Claire is at the age where she is starting to like Barbie. She has received several Barbies for gifts, but I confiscate all small accessories. Paul puts everything that will fit into his mouth, and I know Claire is not old enough to determine whether or not he might choke on something.
She's been playing with the Barbies themselves since around Christmas. She likes to take off their clothes and call them Naked Barbie. Her interest has piqued, so I allowed her to have one pair of Barbie shoes. When I gave them to her, I talked to her about Paul and how she must always put her Barbie shoes back into her Barbie bucket because he will get them and put them in his mouth and choke on them. Every time she gets out her Barbies I remind her about Paul. It's become so repetitive that she actually can complete my sentence. "...because he will choke on them and get hurt."
Yesterday I was having computer issues. I was frustrated and decided to take a break. I put Paul in his swing so he could take a nap while I took a shower. I always do this for his own protection. Claire can't get into the swing or sit on him when he is in the swing. As I was headed to the shower, I noticed that Claire's Barbie shoes were on the counter next to the swing. They weren't on the floor, so I didn't say anything about it.
I heard Paul crying the entire time I was showering. He hadn't wanted to take a nap, so I thought he was upset I put him in the swing. I heard him coughing, but sometimes he does that when he's real upset. After I got dressed, I went to pick him up and comfort him and that's when I saw it.
One small gold Barbie high heel on the tray of his swing. The other high heel was nowhere to be found. I asked Claire where the other one was and she started apologizing and ran out of the room.
She fed it to him.
I was so mad at her I made her stay in her room for an hour and a half until I calmed down. I know kids like to experiment and put things in their mouth, and if I hadn't specifically, repeatedly, explained the dangers of Barbie shoes to her, I wouldn't have been as upset. She did it on purpose. I was flabbergasted that a near-three year old would be so defiant. It is fascinating to me to watch her moral compass develop. I wasn't fascinated yesterday, though. I was so mad I didn't know what to do.
Paul was not choking. He was breathing fine. He was happy. I stuck my finger down his throat and found no obstructions. I called Adam and he recommended I call the doctor. Then he asked my advice on what part to buy from the junkyard. For any man reading this, please know that when your wife calls with an emergency crisis, it is not the time to talk to her about something at the junkyard. That just adds to her anxiety and frustration.
I called the doctor and she told me to feed him a piece of bread. Everything's fine now. Claire's out of time-out. She lost her Barbie privileges for a week, at least. Adam apologized and made his own decision about the junkyard. I took a deep breath and am trying to take a CSI approach to checking poo for Barbie shoes.
Here's a place where Sarah writes what's on her heart and mind for whomever will read it. Sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes it's little pieces of life that I'm grateful for. Enjoy!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Yin/Yang
I believe in the yin and yang. Or is it ying/yang? Or you could call it karma, or you could call it divine intervention, or you could call it God putting me in my place now and then.
Claire spilled milk the other day and I lost it. I am so tired to cleaning up messes! Do not eat off my floor, because no matter how often I mop it, it's dirty. Of course I clean up after every spill, but there are so many! Cheerios, smooshed strawberries, spilled milk, urine, dog food and water....It's all over my floor. The other day I hadn't finished my essential cup of coffee before Claire spilled my giant glass of Carnation Instant Breakfast. She just stood there looking at it. I was furious. I know spills are a part of life, but get a towel and start cleaning it up! Come on! I threw her a towel and yelled, making her mop up her mess. Of course I felt terrible immediately afterward, but that wasn't all.
At lunch that day, yours truly spilled her own giant glass of water. I was definitely put in my place.
I took Claire and Paul to the zoo this week, and Claire asked for the leash. I obliged. Then I realized, "Hey stupid, maybe it's not all about you! Maybe it's a security thing for her, too! Maybe she doesn't want to get lost!" I immediately sucked it up and lost my embarrassment. I was doing all that whining about the stupid leash but forgot to look past my own pathetic nose.
Sunday I taught a class at church. We were discussing the book UnChristian and our own conceptions of other Christians. Many in the group had bad experiences at different churches and were complaining about them (me included.) Then one guy said, "Look here on the survey. One of the top perceptions of Christianity is that we are judgmental. We just proved that." Oops.
And lastly, last night we were out of milk, so I stopped in Albertson's after Girls' Night Out. I grabbed milk and a bottle of wine. I called Adam and offered to buy him a particular beer. He declined. The beer cost $8.99/6-pack, so I was kind of glad he said no. I would have bought it if he wanted it, but didn't really want to buy beer that high. Now my cheap wine was also $8.99, but of course that was different....Blah blah.
