Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I love my mom

I love my mom. One of the many things I love about my mom is the fact that she knows more about college sports than most college males.  Her passion for the Wolfpack is evident to anyone who knows her.  Once when we were young, my sister and I were roller skating in our garage.  Since it was circa 1985, it was before the time of helmets, wrist guards, or knee pads.  My sister fell down and hurt her arm.  Unfortunately for her, it was during the middle of an NC State football game.  My mom gave her some Tylenol, some ice, and told her she had to wait until the end of the game.  By the time the game ended, the swelling was impressive and she was still crying so off we went to the ER.  Xray confirmed she had broken it. 
What is that old saying?  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree?
Mom of the year ...

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Deck the halls

Christmas decorations seem to be quite hazardous to children.  More importantly, my children seem to be quite hazardous to Christmas decorations.  For this reason, and secondary to our laziness, we have elected to go with the naked tree approach this year ... lights but no ornaments.  Our tree is also tucked between two large pieces of furniture for its own protection.  However, we have been to visit friends who have carried on about their normal holiday business, displaying ornate trees placed in easily accessible, vulnerable locations.  During a recent visit to our close friends' house, my husband quickly took note of the exposed Christmas tree.  He was running a solid "pick and roll" defense, distracting our 1 year old away from the tree, until we decided to switch kids. (We tend to run a man-to-man defense but try to switch assignments periodically to keep the offense guessing).  After the switch, I must have lost focus because within a few seconds, my son had grabbed the tree and fallen down with a big crash.  Luckily, the tree stayed upright and only one ornament was sacrificed.
Mom of the year ...

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Photo op

Ah, 'tis the season and who doesn't love this season? Although it is quite busy (thus the lack of blog entries lately), it is a great time of year.  Everyone loves college basketball season.
If you've followed my blog, you will remember the "Tarheel born" entry (if not, feel free to scroll back  for some wonderful "parenting as a basketball fan" advice).  In reflecting back on basketball seasons past, I came across a photo.

When my daughter was just over a year old, my husband and I went to the spring football preview game.  We were on our way out when we saw John Henson, Dexter Strickland, and Leslie McDonald (three of my favorite UNC basketball players).  I had recently met them when they came to visit the children's hospital and I was selected as one of their tour guides.  When I saw them at the game, I darted over to my new BFF's and hurled my adorable daughter, dressed appropriately in a cute Carolina blue dress, into Dexter's arms, my husband standing by with camera ready.  Anyone who knows 1 year olds knows how they feel about strangers at that age, and anyone who knows college males knows how they feel about babies at that age.  Needless to say, it was not the photo op I had hoped for.


Mom of the year ...

Friday, November 25, 2011

I hate big girl beds

As parents, we are supposed to be excited for the transitions our little ones go through.  Transitions are hard though, mostly on us.  My daughter has been begging for a big girl bed since she saw her little friend's big boy bed several months ago.  We put it off as long as we could ... not because she wasn't ready but because we weren't ready.  And I don't mean in that sentimental "my baby is growing up" way ... I mean in the "mommy and daddy really like to sleep" way.
For whatever reason, over the Thanksgiving holiday, my husband and I decided to make the switch.  Our recent purchase of double video camera monitors for the kids' rooms turned out to be more valuable for her than her baby brother since we could now watch her wander around her room.  Initially, she would readily return to bed when I radioed her (through the monitor... bonus feature!).  However, on day 2, she refused to get back in bed at nap time.  I was busy trying to get things ready for my son's birthday party the next day and didn't have time to deal with her (and my husband was out running errands).  Unsure of what to say or do, in a moment of weakness I threatened to bring the crib back.  Since she had been so excited about the big girl bed, I thought for sure that she would zip back into bed quietly.  "NO" she screamed and then, "I want my crib back," and the cries began.  What had I done?  An empty threat did not seem to accomplish my goal.  Nap time ended with my husband sleeping on the floor beside her while she wandered around the room.  At least I was able to get some things done.
Mom of the year ...

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Nighttime Prayer

Tonight, I was trying to be a good mom and reminded our daughter to say her nighttime prayers.  It went a little something like this ...

"Dear God,
Thank you for Daddy and Lambie ...
and blankets and Santa Claus ...
and that girl over there ... what's her name?"
(as she pointed to a random doll)

Me: "Anyone else you want to thank God for?"

Daughter: "Yeah, that girl over there, what's her name?"

Well, she has confirmed it.
Mom of the year ...

