The $300 birthday party

The $300 birthday party. Maybe $200, if you’re lucky, but by my calculations $300 is the norm for your child’s birthday nowadays. You are expected to put together an entertainment package for 8 to 15 children in your child’s class, feed them, and talk to a bunch of parents you really don’t know, while judging them for the things they let their child get away with.

Last year, I knew more of the kids and parents in my kid’s daycare class, so the $300inflatable place’s birthday party package was acceptable.  This year, I really don’t know many of the kids, and even fewer parents. Why do I have to entertain their kids one afternoon while my kid really only plays with one or two of them?

So I decided to take my kid and his best friend to Build-a-Bear and let them pick any animal they want and up to two outfits. By the time it’s done, I figure I’ll spend $100 on the bears (or whatever they decide to make), and then we’ll go to dinner so there’s another $100. But my kid gets to spend time with his really good friend and they both get lasting keepsake memories.

Good plan. But I have mom guilt. Am I doing it because I’m too lazy to do invitations and find out the names of all the kids in his class? Am I doing it because I ran out of time and never got around to actually calling a party place to book it? Am I doing it because I’m selfish and don’t want to talk to a bunch of random people I don’t know for 3 hours? Or am I doing it because I think my kid will actually enjoy this plan?

Mom guilt sucks.

Update: I held the birthday party with his best friend and they build creatures at the Build-a-bear store. They then picked out a giant slice of cookie cake at the mall. They had the BEST time. We followed it up with playground play and dinner at Chick-Fil-A. He had a great time and loved his birthday party!!

Happy mom again.

Requisite post about the Elf

Family traditions counter alienation and confusion. They help us define who we are; they provide something steady, reliable and safe in a confusing world.
   - Susan Lieberman

I got my memo to post about the Elf on the Shelf from the International Society of Imaginary Peer Pressure Among Mommy Bloggers, so here is my post.

I was at a big bookstore today getting in some more gift-getting, and happened past this new Elf parody: Elf Off the Shelf. Now, I know that you have to pick something and pull the trigger fast to capitalize on the craze, (and I was 100% behind Go the F--- to Sleep), but this parenting parody seemed like just a sad attempt.

First of all, let me state my position: I am PRO-Elf. I've had three recent conversations with moms who are anti-Elf, believing that discipline is a year-round thing, not just something meant for Christmastime.

I completely agree with this sentiment, which is why we have the Valentine's Day Candy Threat, Easter Bunny Threat, the Tooth Fairy Threat, the Halloween Candy Threat, the No-TV Threat, and any other threat that happens to potentially take away something that my child wants.Which is why I and six of the daycare moms and coworkers I've polled so far also have an Elf.

Now that I have stated my Pro-Elf position, let me now state my 2-Hour Mom position: I don't have time to be an Overachieving Elf-on-the-Shelf Mom, or post my amazing Elf-tastic moments to Pintrest (I admit to really loving this one, though).

Our elf is named Zaphod, and he changes positions most nights. I've only forgotten once, but my kid forgot to look for him that morning, so I was able to slyly reposition him while the kiddo let the dogs out.

In case you didn't know, these elves are modeled on a decoration from the 40s or 50s. My mother has about 30 of them that she used to always decorate the house with for Christmas. We'll be taking the kiddo home to my parents' house this year, so it will be absolutely hysterical to see what he thinks of so many elves hanging out at Gangee and Pappo's house! I'm hoping he finds it funny and doesn't have to have therapy later in life..


I know I'll get tired of the internet meme that is the Elf on the Shelf, but in my house, I'll never get tired of seeing my kid try to find him when he comes downstairs in the morning.

I like the elf. I'm not going to do crazy insane things with him like make pillows out of marshmallows or have him flying across the room on a helium balloon. But I like him. Traditions are fun and they make creating the memories of the holidays all that more exciting. Kudos to you overachieving Elf moms. And kudos to us busy moms who like to try, too. And uber-kudos to you other moms whose kids are just naturally well-behaved! :-)

Obligatory Elf on the Shelf post complete.