At the register, the people in front of me were upset. Their foodstamps card had just been declined. They were buying bread, bagels, cream cheese and a couple of other items. Their bill was $8.90 and they couldn't afford it. Of course I offered and bought their groceries for them. So there I was, whining in my head about the price of beer, not thinking twice about buying wine for the same price, and there was a family that couldn't afford actual food for the same price. The cashier told me after they left that the lady was pregnant and they were on the way to the hospital to visit her mother, who was in the last stages of cancer and dying.
I am not a humble person, but I am often humbled by experiences like this.
Claire spilled milk the other day and I lost it. I am so tired to cleaning up messes! Do not eat off my floor, because no matter how often I mop it, it's dirty. Of course I clean up after every spill, but there are so many! Cheerios, smooshed strawberries, spilled milk, urine, dog food and water....It's all over my floor. The other day I hadn't finished my essential cup of coffee before Claire spilled my giant glass of Carnation Instant Breakfast. She just stood there looking at it. I was furious. I know spills are a part of life, but get a towel and start cleaning it up! Come on! I threw her a towel and yelled, making her mop up her mess. Of course I felt terrible immediately afterward, but that wasn't all.
At lunch that day, yours truly spilled her own giant glass of water. I was definitely put in my place.
I took Claire and Paul to the zoo this week, and Claire asked for the leash. I obliged. Then I realized, "Hey stupid, maybe it's not all about you! Maybe it's a security thing for her, too! Maybe she doesn't want to get lost!" I immediately sucked it up and lost my embarrassment. I was doing all that whining about the stupid leash but forgot to look past my own pathetic nose.
Sunday I taught a class at church. We were discussing the book UnChristian and our own conceptions of other Christians. Many in the group had bad experiences at different churches and were complaining about them (me included.) Then one guy said, "Look here on the survey. One of the top perceptions of Christianity is that we are judgmental. We just proved that." Oops.
And lastly, last night we were out of milk, so I stopped in Albertson's after Girls' Night Out. I grabbed milk and a bottle of wine. I called Adam and offered to buy him a particular beer. He declined. The beer cost $8.99/6-pack, so I was kind of glad he said no. I would have bought it if he wanted it, but didn't really want to buy beer that high. Now my cheap wine was also $8.99, but of course that was different....Blah blah.
At the register, the people in front of me were upset. Their foodstamps card had just been declined. They were buying bread, bagels, cream cheese and a couple of other items. Their bill was $8.90 and they couldn't afford it. Of course I offered and bought their groceries for them. So there I was, whining in my head about the price of beer, not thinking twice about buying wine for the same price, and there was a family that couldn't afford actual food for the same price. The cashier told me after they left that the lady was pregnant and they were on the way to the hospital to visit her mother, who was in the last stages of cancer and dying.
I am not a humble person, but I am often humbled by experiences like this.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Small Miracles and Grace
Long ago, before I joined the Methodist church, I understood grace to be poise and put-togetherness. Audrey Hepburn, but not Sarah....No, I've never had that kind of grace.
Now I have a different understanding of the word. Getting something you don't deserve; that's grace. I am constantly the recipient of that kind of grace. Just this last week has been full of grace. Here are three small miracles that have happened here at our house:
1. We have a vinyl-lined pool that desparately needed a new liner. We've been worried about replacing it since the original quote we got on it was almost $4,000. We just had a guy do it for half of that. We're budgeting every dollar since I quit working last year, so that was a small miracle the money we'd been saving for that was more than enough.
2. Our computer died. Adam can get it to work for 10 or 15 minutes at a time by doing something to a battery inside, but that's about all. It's about to be dead forever. After replacing the pool liner, we really don't have money for a new computer. I was telling my friend Alli this and she said that her husband was about to sell a good laptop for $100. I jumped at the opportunity. The laptop works great and is actually an upgrade from the dead computer!
3. Every year, since we've been married, we've owed money on our taxes. We feared this year would be our biggest year yet because we received gas lease money in the fall and would have to pay taxes on that. Adam did our taxes yesterday and we actually get $200 back! Now that's a miracle!
Audrey Hepburn be damned. My life is full of grace! (and gratitude)
Now I have a different understanding of the word. Getting something you don't deserve; that's grace. I am constantly the recipient of that kind of grace. Just this last week has been full of grace. Here are three small miracles that have happened here at our house:
1. We have a vinyl-lined pool that desparately needed a new liner. We've been worried about replacing it since the original quote we got on it was almost $4,000. We just had a guy do it for half of that. We're budgeting every dollar since I quit working last year, so that was a small miracle the money we'd been saving for that was more than enough.
