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ICYMI: Back At It

Happy New Year! I am starting off this year with a recap post of last week… in-case-you-missed-it-small

Back To School: Georgia Peach and the Coach headed back to school! I was happy to finally answer, “Yes!” to GP’s morning question, “Is it a school day?”. She asked us the same question almost daily during her break. She was excited to reunite with her teachers and friends!

We hope her enthusiasm for school and learning continues for years to come. Or at least for the remainder of the school year. 🙂

Back To Work: I started a new position and could not be happier! I am so excited to work with this group and really looking forward to the work I get to do with them. My last position allowed me to work from home, so naturally I had to make some adjustments to working in an office….with other people. Outside of the most obvious adjustment, the dress code, I had a little hiccup with my usual music routine. I enjoy listening to music while I work and I noticed that the majority of my co-workers did too. So when the battery on my iPad Mini needed to be recharged, I decided to listen to music on my phone.

I unplugged my headphones from my iPad and tapped the Pandora music app on my phone.Unfortunately, the app started immediately and this song began to play loudly from my phone! Imagine quietly working at your desk and all of a sudden you hear…”Dirty South! Can y’all really feel me?” from the newbie’s desk! I frantically tried to silence my phone by swiping and fumbling with the screen. I had no idea what lyrics were next! Side note: Plugging my headphones into the phone never crossed my mind!

Luckily, only one person turned around to see what was happening. Everyone else…had on their headphones! Whew.

Back To The Drawing Board: After finding a temporary Nanny for GP for my recent jury duty, we were thrilled when we were able to land her as our full-time Nanny. Two days into my new position, Fit Nanny calls to tell me that she is quitting to take a job at her boyfriend’s company. Honestly, I wasn’t as upset about it as I would have been in the past (I know, who am I?). Maybe it was all the Nanny drama we had been through in the past that has left me numb? I don’t know. But, she explained that she had been a Nanny since moving to the US and wanted to try something new. Without experience, she was having a hard time making the transition. So, while I have no idea how I am going to tell GP she is getting a new Nanny (she LOVES her), I am happy Fit Nanny will be doing something she really wants to do. I know how that feels! 🙂

Back to the Blog: December is a difficult month for me so, I was mostly silent as the end of the year approached. My mom’s birthday, her favorite holiday, the anniversary of her death and funeral all fall in December. This year she would have celebrated her 65th birthday and for whatever reason that fact alone put me in a mini tailspin at the beginning of the month. Which I know is okay. But it was difficult balancing my joy of the season and the pain of not being with my favorite lady. Unfortunately, I know many of you share similar journeys of personal loss and together we take it on, one day at a time. Writing always makes me feel more connected to my mother so, I’m back! I will not only write here but, I will be branching out to other publications this year.

See you in a few days! I have a couple of posts I never published chilling in draft mode, so more is on the way. Thanks for reading!

 

Photo Credit: ImageChef.com

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Not Exactly…An Art Project

Now that I have some extra time, (I was laid off after being employed at a company for 7.5 years earlier this month), I have been spending the majority of it with the Coach (we are BOTH actively looking for new jobs!) and gearing Georgia Peach (GP) up for preschool.  One of the ways we are preparing is doing a daily activity/project with her.  Some know that my beloved Mother was a devoted and amazing Teacher, so I try to channel her loving spirit when working with GP on her letters, numbers/counting, shapes, colors, songs, and art projects. 🙂

On this special day, I decided to dust off the Baby Hand Print Kit we received as a BABY SHOWER GIFT (yes, we know GP is two) and see if GP and I could make some memories.  We definitely made a memory! Just ask the Coach, he walked in on the action as it was unfolding.

I followed the instructions to the letter or so I thought…

  1. Mix the contents of the bag with ⅔ water in the plastic container until smooth.~Got it.

  2. Let the mixture set for 2-3 mins~Okay. Let’s get some water while we wait.

  3. Press child’s hand in the mixture for 10 seconds and remove, works best when the child is asleep~She doesn’t need to be asleep! But something doesn’t seem right…

  4. Let the plaster dry in the container for 3 hours.

Here is what we ended up with…Hand Print Art Project?

I helped GP trace her name in the plaster with a pencil.

Art project fail.

At least GP had fun and the Coach had a good time laughing at us. 🙂

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Mommy, hugs?

A few weeks ago, our Nanny (formerly known as Junk Food Nanny-she has traded the Funyuns for salads and fruit smoothies!) asked if we could watch her son while she and her husband went out. We love their son, he has been apart of our lives since he was born, he is now 15 months so not a problem, right?

Wrong.

Enter the wild card aka our little Georgia Peach.  Now, she plays with the Nanny’s son EVERYDAY. She shares her toys with him, she is kind to him, they go to storytime every week together. So, what could be the issue?

Me.

