So, I was talking to the Ladies over at one of my favorite charities about an upcoming event. I was holding Dubs’ and noticed he needed a diaper change. We finished our conversation, I said my good-byes and headed to the truck to change his diaper.
Here is a recap of the last few months in and around the plantation:
When we last “spoke”, I had just started a new job at a small CPA firm. Excited to expand my skills and actually do something I was truly passionate about, writing and fundraising, I jumped right in…into Tax Season!
Who knew the next four months of my life would be eerily similar to football season, the TV/spectator football season. Anyone with any experience living the vida fútbol loco knows that football season starts well before and goes beyond what you see on TV.
Happy Flashback Friday! 🙂
This year marked my first Valentine’s Day…with a Preschooler. A week before the big day, GeoriaPeach’s Teacher sent the Parents an email with some details for the celebration:
The party would be small and just for the kids (the last few parties families attended)
Send Valentine’s Day cards with your Child’s name in the from column only and,
Respond via email if you would be sending a treat for the class.
Perfect! Sounds easy enough.
I responded to GP’s teacher indicating that I would send some brownies bites (my contribution in ensuring the kids went home with the right amount of sugar). Now, before you judge me…I have been VERY good with sending wholesome snacks for celebrations and parties. I thought, a couple of brownies won’t hurt, right? I pulled out some old Valentine’s Day cards I had lying around the house, signed them with GP’s government name and put them in her bag for school. Simple enough for a class of 7 two year-olds, right?
Oh, Clueless Mommy, when will you learn??
When I walked into GP’s classroom to pick her up I was horrified to see ALL the cute gifts (she even got a book) and treats she had gotten from her classmates! They wouldn’t even all fit in her book bag.
All I sent were cheesy Sports Themed cards, which aren’t exactly a reflection of her current interests or activities. Boo! She loves ballet, Doc McStuffins and Bubble Guppies.
But the absolute best part of the day was this conversation with GP’s Teacher.
Teacher: You guys must not give GP donuts?
Me: No, it is a pretty rare occasion if she has one. Why? What happened?
Teacher: Well, one of the Parents brought in some Munchkins for our party. She ate 3 of them right away so, we had to cut her off. We cleaned her face and clothes, she had powdered sugar all over.
Me (laughing): Oh, Lord!
I turned to look at GP, she and the other girls were running around in a circle out of control. I guess the other Mom thought, a couple of donuts won’t hurt, right?
I felt like Ricky Bobby.
Karma.
When I became a Mommy, there were many things I looked forward to experiencing as a parent. But, there was one thing the Coach and I decided on up front that he would take the lead on when the time was right.
Watching animated movies with Georgia Peach(GP).
Couple of little known facts about me…
I accept your judgement. 😉
The latter truly baffles The Coach. From time to time, he will see a title to one of these “amazing” movies and ask me with the tiniest bit of hope the SAME question only to be disappointed with my response, “No, I haven’t seen that movie, either.”
Sure, I have seen a couple since becoming an Adult but, I can count the ones I have watched from start to finish on one hand.
As a side note, we are aware that in a game night situation if the category of Disney or Animated movies comes up, I can offer limited assistance. The problem is that we are pretty competitive and have been known to randomly practice different trivia categories so we are ready to win when we get the call. So, I’m not sure what is more disturbing, the fact that we practice or that we haven’t actually been invited to a game night as a couple. We obviously need some friends here otherwise we will have to keep traveling to FL and IL to play with our family. 🙂
Back to these movies…so, my thought was that when Georgia Peach was old enough to see one of these movies, I would buy the tickets for them. Their first Daddy/Daughter Movie Date, cute right?
Obviously, I am too slow for them. Check out one of the gifts GP got for Christmas from her Daddy, a DVD. I suppose it doesn’t matter that she hasn’t seen the first movie of the series?
At any rate, I guess she was old enough on Wednesday. And so, it begins…
Sometimes the encouragement you need comes from an unexpected source. 🙂
Thanks to the amazing staff at Lululemon (slightly obsessed with the brand by the way) in Jacksonville, FL for their hospitality. Here’s hoping I am able to post actual content earlier than 11:59p tomorrow. National Blog Posting Month aka NaBloPoMo is proving to be a little more challenging than I hoped, but tomorrow is another day!
For the past three months, I have been living in a semi state of fear…of my two-year old.
Here’s the long and short of it…
One day while Georgia Peach (GP) was playing she accidentally knocked over her tower of Lego’s and I thought I heard her say something when they fell. I brushed it off and kept it moving. A few days past and while drinking her water GP spilled some on the floor and as clear as day…I heard what I thought I heard her say the other day.
“Oh, sh*&!!”