2. Our computer died. Adam can get it to work for 10 or 15 minutes at a time by doing something to a battery inside, but that's about all. It's about to be dead forever. After replacing the pool liner, we really don't have money for a new computer. I was telling my friend Alli this and she said that her husband was about to sell a good laptop for $100. I jumped at the opportunity. The laptop works great and is actually an upgrade from the dead computer!
3. Every year, since we've been married, we've owed money on our taxes. We feared this year would be our biggest year yet because we received gas lease money in the fall and would have to pay taxes on that. Adam did our taxes yesterday and we actually get $200 back! Now that's a miracle!
Audrey Hepburn be damned. My life is full of grace! (and gratitude)
Friday, April 10, 2009
Mommy Madness
Dear North Texas Chevy Dealers,
I recently applied for the Mommy Madness DFW Chevy Traverse Sweepstakes. I think I am a good choice for this sweepstakes for a number of reasons including my station in life, my writing ability, and my current vehicle choice. I was limited to 50 words in my application on your website, so I am now using my blog as my campaign platform.
I am a full-time mother of two active children. Claire is almost three, and Paul is nine months. They enjoy fighting and chasing each other, Claire running and Paul crawling as fast as he can. I was a first grade teacher for six years and quit when I gave birth to Paul. I still keep in contact with my teacher friends and have made several new "mom" friends. I am very active in my church and regularly visit several elderly people. I am titled a "stay-at-home" mom, but it is a rare day that we actually stay-at-home. If I win, I will make sure your vehicle is covered in advertisements and that they are displayed all over the metroplex.
Writing is one of my gifts. I have a journalism degree, but never was able to use it. Winning the Mommy Madness contest would give me a chance to use all those unused skills. I often think my life consists entirely of chauffering and poop, so this would be a great opportunity for me to expand my horizons and remind me that I am more than a diaper genie.
I drive a VW Jetta. I owned three Ford Escorts, back to back before I switched to Volkswagon. I have been happy with my vehicle, but have never driven a Chevy. (I never liked the Fords, but that was all I could afford in college.) I'm interested to learn about the Chevy experience, but more than that, I'm interested in driving an SUV. I have always driven a small car and frankly, am intimidated by SUVs. This would be a great opportunity for me to test out my SUV driving skills and see if I could actually handle it. I am also interested to see how my children's behavior would change in a larger car. Right now they fight constantly in the car. I never realized a baby could put up a fight, but my Paul holds his own against his sister.
All of these are reasons why I would be a perfect candidate to win your contest and drive the Chevy Traverse. I hope you agree.
Sincerely,
Sarah Boyette
I recently applied for the Mommy Madness DFW Chevy Traverse Sweepstakes. I think I am a good choice for this sweepstakes for a number of reasons including my station in life, my writing ability, and my current vehicle choice. I was limited to 50 words in my application on your website, so I am now using my blog as my campaign platform.
I am a full-time mother of two active children. Claire is almost three, and Paul is nine months. They enjoy fighting and chasing each other, Claire running and Paul crawling as fast as he can. I was a first grade teacher for six years and quit when I gave birth to Paul. I still keep in contact with my teacher friends and have made several new "mom" friends. I am very active in my church and regularly visit several elderly people. I am titled a "stay-at-home" mom, but it is a rare day that we actually stay-at-home. If I win, I will make sure your vehicle is covered in advertisements and that they are displayed all over the metroplex.
Writing is one of my gifts. I have a journalism degree, but never was able to use it. Winning the Mommy Madness contest would give me a chance to use all those unused skills. I often think my life consists entirely of chauffering and poop, so this would be a great opportunity for me to expand my horizons and remind me that I am more than a diaper genie.
I drive a VW Jetta. I owned three Ford Escorts, back to back before I switched to Volkswagon. I have been happy with my vehicle, but have never driven a Chevy. (I never liked the Fords, but that was all I could afford in college.) I'm interested to learn about the Chevy experience, but more than that, I'm interested in driving an SUV. I have always driven a small car and frankly, am intimidated by SUVs. This would be a great opportunity for me to test out my SUV driving skills and see if I could actually handle it. I am also interested to see how my children's behavior would change in a larger car. Right now they fight constantly in the car. I never realized a baby could put up a fight, but my Paul holds his own against his sister.
