Motherhood is Fun... Yea, When it's Fun!

Hey Lovelies!

Last week I had somewhat of a conversation with another mother of a 2-year-old boy. It went something like this:
Her: Oh you have a 2-year-old boy too?
Me: Yup. His name is Aiden. He's super delicious.
Her: Oh. Isn’t this such a fun age?!
Me: Yup. It’s really, really fun… when it’s fun.
Her: (nods and smiles in agreement) I know what you mean.

I love this time in Aiden’s life. He’s super active and energetic and always interested in exploring new things and learning about his surroundings. It’s truly amazing. And I feel extremely blessed to be his mommy. But then there’s what I like to call, The Ugly Side of Motherhood. And for some reason we’re not supposed to talk about it. It’s too taboo because what, we’re suddenly “bad” mommies if we talk about the not-so-fun stuff? I think not!

So… what about the times when Aiden is temper tantrum-ing all over the place? Yea… not-so-fun! And the mood swings? He’s up and he’s down, he’s hot and he’s cold (isn’t that a song or something?)… it’s like PMS for toddlers!

Case in point. Whenever Aiden has a tantrum at home, we have a set rule: go to the bedroom until you calm down. After the first few times of telling him to go the bedroom, I didn’t even have to vocalize my request anymore. I’d simply point to the bedroom during one of his meltdowns, and off he went. And since it’s pointless and impossible (as in, it’s easier to run five consecutive marathons… in the same day!) than reason with a screaming toddler, I ALWAYS wait till he calms down before discussing the meltdown.

That was fine. I had the “How To Tame Your Toddlers’ Tantrum” part of motherhood down pat. In the house. In a controlled environment.

Then one day when we were in Target (love Target!), he asked to be let out of his stroller. I know you guys are sensing a major disaster coming on. But why didn't I sense this disaster coming on… who knows?!

Once I let him out his stroller, he quickly began touching EVERYTHING in site. And I quickly began to sound like a broken record -- “Please don’t touch that;” “Put that down;” “That’s not our milk;” “This baby doesn’t want you to touch her in the face!” And when I turned to grab a box of orange juice, he began to run away. Note to self: NEVER turn your back on an active toddler. I got frantic for about five seconds and then I spotted him… heading towards the elevator. Of course… because that’s so much fun, right?! In full panic mode, I started running after him and as I saw the elevator door open, I yelled out for him. He froze. Whew! But so did everyone else on the second floor of Target. And as I went to scoop up my kid, everyone (and I mean everyone) was looking at me. Some in shock that I could scream so loudly and some in disbelief that I could let him slip away. As I placed him back into his stroller, I said, “We do NOT run away. That’s dangerous,” of course he started yelling and kicking and streaming.

And of course everyone was giving me the “will you shut that kid up?" look. And I responded with the “well, I guess your kids’ perfect” look. But what I really wanted to do was cry. I WAS SO EMBARRASSED! Yea… not-so-fun! Man, where is the bedroom and controlled environment when you needed it? When we got home that day, I vowed to his father that I would NEVER let Aiden out of his stroller again.

So why didn’t I see this disaster coming on? The thing is you don’t know… until you know. We learn from experience. And now I know better. I can let Aiden out of his stroller in order to explore, stretch his legs, or do whatever it is that those 2-year-olds like to do… only if he promises to hold unto the stroller or cart as we shop. If not, then he has to go back into the stroller or cart. End of story. And here’s when I’d give myself an A-plus in Mothering: if I can stick to my guns, even in the midst of a tantrum AND people starring... and keep it moving. Because I got this.

Smooches,
SweetAl

Case of the Cheap Tot Clothes

Hey Lovelies!

As Memorial Day Weekend drew upon us, I realized that Aiden would need shorts and t-shirts and other summer clothes because he'd completely outgrown his gear from last summer. Now usually when I go shopping for Aiden's clothes, I head to H&M or BabyGAP and let's face it... the clothes there can be pricey at times, especially for someone who will outgrow them in a few months. But since I've always loved H&M (for me!), when Aiden was born, I decided that my baby born needed to sport their clothes as well. But for some reason, this time I decided to head to The Children's Place to grab Aiden a few items. They were having a mega-sale (love it!) and I didn't spend more than $8.00... for any single item. And thank goodness.

Fast forward to last week. I dressed Aiden in a pair of his $8.00 shorts and took him to preschool, then the playground when school was over. At the playground, he runs, jumps, rolls, and hops all around. He climbs the stairs, goes down the slide head-first (he's a little daredevil), and repeats. He runs towards the sprinklers, and towards the puppies (he's not afraid of 'em... I am). And I kept up with him as best as I could. When we got home, I realized that his shorts were completely covered in filth! Seriously. All that playground action had his shorts covered in grass stains. Can you imagine if I would've spent more than 8 bucks on them?

Fast forward to this week. I took Aiden to the playground again after preschool. Since it rained a few days before, there were still a couple of puddles around. Instead of playing with all the fabulous playground equipment or running towards the pupppies again, Aiden decides to jump in the two muddiest puddles that he could find. Once again, I thought, thank goodness I didn't spend more than 8 bucks on his gear.