Monday, November 14, 2011

Personal Space

I'm not a clean freak but I don't like getting food and grime on my clothes.  My husband always tells me that it's part of being a mother, but I disagree.  I'd rather wipe my kids snotty nose before he rubs it on my shirt or clean off my kids hands before I pick her up or hold my child by her armpits when she's just had an accident.
When we go out to dinner, we often choose to sit in a booth and somehow, I always end up next to my 2 1/2 year old daughter.  No matter how far I try to slide her away from me, she always sits practically on top of me.  And I'm sure you can imagine that her hands, covered in mac'n'cheese and yogurt, always seem to find their way to me and my clean shirt.  At times, I find it necessary to move ... not because I don't love eating with my grimy-handed child, but because I need some clean personal space.
As always, my husband was ready to capture my shining moment as a mother on film!
Mom of the year ...

Friday, November 11, 2011

Yellow jacket whack-it

We were finishing up lunch with two friends and their children today when we noticed a yellow jacket flying close to my 1 year old son.  We were all a bit nervous watching it fly around the kids so I decided I should do something about it.  It landed on a chair nearby and I couldn't find anything to swat at it.  So I took off my shoe and whacked it.  I maimed it enough that I think it must have died (although we couldn't find it), and we gathered our belongings and left the restaurant.
Outside, my friend told me she overheard the family behind us commenting that they thought I was taking my shoe off to spank my son!  Really, do people do that?  If so, maybe they deserve my award -
Mom of the year ...

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Meltdown Strategies

When we first had our daughter, we enjoyed taking her out with us whenever we had a party or gathering of friends.  One night, I noticed that some of our friends who had 2 children would always leave any gathering or party about 30 minutes to an hour before us.  They left while their children were still perfectly well-behaved and I never understood why they were leaving so early.
That was when I discovered that there are two schools of thought on exiting a party with your child:

1) Hang out and enjoy yourself until your child reaches their limit and crumbles to the floor in a crying catastrophic mess.  At that point of complete meltdown, you thank your hosts and quickly exit the party, happy to have survived long enough to enjoy some food and adult conversation.
2) Hang out and enjoy yourself for a period of time.  About half an hour before you anticipate your child's meltdown, utilize the "preemptive strike" strategy and exit quietly and graciously.

I am sure everyone has a guess which strategy my husband and I tend to choose, but I am curious if we are alone?

Mom of the year ...

Saturday, November 5, 2011

A marathon weekend

Apparently doing a marathon as a mom has its own unique set of considerations ... that maybe I should have considered before my race today. Here is a list of lessons learned:
#1 Putting your feet up before the race is not an option, regardless of how many babysitters you bring with you. In fact, you will likely be on your feet supporting your own weight in addition to the weight of your children.  You might also prepare yourself for less than optimal pre-race sleep, especially if you're sharing a room with the baby.
#2 Preparing for the race is mostly focused on how many snacks you need to pack for the kids and what clothes they will wear instead of how many gus to take or which socks to wear.  It helps if you remember both children and pack some milk for the baby.
#3 If you are nursing, you should take into account that the 10 oz you pump pre-race are calories spent before you even start the race, which may explain the hypoglycemic wall you're bound to hit around mile 15-16.  If you've run out of food at that point, maybe you should plan better next time and hire a pack-mule to carry your nutrition.
#4 Seeing your kids along the way is way more exciting for you than for your kids who look fairly miserable all bundled up in the stroller.  If you're lucky, your husband will drag your child against her will kicking and screaming to where you can see her around mile 25 ... how motivated you will feel to finish the race then!
#5 Post race, expect that your babysitters are exhausted from babysitting your hungry, tired kids during the race and forget about relaxing, feeding yourself, or showering until the kids have been fed and are napping.  (This is especially true if one of your babysitters is more interested in the NC State-UNC football game than watching the kids).

Most important lesson: Bonking at mile 16 and going 10 minutes slower than predicted matters a lot more to you when you don't have an adorable family waiting patiently at the finish line for you with big grins on their faces!
Mom of the year ...

Monday, October 31, 2011

A picture is worth a thousand words

I recently came across this photo of our first child as an infant.
Mom of the year ...

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Barely hanging on

We went out to dinner last night and were watching the UNC football game on the big screen TVs at the restaurant.  I was trying to pay attention to the game, while at the same time managing the chaos of dinner with 2 small children.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my daughter was practically lying on the table.  However, I decided not to fight the battle of asking her to sit on her bottom since at least she seemed entertained at the time.  Then she started screaming.  That was when I realized why she was lying on the table.  Her feet were dangling with nothing beneath them as she had apparently pushed her chair away from the table.  I quickly gathered her up and replaced her chair at the table.  I gave up on watching the game.
Mom of the year ...

