The Birthday Gift Shift

I just dropped off a trunk loaded with birthday presents to the NC Children's hospital.  These gifts were donated by the generous friends and family who came to my daughter's 3rd birthday party, in lieu of a gift for the birthday girl.  We have made this a tradition in our house since her 1st birthday.  At first, my friends told me I was crazy - that once our kids were old enough, they would pitch a fit about donating all those gifts.  I was especially worried this year since our daughter was turning 3, old enough to understand what gifts are (and to want them!).  I tried to prep her ahead of time by telling her that people were bringing gifts for the "sick children" to her party.  Still, I had my doubts about how it would all go down.
At the end of the party, my daughter looked at the pile of gifts, then looked up at me and asked "are we taking the presents to the sick children now?"  I almost cried ... maybe I really am Mom of the Year!  Well, I guess it's more like "mom of the moment" ... I'm pretty sure I almost strangled her later that day.

If anyone else would like to start this tradition, aka "The Birthday Gift Shift," please let me know and I will facilitate delivery of the donations. Not only will you feel good about donating gifts, but you will also feel good about not having to find space in your home for all that stuff!
Mom of the year ...

Fetch!

My 15 month old son loves balls.  In fact, he loves them so much that he wakes up saying "ball" and will run around looking for a ball as soon as he gets out of his crib.  I have to admit that we often use the ball as "bait" to get him to come with us.  We also discovered that he is really good at playing "fetch," so good in fact that we call him our labrador retriever. When I threw the ball today and said "fetch," I think he may have taken the game a little too far ...

Mom of the year ...

Sour milk

Whenever I pick the children up from school, my daughter asks for water and whines the whole way home if I don't have any.  For this reason, I have tried to keep a cup of water in the car at all times.  The other day, I picked the kids up and per usual, my daughter asked for water.  The purple cup that I had been keeping in the car was sitting in the cup holder.  I knew it had been a week since we had been out of town for the weekend, but I figured giving her the water was better than listening to her whine about it.  I handed her the cup and she took a swig.  She immediately made a face and said "That's not water, that's milk and it tastes funny."
I had forgotten that my husband had driven my car the day before we left town (5 days before the incident) and must have left the purple cup in it with milk, not water.  I almost gagged at the thought.
Mom of the year ...

Hypocrisy of parenting

My friends who know me well know how much I love sweets, especially chocolate.  These same friends also know how rarely I allow my children to eat sweets.  I refrained from giving either kid any kind of sweets until their first birthday, and then only on that day.  (I blame my career and the growing trend of obese children.)  I've only very recently started giving my 3 year old sweet treats, usually on some sort of special occasion.  To her, yogurt and apple sauce are desserts.  Of course, while I deprive my children of chocolate, cookies, cakes, etc, I tend to stuff my own face behind their backs.
This week, we celebrated our friend's one year birthday by going to get frozen yogurt.  It was one of those self-serve places, and I was so proud of myself for letting my daughter have a cup (my 15 month old son of course got none).  After filling my own cup, I sat down and took a look at our cups side by side.  I felt a little less proud.

Oh well, I still enjoyed my yogurt and my daughter did too!

Mom of the year ...

Who are you?

We are fortunate to live in a college town with access to babysitters galore.  Last night, we went to a late basketball game and our usual babysitters weren't available.  We decided to ask a new babysitter, someone we know well but who our kids have never really met.  Since the game wasn't until 9, we put the kids to bed and the babysitter came over after bedtime.  We gave some basic instructions on what to do if our daughter called for someone but didn't think it would be an issue since it was an hour after her bedtime.  About 20 minutes after we left, our daughter called out for Daddy.  Our babysitter went upstairs to check on her and the ensuing conversation must have been interesting ...
"Hi, your mommy and daddy aren't here. I'm Georgia.  We haven't met.  Should I turn the light on so you can see my face?"
"Where's my mommy and daddy? Who are you?"
"They went to see the Tarheels play basketball. I'm friends with Jill. I like your pajamas"
"Oh, basketball. I like basketball. Go heels.  I like Jill too. My pajamas have polkadots. I love polkadots. Want to read a book? Let's talk. Do you go to school? Whatcha doin'?" ... and so on and so on.
I guess our daughter warms up to strangers entering her room in the middle of the night pretty easily.
Mom of the year ...

No pants, no problem

On our visit to Charleston last weekend, we took advantage of the conveniently close beaches and unseasonably warm weather.  Since it was barely February, I had not packed your typical "beachwear" for our trip.  When we decided to go to the beach Saturday, I carefully picked clothes that I thought would be weather appropriate and easy for playing on the beach.  I guess I forgot one major detail in packing our bag ... extra clothes.  After less than 10 minutes, it was obvious that my kids were going to be both sandy and wet.  It seemed that the 50 degree water did not phase either my 1 or 3 year old.  Both kids thought running in and out of it (only to fall into the sand immediately following the sprints) was too much fun to resist.  Since we stayed until lunch time, there was no time to make it home for a change of clothes before eating.  My 1 year old's pants were soaked and sandy so I decided to take them off and took him into the restaurant in only his onesie.  My daughter was wearing her leggings that she normally wears under a skirt or dress but took off prior to running in the water.  Unfortunately her skirt was too wet to wear over them, and she looked a bit like a 1980's Jane Fonda replica.  Once we entered the restaurant, my son took off running around barefooted in his onesie, and I looked over to find my daughter pulling her pants down screaming "my botty is sandy."  Our friends had their child dressed in the fresh clothes they packed for the day, sitting quietly in a highchair.
Mom of the year ...