So... for the rest of the summer, I vow not to purchase any tot clothes for lovely Aiden that'll cost me more than 10 bucks. WORD! What's the point... they're bound to be covered in mud or grass stains anyway.

Smooches,

SweetAl

Potty Training Mishaps

Hey Lovelies!

Next month, Aiden and his classmates move on to the 3's class (although most of them are still 2 1/2), which is exactly three weeks away. This means in exactly three weeks, he'll be expected to be fully potty trained during the day time.

A few weeks ago when I found out that the BIG switch was going to take place in July, as opposed to the beginning of September as I originally thought, I went into full "we-gotta-meet -this-challenge" mode. So I took Aiden to Target (love Target!) and we headed straight for the toddler section. He already has a potty at home, but I figured that he'd want to actually use it if he had on cool underwear. I let him pick out the pack of underwear that he wanted. It was a very close battle between Diego and Cars. The Cars underwear won. When we got home, I showed him the underwear and there were a lot of "ooohs" and "aaahs." He was excited, which is a good thing, right? So I decided to test my theory: if little darling boys have cool big-boy underwear on, then they'd magically start using the potty, magically being the operative word here.

It didn't take long before that theory blew up in my face! That day, I placed Aiden on the potty every twenty minutes. And he didn't go. However, every twenty-FIVE minutes, he went... right on the floor. After the first mishap, he said "Uh-oh Mommy. Not on the floor? I have to pee-pee in potty?" Ummm... yep! If you knew that, then why oh why did you pee on the kitchen floor?! I smiled at him, reminded him to pee in the potty, changed him, and cleaned up the floor. That was day one. Day two came and I was ready to tackle it again. I placed him on the potty every twenty-five minutes. And he didn't go. However, every THIRTY minutes he went... this time on the bedroom floor! After this mishap, he'd say, "Mommy, I sorry. Come. Gimme hug, gimme hug." And when I'd walk over to him, he'd say, "I love you Mommy." So smooth and so slick... like father, like son! This went on for about two weeks. I didn't force him, or punish him, or withhold anything from him in order for him to "get it." I didn't even reward him with stickers or anything tangible. I just kept cleaning up puddles of pee and gently reminding him to "pee-pee in the potty." I wondered when I'd have to clean up poop from the floor, but luckily he only did that at preschool. Haha!

Until two days ago. While I was giving him a bath, he pooped... right in the tub! Man, that was brutal! Afterwards, he said, "Ewww...that nasty." Yes Aiden, try 2 1/2 years of cleaning up poop and THEN let's talk nasty. He still hasn't gotten it yet, and I'm beginning to panic. I mean, I'm almost willing to bribe him with stickers, candy, money, a trip to Disney World... anything! I know he'll get it eventually. The question is... when? When oh when will these potty training mishaps come to a blissful end? Stay tuned...

Smooches,
SweetAl

Beach Bum Baby

Hey Lovelies!

Last weekend I had an idea... let's take Aiden to the beach! Yay! So I called my sister up and told her my brillant plan, and after what seemed like hours and hours of convincing, she finally agreed. Man, I have to work on my power of persuasion. I mean, it shouldn't have taken that long to convince her... IT'S THE BEACH for peek sake! So we packed up our beach bags and headed out to the beach.

I was a little worried about taking Aiden to the beach because last year, when other family members and I took him to the beach for the first time, he HATED it. He was cautious of the sand... and rightly so. I mean, if someone took off my shoes without warning (like I did to Aiden last year) and told me to walk on a substance that my feet sank into a little bit, I'd be skeptical too! He was cautious of the water... and rightly so. I mean, if a body of water that I'd never seen before kept moving towards me in a weird and creepy way, I'd be freaked out too! I'm just saying... So I said all that to say this: last year, I did not prepare Aiden AT ALL for his first beach experience. I just took him and expected him to love it like I do. But he didn't... and rightly so!

So this year, I was prepared. I read him a book about the beach so that he can see the pictures of all the fun things we could do there. A good one is To The Beach, by Nadine Bernard Westcott. And while I was dressing him, I told him that we were going to go to the beach. I can't take all the credit though, his teachers started a Beach Unit with his class two days before. But hey, I prepped him a little. Once we got to the beach, I told him beforehand that he would have to take off his shoes before going on the sand. And he did. Once we set our towels down and I rubbed him down with kids sunblock (love it!), I took him to the water and showed him that the waves move towards us. And he understood that concept too. And then the fun began. He initiated a game of running into the water when there were no waves, and back unto the dry sand as the waves were coming. We did that almost the entire time. Man, those tots have endless energy! And we had a blast. So I guess the moral of the story to myself is: proper preparation prevents toddler diasters.

Smooches,

SweetAl

Confessions of a Foul-Mouthed MaMa (Reader Discretion Advised)

Hey Lovelies!