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Miscommunication

In the hospital, I have been trained as a "coach" of a teamwork program emphasizing the importance of communication.  One of the central tenets is "closed-loop" communication or "repeat-backs" of doses to avoid errors.  When you ask for a medication during an emergency situation, the person giving the medicine is supposed to verbally confirm that they heard the order and are giving the stated dose.  Perhaps I should employ these strategies within my household.
Yesterday, I had 2 messages on my phone from the daycare and one from my mother.  Apparently our almost 1 year old son wasn't feeling well.  He had eaten his breakfast as usual but then 4 watery poops and 3 outfits later, the daycare was concerned.  My husband picked him up at the usual time and when I got home, we both noted how well he looked.  It seemed odd that he hadn't had any more poops since the morning.  Last week, I had consulted my nutritionist friend in the PICU about our son's poor growth and she recommended a teaspoon of butter in his rice cereal each morning to help him gain weight.  I started it over the weekend and instructed my husband to do the same.  Yesterday was the first day back to school and the first day my husband was in charge of adding the butter to the rice cereal.  I suppose I should have asked for a "repeat-back" since my husband proceeded to add a full tablespoon of butter and gave our son a good colon-cleansing.
Mom of the year ...

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Getting my attention

I will admit it ... I am easily distracted.  I've always told my mom that if I were growing up now, someone would have labeled me as ADHD.  When I'm spending time with my kids, I try to stay engaged, but quite honestly, my mind has a tendency to wander.
The other night before bedtime, my husband was reading books while I lay on the floor zoning out.  I heard my daughter talking but apparently I wasn't "listening."  All of a sudden, my daughter grabbed my face between her hands, turned it to look her in the eyes, and said "Mommy, look at me, listen to me ... I - NEED - SOME - WATER!  Ok?  I need some water."  She can be a bit demanding but I guess she had already asked "nicely" a few times.
Mom of the year ...

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Popping a squat

Potty training is one of the more difficult tasks of parenthood, or so I am told.  My daughter likes to dress herself and quickly discovered the enjoyment of picking out underwear to accessorize her outfits.  We did very little work to train her.  However, there are always bumps along the way.  One major bump that has come up twice is what to do when you have no access to a potty.
We were at a park this weekend with no potties in sight.  Leaving the park was not an option to consider since that would have resulted in a major meltdown and a child who would then refuse to potty.  I believe there are certain skills every female should learn but would have likely deferred instruction on "popping a squat" until later in her development.  However, desperate times call for desperate measures.  Fortunately there was no one else at the park to judge my choices as a parent, except my husband who captured the moment on film.  Unfortunately, my daughter's aim wasn't straight down.  We had made the critical decision to remove her pants, underwear, and shoes prior to squatting which paid off, as there was urine streaming down her leg.
Mom of the year ...

Thursday, October 13, 2011

A Quiz: Do you deserve the "Mom of the Year" Award?

I appreciate all the feedback I've received about this blog.  It seems as though many of you can relate to being a "mom of the year."  So I've put together a little quiz to see how you measure up.  Feel free to share your score in the comments section.  Dads can participate too - either on your wife's behalf or to see if you should be named "dad of the year."

Scoring instructions:
If you've never done it, 0 points
If you've done it only once, 1 point
If you've done it multiple times, 2 points

1. While out and about with your kid(s) in the stroller, have you ever "parked" the stroller, turned around, and then realized your child was rolling away?
2. Have you ever hit "snooze" on your baby monitor (unintentionally of course)?
3. Have you ever slammed your child's head into the doorway while walking through holding him or her?
4. Have you ever given your child Motrin or Tylenol and sent him or her to daycare, hoping the medicine would prevent the school from calling you to come pick up your sick child?
5. Have you ever eaten the candy or cupcake that was intended for your child (i.e. at a party or Halloween) and used the excuse that you don't want your child to eat sweets?
6. Have you ever called your child by your dog's name?
7. Have you ever driven to work only to realize that your kid(s) are in the backseat of your car?
8. Have you ever taken your child somewhere without a change of clothes and ended up in only a diaper for the remainder of the day?
9. Has your child ever picked up your phone and, instead of pretending to talk on it, pretended to "check email?"
10. Have you ever wondered why your child was so fussy and then realized that you forgot a meal or snack and he or she was probably just hungry?

