A Day at The Museum

To piggyback on Melissa’s Target story (see A Needed Exorcism parts 1 & 2 here: http://randomthoughtsbymelissar.blogspot.com/), if you want to go to a place where you don’t feel like such a bad parent, go to the Children’s Discovery Museum! We decided to go on Saturday and Lexxa was being a holy terror before we even went inside. For some reason, she did not want to go in—I don’t know if she was scared or if she just felt like being difficult. So, needless to say, we were pretty frustrated before we even went inside, but we were there, so we weren’t going to turn around and go home! But once we were in there, everything was going fine and we saw a full array of what I’ll call “interesting” kids and parents. Let me run through the list:

1. While we were walking around, we noticed a child around 3 years old strutting around with bottle in-hand! If you can cruise around with a bottle with no problem, is that a sign that you shouldn't have a bottle anymore?

2. Ok, I don't know how you all feel about leashes or a maybe a more proper term, a harness for your children. I've always been against them, but as a parent of a 3 year old that likes to do her own thing so much, the prospect of her running away from me or getting lost in a large crowd has definitely made me think a leash would be convenient. However, I just can't bring myself to buy one...its my job when we are out and about to make sure that no one runs off and I've always got my eyes on the kids. With that being said, we saw a dad with a kid on a leash. This wasn't one of those cute harnesses with a monkey backpack, it was wrapped around the child's wrist and the dad was holding on to the other end. Ok, on to the story--we were in the bubble area at the museum, so things were a little messy and wet in the area. The child was laying on the floor on his stomach while the dad was holding the leash and talking to the older child. I don't think he looked back or even attempted to get the child up off the floor. At one point he even let go of the leash and the kid was trying to work his way up the stairs without his dad or the other sibling...yikes!

3. While in the bubble room, Lexxa was playing nicely in the bubbles when another little boy was playing next to her. He accidentally splashed her and it was really no big deal. The dad was very irate with his son and he scolded him and apologized profusely to me. After that, he walked over and brought me a towel to clean Lexxa up. The thing is, we were in the bubble area so it was expected that we might get a little wet and messy, but it was easy to clean up so no biggie. I appreciate that the dad was paying attention and that he cared, but it wasn't necessary to get so worked up about a little bubble splash in the bubble room.

4. Ok, last story, I promise. There was a closed off area for kids 4 and under. Lexxa wanted to go into the craft area and do some painting. She put on her fancy little apron and did some painting. After that, it was time for her to wash her hands. There was a small kid-sized sink in the room. There were probably three kids in front of her waiting to wash their hands. While she stood there patiently waiting her turn, one little boy went smashing through the line and squeezed his way in to wash his hands first, with no regard for the other children in line. The mother finally got to him and pulled him away after a minute or two. Then another little girl was using the sink before us--she wanted to play in the water and didn't want to move. The dad kept telling her to stop and dry her hands (and some other stuff in another language, so I'm not sure what else he said). So after all of that, it was Lexxa's turn...she washed her hands, got a paper towel and we were off! The funny part about it is that she just stood there staring at the other kids while waiting patiently in the line. I swear, she looks sweet and wonderful and she can be very polite and sweet when she wants to be, but sometimes the little devil in her comes out.

Here is Lexxa the way we love her to be--sweet and wonderful while painting.
And then there's Logan who is pretty much like this all the time...the mellow boy who just goes with the flow! So, the bottom line is that I know I'm not perfect and I know my kids aren't perfect and I'm sure there are many parents out there that might judge me for my ways, but sometimes it feels good to know that others aren't perfect either. It's uplifting for those of us that are parents and it's probably birth control for those of us that aren't!

Time to Act Your Age?

I have a friend at work who is a few months older than me. He is a total party animal still, single and living it up. I joke with him all the time about how he is older than me and he needs to start acting his age. He knows deep down that he needs to be a more responsible adult, but apparently he's having too much fun, which I can totally understand. He jokes back with me and says that since I have kids I'm automatically older than him. Is this true? Does having kids make you older? Or, does it make you feel young again because you get to see the world through your children's eyes. I guess it's a little bit of both. You're forced to grow up and change your priorities, but at the same time, you get to have fun, be silly and enjoy your children (or feel like pulling your hair out, it depends on the day!).

