I'd heard from several people, even perfect strangers, that three was actually worse than two. Maybe it's because I'm in the thick of the threes, but right now, the "terrible twos" look like a warm sunny day at the park.
Do I really have another half a year left??
Ok, that might be a teensy bit on the extreme side, but right now it seems like this hellish nightmare will never end. I feel like I'm always repeating myself (who's the broken record?) and even though my little boy knows he's not supposed to do *insert fill in the blank here*, he just can't seem to help himself. Add to that a side of open defiance, a dish of kicking and screaming and a dash of you can't make me, and it's a recipe for disaster.
We are working hard at being consistent and making sure we follow through, but what seemed to work fine and be effective ... even two weeks ago ... just is not cutting it anymore.
When we discovered we were pregnant, I signed up for the weekly pregnancy emails at babycenter.com and since they asked, I shared Stephan's information with them as well. This means that I also get several emails about the rambunctious toddler. Every once in a while something turns up useful, and sometimes, even at just the right time.
Being that I'm about ready to pull my hair out, Christmas is around the corner, and I really do want to enjoy my last break before the business hits and baby comes in the spring, I was thankful for this series of articles on time-outs and toddler discipline. (I'm a little freaked that they are geared toward threes and fours, but eventually something's got to give, right?
- Time-outs: How to make them work (ages 3-4)
- What to do when time-outs don't work (ages 3-4)
- Moving beyond threats (ages 3-4)
- Alternatives to threats (ages 3-4)
Each of these builds on the other and provides some great ideas and strategies, and provided some small changes that will hopefully make a HUGE impact.
My biggest issue is keeping my cool. I'm already frustrated and stressed about the whole situation and really will need to work hard at keeping that out of the equation. No sense adding to the drama. I'm hopeful gaining some additional tips on discipline now that he's changing things up a bit will make all the difference.
So here's to a better tomorrow!
Lately I've managed to pick up and watch or read the most depressing stories, I want to disappear into nothing when they are over.
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy: The book cover is black. That should have been an obvious sign. The whole book is dark. You want to cough up all the ashy phlegm when you get done with it. Ugh.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father: A documentarian makes a movie for the kid of his murdered childhood friend. Oh yes, and it gets worse from there.
This American Life, podcast #342, How to Rest In Peace. Stories about kids who's parents have died... either murdered or killed themselves and how they cope in adulthood.
I don't know. Those are just a few examples, but I seemed to be obsessed with bad things. Dark things. Currently, I'm considering jumping into the book "Lit", which is a memoir, but now I'm not so sure. My decision-makings skills are a bit twisted at the moment.
Feck.
You'd think after almost a week of pilates, I'd be a little more sore. I have not experienced DOMS really at all except for the first time I did it; maybe I'm doing it wrong. I'm trying to really focus on muscle groups and using my core and doing that whole pull your belly button to the spine thing...
Belly button. What a fun title! That's gotta be the happiest body part because it has the cutest name.
I've been pretty consistent with massive cardio and Winsor pilates lately. Maybe it isn't enough, but I feel better about myself because I'm actually doing something!
My goal: to be comfortable in a bikini in public by July. Hell, even in a modest 1-piece! :-) And you know what? I think I might actually achieve it.
December hates diets. Not that I'm actually on one, but making healthy decisions is especially challenging when there are See's candies and homemade fudge and cookies and gingerbread and hot chocolate around. Working in this office is contributing to my girth. I've gained 2 pant sizes since I started working here.
I'm jogging an extra mile tonight.
Chicken butt!
If you would have told me at any point in my life that there would come a time when I brought a chicken into my house to wash and blow-dry her tush, I'd have looked at you like you had lobsters crawling out of your ears. Sure, I've washed a lot of chickens in my time, but never the live veriety..and I've never blow-dried one, live or otherwise. Well, this afternoon, I did just that!
Poor Esther had made a mess of herself. If it were a chicken like Pearl, I'd have just waited until she cleaned herself up during one of the million and two dust (mud) baths she gives herself everyday. She's a pretty white chicken when she's all cleaned up but she prefers the bad girl biker look. Esther, however, is sort of like Miss Prissy on Foghorn Leghorn and I was sure she must have been horrified having other chickens looking at her in that condition. Kind of like when we went to DeWitte's snobby aunts house and she hadn't done the dishes yet so she wouldn't let us in the house.