Friday, October 7, 2011

Meat lockers

On one of my many recent call nights, the temperature outside dropped into the 40s for the first time this season.  Our house has a thermostat on each floor with our master bedroom downstairs and the kids' rooms upstairs.  My husband was cold that night and decided to turn the heat on downstairs.  Naturally, the warm air rose to the 2nd floor where it triggered the AC to start cranking out cold air upstairs.  At some point in the middle of the night, our daughter started crying and asking for her blanket.  I guess that was when my husband went upstairs and realized that their rooms felt like meat lockers.  I married the guy and chose to start a family with him .... and thus, I am ...
Mom of the year ...

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I hate swings

I love going to the park with my children but I have decided that I hate the swings.  When I had one child, I thought swings were so cute and I loved pushing my daughter and watching her big smile.  Now, the swings only bring me strife.  Whenever we get to the park, all my daughter wants to do at first is swing.  This can be especially awkward when we are meeting friends at the park and we get stuck in the middle of a meltdown by the swings before we've even said hello. I have come up with a list of reasons why all swings should be dismantled and removed from parks.
1. There aren't enough swings for every child at the park and learning to wait your turn is still a lesson in progress for us.
2. I don't enjoy the judgemental looks of passers-by as my 2 1/2 year old screams bloody murder until someone finally pities me and removes their child from the occupied swing.
3. Once I put my daughter in the swing, my 10 month old son usually decides he really doesn't want to be held and screams until I put him down to crawl around.
4. Having a 10 month old crawling around the swings must not be a good idea ... I seem to get the same looks as above (see #2).
5. Even if my 10 month old manages to escape getting nailed by a child swinging, I'm always worried that some kid will run out in front of my own swinging child.  Then, I'd have to figure out how to apologize while still pushing my daughter, who would most certainly not want to stop swinging at that point, and watching my son, who would still be crawling in front of swinging missiles.
Mom of the year ...

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Jogging stroller check-list

Since one of my few comments on this blog was a question about which jogging stroller to purchase, I thought I should address it publicly.  I'm quite flattered that at least one of you sees me as someone to come to for advice on mothering, since I am self-proclaimed "mom of the year."
As for what to look for in a jogging stroller, here is my lits of "must-haves" -
- Safe restraint system for days when your child does not want to be in the stroller and must be strapped in against his or her will
- Complete enclosure of the stroller for days when your child may think that launching toys and books out of the stroller is a fun game during your run
- A rain cover so you can go in any weather, despite the judging looks you may receive from other less active moms
- Big wheels so you can run fast and make it home quickly on days when your child does not enjoy being constrained and enclosed in the pouring rain
Hope that helps and please keep the questions coming!
Mom of the year ...

Adult supervision

Whenever we have some sort of family-friendly social event, my husband seems to find himself in the same situation he found himself in last night ... alone with multiple young children. I tend to be the more social of the two of us and will easily get caught up in conversation while my toddler starts to wander away. Last night, she was playing with several kids and each kid had a balloon. I guess I was supposed to be on toddler watch since my husband had the baby. I saw him take off running when he saw a few balloons leaving the restaurant. He mentioned something about our daughter so I figured he had things under control.  Turns out the kids went outside to play and by the time I got around to checking on him (about half an hour later) I realized he was the only adult amongst about 6 kids.
Mom of the year ...

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Happy 1st Birthday!

For our daughter's first birthday, we went all out ... and by we, I mean me. My husband thought I had probably invited too many people, spent too much money, etc.  But it was our first kid's first birthday and I had a lot of people to thank for helping us survive the year.
Our daughter woke up that morning fussy and as hot as fire.  Knowing my husband would suggest postponing the party if I told him she had a fever, I elected not to take her temperature and we went on about our day of preparations.  She napped that afternoon before the party so I hoped she would wake up in a better mood.  No such luck.  She was still on fire and just as unhappy.  As guests started trickling in, she seemed more and more uneasy with the large crowd forming around her.  Finally, the time came for the party girl to smash cake in her face, just like every other 1 year old seems to do.  Well, my daughter wanted nothing to do with the cake or the crowd of folks staring at her.  She screamed bloody murder through the entire "Happy Birthday" song, all recorded on video.  
That night, I decided to check her temperature before putting her to bed.  It was 102.  A week later, at her 1 year doctor's appointment, the pediatrician told us it looked like she was just getting over an ear infection.
Mom of the year ...