Negotiating with terrorists (I mean toddlers)

When I was a kid on vacation with my parents in Mexico, my dad would always make me do the negotiations with the street vendors when I wanted to buy souvenirs. I learned awesome expert negotiation skills to get things well below the price I actually would have paid for their wares.

My four-year-old has had no such experiences to train him in the art of negotiation, but  I find myself increasingly impressed with his negotiation skills.

Kid: “I’m done eating. I’m full.”

Me: “Eat four more bites of meat.”

Kid: “Two bites of meat and two bites of bread?”

Me: “No, four bites of meat. Then you can have bread if you want it.”

Kid: “Four bites of meat and a cookie.”

Me: “No, you said you were full. Four bites of meat and then you’re done.”

Kid: “But I’m full!”

Me: “Then just drink your milk.”

Kid: “Then I get a cookie?”

Me: “I thought you were full.”

Kid: “I am. Can I  go?”

Me: “FOUR MORE BITES OF MEAT!”

Kid: *SIGH!* “Okay.”

You get the point. Impressive, isn’t it? I’m impressed.

Grandparents and rules

I keep seeing cute little plaques in my mail order catalogs with pithy sayings like “If I had known grandchildren were so much fun, I would have had them first!” and “Grandma’s house: Let the spoiling begin.” But I thought that my parents would never be THOSE kind of grandparents. They were really fun parents, with really fun personalities and ways of teaching me unique life lessons, but they had rules. Boundaries. Sugar limitations. Enforced manners. Enforce bedtimes.

Seems that they have morphed into the grandparents that sneak their grandchild candy and cookies, let him stay up until 10pm, let him interrupt conversations, allow him to climb on furniture, and other not-how-I-remember-being-raised leniencies.  And I’m left spending the next week trying to get my kid back to normal through timeouts, spankings, and "no TV" punishments.

 I get that it’s a grandparent thing to do, so I'm not mad about it. And I chatted with a sweet 71-year-old grandmother of 4 on an airplane recently who informed me not to try to get my parents to follow any rules because it is their god-given right as grandparents to allow their grandchildren to run all over them.

So fine, I’m cool with that. 

My biggest fear is that my parents will start telling other people that my child is poorly behaved, the way I hear them talk about other people's children. My mother has already suggested that my child might have ADD - note to my mom: he is a 4-year-old boy. But when I took a peek in the pantry after their most recent stay with my son, I discovered a treasure trove of cookies and other snacks that I never let him have! And she baked him a gorgeous cake for his birthday, too. And I witnessed my mom allowing my son to interrupt her conversation on multiple occasions without making him wait his turn. And his daycare teacher reported that he was in more timeouts because he was tired and whiney and not behaving like himself on the mornings after he stayed up until 10pm. And a friend who saw my kid with parents asked if they were feeding him crack because he wouldn't stop bouncing the entire time.

So I would like to officially report to my parents that my child is not poorly behaved (most of the time), I do not let him interrupt conversations without punishment, he does go to bed at 8pm (most of the time), he does not get to have cookies and candy on a regular basis, and does not normally bounce around on all of the furniture.

Okay, that last one may not be ENTIRELY true… he *is* Spider-Man, after all.

Tantrums

A friend of mine saw the movie The Change-Up and quoted a line to me that went something like, "When your kid's acting bad and throwing a tantrum, he's tired. When someone else's kid does it, it's bad parenting."

I felt like this today and still haven't figured out which one is the right answer. Gymnastics was canceled today due to seasonal cleaning of the gym before the fall season starts, so we decided to go to a new place that is a giant building with trampolines. Loads of fun for the first 45 minutes. Then it started going downhill. Tantrum. Flinging himself on the ground. Screaming.