Apparently, the idea of me taking care of another baby es no bueno for GP. Here is a snippet of how our little genius would play me.  If she noticed that our Nanny’s son was in my arms she would say…

“Mommy, hugs?”  I would bend down to hug her (with our Nanny’s son still in my arms) and the then she would and say, “Up, Mommy”.  She got me. Now, I am walking around with 2 toddlers in my arms.

How do parents with kids close in age or even the same age manage?

My sweet sweet Cousin and her Husband have two boys 10 months apart, the youngest is one of my Godsons, they definitely have their hands full on a daily basis. So, when I was in the throes of 1 of 4 tantrums from GP, I thought…do we REALLY want to add another child to our family? Can we handle it? More importantly, can I handle it?

Yeah, no.  We can not handle it. 🙂

The Coach was asleep through most of the episodes but, was awaken to my teapot whistling (yeah, I thought I was going to have some tea), a barking dog, and a screaming child (GP).  He comes into GP’s room where I was putting her pajamas on but, she was not having it and sees our Nanny’s son happily playing with GP’s crib.

The Coach: So, you still want to have another baby?

Me:  Right now, might not be the best time to ask me. I have no idea how our Nanny does this everyday!  And just think, The Incredibles (our very close friends whom we love and adore-we nicknamed them after the movie cause they are umm, incredible parents) have FOUR kids! God Bless ’em!

Our Nanny’s son is teething and his parents warned me that he may be a little irritable. No worries, we are prepared.  GP almost has a complete set of teeth so we have been through the worst of it. When I tell you he was an absolute angel, believe me he was!  He played with GP in between her tantrums, let me read books to him, ate like a champ, allowed me to brush his teeth, and went to sleep easily.

IMG-20130527-01243Our GP, well not so much…let’s just say she made a very convincing argument for being an only child that night.

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Who Knew?

This may sound pretty creepy but, I am a bit of a stan.  Most people know that I am slightly obsessed with our daughter-in-a-good-and-well-meaning-Mommy-kind-of-way. I am always looking for ways for her to positively interact with other kids around her age.  Since my attempt to join a Mommy Group was an epic fail.  Mommy’s gotta keep it moving.  So, recently, I have been aggressively looking into different play environments outside of storytime at the library  for Georgia Peach (GP).  Big thanks to Junk Food Nanny (who has been eating salads lately) for taking our Southern Belle every week!

First, we tried one of the Plantation playgrounds (you read it correctly, check it out here).

Each time we went, we were the only 2 people there. Kinda defeats the purpose but, I like hanging with my little Mama so, always time well spent. Besides its easier to ‘catch’ GP when she attempts to walk down the slide instead of actually sliding down it. 😉

Next, we tried one of the mall playgrounds. It went a little like this…

Upon arrival we parked the stroller in the designated area, read the rules, loaded up on antibacterial, removed her tiny shoes, secured our belongings (we don’t know these people), and entered the playground.  We both observed the scene. There were about 15 kids ranging from 12 months to 8 years old.  But as with any social setting/event there are a couple of standouts in the crowd.  The same goes with the little ones.

We immediately noticed two boys terrorizing another boy. They were chasing, tackling, dragging him by one leg and one arm, pouncing on him then stopping when his whining and crying started to attract too much attention. As soon as they released the little boy, they would ‘find’ him again. Problem with this was he kept running to the same place…his Mother.  Learn little boy, learn!  Turns out all of these boys were brothers. After a few concerned looks from other Parents, the Mother asked the brothers to play nicely.  Clearly she doesn’t care if the Menendez Brothers take the little one out.  Better watch your back, Momma.  You and Dad could be next.

Before we had a chance to recover, the next Lindsay Lohan runs up to GP grabs her shoulders and screams in her face.  Stunned, we both looked at her like Little Lindsay was cray cray.  I bent down to politely tell little Miss Congeniality to take her hands off my kid while GP just looked at her like she was missing a few marbles.  Around this time, ‘Lindsay’s’ Dad comes over to redirect her energy elsewhere.  Thanks for the help, Dr. Huxtable.

Despite the rocky start, GP had a good time.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago…

I was working in my home office (my desk faces the window overlooking our street) when I saw a woman I hadn’t seen before walking with her two children.  One was driving a little car and the other was in a Moby.  The little boy driving his car seemed to be close to GP’s age and was actually listening to his Mother’s directions.  Where has this family been hiding? How can I meet these people?   After about a week of seeing them every day around the same time walking past our house, I took matters into my own hands.

The next time I saw the Neighborhood Mom and her little ones walk past our house I would have to stop them.  But how?  I would probably freak out if this happened to GP and I, but this is what I did to this well-meaning family….

When I saw them coming, I threw on my jacket and hat, put on my shoes, ran downstairs and out into our garage, whipped the garage door open, started running down the driveway and across the street toward this innocent family all while waving my arms and yelling, “Excuse me, excuse me!”

The Neighborhood Mom stopped and asked her son to stop driving his car as well (very cute kid by the way).  He did and politely chilled as I began my ridiculous rant.  I started explaining how we have been looking for well-behaved age appropriate kids in our area for GP to play with and how I would love to get to know her and see if GP and her son would enjoy playing together.  She was very gracious and agreed to let me know when they planned to take their early evening walk so the kids could meet and we could get to know each other.