Friday, September 23, 2011

Man-handling

As a Pediatric intensive care physician, I have learned a few skills that serve me well as a mother.  For example, when children come in and need IV's or lab draws, they often attempt to resist and require some physical restraint.  Because of this, I have become a very skilled "man-handler."  I am able to completely immobilize my child's arm while clipping their fingernails or restrain their head while brushing their teeth.
Last winter, my daughter went through a phase where she hated wearing tights.  This unwarranted disdain for tights caused strife in our house every Sunday morning.  I knew that any good mother would not let their toddler run around with a dress and bare legs in the middle of winter.  My husband never seemed to understand (a) why I cared so much about making her wear tights or (b) how I got them on her in the first place.  He walked upstairs one Sunday morning to find me straddling my daughter (she was lying on her back) with my back to her head and immobilizing her legs with my body while I pulled on her tights.  She was screaming.  He shook his head.
Mom of the year ...

Monday, September 19, 2011

Bait

There is a transition that each baby makes from immobility to mobility about which every new parent is warned.  When you're a first time mom, you are just excited to see your little one start to do something other than lie still, so you are less concerned with the warnings.  With our second child, however, I was less thrilled when he started rolling across the floor at 4 months and was fully crawling by 6 months. 
One day, postcall again (i.e. post 24 hour shift), I was without a babysitter and left in charge of our 8 month old son.  I was hoping for a relaxing morning, including a long morning nap, some Today show viewing, etc.  Unfortunately, my son was too preoccupied with his newfound joy of climbing our stairs.  Exhausted from chasing him all over the downstairs, I finally found a way to captivate him, allowing me to park my tired body in one place.  The following video shows him taking the "bait."
Mom of the year ...

Friday, September 16, 2011

Cold front

When I'm working in the PICU, I leave for work well before anyone in my house wakes up.  That leaves my husband in charge of getting both kids ready for "school" (aka daycare) on his own.  To help out, I always leave clothes out for them to wear that day (he has a hard time figuring out what goes together).  Today, I left out what I had been leaving out for the past few months - short sleeves and shorts.  My husband sent me an email this morning ...
"This morning I put on long sleeves because it was cold. Showed up to school and knew I was in trouble.  Every kid had on pants and jacket except mine that were in shorts and short sleeves." 
A few hours later I received a text from my own mother ...
"I hope u dressed the kids warmly today. It is cold!!!!" 
Oops.
Mom of the year ...

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

On your marks, get set ... (Running Part III)

Racing after being pregnant is an interesting experience.  To avoid embarassing myself with slower postpartum times, I have opted to push the jogging stroller for races until I feel fast enough to race again.  I decided to push my almost 2 year old daughter in a 5k for a race a few months after my son was born.  We arrived at the race in plenty of time to get ready (my husband was running as well while a friend watched our son).  My daughter insisted on me holding her prior to the race and was especially needy that morning.  We lined up at the start and when I went to put her in the jogger, she had a complete meltdown and refused to sit in the seat.  I was wrangling her arms while my husband attempted to strap her in when we heard the gun go off.  I snapped the final buckle and took off, my daughter screaming but trapped safely in the confines of the jogger.  Much to the dismay of everyone I passed (or who passed me), she screamed for at least the first mile.
Mom of the year ...

Monday, September 12, 2011

Running Part II

Just like any wonderful mother who wants to live vicariously through their children, I have high hopes for my own children becoming runners ... so much so that I have been caught going to extremes to encourage a love of running.  Many races in our area include a postrace "kids run" for children 2 years and older.  When my daughter was about 16 months old (and I was very pregnant with my son), I decided that the 4th of July kids race would be her big debut.  We lined up on the starting line - she had half a bagel in each hand and was much more interested in eating those than paying attention to what was going on around her.  As soon as the "race" started, she looked up at me and started crying.  All the other 2-3 year olds took off toward the finish line, only 50 yards away.  I tried slowly moving away from her to taunt her into following me. She just screamed.  She bent over holding both bagels on the ground and looked like she was practicing her track start.  But she remained stationary.  I finally picked her up from behind and carried her, waddling as quickly as I could, to the finish line.  She screamed the whole way but she got a ribbon.
Mom of the year ...



