I choose my adventures one moment at a time....here is just one of my wonderful adventures.
This
afternoon I decided to venture out to the grocery store. I ask the
kids before we go if they need to go potty, I am the only one that goes.
They have a little babysitting area upfront for kids from 3-8 years old
and so I thought I would drop off #1 Girl and #2 Boy. #2 Boy finds out and
insists that he does not want to go to the play area. As I approach the
grocery store there are different carts lined up...which one do you
choose?
A. the regular cart
B. the two layered cart
C. the humongous cart with the car on the front
....
I
chose C the humongous cart that has the car on the front. It is not my
favorite but I figured it might keep #3 Girl entertained while shopping.
I let #1 Girl and #2 Boy 'drive' with #3 Girl in the basket and #4 Boy in
his car seat on top of the cart. I swing the beastly thing to the door
to discard at least one of my older children only to find out that they
are full and the next child doesn't have to leave for another 30
minutes... change of plan... all four kids get to go on our adventure
together. As we walk we have people stopping to stare and others make
comments. Some of the comments, "Wow!!" "You are already full!"
"Four?! Are they twins? You must be a saint!" "I don't know how you do
it with four. I can't do it with just one!"
After I complete my
list of things to pick up (except a couple that I didn't want to go
hunting for) I head to the check out stand. The isles aren't very big
so the cart barely fits. I start loading my groceries on the conveyor
belt. As I start, my children want to climb out and help. I ask them
to stay in the cart since it will be faster and easier without their
help. #2 Boy is already out and about half away through getting my
groceries on the belt #2 Boy starts to do the 'potty dance' and
announcing, "I can't hold it." At the exact same time the cashier is
trying to get help to finish the person's order in front of mine. I am
closed in from behind. What do you choose?
A. Clean off the belt and try to squeeze your way out
B. Leave the stuff on the belt and ask if you can come back in just a minute
C. Tell your 3 year old son to get back in the car and hold it
D. Ask the cashier to start ringing you up while you run to the bathroom
E. Ask the person behind you to watch your other three kids and your stuff while you run your 3 year old to the bathroom
....
I Chose C. I told #2 Boy to get back in the car and make it wait!
He
had calmed down after and I was able to complete the transaction
without the 'potty dance' or screams of 'I can't hold it.' As I am
leaving the store with my newly purchased stuff I have to make the next
decision.... what do you choose to do?
A. Leave the cart outside of the bathroom and take all the kids in
B. Ask the customer service to watch your groceries and take the kids in with you
C. Ask Son if he needs to go still and hope he can hold it until he gets home
D.
Take groceries and kids out to the car, unload groceries, keep kids
and go back inside to the bathroom hoping Son can wait that long
....
I
Chose B...almost. As I was waiting for the customer service I decided
to try C. So I asked #2 Boy if he needed to go still and he said he was
ok and could make it home.
He did make it home and even
helped me bring in the groceries. As we were finishing I told the kids
they could have an obedient bean after they took their coats and shoes
off. Just after saying that I look into the kitchen to see #2 Boy doing
the potty dance and trying to decide what he should do first ....What
would you choose?
A. Take shoes off
B. Get an obedient bean
C. Go up to the bathroom
...
Unfortunately, #2 Boy chose B and got an obedient bean...let's just say shortly after he chose A but never did choose C.
___
These are the "Adventures" that I get to choose from daily!
April 8, 2009
April 2, 2009
Octopuses, Cupcakes and Worms
I wanted to help the kids enjoy April Fools and hopefully try to get,
at least, #1 Girl to understand a little bit of what April Fools is all
about...but how do you do that with a 4, 3, and almost 2 year old? (I
didn't have any hope for #4 Boy understanding or enjoying it).
Online I found a few fun ideas and started to get the kids excited about them.
I showed them a picture of a worm dessert (The kind with chocolate pudding, Oreos, and gummy worms). Even with the picture, the responses were hilarious.
Mom: Kids do you want to have worms for dessert tonight?
#1 Girl: No!
#2 Boy: Worms?!
Mom: Yea, like in the picture.
#1 Girl: That would be silly we don't eat worms!
#2 Boy: Yuck! I don't want to eat worms!
Mom: I think maybe we will have worms for dessert! I will see if Dad can pick some up on the way home from work.
#1 Girl: Where do you get worms?
#2 Boy: I don't want to eat worms, that would be gross!
Mom: The grocery store has them. We can put them in dirt, just like in that picture.
#1 Girl: They will be dirty, I don't want dirty worms.
The conversation about worms continued on throughout the day with just about the same format.
