Friday moments

Friday moments with Soule Mama again today.

If you have a moment or two to share, please leave a comment with a link. Thank you to all of you who link up or leave comments here - it makes my day.

It has definitely been a mixed bag this week.

Spring has sprung, yet we're still sick.

See germs? Look, it's spring. Now GO!

The good news is, Wee One has made a full recovery, and has been rockin' the sandbox.

Roar! Kneel before me!

While the Big Boy is definitely on the mend, he's only rockin' the cuddle.

Please don't puke on me. Please don't puke on me.
Please don't puke on me. Please don't puke on me.

But mostly, we've been keeping it low-key. Spending leisurely hours in the sun, pedaling tricycles, "fixin' da fort," and trying to surreptitiously eat sidewalk chalk.

"Blew!" "No honey, that's yellow. Take it out of your mouth."
"Blew!" No honey, that's orange. Take it out of your mouth."
"Blew!" Yes honey! Blue! Now take it out of your mouth."

My to-do list is still breathing down my neck, but I'm working on ignoring it.  As soon as I make this one quick phone call.

What are you guys up to this weekend? You know what I'm doing? Bleaching every square inch of this house. BeGONE foul germs!

Acceptance

Things are a little busy at our house right now.  Yours, too?

We are making some changes, and I'm taking on a few new endeavors (I got to wear the microphone at Pilates this week!).

I have a long list of "things-to-do" and not a whole lot of child-free moments to get it all done. Okay, pretty much no child-free-moments. Ever. "Mumma? Whatcha doing? I want you to come wif me."

So I'm in that uncomfortable place, where my to-do list feels burdensome and I yet I have to accept the fact that my children are my priority. I can't get everything done according to my schedule. If I try to push to hard, to cram in a few more to-do's, I get cranky and irritable with the boys, and we all suffer.

So, dear friends, come along with me as I try to let go of my time-table and accept the reality of a life with two small children.

Though there may not be time to return phone calls, there's always time to get some work done in the sun.

We fixin' dis wight hee-yah."

Though, I may feel overburdened at times, I'm not the only one doing some heavy lifting.

"Biiiig one!"

And when I am tired and cranky, frustrated and grouchy - there's always a little bit of heaven nearby - if you know where to get it.

Bliss.

I get stuck in this place pretty often - chasing my own goals and straining against the boundaries of life as a stay-at-home mom.  I forget that I can't jam a round peg in a square hole by sheer force of will.

I've got to stop banging my head against the wall - this is my life, it's beautiful and crazy and awesome and hard, boundaries and all.

The things will get done. Or they won't. But my kids, these two cool little dudes of mine, they are what matter. I need to put honoring that at the top of my to-do list.

Moving on

No puke talk today, I promise.

The Big Boy is finally keeping down some bland solid food. Progress! I say, progress!

Though, he is still spending a great deal of time sacked out on his bean bag.

But I am finally letting him back on the carpet.

When he does venture outside, he's keeping it pretty low-key.

This photo is actually from Easter Sunday, just an hour of so before
that-which-shall-not-be-mentioned.

And I have another Easter photo to share with you - a lovely view of our fabulous.... playroom!

Still needs rugs, chalkboard, comfy seating...
but it's great for playing ball!

Thanks for putting up with all my puke-talk lately. I promise - nothing but sunshine and rainbows for awhile. 

Yeah, right.

The stomach flu: A survivor's guide

Warning: this post is about puke, and how to best manage a puking three-year-old.

Today, I browsed through my archives and came to the conclusion that I have written a lot about fevers, puking, and diarrhea.

I shared some toddler-diarrhea-survival-techniques.

I waxed philosophic about fevers and parenting-in-crisis-mode.

The truth is, I was a pukey child (sorry, mom) and I am currently paying my karmic dues by raising a pukey son.

