Megret on Motherhood

I spent the better part of February trying to prepare Gardner and his room for the impending move. I packed a special box just for him to open the first day. I packed tens of bags for us to keep in our cars, full of snacks and diapers and other whatnots which I figured we'd need in a crisis. I tried to explain verbally to him what was about to happen to his room, his toys, and his whole house which has been his entire existence for 17-1/2 months. What happened? As ill-prepared as I still felt, I was blown away by his resilience. He took to change like a professional, able to adjust on less than a day's time. In fact, he's eating, sleeping, and playing better than he has in months. Just goes to show that we can be just a tad overdramatic at times. He had it in the bag, no problem....it just took a while for me to get it. Man, this kid amazes me still.

Last night, as Ken and I were putting away the dishes and everything before bed, we walked by Gardner's room. Usually, the door is shut and the quiet whirr of his humidifier can be heard through it. This time, however, the room was open. The lamps were all on, and there were boxes I had packed earlier in the day scattered around his crib and windows. Gardner spent the night with his Grandmama last night, and what a help that was....to have some time to pack and prepare uninterrupted. Yet when we walked by, it sent a wave of sadness through our hearts knowing that his little self wouldn't sleep near us last night. Now, this isn't the only time we've left him with someone, especially overnight....but we both agreed that it never gets easy. Yes, the break is good, but still, the silence is saddening. Once you hear the pitter-patter of those tiny toddler toes on your floors....well, let's just say that we can't (nor would we want to) imagine life without that ...

You know....when you're younger, more niave, and so much more starry-eyed, you say that there are things that you will definitely NOT do when you become a parent. Some of these resolutions are kept, while others are thrown out of the window minutes after birth. Since I'm sure I'm not the only one who has given in to some of these things.... Well, anyway, here they are, the things I've let slide. - I said I'd never, ever feed my child foods with articificial colors. Well, sometimes those Color Goldfish crackers beckon from the shelf, as a pick-me-up when he's tired of the same old pale orange varieties. And when he busts his lip, out come the Otter Pops from the freezer. I have still not succombed to artificial colors in breakfast cereals, though....that will be a while. - I thought I'd never let him keep a wet diaper on longer than five minutes. Well, when they're mobile, that's virtually impossible. There will be times when I don't see h...

Does anyone remember hearing this phrase as a child? I'm sure we've all heard it at one point or another. The rule in most families is that a child can't get down from the dinner table OR have dessert until their plate is totally clean. I started challenging this idea when I became a parent. This does teach obedience....but can we not teach it another way? A better way that I've seen others do is, "You need to eat TWO more bites of green beans and ONE more bite of chicken, then you can get down." A smaller task is more easily accepted and completed by an individualistic toddler, of that I'm sure. The idea of having to eat 20 or more bites in order to clean the plate must seem like an overwhelming responsibility.....especially if they are really and truly getting full. Another thing, too, I'm learning is that toddlers' tummies aren't as big as we probably think they are. "One teaspoon per food per year of age," our pediatrician ...

Ken and I were watching one of our favorite shows last night, "My Wife and Kids." The acting can be sub-par, all except for that of Damon Wayans. I could absolutely watch him all day. Anyway, I digress.... Michael (whom Damon plays), the father, went upstairs into his youngest daughter's room to have a chat. In he walked, and my eyes about popped out of my head. The walls in her room were....raspberry! That's the best way I can describe them. They weren't red, nor were they anything you could remotely call just "pink." These walls were even beyond what we think of as "magenta." The shrill reddish-pinkish tones flooded our TV screen, making me wonder if it was our color that needed to be adjusted. Nope, it was really that red. The more I looked at it, though, the more I liked it. Not liked it....absolutely loved it. It was all her. It was all GIRL. It was simply a backsplash which grandiously set the stage for the numerous other wh...