Just after finding the worm dessert, I also happened across a 'cupcake' (made of meatloaf and colorful mashed potatoes). I showed the kids the picture of the cupcakes and asked if they wanted to have cupcakes for dinner and worms for dessert.
The kids were delighted about the cupcakes (a completely different response than what they were giving me about the worms).
This is how that conversation went...
Mom: Do you want these for dinner?
#1 Girl and #2 Boy: YES!
#2 Boy: I love cupcakes (there was another picture near that had eyes on them), Are they going to have eyes?!
Mom: No I don't think they will have eyes, should we have these ones over here for dinner?
#1 Girl: Not for dinner, it will make me sick!
All day long all I heard about were... cupcakes and worms... when the kids called Dad they told him about cupcakes and worms.
While I was trying to figure out a prank that the kids could pull on Dad a knock came at the door. It was our package that we bought off of Craigslist containing bumgenius liners and it was addressed to Dad. I opened it up, pulled out the liners and had the kids replace the liners with rags from the drawer. I told the kids that when Dad came home that we would have him open it and when he does you say, "April Fools!" I was about the leave the package indoors but figured Dad would get suspicious if it was in the house and not opened. So, I left it out front for him to find on his way home. I thought this might be something simple enough for the kids to understand.
Lunch was going to be hot dogs...but I figured I couldn't just leave them as plain ol' hot dogs, so I sliced them up and made each hot dog into an octopus. The octopuses were eaten with only a little hesitation. However, no one wanted a second octopus, they voted for a regular hot dog.
Dinner
was enjoyed by just about everyone. We also had a lot of fun mixing
the mashed potatoes together to make different colors.
#1 Girl loved her mashed potatoes but didn't want the meatloaf
#2 Boy just didn't eat much if either.
Dessert... well, The photos will help you see a little of how that went over.
#3 Girl didn't have any hesitation about eating the worms or dirt (what does that tell you about my daughter!)
#2 Boy wasn't about to come in to have dessert, exclaiming (almost in tears), "I don't want to eat worms!!!" He ended up coming in but not even sitting in his chair where his dessert was waiting for him.
After talking with #2 Boy for a while about how they are not real worms but that they were like gummy bears except they were worms and it is not real dirt but that it was cookies and pudding that we had made earlier...He still didn't want them!
Online I found a few fun ideas and started to get the kids excited about them.
I showed them a picture of a worm dessert (The kind with chocolate pudding, Oreos, and gummy worms). Even with the picture, the responses were hilarious.
Mom: Kids do you want to have worms for dessert tonight?#1 Girl: No!
#2 Boy: Worms?!
Mom: Yea, like in the picture.
#1 Girl: That would be silly we don't eat worms!
#2 Boy: Yuck! I don't want to eat worms!
Mom: I think maybe we will have worms for dessert! I will see if Dad can pick some up on the way home from work.
#1 Girl: Where do you get worms?
#2 Boy: I don't want to eat worms, that would be gross!
Mom: The grocery store has them. We can put them in dirt, just like in that picture.
#1 Girl: They will be dirty, I don't want dirty worms.
Our Yummy Worm Dessert
The conversation about worms continued on throughout the day with just about the same format.Just after finding the worm dessert, I also happened across a 'cupcake' (made of meatloaf and colorful mashed potatoes). I showed the kids the picture of the cupcakes and asked if they wanted to have cupcakes for dinner and worms for dessert.
The kids were delighted about the cupcakes (a completely different response than what they were giving me about the worms).This is how that conversation went...
Mom: Do you want these for dinner?
#1 Girl and #2 Boy: YES!
#2 Boy: I love cupcakes (there was another picture near that had eyes on them), Are they going to have eyes?!
Mom: No I don't think they will have eyes, should we have these ones over here for dinner?
#1 Girl: Not for dinner, it will make me sick!
Our Cupcakes for Dinner
All day long all I heard about were... cupcakes and worms... when the kids called Dad they told him about cupcakes and worms.
While I was trying to figure out a prank that the kids could pull on Dad a knock came at the door. It was our package that we bought off of Craigslist containing bumgenius liners and it was addressed to Dad. I opened it up, pulled out the liners and had the kids replace the liners with rags from the drawer. I told the kids that when Dad came home that we would have him open it and when he does you say, "April Fools!" I was about the leave the package indoors but figured Dad would get suspicious if it was in the house and not opened. So, I left it out front for him to find on his way home. I thought this might be something simple enough for the kids to understand.
#1 Girl, Dad, #2 Boy and #3 Girl with the box.
