Co-Sleeping...Yay or Nay?

Imagine this. It's 7am, your snuggled in your nice warm bed, you roll over and hear the cute, innocent little voice of your 3 year old whisper "Good Mornin' Momma!" Yeah, it instantly puts a smile on your face, how could it not. But to have this happen every morning, it starts to get old.

Yup, we've fallen into the trap. We've become weak parents and every night our 3 year old, quietly climbs into our bed. I've read in some mom forums that some parents are all for this, they believe it is best for the child and parents. I don't see how getting kicked in the side, head butted or slapped at in the middle of the night is good, let alone what it has done to our sex life.

When my brother was a young child he slept in my parents bed til he was almost 5. Noooooo! I will not let this happen! But what steps do I take to stop it? He's so quiet and sneaky that some nights I don't even hear him come into our bed. And the nights that I do hear him, I immediately take him back into his bed, but some nights I don't have the energy to go through the tantrum of putting him back in his bed. He's recently been telling us that he's scared, that he has monsters in his room (oh what TV can do to a child's mind.) And while hearing him tell me these things wants to make me hold him til he feels safe, I'm getting the impression he's learning how to work us. Little Devil

Please tell me that I'm not alone here. Are we the only family who wakes up making the human 'H'?

It's the Second of the Month...

Have you called your Buddy?

Buddy 2 Buddy is our program to encourage women and their buddies to do a monthly self-breast exam.

My Baby's Going to Preschool

So, in just a few short days my 3 year old is starting preschool. I am feeling so many different emotions about this that it's making my mind go crazy.

Nervous - Obviously, I know. But I'm sending my child. My only child. My pride and joy. The most important person in my life to someone that I barely know. What if he needs help going to the bathroom, will she be able to help him? What if he won't eat his lunch or snack, will she know what to say to get him to eat? All the people that have been watching Jordan and caring for him for the first years of his life have been able to give him their undivided attention and I'm nervous that he won't be getting it now.

Sad - Another obvious one, but this just means that my little Baby J is growing up. He's three years old. Wasn't it just yesterday that he was born? Is he going to miss me while he's there? Oh my gosh, what if he doesn't miss me? Ahhhhh

Excited - Having family members watch Jordan has had it's good points and, as we have found out, it definitely has it's bad points. Because grandparents love to spoil their grand kids, Jordan has gotten away with a lot lately. He's never really had a set schedule. I'm excited to have the same person watching him most every day, a person who lives by schedules, a person who won't be taking him to McDonald's every day. I'm excited for him to get out and meet other kids his age and learn about sharing and playing with others.

I know in a couple of years I'll forget these emotions that I'm feeling right now and I'll probably be feeling different or maybe similar emotions for whatever reason, or for whatever may be going on in my life at that point. I can only hope Jordan handles it better then I will.

3 Years Ago...

3 Years ago I was not having conversations with a little person about why they had to go to sleep and eat and pick up their toys.

3 Years ago I was not asking someone if they needed to go potty.

3 Years ago I didn't take as much time planning out meals and ate pretty much whatever and whenever.

3 Years ago there wasn't stock of applesauce, raisins, yo-go bites, fruit bars, easy mac, chicken nuggets, fish sticks or juice boxes in my house.

3 Years ago I was not hearing things like "Momma, you're a goobah!" or "Momma, are you so happy?" or even "Momma, hold you."

3 Years ago I wasn't singing songs like "A you're adorable" or "You are my Sunshine" or "I love you, you love me", as a night time ritual.

3 Years ago I was able to have quiet conversation on the phone and eat a hot meal all by myself.

3 Years ago I could sleep in as late as I wanted and I was never late for work.

3 Years ago I cleaned my house everyday and never tripped over toys.


3 Years ago I had complete control of my thoughts, my body and I slept through the whole night and got plenty of rest.


3 Years ago I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew that I would love being a Mom.


3 Years ago I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body, and I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, just 3 year ago.

3 Years ago I could have never dreamed of feeling the way I do today as my baby is now 3 years old.

Happy Birthday Jordan!

By Gosh, I think we've got it!!!