Note that he did tell me that "he had used up all his energy," so I can say that he probably was quite tired. I know I was dripping with sweat! But I haven't yet figured out what to do when he's so tired that he's just plain rude to other people. He stole a ball from his friend and taunted her, "I got your ball!!!!" he yelled. And she burst into tears.

I told him that I didn't pay to be there to listen to him cry and that if he wasn't planning on jumping anymore, we were leaving. But the bad mood was officially turned on and there was nothing I could do. Do I spank and remove him completely? Do I ignore it and keep having fun? If anyone has advice, I would love to hear it. It's definitely happened more than once now, so it's officially become a behavior that he believes will get him SOMETHING, but for the life of me, I can't figure out what he's trying to get with this behavior. It could be the irrational exhaustion that comes with exertion, or it could be that he's hoping to achieve some result from the tantrum.

As with most kids, the tantrum only generally occurs when he's really tired and gets told "no." Any other time, he's a good fun kid who is mostly friendly and helpful. But I feel like the way he reacts to negative news while tired is some sort of omen to his future life when something happens to him... like getting bullied, or getting fired from a job. Am I overthinking this?

Vacation preparation

Vacation preparations are so stressful!

When planning a vacation, first of all, it is helpful to know if you are driving or flying. When you don't know which mode of transportation you are taking, it greatly impacts your ability to properly pack.

If we're driving, well that involves a couple of suitcases, a beach umbrella, some duffle bags with beach toys, the car DVD player, some DVDs, snakcs, drinks, loads of activity books and car toys in a readily-accessible package.

If flying, then we're looking at getting everything into 3 suitcases with no beach umbrella and minimal carry-on bags.

So right now, as I think about our rapdily approaching end-of-summer vacation, I have to plan as though we're flying, with the ability to overflow into driving. But I'm fairly certain that we'll be driving, so I keep thinking I should plan to pack for the car.

And then I start thinking about what I'll have to do at work the week before vacation...including lining up back-ups for my email Out of Office, as well as lining up people to run the meetings I normally run.

But now let's think about home - I need to do my laundy, the kid's laundry, the entertainment pack (be it airplane or car!), get the dogs boarded, stop the newspaper .... UGH!

I'm totally going to need a vacation from my vacation.

The zen of business trips

I love traveling - business or pleasure, it doesn't matter. The zen of traveling excites me. No matter how stressful or rushed the packing and drive to the airport and run to the plane can be, once you are on that plane, there is nothing you can do about anything. You may be on the tarcam for 20 minutes or 2 hours. You just have to sit there and take it. (don't get me wrong, I don't like being stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours!). But it's a lesson in patience, and I enjoy that. I would like more comfortable seats and a little legroom... but I digress.

I'm getting ready for my next business trip on Sunday, returning on Wednesday. My poor husband has to entertain the 3-year-old all day Sunday, and manage the morning routine for three days. I can't figure out why I feel guilty about that. I never get annoyed or angry when he goes somewhere and I'm alone with the munchkin... is it mom guilt? wife guilt? I know I'll have to set out clothes for each day. I've ordered school lunches already, so he doesn't have to make lunch. There really isn't anything else that I can do... and knowing Jeff, he'll line up entertainment with the munchkin's best friend or one of his friends, so I know I needn't worry.

And in reality, I'm actually excited about having 3 nights where the little munchkin won't be waking me up in the middle of the night. And I'm going to a location near a beach, so I can get up early and take a walk by the waves. And it's a professional development and networking activity that I'm going to, so I know it's 3 days to focus on me and my career and things that make me happy professionally.

So I shouldn't worry, and I shouldn't fuss, and I should just focus on the 8 billion things I have to get done before my flight on Sunday... laundry, replenish makeup stash, order prescription refills,  get hair cut, pack suitcase... yeesh... that is the part I hate about business trips...