So, this afternoon, I let the other girls out into their portable run and brought Miss Esther into the house. I put a warm wet rag on her nether regions, while Nathan held her and said "Gross!" a lot..I can't wait till he's a parent, that kid doesn't know from gross, and put her in a cage on the kitchen floor to give the gunk time to loosen up. We enjoyed the interaction between Esther and the cat. Esther acted like the cat must have been a ferocious chicken eating tiger, even though she's now twice the size of the cat and would surely win in a head to head match. Don't tell her, though, she thinks she's dainty. We evenutally locked the cat in the bathroom because it seemed like she was starting to believe the ferocious chicken eating tiger hype.
After that, it was time to really get in there and clean her up. I was kind of worried..the last time we tried to give an animal a bath that doesn't usually receive baths with the warmest of welcomes, was Cleo. DeWitte put a leash on her and attached it to the faucet, so she couldn't jump out, and she ended up flying around the tub in mid air like a cartoon cat and we had to replace the shower curtain. Esther didn't seem to mind, though. Throughout her back-end bath she seemed to kind of purr. I thought the blow drier would be a fight, too. My chickens are so chicken that they're eremikophobic, which means that if you put new sand in their run, they think it's gonna eat their face off. But, no, Esther just sat there and let me blow dry her like it was a five star feather salon. She even offered me a tip but I didn't take it, I just cleaned it up with a paper towel and washed my hands.
After she was dry, I took her back out and put her back with the other hens, who were all fighting over a three inch plot of mud. She just looked down her nose at them, turned around and shook her clean, fluffy butt.
Dining room - still needs trim and chair rail.
Powder room (1/2 bath)
The kitchen is still too much of a mess to get a decent picture. They came and installed the granite countertop yesterday and part of it broke when they were cutting out the spot for the cooktop. Probably won't be back to replace it until after New Year's but the rest of it is stunning!
since i saw matt last wednesday and we decided to start seeing eachother again, he calls me every day, just as he had done before we broke up. it's not that i mind, in fact, i'm extremely happy to hear from him. he's busy off and on at work, so when i call him, he usually has customers. it's just easier for him to call me.
i'm not making this easy for him, by any means, but with stuff like that, i feel like i am. should i not be answering when he calls every time?...on the flip side, i don't want to be too hard to get and push him away, given why we broke up. i'm afraid the further i push him away, that i'll push him right into dixie...could be the insecurity that's creeped into my psyche lately...
i've never been in this situation - i've never gotten back together with someone that i had previously dated, let alone in these circumstances and i'm not sure how far to really stay away and when it's OK to be available. he's really busy with work right now, so it's a little easier to stay away from him and not see him all the time, but as far as phone calls? he calls just to tell me he loves me...
he's one of those stubborn hipsters who doesn't believe in text messaging, so that's never an issue. i don't know...just don't really know what i'm doing in this situations and don't want to make any mistakes, or get taken advantage of, or be too easy on him...
i think i'm over thinking it.
i'm seeing him tomorrow.
With this whole over-the-top craze with "Twilight" and vampire stories in general, I was wondering: what would happen if a vampire bit someone who had aids?
Seattle: Two months ago, a guy killed 2 police officers, sitting in their car. Rather... he executed them by shooting them in the back of the neck on one, and blasting the face of the other. Horrible. A week prior he had set some police cars on fire, and set up a bomb in hopes that the fires would draw enforcement to the scene (meaning... more to kill). The bomb didn't go off, or he didn't get it set up or soemthing like that. They found that guy and he's facing charges.
Tacoma (about half an hour south of Seattle): One month ago, 4 police officers were killed when a parolee from Arkansas walked into a coffee shop, and fired on them while they were gearing up for their shift. He was found and shot. 7 friends and family members are being prosecuted for helping him evade police for a week after the shootings.
Tacoma (about half an hour south of Seattle): Last night, 2 police officers were shot when they were ambushed. The dude is dead. He was hiding when they came in the residence, and he shot them both. They fired back at him and he's dead. They are still alive as of now, but both in critical condition. I guess the family didn't know what the guy was up to though and they helped save the cops. That's the only light I see in all of this.
It's just horrible. It's like the bad guys around here have suddenly come to the conclusion that the cops are no longer 'untouchables'. That the cops are the enemy. And they're setting them up, all over this area, and killing them. If you're a family member of a cop, it's like you're sending them off to war these days.
It's horrible. And very sad.