All of these are reasons why I would be a perfect candidate to win your contest and drive the Chevy Traverse. I hope you agree.
Sincerely,
Sarah Boyette
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Chimpanzees
For my birthday, the family got a zoo membership. Claire, Paul, and I have been enjoying it at least weekly since spring break. It's nice to be able to go to the zoo for just an hour and not feel pressured to see all the animals; we can see them next time.
Yesterday the chimpanzees were up and in a performing mood, so the kids and I sat there for half an hour watching them. They were jumping, playing, and having lots of fun. We got to watch them eat and interact with each other. Then the mother started nursing her baby and I immediately related and was a little bit jealous. Wouldn't it be cool, I thought, if all I had to worry about was feeding my kids and having fun? I never had to throw them in the car and rush anywhere, I never had to clean cheerios off the floor or out of hair...
Then one of the chimpanzees backed his rear toward us and pooped. I immediately woke up and back to reality. Pooping in public? No thank you. I think I'll be a human. Of course, I didn't see the mom have to rush over there and clean the poop.....Hmmmmm....Might not be as bad as I thought.
Yesterday the chimpanzees were up and in a performing mood, so the kids and I sat there for half an hour watching them. They were jumping, playing, and having lots of fun. We got to watch them eat and interact with each other. Then the mother started nursing her baby and I immediately related and was a little bit jealous. Wouldn't it be cool, I thought, if all I had to worry about was feeding my kids and having fun? I never had to throw them in the car and rush anywhere, I never had to clean cheerios off the floor or out of hair...
Then one of the chimpanzees backed his rear toward us and pooped. I immediately woke up and back to reality. Pooping in public? No thank you. I think I'll be a human. Of course, I didn't see the mom have to rush over there and clean the poop.....Hmmmmm....Might not be as bad as I thought.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
I Will Not Judge You
Before I had kids, I was very concious of my appearance. Not my physical appearance, mind you, I have never been a primper. I was very worried about manners and social graces. I don't worry about it any more.
If your kid screams and throws a fit at the store, I will not judge you. I have been there.
If you arrive at your destination and realize that somehow you and your daughter have ketchup stains on your clothes and your son has spit up, I will not judge you. I've been there recently.
If you have to put your kid on a leash, I will not judge you. I did it again this week.
I can't remember the last time I wore makeup; clean clothes are more important to me now. And clean clothes are less important than happy kids.
Every time I catch myself judging someone, I find myself in the same situation and have to put my foot in my mouth. The other night we were at Best Buy and I was horrified to see a guy sitting on a bench with half of his rear hanging out of his pants. Yesterday I was at the Apple store, trying all my mommy magic to contain my two-year old and keep her from breaking everything in the store. She wasn't upset, she was just very excited and rambunctious. Paul was in the baby sling fussing. It was at that point, when I was bending over to contain Claire that I realized my working out finally has paid off. That's good, but what's not good is that I was the Best Buy guy, and I couldn't do anything about it. I was showing the store my rear, but I decided it was more important to prevent Claire from breaking a new IMac.
So I say to you. If your pants are too big and you accidentally show me your rear, I will not judge you.
I think I have covered pretty much every embarrassing situation with the promise of more to come. So don't ever be embarrassed around me. I've been there.
If your kid screams and throws a fit at the store, I will not judge you. I have been there.
If you arrive at your destination and realize that somehow you and your daughter have ketchup stains on your clothes and your son has spit up, I will not judge you. I've been there recently.
If you have to put your kid on a leash, I will not judge you. I did it again this week.
I can't remember the last time I wore makeup; clean clothes are more important to me now. And clean clothes are less important than happy kids.
Every time I catch myself judging someone, I find myself in the same situation and have to put my foot in my mouth. The other night we were at Best Buy and I was horrified to see a guy sitting on a bench with half of his rear hanging out of his pants. Yesterday I was at the Apple store, trying all my mommy magic to contain my two-year old and keep her from breaking everything in the store. She wasn't upset, she was just very excited and rambunctious. Paul was in the baby sling fussing. It was at that point, when I was bending over to contain Claire that I realized my working out finally has paid off. That's good, but what's not good is that I was the Best Buy guy, and I couldn't do anything about it. I was showing the store my rear, but I decided it was more important to prevent Claire from breaking a new IMac.
So I say to you. If your pants are too big and you accidentally show me your rear, I will not judge you.
I think I have covered pretty much every embarrassing situation with the promise of more to come. So don't ever be embarrassed around me. I've been there.
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