked Big Roo.

He grinned and grabbed Burt for a big ole hug.

My eyes watered as I gave her the thank you of all thank yous. I was pretty sure she’s returned loveys to their rightful owners before, but in our world, she was our heroine.

We ventured off to find Daddy Roo who was still on the search, collectively sighed with relief and then headed home for some dry pants. We never found out exactly where Burt was discovered or what adventures he had been on. But it really didn’t matter. The separated were again inseparable.

Whew. That was close.

Filed Under: Big Roo, Kid Stories, Mommy Ramblings Tagged With: freakout moment, loveys, Mommy Ramblings

I'm Still Thankful… Even Though It's Monday

November 30, 2009 by melissa

After an extended weekend of rushing around my hometown to see friends and family, we’re back home… unpacking, unwinding, settling down. With all the hubbub, I neglected to write a “What I’m Thankful For” post on Thanksgiving. Not that I’m breaking any sort of rule but not posting one, but I enjoy actually sitting back and reflecting because usually I’m a non-stop, what-can-I-cross-off-my-checklist sort of gal.

But hey, what better day to reflect on what I’m thankful for than the dreaded, unproductive Monday after a holiday? So here goes:

– Despite the delay the traffic accidents caused us on the drive back home, I’m thankful that our car wasn’t involved.

– I’m thankful that my dad is recovering well from a heart attack just two weeks ago.

– I’m thankful for my rambunctious, hilarious, sweet, question-asking son… my favorite part of the day is seeing him walk into our bedroom with his pink bear tucked under his arm in the mornings.

– I’m thankful that my hubby is my parent-in-crime. We share the best and the worst of parenting together. Oh yeah, and he’s more patient than I am but I’m working on it.

– I’m thankful that I have a little wonder growing safely inside me, even if he is already causing me to lose sleep.

– I’m thankful that I can visit home for the holidays and not have to pop Tylenol because of all the family-drama. We’re a pretty mellow group.

– I’m thankful for silly things like my iPhone, Christmas decorations and the fact that Scrubs seems to keep resurrecting itself.

– Something’s gotta be said for Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks- I’m thankful a friend suggested I get addicted try them.

I’m sure I missed something uber-important so, just in case, I’m thankful for that too.

Filed Under: Mommy Ramblings Tagged With: Mommy Ramblings, thankful

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About Melissa

I’m Melissa. Most people call me Mel. I’m a mama to two boys and a lover of all things outdoors. I'm a marketer who hearts good grammar. I also love Twitter, my Mac and all things techy.

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