What??? No no no no no no no! The room started spinning! I freaked out and said to GP, “DON’T SAY THAT!!”.
I started to panic.
She started to cry. 😦
I immediately start apologizing, hugging, and consoling my sweet girl. I knew she heard someone say it and I was determined to get to the bottom of who had turned my Southern Belle into a two-year old trucker. I knew it wasn’t her fault.
The reality of the situation started to settle into my brain. Did we just become THOSE parents? You know what I’m talking about. We have all witnessed a little one saying something a tad bit naughty and perhaps thinking (I’m just saying, I have) ‘What is that kid’s parents teaching him/her? Terrible.’ Now, the problem is in my house. I can hear our neighbors now, “Georgia Peach has always been such a sweet girl. We can’t believe it. Things like this never happen in our neighborhood…” 😉
To add to my angst one tiny additional detail…she was scheduled to start preschool at a Christian school in a few weeks. She is going to get kicked out the first week! We will be on the local news.
I started with the Coach. After I explained to him what happened, he told me that I probably heard her incorrectly and she was likely saying, ‘shirt’. After all she is only two and still working on speaking to us fluently in English (we are pretty sure her current language is a mix between French and Chinese). Nope. I know what I heard and it wasn’t ‘shirt’. Besides, she used it in the right context. Who says, “Oh, shirt!”?
At this point, I am living in fear. I’m worried that something will trigger the phrase and I will be outed as a terrible Mommy.
A few days past and I dropped something on the floor and without thinking, I said, “Oh sh*&!”.
Nooooooo. Aww man, it was me! I am the bad influence on my precious angel. I like how I didn’t think to consider myself as the culprit in this entire situation. Seriously, I’m an idiot.
I tried a number of ways to correct the problem when finally the Coach came up with a solution that stuck. Anytime we heard her say well you know, we corrected her and replaced it with…
‘Oh, shu shu!’
It worked! For us both. 😉 And just in time to start preschool.
Now, even though we have moved past it, I still have “Mommy Shame” about the entire situation. I am just relieved GP only shared her new words with us. Whew!
So, the Coach was visiting my Mother In Law and decided to spend another night with her. When the Coach travels, our house becomes unbalanced aka wacky house. Both Georgia Peach (GP) and Coco Bean (our Yorkie) respond in their own special way.
Coco will sit upstairs in a chair that overlooks the driveway and street until the Coach returns. He will go out to do his “business”, eat, and drink some water only to resume his post until the Coach is home. Kinda sweet.
Our little Georgia Peach will go into every room in the house calling for “Daddy” when she thinks it’s time for him to be home. Normally, I can distract her with her bedtime routine but, this particular night she had other things planned for her naive Mommy.
After putting her down for what I thought was the night, an hour later I hear… “Helloooo? Helloooo? Mommy!”
I walk to her room to find GP standing up in her crib. I check the room temperature, her diaper, her blankets, her “baby” doll all fine. I kiss her, lay her back down, walk out of the room, and close her door. For the next FIVE hours we do the “My Daddy Didn’t Kiss Me Goodnight So It’s Your Problem Now, Mommy” dance.
Frustrated and exhausted (and by this time laying on the couch) I sent a text to the Coach.
Me: Your child has been up every hour since I laid her down. Checked everything, she is fine. So tired.
The Coach: I’m sorry, babe. If you checked and she is fine, next time don’t go in there, just let her get back to sleep on her own. She will be fine.
Me: Okay, I’ll try it.
Twenty minutes later… “Helloooo? Helloooo? Mommy! MomMEEEE! Helloooo Hi!! Mommy!”
Then, she starts to cry and the ‘Hellos’ become louder and funnier (don’t judge me, if you heard it you would agree, funny!). I was chuckling quietly on the couch when she stops crying and I think, “Wow, the Coach might actually be onto something.”
That’s when I heard it…
THUMP!
I think I stopped breathing! My heart was pounding in my chest as I ran into her room to find that my TWO YEAR OLD had revolted and climbed/jumped/fell out of her crib (she hasn’t even tried to climb out of the crib up until this point so, seriously?)!
I picked her up frantically checking her head, eyes, ears, arms, legs at the same time kissing and hugging her. GP didn’t cry at all, put her head on my shoulder, and went back to sleep. I laid her down in her crib and went back to the couch.
Obviously, I didn’t go back to sleep. I was freaked out and afraid Georgia Peach would slip into a coma or something so spent the rest of the night checking on her. Of course, I sent a text to the Coach which by this time was fast asleep in FL so, he didn’t see the message until he woke up.
Me: Ummm, your Baby JUMPED out of her crib. I no longer take advice from you.
Seriously, I Didn't Know 