The business of boredom

Sometimes I get bored. Most days I have a really cool job. Most days my kid and husband are just awesome. Most days I realize that I do have it pretty good. House, job, car, husband, kid, dogs. Livin' the dream. But sometimes I get bored. I've always wanted my own business. I toy with actually running the business I already started. I toy with new business ideas. I toy with writing a book. I toy with writing magazine articles. Will I ever do any of my ideas? Hopefully. Not sure if I'm too lazy to try them, too scared to try them, too time-crunched to try them, or what, but mostly I just keep thinking of new ideas hoping one will really strike my fancy and I can go for it full-force.

The business I already have is my monster and ghost spray - www.mactospray.com - this one tugs at me the most, primarily because there is a garage full of bottles just on the other side of the wall in front of me. Should I actively pursue it, or just sell off the bottles to someone else who can?

Another business was this fun little Amazon webstore I started for travel toys and tools. Would be cool to have a store specifically for the travel needs of kids and families. Maybe a small storefront here where I live and a nice online business to actually bring in the income.

Perhaps I could start a consulting company - I seem to be business-savvy enough to assist small businesses with marketing plans and websites, or perhaps I could consult on event marketing or social media strategies. How does one get into consulting?

Perhaps I could start a resume service. I'm awesome at resumes - I love reading and writing them. That doesn't sound like a full-time salary replacement job, though.

Maybe I'll just go watch another episode of Weeds... now there's a business! Just kidding. :-)

Go the F to Sleep

My mother sent me a copy of Adam Mansbach's new book and the last 2 nights in my house have been pages directly from this brilliant masterpiece.  Tonight we hit the reading of books, the "I'm thirsty," the 38 minutes past bedtime of still getting up, the bathroom break, the talking, the hug, the questions, the toy request, the escaping, the movie (TV show) interruption. Yes, we hit them all in one night. Finally, after the "I warned you if you got up again, you couldn't go to the birthday party on Sunday" threat and ensuing tantrum, I haven't heard another peep.

But since we sort of have to go to the birthday party, because well... it's a birthday party... I now have to offer the "you must be good and stay in bed every night this week to redeem yourself" option.

It was a long day. Bedtime took over 2 hours. I'm beat. I'm going to skip reading my new book, and I, myself, am going to Go the F to Sleep.

Weekends & vacations

As my work life has changed a little, I've been able to reclaim some fun in my weekends. We went to Dallas last weekend to hang out with friends and family, and I vowed to focus on the little 3-year-old monster as much as possible for quality time (and to avoid the usual meltdowns that accompany him feeling ignored). With only one minor exception, the plan worked brilliantly! He had a blast, I had a blast, and my faith was renewed that family outings were doable.

Fast forward to this weekend. Quick trip down to New Braunfels today and I had truly hoped that our 3:30 appointment in Greune, Texas would be met with the kiddo napping for the hour it took to drive down there, thus leaving him rested an happy. Unfortunately, the child didn't nap, the appointment was a disaster, we didn't get to visit the playground we promised him, and we had an hour-long tantrum on the drive back home. Not really the afternoon I was hoping for.

Looking into the crystal ball for the beach vacation planned at the end of July/early August... a drive... yes DRIVE... from Texas to Georgia with the little one. He did great last summer when we did it, but I think this summer his attention span for movies ends after 2 of them. I have to steel myself  up for dedicated time with him. Focus my energy and attention on him. Make sure he is happy, so that I can be happy... and the rest of the family can have a great time.

Ah, the pleasures of a mom on vacation! Business trips truly are the only time moms get to relax!

Tranquility

There is something so relaxing about the sound of a sleeping child.

Guilt dreams

I took a quick trip out of town and left the 3-year-old alone with daddy. I put my phone on vibrate and headed to a networking reception. When my gut insticts told me it might be getting close to bedtime in Austin, I checked my phone - missed call from home 15 mins ago. Phone was on silent instead of vibrate. Called home to say goodnight, and it seems that the kiddo was not being perfectly good that evening and hubby put him down to bed early.