NYC has many pros and cons. Some of the pros are the diverse group of people, the vibrant energy, and the fact that I can hail a cab or walk a half block to the subway at almost any hour. But one thing that I dislike, the con that outweighs all other cons, is attempting to cross the street with lovely Aiden (be it in his stroller or holding my hand) while stup*d id*ot drivers are on the road! You guys know exactly who I'm talking about -- the kind of people who must have gotten their drivers license out of a cracker-jack box or paid lots of money to some poor soul to give them a license... yeah, those people.

As Aiden and I were crossing the street a few weeks ago, I followed all of the rules of the road: I waited my turn and modeled for Aiden exactly how we cross the street by showing him the little man on the traffic sign who will eternally be frozen mid-step; I told him that when we see that tiny little figure, it is our turn to cross the street; and then we proceeded to cross. Until some id*ot driver sped down the road and ran the red light. In my version of road rage (I don't have a drivers license yet, can you believe it?), I yelled out, "Id*ot, can't you see I have a CHILD with me?!" Yep... I was angry! But of course the driver could care less. He just kept on speeding off. Who did care about what I had to say was my lovely little Aiden. After my explosion in the middle of the street, he innocently asked, "Mommy, what happened?" And I responded, "Nothing. Some people just don't know how to drive!" Can you believe I had this conversation with a 2-year-old?

After we arrived at our destination safely and sanely (I had no more outbursts for that day...yay!), I thought about my language and choice of the words I used in front of Aiden. I silently vowed not to have an outburst like that in front of him again because I wanted to model what an appropriate response should be. And by "model" I mean that I actually do the things that I would like Aiden to do, as opposed to just telling him what I'd like him to do. Of course that didn't happen right away. A few days later as we were on our way to his preschool, another id*ot driver ran a red light and instead of yelling out "id*ot," I said to myself, "Ugh! What an id*ot!" Once again, the driver could care less and just kept speeding away. And once again, Aiden asked, "Mommy, what happened?" But instead of having the inappropriate conversation with him, I simply said, "Oh nothing, Aiden."

In the words of Britney Spears, "OOPS! I did it again!" But hey... old habits die hard, right? It's been a few weeks since then and I've stopped calling bad drivers id*ots... out loud. Instead, I hum the tune, "Hello driver... we are people trying to cross the street!" in a very calm and soothing way... with my high-pitched voice, of course. And I keep reinforcing to Aiden that we have to wait our turn before crossing the street. After all, he has years of playground action and schooling in which he'll probably pick up a bad word or two... why should I add to it with my use of the "I" word.

Smooches,

SweetAl

[Play] Dating

Hey lovelies!

One of the toughest things about being one of the first gals out of all my friends to have a baby is that I didn't have any mommy friends once the baby came. So what's a girl to do, you ask? Well, during Aiden's first year of life, I did nothing. I played with him all by my lonesome. We we like best buds. Until I realized that I needed some adult conversation in my life... in. order. to. survive!

So when he turned 2 (oh the joys of having a 2-year-old!), I searched for a good Mommy N Me Class and signed him up for Gymboree Play and Music Classes. They're really great! The classes are fun and educational with lots of imaginative play, and the teachers are awesome. If you're looking for something to do with your little one, I highly recommend it. No, they're not paying me for advertising. I've just been really happy with the classes, except for when I desperately want to sleep in on Saturday morning, but that's a whole other post, my friends.

It was super easy for Aiden to make new toddler friends at his very first class. It was like the kids said, "You like to jump; I like to jump; Let's jump together!" And viola -- BFF'S! But for the adults... not so easy! I thought that it was like being on a first date... just with play mats all around. You have to think of what to say, how to say it, when to make a joke, when not to make a joke, when to just smile and nod... it can be totally nerve-racking. And if that's not enough, you have to think of if what you say makes you sound insecure or confident, ignorant or intelligent, competent or cocky... Seriously.

It's been a few months into our Saturday Morning "Dates" and I find it super funny (in a sarcastic and not-at-all funny way) that the kids can make friends with just about all their classmates, yet the mommies are cliquey. And I am also guilty of the clique-ness. It's like after that first date a few months back, we've all decided who we wanted to be friends with and are sticking to our guns. But maybe we can learn a thing or two from our lovely little toddlers. Just some food for thought...

Here's lovely Aiden at the Gymboree:

Smooches,

SweetAl

Fun in the Sun on MDW!

Hello Lovelies!

This Memorial Day Weekend, Aiden and I spent some time with family in Jersey. It was nice to get away from NYC for a few days and be able to hear the birds chirping, see the rabits, and spot the deers. Aiden had such fun in the sun playing football, volleyball, any ball he could get his hands on (he loves balls!), running in the sprinklers, and running away from ants. He has an irrational fear of ants... kinda like my irrational fear of dogs. Although I comfort him as best as I know how whenever he cries because he sees an ant, I secretly hopes he grows out of it. Otherwise, he'll be a 26-year-old man who runs away from ants... as I am a 26-year-old woman who runs away from dogs. Even puppies... I don't discriminate. I'm just scared of them all. I know, it's bad. But that's a total tangent. Check out some pics of our fun in the sun!

Hope your MDW was fantabulous!

Smooches,

SweetAl

PS: I have no idea how to put captions on the pics so some help would be nice. Thanks!