As we cleaned up from the puking-at-the-table disaster on Easter Sunday - we laughed and I regaled my in-laws with tales from my childhood. The time I puked in a fake potted  plant at the Walpole mall. Into my mother's wicker purse (it was the 80's). Into a snow boot. Into a business-sized envelope. The tales are many and varied.

You would think all that puking would have prepared me for life as a parent. Alas, no. But, the good news is, I have learned a few things by trial and error.

For the past four days my beloved three-year-old has kept nothing down except the occasional sip of water.

Unfortunately, he does not have the ability to identify the feeling "nauseaus" and so we've been in quite a messy situation.

Here are a few things I have learned:

If you're headed to Easter dinner, bring a change of clothes for yourself, as well as for your pukey child.

A large bucket is handy, but it usually only catches the second or third wave.

Having a towel within arms reach is a life-saving technique. Stash a few in every room you are allowing the puker to have access to.

Keep him off the carpets - by baby gate if necessary. Do not waver in your conviction - the moment you let your guard down - you'll be getting out the steam cleaner.

Yet again, my diaper sprayer (kitchen sink spray hose attached to the toilet) saves the day. Hose off soiled clothes and towels before putting them in the laundry.

How to best clean up a besmirched comforter: Don latex gloves. Take the comforter outside and hose it off with a garden hose. Squeeze out the excess water. Machine wash as directed. For a larger-than-a-twin-comforter, hose off and take it to the laundromat - they have those jumbo washers.

A bean bag chair (especially those ones that are sort of faux-leather) covered in towels, placed on a non-carpeted floor is a great resting spot for the pukey child.

Ginger syrup: Cut a 1 inch chunk of ginger into slices. Put it into a small pot with 2 cups cold water. Cover and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for a few minutes (till desired gingery-ness). Remove the ginger and add a bit of sugar. Allow the mixture to reduce a bit (to desired consistency). I give a teaspoon of the syrup to the big boy for upset stomach. Keeps nicely in the fridge.

No dairy until you have achieved 24 hours puke-free. Unless you want to clean up curdled milk.

I highly recommend the drip-free popsicles which contain gelatin. These are a god-send. Even the baby can eat one without making a mess. They even come in wee-toddler size.

The carseat. Dear Lord, the carseat. Why do they always puke in the car? Cleaning a puke-laden carseat is, in my opinion, nearly impossible. I have no advice for cleaning it, except to bite the bullet: take it completely out of the car and dismantle it. Machine wash the cover. The key is to AVOID getting the seat dirty. When you have a potentially pukey child:
* Cut a hole in a plastic grocery store shopping bag. Place the bag on the "seat" of the car seat, pulling the between-the-legs-buckle through the hole. I cut a hole in a prefold cloth diaper and put it on top of the plastic bag, but a towel would work fine. Be sure to cover side-to-side and front-to-back with your bag/towel.
* Next, strap the kiddo into the seat and cover the buckles. This can be accomplished with an extra-long bib, or by wrapping a towel around the buckles.
* Yeah, yeah, I know - who has this kind of foresight? But if you save yourself the horror of the pukey carseat even ONCE isn't it worth it?

Having a pukey car-seat in my very recent memory, I'm going to pack a little bag with a few grocery store shopping bags, paper towels, baby wipes, a towel, and the car-seat-covering essentials listed above for permanent placement in my trunk.

Offer lots of different clear liquids, even if some of it gets puked up - keep offering. Ice cubes in the sippie cup of water adds interest. Or a fancy straw. Or a chance to utilize mama's fancy water bottle.

When the big boy is tolerating clear liquids I advance his diet using the BRAT diet.
Bananas
Rice (or plain pasta)
Applesauce
Toast (or saltines)

Yeesh this turned into a long post.

Any other mama's out there with some pukey-advice?

Easter Recap

Just a quickie today, guys.

We had a wonderful Easter weekend, but unfortunately the Big Boy was sick.

He may have puked in my lap at Easter dinner.

He spent the majority of the weekend sacked out on a towel-laden beanbag, with a bucket nearby.