The introduction went as well as it can go for a nearly 2 and 3-year-old and I enjoyed meeting the Neighborhood Mom too!  Everything was going great until she says, “I wish we would have met sooner, WE ARE MOVING in about a month.”  Come. ON!

Turns out, it is only a 20 minute drive to their new neighborhood so, we can manage it.

But, who knew the lengths I would go through to ensure we had a socially balanced well-adjusted mini genius?

The adventures continue… 🙂

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More Cheetos, Please?

Now, our precious precious child has been on a plane more than most children her age and at the end of each flight we have been complemented and showered with praise for our well-mannered Princess.  I knew this model behavior couldn’t last forever given that Georgia Peach (GP) is a very active toddler and is known to throw a tantrum like a Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs Annual White Party.  They. Are. Epic.  I was prepared for the flight well, at least I thought I was…

Here’s how GP challenged my readiness.

In the terminal before the flight, I decided it would be a good idea to feed GP.  Now, she has these great food pouches that travel well and she can feed herself with ease. Lately, she has been extremely fickle about having them though.  One minute she loves them the next she has thrown the entire pouch in a mini fit of rage.

On this day, she hates them.

No problem.  I anticipate this potential objection and BOOM have an old stand by ready…cereal.  She eats like the Southern Belle she is until she decides to kick my hand and there goes the food.  NICE.  GP thinks this is hilarious. I do not. Luckily, I pack food for GP like we could get stranded for a day or two so I was able to quickly regroup and get her a fresh pack.  Of course by this time, she is not interested in eating.  Maybe she wants some milk, I thought.

She tosses the sippy cup.

I know my girl and caught it before it hit the disgusting airport terminal germ infested 1982 installed carpet.  I get the nod for boarding early and move to the front of the line.  Thank you, Lord!  We make our way to the end of the jet way, I collapse the stroller and walk to our seat.  I put our stuff down and head to the closet aka the airplane restroom to change Lil Mama’s diaper.  We make it back to our seat to greet the grand prize winner…the lady seated in the seat next to us.

GP begins the flight in true Princess fashion.  Sweet and charming, talking and playing until about 30 minutes left in the flight when all hell breaks loose.  I still have no idea what happened.  One minute she is calm the next I’m holding a straight back screaming child.

Me: Do you want more milk? I sign to her

She pushes it away.

Me: Do you want to play with this cool toy?

She throws it on the ground (goodbye toy, you are now dead to us). Crying and screaming escalates.

Me: Do you want to play with the iPad?

This is what she is really wants to say to me….if she could speak English.

GP: Umm no, I don’t want that stupid sippy cup with the soy milk you make me drink because I can’t “handle” the cow’s milk.  And no, I don’t want to play with that tired old toy you brought for me, I’m over that toy.  It’s for 12 month olds, I’m 18 months old now…learn me Mommy!  And if you show me the Phonics Song ONE MORE TIME on the iPad today well…you already know….I’m TIRED!! Please let me sleep. Mommy!!!

I get it!

She is still crying and thrashing when the lady next to us touches GP’s foot and starts talking to her.  My kid starts to calm down like I have been doing NOTHING to help her this entire time.  At this point, I’m over it.  I’ll take any help I can get!  GP calms down and falls asleep.  Just in time for the Pilot to announce we are 20 minutes from landing.  Seriously?

Best part…we have a connecting flight. So here is a rundown of the high points:

  • The Gate Agent acts like I am muy loco by trying to board the flight when ‘passengers who need extra time’ are invited to board.  Umm, I need extra time.  Denied.
  • GP decides she wants to ‘eat’ my Cheetos.  She has two teeth so, her version of eating is sucking the cheese off and placing her gross used Cheetos in my bag from the store.  She gets a bit too ambitious with one and bites off a little and… throws up in my hand.  Excuse me, did you just puke in my hand?  This does not phase her…she keeps it moving. More Cheetos please.
  • Like an idiot, I  have on a white shirt so I have orange Cheetos dust all over my shirt.
  • GP keeps taking off her shoes and socks so, I let her keep them off.  Sure she looks like a Hillbilly but, I’m tired and hungry.  Besides I don’t look any better with my cheese accented shirt.  My Little Hillbilly!

Next time, I’ll bring the right toys for you and skip the Cheetos. XO 🙂

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And The Party Never Stops…

Actual text from Junk Food Nanny…

I hope you guys had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Can you please see if the dates December 19-January 7 work for you for the Christmas Holiday?

What the what?  I’m pretty sure in bizarro world this time period is actually the norm for a holiday vacation. Where I come from?  It’s  job abandonment!  🙂

Luckily, we were able to come to a quick agreement on adjusted dates for their  ‘European Holiday’ to…OHIO.

Seriously?

Nevertheless, we love you Junk Food Nanny.  Happy Holidays!

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