Overwhelmed Much?

I never want to complain about my kids.  I am blessed to have all three of those beautiful little miracles but..... just because I'm thankful for them doesn't mean that life suddenly becomes easy.  Today is what I call a "drowning day".  This was one of those days where I feel like no matter how hard I try I cannot seem to keep up with life or accomplish anything. My "to do" list feels endless.  This is not a list of projects I would like to do, these are things that I have to do. Things like grocery shopping, washing the peed on sheets, emptying the Diaper Genie before we all throw up from the smell.  Oh, and laundry.  Now I'm not talking washing clothes and then folding them nicely and putting them away.  I'm simply talking about getting them clean in a heap at the bottom of the basement stairs.  At least we have clean clothes.... good luck finding your outfit in that heap..... and don't look at me if it desperately needs ironing.  Seriously, next time you are with any one of my family members take a look at our clothes.  Guaranteed we will be wearing something wrinkled.  I am not proud of this.  I am not proud of the fact that most of them time our laundry does get folded is because my mom was over watching the kids and she folded it for me.  My kids already know the drill when I tell them Grandma is coming over.  We go into code red cleaning mode.  My daughter will run around the house putting things away saying, "we have to clean up before Grandma gets here otherwise she'll have to clean the whole time she's here!"  I will admit, while hanging my head low, that sometimes when I know my mom is coming I'll drop a few things off my endless "to do" list because I know that she will help me out by doing them without me even asking.  Does that make me a bad daughter? Sigh. Some weeks I don't even care if it does because, truth be told, I am exhausted about 98% of the time.  I don't think my hubby or myself have had more than five hours a sleep per night for the last few weeks.... and, no, those five hours are not in a row.  They are broken up between one kid who can't sleep because they are coughing, one kid who has peed the bed, one who is teething and screaming, one who had a bad dream, one who is too hot and then one who is thirsty.  I know what you are thinking, "you only have three kids and you just listed six different reasons that they wake up at night".  Rest assured, all six of these things can easily come up in one night.  And, on those really frustrating nights, they all come from one kid.  Does anyone out there know what it feels like to wake up feeling well rested?  If so, can you just explain it to me?  I think the mere description might be enough to get me through a day.  I can vaguely remember lazy Saturday mornings when I slept until my body ached because it had been laying down too long.  My body still aches now when I wake up but that's because I did a bazillion squats just getting in and out of bed and then pulled a few muscles trying to cuddle in a small bed with a squirming kid and then topped it all off with whacking my head of the bunk bed while trying to sneak back to my bed.  Oh ya, and the sound of my scull impacting the hard wooden bed (why didn't we buy one made of particle board!) woke the kid up.  Commence fitting into a small bed with a squirming kid.  Sigh.

My hubby and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary next month and we are celebrating by dumping the kids at grandma's house (ha ha ha ha ha *see paragraph above to understand laughter) and staying at a hotel for the night.  We were able to get an early check-in at the hotel.  I don't know about you but in my younger years I always imagined checking into a hotel with my husband and ripping each others clothes off the moment we arrived (sorry if you're reading this mom..... and my husband's mom.....) but when we found out we could get an early check-in we were both excited because we could take an afternoon nap!  And, no, nap is not code for anything.  We just want a few hours of totally uninterrupted sleep so that one of us doesn't fall asleep during dinner.  Isn't that romantic?

I think that pretty much sums up this sleep deprived rant.... plus I can hear another kid waking up coughing.  Kids are wonderful and they really truly are a blessing but if you are raising some and you find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed and sleep deprived like me, you are not alone.  Let us moms unite as we daily take up our battle with our cups of coffee as our sword.  We will win this battle and one day we will realized that we are drinking less coffee and getting more sleep and that our kids have turned into strong, independent, confident, smart and compassionate adults because we never gave up.  Never give up.  Next time you run into a friend who's a mom give her a hug and buy her a cup of coffee and remind her that she is not alone.  Remind her that there a millions of us all over the world who feel just like her.  And remind her to look her little miracles in the eye and remember that it's all worth it. 