Yes, he's asleep clutching a screwdriver.

But despite the illness and the freezing rain on Saturday, we still hunted treat-laden eggs with great joy.

Dude, this is awesome.

And of course no Easter is complete without beautiful girls in sweet pink dresses.

And blue socks.

We even managed to squeeze in a little outdoor time on Sunday.

"Dis da gah-den."

And tho I am oh-so-weary of Tylenol, Ibuprofen, thermometers, puke buckets, boogery noses and clear-liquids-only diets, I still managed to have some wonderful, joyful, beautiful moments, and for that I am grateful.

Someday I'll forget the puke and remember only the sweetness.
Well, I'll probably never forget the puking-at-Easter-dinner, but you get my drift.

How was your weekend?

Friday Moments

Hey Gang. Friday Moments with SouleMama again today.

If you have a moment or several to share, please leave a comment with a link. Thank you to all of you who share your words or links here, I truly appreciate it.

Spring has sprung here, dear friends.

Every year these gorgeous, hardy little beauties pop up in my yard. Every year it is a complete surprise to me that they have survived. I have the blackest thumb in the history of mankind, and yet - these little guys - they just soldier on, with absolutely no intervention by me. Oh how I love perennials.

Despite how un-springlike the weather has become the past two days - these cheerful little flowers keep me sane. It's spring, dammit, they say to  me, and you know - I wholeheartedly agree.

Yesterday we dyed Easter Eggs.

This was one of my first forays into holiday-themed-craft-type activities. The Big Boy finally seems to have an attention span long enough to handle simple instructions, and an interest in "helping mama" with an important job.

Sometimes he refuses to take his coat off.
I know, he's an odd little dude.

He was fascinated by the process, and delighted by the colorful eggs.

We only broke two, and in my book - that goes down as a triumphant success!

Quality control.

It was really good mama-son time, especially during a week where needs have been high, patience has been short, and younger brothers have been ... well ... scream-y.

If you celebrate Easter, I hope your weekend is awash in family fun, laughs, love and candy. For those of you who don't, I hope your weekend is also full of family fun, laughs, love and candy. In the end, we're all after the same things, no?

Thank you, as always for visiting here.

Happy weekend to you!

A stroke of genius

I have to admit, yesterday I had a stroke of mama genius.

These moments are extraordinarily rare, so I feel compelled to share it with you.

Recently, the Big Boy has become crazily obsessed with a particular scene in a particular episode of "Go, Diego, Go". The episode involves the rescuing of a group of prairie dogs, and the scene that has won my boy's heart involves the prairie dogs jumping over some railroad tracks while avoiding some cackling monkeys, called "Bo-Bo's" on railroad cars.

He laughs hysterically at the Bo-Bo's and enthusiastically tells the prairie dogs when to jump and when to wait.

Yeah, I know - he's an odd kid.

Anyway, he'd like me to replay that particular 90 second segment over and over - which I steadfastly refuse.

What's a mama to do?

Well, I gathered up a few truly random and unrelated toys: 2 monkeys from the "Barrel of monkeys" game, 2 wagons from the "Little People Farm" set, 1 "Little People" lion and 1 "Little People" goat.

"Look!" I say to my baffled three-year-old, leading him over to the train table, "These are the prairie dogs, trying to get across the train tracks." He eyes me suspiciously, as I indicate that the lion and goat are prairie dogs. "Uh-oh! Here come the Bo-Bo's!" I push the monkey-laden wagons down the train track, and he begins to laugh.

That's when I knew I had him.

"Jump, prairie dogs! Jump!" He exclaims, and snatches the lion and the goat from my hand.

Well, he carried that unusual medley of toys around all day, re-enacting that same scene with uncanny accuracy.

I'll have you notice that he is neither yelling nor
bothering his brother in this photo. Bliss.

And that, my friends, is a stroke of mama genius.

I'd love to hear about all the other parenting-moments-of-genius out there. Do tell.