WHAT?

I missed saying goodnight to my kid! Not that there's much exchange on these calls... they tend to go like this:
 "Hi pumpkin head! how was your day?"
"Hi mommy. Are you coming home?"
"Tomorrow, baby. I'll pick you up from school tomorrow."
"Ok."
-crumble, static, noise, crumble, mumble -
- mumbled voice - "don't hit buttons, Reilly"
 - mumbled voice - "why?"
-mumbmled voice - "because you'll hang up on mommy."
- CLICK.
Then a series of calls saying I guess he doesn't want to talk anymore, say goodnight for me, etc. etc.

Yes, I know how these calls will go and they are relatively unfulfilling in the realm of deep discussions, but they are the necessary end to the day. AND I MISSED IT!

I had no idea that missing that call would make me so sad! I even had a really crazy weird dream last night that I had a baby and he was switched at the hospital with the baby of a friend of mine. The baby I was given was actually a friend of mine's kid, and we decided that since we'd already had the kid for a few hours, we should just keep the ones the hospital gave us. During the dream I couldn't remember what my real baby looked like! The new kid I was given was really cute, but a different ethnicity than my family, so it was obvious that it wasn't mine. What a troubling dream!

Yes, I woke up remembering clearly what my own kid looks like. I was only gone for 2 nights, after all. I'm now on the plane heading home and will pick up the monster child from school.

2-Hour-Mom guilt dreams SUCK!!!

Living Between the Peaks and Valleys

I'm having a mood swing in the wrong direction. I am a web-based applications developer and last week it really hit home that one of my long time clients will be moving to another application and not coming back. They have been with me for about 7 years now and we have taken their application from drab to fabulous. It was the perfect relationship: they would give me the big picture and I would figure out how to make it happen. They also made up 60% of my income. As I am paying taxes this month it has come to my attention that I may have to scale back. Then, a TERRIBLE thought came to mind - what if I had to give up daycare? My husband says that my oldest would be in kindergarten so I would only have to manage Kallie which wouldn't be so bad. ARE YOU KIDDING? She's right at the difficult stage: old enough to be curious about everything and know when mommy is in the room, almost old enough to start exploring and getting into everything, but not old enough to do ANYTHING on her own. I've been thinking about it all day - how much of my mental stability is due to the help and support of daycare? What if I had to become a FULL TIME mom? When I step out of my brain this sounds like a silly discussion but I'm just not cut out for it. Maybe I should have thought about that before getting pregnant. Is it horrible that I rely on daycare to help raise my children? I am bipolar and still un-medicated while nursing. I've realized how very fragile my emotional state is. I guess my life has been so stable for so long that I was blissfully unaware how close to the peaks and valleys I actually lived. Losing daycare just isn't an option for me. If I didn't have daycare I would have the kids around and wouldn't be able to focus, if I can't focus then I can't work, if I can't work then I start feeling useless, then comes the crying which would be bad for everyone. I would give up a LOT before I gave up daycare. I would eat turkey sandwiches at home every day, drive a Neon, and rent out a room in the house before I gave it up.

Baby's growing up

We officially went from Crib to Toddler Bed this weekend. The rule was that Reilly had to know all the letters of the alphabet (as in be able to recognize them out of order). He successfully passed our latest quiz on Friday. We went bed shopping on Saturday. He LOVED the idea of the bunkbed/loft, but being only 3, we were a little worried about that one. There were several others he liked, but we weren't fans of the pricetag. So 3 hours of bed shopping yielded us thinking we would hit ye old Swedish furniture store the next day.

That night, I took the front rail off the crib, so he could try out his new-found freedom. He celebrated this freedom with lots of play... until about 10:30 that night, actually. On the plus side, he slept til 9am on Sunday!

Naptime on Sunday yielded poor results, as well. No nap. Just play.