When Dad walked in with the box in hand #1 Girl couldn't keep from smiling.
She was just dying to have him open it. She asked and asked and Dad
was trying to just get settled into routine. I figured I'd better go
in the kitchen to make sure Dad didn't suggest that I open the box.
Finally Dad agreed to open the box... he got this really
concerned/worried look on his face and was about to exclaim that we had
been ripped off when #1 Girl chimed in, "April Fools!" I told Dad
about how the box had come earlier and the kids were so excited to play a
trick on Dad. #1 Girl was so proud and kept asking when we could 'do a
trick on Daddy again.'
Lunch was going to be hot dogs...but I figured I couldn't just leave them as plain ol' hot dogs, so I sliced them up and made each hot dog into an octopus. The octopuses were eaten with only a little hesitation. However, no one wanted a second octopus, they voted for a regular hot dog.
Dinner
was enjoyed by just about everyone. We also had a lot of fun mixing
the mashed potatoes together to make different colors.
#3 Girl loved the meatloaf but didn't eat too much of her mashed potatoes
#1 Girl loved her mashed potatoes but didn't want the meatloaf
#2 Boy just didn't eat much if either.
#1 Girl's take on dessert....
#1 Girl was delighted to have dessert and was the first to pick up a worm, she started to shake the 'dirt' off the worm and I let out a little scream. Her hand let go and she dropped that worm on the table. She got a frightened look on her face and then the look that is shown in the picture (I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get the first look). I talked her back into eating it. I had to also let her know that it wasn't really dirt but rather Oreos and pudding. As you can see she had to think about it a little bit, but once she started she loved it!
#1 Girl was delighted to have dessert and was the first to pick up a worm, she started to shake the 'dirt' off the worm and I let out a little scream. Her hand let go and she dropped that worm on the table. She got a frightened look on her face and then the look that is shown in the picture (I wasn't fast enough with the camera to get the first look). I talked her back into eating it. I had to also let her know that it wasn't really dirt but rather Oreos and pudding. As you can see she had to think about it a little bit, but once she started she loved it!
#3 Girl didn't have any hesitation about eating the worms or dirt (what does that tell you about my daughter!)
#2 Boy wasn't about to come in to have dessert, exclaiming (almost in tears), "I don't want to eat worms!!!" He ended up coming in but not even sitting in his chair where his dessert was waiting for him.
After talking with #2 Boy for a while about how they are not real worms but that they were like gummy bears except they were worms and it is not real dirt but that it was cookies and pudding that we had made earlier...He still didn't want them!
March 16, 2009
BumGenius in the mail...
Arriving in a couple of days, we will be the proud owners of not just 3 (which we have now) but 22 bumGenius diapers!
So, it is true, we are switching from those really handy, expensive, land filling disposal diapers to cloth. Yep, just like the good ol' days,
except
totally different! No pins, cleans easy, and has a lot more style! We
have decided to use the bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diaper... which looks
like this (which comes in all sorts of fun colors!)
After
doing a bit of research and asking some friends that have used various
cloth diapers we decided this would be the best fit for us. They can
fit from 7-35 lbs (so basically their whole diapering life) and adjust
with the handy-dandy snaps located on the front of the diapers. For
changing they open and close with something like velcro. After
changing the diaper we simply throw it in the laundry room (we have a
bag coming to store them in until washing time) and then wash them in
the washing machine.
So,
you might think we are crazy, and maybe we are crazy ... about saving
money! The diapers really haven't been too bad so far. Besides, aren't
they just so cute?!?
So, it is true, we are switching from those really handy, expensive, land filling disposal diapers to cloth. Yep, just like the good ol' days,
except
totally different! No pins, cleans easy, and has a lot more style! We
have decided to use the bumGenius One-Size Cloth Diaper... which looks
like this (which comes in all sorts of fun colors!)
After
doing a bit of research and asking some friends that have used various
cloth diapers we decided this would be the best fit for us. They can
fit from 7-35 lbs (so basically their whole diapering life) and adjust
with the handy-dandy snaps located on the front of the diapers. For
changing they open and close with something like velcro. After
changing the diaper we simply throw it in the laundry room (we have a
bag coming to store them in until washing time) and then wash them in
the washing machine.
So,
you might think we are crazy, and maybe we are crazy ... about saving
money! The diapers really haven't been too bad so far. Besides, aren't
they just so cute?!?
#4 Boy in his lovely bumGenius
*Side Note from 1/2014 We are still using BumGenius diapers. They eliminate the explosions but need to be changed more often so they don't soak through as quickly.
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