Friday, September 9, 2011

Running Part 1

I like to run ... actually, I love to run.  I also love my kids.  Sometimes the two loves come in conflict with each other.
One morning, I had planned to run with a friend pushing the double jogger with my (at the time) 4 month old and 2 year old.  The weather looked a bit questionable - cloudy, a little chilly, and a bit drizzly.  Of my two loves, the love for running won.  Along our run the drizzle picked up to a more steady light rain but both kids seemed unfazed so we pressed onward.  As we were running slowly up a hill, a complete stranger, who appeared to be a mother herself, pulled over and rolled down her window.  "Are you ok?" she asked with an appalled look on her face.  "Oh sure, we are great - this is the last hill!"
Mom of the year ...

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Tarheel born

My poor children have no choice at this point in their young lives about which triangle area team they will support.  In fact, the brainwashing began quite early for both of our children.
Our first child was born right before March Madness began.  We jokingly called her "Roy" in the womb and told everyone we would name her either "Roy William" or "Roy Willa" (we didn't know her gender at the time).  She was about 6 weeks old when we won the 2009 National Championship and we were in the thick of it!  We watched the game in Carrboro and immediately after the game, I decided I was not going to miss this opportunity to "rush" Franklin Street.  I threw her in the Bjorn, grabbed my husband (who begrudgingly agreed to come), and we shuffled quickly down Franklin St in the freezing night air.  When we reached the "barricade" - a group of police officers standing by trashcans - the police man looked at me with the baby Bjorn and holding a flyer that someone handed me.  He said "you can't bring that in here."  My first thought ... I have to leave my baby with the police man?!  He meant the flyer.
Mom of the year...


With my second child, he was again born during basketball season.  We had just come home from a game when I went into labor and the next game was 6 days later.  We were playing Kentucky so what did we decide to do with our 6 day old?  Well, he came to the game of course.  I've never had such glares from grandmother-type women when they asked me how old he was.  "How could you bring your 6 day old to a crowded game like this?"  My response "Are you kidding me? It's Kentucky!"  The game was totally worth it and he didn't miss another home game the rest of the season.
Mom of the year ...

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Shovels

If you're my Facebook friend, you may have already read this story but I thought I'd share with the rest of the world.
My family and I went on a beach vacation recently and our kids loved playing on the beach, especially right in the surf.  We were in the midst of building an elaborate sand castle near the water when a fairly sizable wave came crashing upon us.  I immediately yelled "I've got the shovels" and lunged to grab the 3 shovels that appeared ready to float away.  I looked up at my husband who had grabbed both kids and was now holding one in each arm around their waists, suspended in air.  He smiled at me and said "Don't worry, I've got the kids."
Mom of the year...

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Dutch Oven

I never said I was mature enough to be a mother.  This afternoon, postcall again, my 2 1/2 year old daughter and I were "snuggling."  And by "snuggling," I mean, I was physical restraining her while lying next to her on the couch under a blanket.  She let out a toot and what was my first thought?  DUTCH OVEN!  So I pulled the blanket up over her head and yelled "dutch oven!"  She screamed and snuggle time ended abruptly.
Mom of the year...

And for those who don't know ...  The definition according to "urban dictionary" -
to fart under covers and then pull the covers over your or someone elses head

Friday, September 2, 2011

Why a blog?

I have learned a few things about "mothers" in my short time as a mother.  #1 - most of us feel inadequate but are doing the best we can.  #2 - it's really easy to laugh at each other's mistakes because we all know we've been there.  So with that in mind, I thought I'd share (or vent) some of my own shortcomings as they happen, mixed in with some historical events.  I should introduce myself more fully as a mother of 2 children - a 2 1/2 year old stubborn little girl who I adore and a 9 month old sweet but active little fellow who is going to keep me running.  I am also a full time doctor in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, which constantly reminds me of the blessings in my life.  Hope you will enjoy reading my stories but most importantly, I hope that my entertaining failures make you feel better about yourselves as mothers!

What better place to start than one of my most shining moments as a mother.  I was "post-call," meaning I had worked a 24 hour shift, and decided to keep the kids home with me to "play" instead of sleeping.  We played at the pool all morning but by nap time, I was spent.  As soon as I laid them down, I went to sleep in my own bedroom.  In retrospect, I suppose I should have kept the door open or set an alarm.  I woke up 3 1/2 hours later to both children screaming bloody murder.  I went to my daughter's room first, who has recently potty-trained.  She was crying "Mommy, I peed.  I peed on Lambie" (her lovey).  I then checked on my son who had been crying for so long, he was hyperventilating.  I don't think he stopped hyperventilating for at least an hour.

Mom of the year!