Bedtime on Sunday was a step in the right direction. I think he was asleep by 9. Only woke up once during the night, and was in such a great mood this morning that he was singing when I went in!

I'm so proud that he's thrilled to be a big boy!

And I just got sent photos of my friend's new baby girl. So tiny. So cute. So peaceful.

Almost makes me interested in another one.

Almost.

The Bathroom Door is Closed

Love this. Worth a post on the blog!
 ---------------------------------------

Please do not stand here and talk, whine, or ask questions. Wait until I get out.

Yes, it is locked. I want it that way. It is not broken, and I am not trapped.

...I know I have left it unlocked, and even open at times, since you were born, because I was afraid some horrible tragedy might occur while I was in there, but it's been 10 years and I want some PRIVACY.

Do not ask me how long I will be. I will come out when I am done.

Do not bring the phone to the bathroom door.

Do not go running back to the phone yelling "She's in the BATHROOM!"

Do not begin to fight as soon as I go in.

Do not stick your little fingers under the door and wiggle them. This was funny when you were two.

Do not slide pennies, LEGOs, or notes under the door. Even when you were two this got a little tiresome.

If you have followed me down the hall talking, and are still talking as you face this closed door, please turn around, walk away, and wait for me in another room. I will be glad to listen to you when I am done.

And yes, I still love you.

Mom

...Author Unknown

2-Hour-Mom + sick kid

The plus side of having a sick kid is that you are forced to have more than 2 hours a day with him. They aren't the best hours you could ever have, but they must count as quality time together!

My daycare was closed today for a teacher in-service day, so I had to call my office's "back-up care" to come stay with the kiddo. Cute little college girl, very sweet. She called me at about 12:15 and said that the kiddo had started wearing down a bit and saying his head hurt. She found a themometer and lo-and-behold: 101.4. She is not allowed to dispense medicine, so I had to come home.

True kid sickness is easy for a working mom. A sick 3yo means you dose him with drugs and put him to bed. He sleeps for 3 hours, then is lazy for a couple hours, then goes to bed for the night.

The next day, is the hard day for a working mom: He's FINE. No fever. No sluggishness. But isn't allowed to go to daycare because of the 24-hour-fever-free rule. But he's not sick. Therefore, you can't do conference calls, you can't get work done becuase he wants to play! engage! learn! build a fort! THIS is where the working mom runs into a problem and the guilt kicks in.

Luckily for me, the cute little back-up care nanny is going to come back tomorrow to help me out, but I still feel so guilty about it!

Out For a Swim in the Sea of Responsibility

As I am drowning in stress I find myself wondering how I ended up with all of the parenting responsibilities. I am bipolar and require more sleep than most people and yet I am the one waking up twice a night to feed our 4 month old and the one waking up to get both kids ready, bottles made, teeth brushed, gear packed, and driving them to daycare before 9. My job comes with deadlines and launch calendars but I'm on full-time mommy duty when one of the kids gets sick (which is ALL the time this winter). And at the end of the day when the stress is piled the highest, when I am rushing to get to a stopping point, when 3:30 turns to 6 within a blink of an eye, that's when I get a gentle nudge "You're still here?". Then there's dinner to plan which has been fast and frozen food for as long as I can remember. As soon as I sit down the youngest is hungry or the oldest is finished and wants more. It is a rare evening I get to eat a hot meal. No time to rest because then it's bath, brush, and story time. After all is said and done I have accomplished little and slept less. Do I go straight to bed? What about "me" time? All day I've been a business owner, a programmer, and a mommy, when do I squeeze in being a wife?

I usually get the advice to "ask for help". Tell me, when you ask for help from someone does it ever actually help? In my case I get a "I guess" response which means he is willing to help but he isn't happy about it. Then, I spend the remainder of the time feeling guilt which isn't helpful at all. Just once I would like a little help without having to ask for it.