The Best Purchase of Our Holiday

We didn't do much shopping while we were on our vacation last week since neither my mom nor I are big shoppers but we did get to a few stores.  One place I was determined to get to was Target.  They have a line of kids clothes there called Circo and it's made by Carter's especially for Target stores.  I love it because it's really cute and because it is dirt cheap.  I bought both the kids shirts and shorts and I never payed over $5 for any item.  Love.  My best find, however, was two movies.  Usually I do not buy movies but I was so excited when I found some Strawberry Shortcake ones.  The old Strawberry Shortcake movies.  I loved Strawberry Shortcake as a kid and I was so excited when L started getting into it too.  The dolls and figurines smell soooooo yummy.  I don't know what they do to make them smell so good (probably some crazy cancer causing ingredient) but both L and I could sit and sniff those things for a long time.  Yes, I realise that is strange.  Anyway, moving on, I have watched a couple of episodes of the new Strawberry Shortcake show with L and I have been pretty disappointed.  While there is nothing really wrong with the content of the show I feel like the characters act a little too grown up.  Call me old fashioned if you like but I don't like the attitudes of those little (let strangely large headed) girls.  They act a bit like "teeny boppers".  L is only three and I don't need her starting to develop an attitude any time soon.  I found this very disappointing and I don't really want her to watch the show, at least not yet.  A few months ago my sister passed on an old Strawberry Shortcake movie to us and L and I both really enjoyed it.  It has a fun educational storyline and the little girls act like little girls.  After I watched it with L I went online to see if I could find any to buy.  Well, being as cheap as I am, I wasn't willing to pay what they were asking for the movies to L just had to be content with the toys and colouring books we had.  But then, at the Target in Palm Springs I found a few old Strawberry Shortcake movies for $5.  People around me probably thought I overreacted a bit but I was so excited to find them!  L is loving her new movies especially because one is about baking and the other is about dressing us which happen to be two of L's favourite things.  I may be overreacting about the new Strawberry Shortcake show but I take my job as L's mom very seriously.  It's my job to teach her love, responsibility and respect for others.  I don't need a cute little TV show muddying the waters.

The Most Frustrated Chef on the Block

Over the last few months we have been fighting some food battles with L.  My little girl who used to eat everything, without complaining, has now become a picky eater.  If it is not peanut butter and jelly or Kraft dinner (heaven forbid I try to make a homemade mac and cheese) L will have nothing to do with it.  Oh wait, she will also eat fruit until her stomach explodes..... literally..... I have to cut her off of fruit otherwise she would have chronic diarrhea.  But, I digress.  So, as a result of this fussy eating dinner time has become the most frustrating part of my day.  No matter what I make, even if it is something that she usually loves, she will look at her plate and announce that she is finished and would like to be excused.  At first, we would sit at the table forever trying to get her to eat but that always turned out bad.  After many frustrating dinners I started reading articles and books trying to get some ideas to solve this sudden problem.  Most things I read agreed that it is not worth fighting your kid.  Simply let them leave the table but they do not get anything to eat until breakfast the next day.  So, we have been doing that for the past week...... L has not had dinner in a week.  We have discovered that she will happily go to bed without eating a thing, even if she has not had a single snack since lunch.  Ahhhhhhhh!  All the experts say that once the child goes to bed a few times hungry they will start eating their supper.  Wrong!  Might I add that L has also been waking up at 5:00am every morning starving.  She will not go back to sleep even though she is clearly still tired.  That little girl is so exhausted!  L can be stubborn but I have never considered her to be a "strong willed" child, she just will not eat dinner.  Today, after drinking her water and declaring that she was finished dinner, she told me that she only likes breakfast and lunch.  Then, in my extreme frustration, I muttered, "Well, until you start eating your dinner I'm not feeding you any breakfast".  Seriously, Nancy??  You're going to starve your kid until she starts eating dinner?  I am getting very tired of making supper every night, placing it on the table and hearing, "I don't want to eat this".  I am also very tired of waking up at 5:00am.  The experts seem to be all out of advice.  I guess I am just going to have to start serving dinner for breakfast since L "only likes breakfast and lunch".  Sigh.

When Bad Things Happen to Perfectly Good Sleepers

When L was first born she was very colicky.  And I mean when she was first born.   Our first night in the hospital she started to scream and it continued for about three and a half months.  The first week we were home from the hospital I got a total of five hours of sleep.  I won't get into details but it was pretty awful and involved a lot of anxiety and crying for all three of us.  Then, when she was around four months I put her in her crib after changing her diaper.  By the time I got back from washing my hands she was asleep, for the first time ever, by herself in her crib.  Hallelujah!  Ever since then, she has been a dream sleeper.  I would put her down for naps or bedtime, no matter where we were, and she would peacefully drift off to sleep.  Then she turned three.  Since then we have had some sleep issues on and off but they usually clear up within a week or two.  Well, it's been well over three weeks now of screaming at bedtime and hours of waking up in the middle of the night.  At first, she was telling us that she was afraid.  Swiper the Fox was to blame for that one.  Once we cleared it up that Swiper was imaginary, monsters were the new thing to be afraid of.  We have now overcome those monsters and it is simply, "I don't want to go to bed!"  She fights and she fights but once she gives in she is asleep in less than five minutes.  But, our girl, who for most of her life has slept 13-14 straight hours a night, now wakes up for up to three hours in the middle of the night.  It's really thoughtful of her to stagger her wake up time with her little brother, that way mommy can be up all night but only have one kid awake at a time.  Yes, that was very sarcastic.  I really do try to be loving and understanding but she is very stubborn and insists that she cannot sleep without ever trying to.  I am at a bit of a loss and just keep telling myself (like I've told so many other moms) that it is just a phase.  Well, phase or not, we all need some sleep around here.