As we were having this discussion, another co-worker chimed in and asked why he needed to act his age. She stated that she doesn't act her age either. So, I guess the question is--when is it really time to stop trying to act younger than you are and act your age? Is there a cutoff? Does it all depend on where you're at in life? Does it contribute to where you're at in life? I'm not saying that we should stop living life because we're getting older, but are people in denial as they get older and try to act like they are 10 years younger? And why not enjoy each stage we go through in life whether it be age 21 or age 50, just to embrace it?

The other funny thing is that I have two younger girls that work for me (26 and 24, so not that much younger) and they didn't know me before I got married and had kids. I think they definitely think of me as the "mom" or "grown-up." I always laugh because I wonder what they would think of me if they knew me before I "settled down." Perception is such an interesting thing as we come across new people who didn't know us in our previous life!

Life Before Children?

It's hard to remember what life was like for Brad and I Before Children (BC). Our kids are only 3 and a half and 9 months, but we honestly find ourselves lost when they are not around sucking up all of our energy. Last night, Lexxa went and stayed with my parents. We had dinner with friends, and it was really nice to just relax and hang out with them without worrying about her. Logan was asleep by 8pm, so he's easy in that way and we didn't have to worry about him much either. This morning Logan went down for his first nap and it was so quiet in the house that Brad and I looked at each other and didn't even know what to do next. My first thought was to go back to sleep! Is that bad? I figured I might as well take advantage of getting some extra sleep since it doesn't happen often. Brad of course defaulted to watching crappy movies on Saturday TV--which he is still doing by the way, but the kids are both up and on the move. How is it that men can block out everything around them when they are watching TV? Ok, that's a whole separate post, so I'll stop! I guess I should give him a little credit since he is home with them every day, so he deserves a break.

Anyway, we do fine if we have date night and go out to dinner and a movie or something, but if we are at home in a quiet house, we're not quite sure what to make of it. I guess my point is that life BC seems like so long ago!

Weighing In... And Dropping a Deuce...

It's hard to believe that Logan is 9 months old already. Brad took him to his 9 month appointment today. My little man (who is not so little) weighed in at 21 lbs, 9 oz, and 29 inches long. This puts him in the 66th percentile for his weight and the 85th percentile for his height. His head only measured 17.24 inches around which put him in the 11th percentile for head size. But, I can attest to the fact that his head really isn't all that small...it's just more egg shaped than being wide and round.

Moving on to Lexxa...potty training. All of a sudden it clicked to her that she could go pee-pee in the toilet and wear big girl panties. Ever since that day she's been a champ. She tells us when she needs to go and that is that. However, #2 is a completely different story. I've heard a lot of parents say they have trouble when it comes to potty training and #2. So, every time she needs to go, she decides she wants to put on a pull up and hide behind the couch to go. Sometimes she doesn't go for a day or two because she just won't go in the toilet. So, moving on to tonight--we took a little family walk and on the way back we stopped at Starbucks. Of course she wanted a kids hot chocolate. So we went in and ordered our coffees and while we were waiting she wanted to go to the bathroom (I think she wants to go in every public place just to check it out and see if the sink is low enough for her to wash her hands on her own). So, I took her to the bathroom. She sat on the toilet, didn't go and then wanted to wash her hands and go home. So, we gathered up our coffees and made the walk home. The first thing she did when we walked in the door was put on a pull up. So, she goes to the bathroom in her pull up and she's ready for me to change it--I open it up and it looks like an adult-sized poo and even smells like one too. As I'm wiping her and gagging (normally stuff like this doesn't gross me out), she's laughing histerically. So, that battle is still on to get her to go #2 on the toilet...I know it will happen eventually.

Ah, the joys of kids growing up so fast!

Everybody's Doing It...

So, everyone seems to have a blog these days. And, I must say that I find them all interesting and always try to find time to catch upon everyone's latest posts. So, I figured I might as well start my own blog, if for nothing else but to make notes on what's going on in my life. It may not be very interesting for everyone, but at least it might be a place to keep a journal of things that are happening in my little family...the 4 D'Amicos.

Stay tuned...and, I should say that I may not be as on top of making new posts like some of you (Alyssa and Gale!).