I know one day my husband will come across this blog and he will like 1) be angry that I am sharing this with the world and 2) be a little mystified why I didn't communicate this with him first. A few months ago when my youngest was born he would wake up after my morning feeding and watch both of them while I slept another 3 hours. I can't tell you how much rest you can get when you know both of your children are being taken care of and you don't have to watch the baby monitor or wonder when your oldest is going to come wake you up. I got more sleep in those 3 hours then any other time. I miss that. I miss the peace of mind. I miss the help. I need a life line.

A 2-Hour-Mom in Vegas

Two weeks ago I took a 6 day trip to Las Vegas on business. 6 days where my 3-year-old was left alone with his father. An awesome father, mind you, but a father. Which meant that I still had to do kid laundry before I left, lay out what lunches would be for the week, and make a list of breakfast and dinner foods the child would eat. And the very second that I returned, I was handed the child and told that I should consider myself lucky that they hadn't both gone feral. So 6 straight days of working sometimes 14-hour days, and I come home to a husband and kid who love me, but don't allow me any chance to recuperate!

The one fabulous thing about that trip was that, even though I still went to bed too late and had to get up too early, there was no chance of being awakened in the middle of the night with the sweet-but-still-middle-of-the-night sound of "Mommy!" coming from the other room.

So I got home at just about midnight on Thursday night, got up at 6:30 Friday morning to get the kid ready, make his lunch, and get him to daycare (thankfully, hubby took him to school)... and I must admit I went back to bed. And didn't wake up until 2pm!

Ah, working mother.

Baby Blues

Hello world, it's been awhile. It seems like everything gets put on hold while you have a baby. Actually, it feels like the world passes you by when you have a baby. It's even scarier when you work for yourself. There isn't a law that says I get my job back after maternity leave. I have to tell you that it was incredibly difficult going from a entrepreneur/programmer to a new full time mom in a week. All of the sudden I am needed 24/7 and am called to action at least every 3 hours. At first, babies don't do much and mothering is more about troubleshooting. Now that she is almost 4 months we are into the entertainment portion of development. This is where my patience runs out. This is where I cry for help and am thankful for daycare. Unfortunately, with daycare comes illness. She has already come home with a cold and now RSV and how on earth can you breastfeed and NOT get all of their illnesses? I have been sick more in the last two months than I have in the last two years. So much for going back to work. I can't get anything done!

Exhaustion: Now it's gone too far

Have you ever fallen asleep WHILE TELLING A STORY? Twice now, I have done this. Both times my story just took a weird turn and I started using weird words that didn't mesh with the theme.

It was dark and I was rocking the kiddo before bed. We had already read a book, so the next step is to turn out the lights and either sing a song or tell a story.

I was telling a story about Winnie the Pooh having friends over for dinner and they discovered they were out of honey. They decided that Tigger should go to the beehive to get more because Winnie the Pooh made the bees very mad last time. Somehow my story morphed into Tigger needing to be the CEO of the industrial operation in order to lead the team to greater efficiencies... and that is when I heard, "Mommy, WHAT are you TALKING about??" Jolted back awake, I asked him what I said and he said, "I don't know, but Tigger just needs to get the honey, okay, Mommy?"

Yes, moms are tired people. I admit it.

Here's to a great new year, and a full 2 hours of "momming"!

I found that as the year wore on and things got more hectic at work, I began to let work creep into my 2 hours with my son each evening. I had the laptop with me in the bathroom while he took a bath. I sometimes chatted on the phone with a colleague while making dinner. I hoped that he would let my husband put him to bed so I could get that extra 30 minutes to sit in front of the computer.

My New Year's Resolution is to stay strong during my 6-8pm time with my son. I will PLAY with him while he takes a bath. I will cherish the bedtime routine. I will let him help me cook dinner (when possible... he is only 3, after all). I will decline any work conversations during those two hours.

Now to tackle that weight loss resolution....