A couple of months ago I wrote this post about my frustrations with Potty Training my 2 year old. Then a couple of weeks ago, I read and contributed to this forum about Stress-Free Potty Training on our MaineMoms.com Website. Well a couple people have been asking how it's been going. I'm here to tell you today that about a week ago, after telling my son that if he really didn't want to poop in the potty, that he could poop in his pants, but I begged him to tell me if he had to poop so I could put a pull-up on him so I didn't have to throw away another pair of underwear. That day, directly after lunch, my beautiful, adorable, awesome, brown eyed boy looked at me and said "Momma, I have to go poop on the potty." And he did it!

(Insert Applause Here)

Then he did it twice later that day. And I don't want to jinx us, but he hasn't had an accident since that day.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you very much! It gives me great joy to now say that I have potty trained my kid.

Memories of Soap Scum

They say when someone dies, they don't truly die, for they live on forever in our hearts and minds. Religion paints a rosy picture of a gated heaven opening up for a life in eternity. I want to believe that, but I kind of think it's all baloney. But I tell you one thing, our loved ones really do live on forever in the tiny quirks that made them who they were. For my mom, it was soap scum.

My mother loved to clean. She would be so excited to come to my apartment and make it spic and span. Oh, I was never proud of this, yea, I was an adult and my mother was still coming over and helping me clean my house... but seriously, who can resist? It was like having your best friend come over who liked to do maid service on the side for free.

But the one thing she always nagged me about during these cleaning trips was the soap scum in my bathtub. She would come to my apartment equipped with comet and a pair of gloves and head right to the bathroom. Then she'd get on her hands and knees next to my tub, grab my hand, and make me 'feel' the soap scum along the sides of the tub.

"Jenny, that's soap scum, you can't see it, but you can feel it, and it's gross." She would be absolutely appalled at me that I didn't (first)-- notice the scum, (and second)-- clean the scum. So she would proceed to scrub my tub and then she would take my hand again and have me physically 'feel' the difference. I always nodded and gave an appreciative grunt for her service, but after she left I could have still cared less about soap scum. But then two things happened in my life. For (one)-- she died. And for (two)-- I had a baby.

The baby finally caused me to care about the amount of soap scum in my tub. It started the first time I ever placed my daughter's precious little body into that same bathtub my own mother obsessed about. Like most mothers, I didn't want any impurities touching my daughter's skin. I finally noticed the soap scum, and I finally scrubbed the soap scum. I cleaned it because my own mother wasn't around anymore. She died eight weeks before my daughter was born. I, like my mother before me, became obsessed about the soap scum.

The point of all this is that tonight I got on my hands and knees in my apartment and scrubbed the soap scum off the tub and walls. My hands became pickled. The bleach stung my eyes. And the whole time I could hear my mother and almost feel her hand on my own. "Jenny, that is soap scum, you need to scrub it off."

I clean the soap scum for my daughter. I clean the soap scum for my mother. I clean the soap scum and I remember. Soap scum, now that's eternity.

The Moody Teenager

Just the other day my daughter and I were headed to the store, she was in such a happy, pleasant mood I couldn't help but point it out. I told her it's so nice when you smile and you are so happy! I asked her how a kid can go from being happy to sad to miserable and grumpy in 2.2 seconds. She laughed. I said, aha! You know, you do it. We laughed together. I told her that it was normal and I did the same thing when I was her age. Maybe now she could prevent it from happening in the future because she was aware of it...yeah right! Wishful thinking on my part:)

I know that as far as 13 year olds are concerned right now I have it made, other than the moodiness, she is a great kid. I guess it's good to communicate as much as possible with them and to remember that this is all normal and that she is no different than any other kid her age.

Here is a little snip it from and article I read recently...it was just nice to get the confirmation of what I already knew, in writing.

For most boys and girls, adolescence starts between the ages of 10 and 14 and continues until 19 or 21. The child becomes introspective again, often giving both himself/herself and his/her parents a rough time.
For the teenager, it is a time of concern about many things: acne, weight problems, menstruation, late development, early development, sexual arousal, school pressures, boredom, parental hassles, peer pressures and money problems.
It is a time of confused feelings, particularly in relationships with parents. Teenagers fight for independence yet fear too much freedom; they resent overprotection but need and want parental attention.
For parents, it is a challenge to keep a balanced view of their teenager's emotional roller coaster ride. As their children bounce back and forth between childhood and adulthood, parents often do not know what to expect. They must discipline when needed, yet understand their teenager's growing need for independent action.
Parents need to remember that life is stormy for all teenagers, that moodiness and changing interests are normal and that a certain amount of rebellion is not only usual but healthy.

Please feel free to comment and share your experiences too!