Put Your Cell Phone Away!

I like technology. When Dean and I first got married I knew my way around a computer but all of a sudden I was being introduced to all kinds of technology.  Dean can be a bit of technology junky if he lets himself.  I never used to understand it but now that I have entered the world of Facebook, blogging, texting, iphones, etc... I'm not ashamed to admit that I really like it.

Now, having said that I must also say that there is a time and place for technology.  I hate when I'm having a conversation with someone and they keep saying "yep" or "ah hum" and they are staring at their phone texting while I'm speaking. I especially hate when I'm teaching and one of my students is texting underneath their desk.  It's like they think that by simply placing their cell phone under their desk they have put up a magical shield that now makes them invisible.  Even though these things bother me, the other day I just about grabbed a stranger's cell phone and threw it.  I was sitting at the Bombers game watching our team attempt to win their seventh game of the season while the two girls next to me had their cell phones out texting, not even bothering to watch the game.  Why did they even come to the game!?!?!  Oh, it made me upset.  Why can't people turn off their cell phones for just a few hours and pay attention to what is going on around them.  Now perhaps this is less about the cell phones and more about my intense need to see the Bombers win a Grey Cup, but none the less, why do people spend money on tickets only to sit and text?  I like texting my friends but they do not need to be able to communicate with me 24 hours a day.  And they certainly don't need to contact me while I am watching in suspense as my Bombers squeak out another win.  We need to be able to enjoy life and what is going on around us rather than having our noses pointed directly at our cell phones.

My Media Rant

I feel the need to rant because I'm getting pretty angry.  What is up with televison these days?  Seriously.  I am so sick and tired of shows that start out pretty good but eventually become saturated with sex.  I understand that I might be old fashioned but I'm not going to appologize for that.  I am so increadably sick of the casual attitude toward sex that our society has adopted.  Everyone is so shocked by hight rates of teen pregnancy but yet our kids watch shows where sex is no big deal.  Everyone does it.  It won't affect you in the long run.  You're strange if you are still a virgin by the time you reach university.  BULL CRAP.  Why have we become so complacent that we just stand by while media keeps bombarding this stuff at us.  And, not only does it affect teens but it affects adults too.  It affects our marriages.  We are so shocked by the high rate of divorce (even amoung "christian" people) but yet we (and I totally include myself in this) watch TV and movies where sex and relationships have one sole purpose, to make us happy.  Umm, I may have only been married for seven years but I'm pretty sure no one has a marriage where they are happy all the time.  If we were to live out what hollywood tells us then we would have to ditch our spouse everytime things got tough...... oh wait.... the majority of society does that.

But wait, there is still more.  We let our teenage boys and we drag our husbands to movies where the women are scantily clad and making continuous sexual inuendoes and we wonder how so many boys and men struggle with pornography.  As women we don't think anything of it because, lets face it, we have those parts and they are no longer amusing.  But, God did design men to like those parts and the more they are flaunted on television, in movies, at the mall, in restarants, the more men are going to continue to struggle. 

Oh, and I have more ranting to do.  What is up the previews for 14A and R rated movies.  I don't want to see R rated movies and I certainly don't want my two year old to see them but as we watch "Till Debt Do Us Part" at 4:00 in the afternoon there are previews for them!!!!  I no longer watch live TV with my kids.  Not even kids channels like Nickelodeon because there are previews for movies that are frighening for my two year old and I can't take those images out of her head once they are there.  Even walking past the entrance to the movie theater at the mall has movie posters with scary images on them.  You might think that I am being overprotective but that's ok with me.  I will guard my little girl's heart as much as I can.  As she gets older and able to understand more, then I will explain more to her and help her navigate this crazy world.  I don't need media to do it for me, especially when I didn't ask for it.

I could go on and on but I won't.  I just want to put those thoughts out there.  If you think I'm being ridiculous then you are totally entitled to feel like that.  But if you've been thinking some of these things as well, then know that you are not alone.