Comet, It Makes You Vomit

Comet, it makes your teeth turn green,
Comet, it tastes like gasoline.
Comet, it makes you vomit,
So get some Comet and vomit today!

We were having some impromptu friends visiting yesterday afternoon, so my husband & I were scurrying about the house trying to clean it up a bit.  As I was vacuuming the floors, Hubs was cleaning the bathroom.  We ended up meeting in the kitchen, I think he was putting dishes away, and I was putting the vacuum in the recharger, ignoring the crying baby, who was probably mad that I was ignoring him.  But when the vacuum turned off, I noticed that his temper tantrum was different.  He was standing in doorway with a red face and sea-green foam spewing from his mouth.

Not cool.

“What the hell did he get into?!”  I screamed as I scooped him up & fled to the sparkling clean bathroom.  I passed him off to my husband as I came upon the overturned canister of Comet cleanser.  Hubs cleaned the baby’s mouth out with water at the sink while I held my toddler in the hall.

“What’s Daddy doing to my baby?” cried the terrified toddler.  I assured him it was okay…baby just ate some soap.  “Why?!  It’s yucky!”

After the mouth was washed out, the baby vomited all over floor.  So Comet does make you vomit!  I demanded Hubs to call Poison Control instead of giving him peroxide to induce more vomiting.  I didn’t know…I did know that sometimes vomiting is a good thing to do, sometimes it’s a very bad thing to do…I wanted to be sure with my little 13 month old.

The outcome:  Basically we were told that he may have an upset stomach & some irritation.  The woman on the phone suggested we give him an ounce or so of juice, and as long as he didn’t continue to vomit, he’d be fine.  *Sigh*  We washed his hands again, just to make sure, then brushed his teeth to get the taste out.  And yes, he was fine.

The baby got over it in 10 minutes.  I’m still stunned that this happened, and a bit peeved that Hubs left cleaner out.  That, and I can’t get the image of my wee son foaming at the mouth out of my head.  *Deep Sighs*

So Proud of my Hubby

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Today my husband put on the Step 1 Patch before he left for work today.  Today is the day that he starts to quit smoking!  He’s been a moderate smoker for 15 years, and goes through periods of being a rather heavy smoker.  When I told him that I was pregnant with  my first child, he swore he’d quit, yet he’s made no attempts in the past three years & I was getting rather discouraged.  I know I bugged him all the time about it & I know it really bothered him, and probably wasn’t helping.  But something happened in the last few weeks that got him on a quitting kick.  I don’t know what it was, but I am so thankful for it.  I understand that he will go through some rough times on this journey, but I will embrace those crabby moods & get to keep him even longer!  I am so pumped & ready for this & I’m not even the one going through with it.  But still, WHOO HOO!!  Let’s do this!!!

Another Challenge; No More Prepackaged Foods!

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Today I listened to this article on NPR, Controversy Swirls Around Harsh Anti-Obesity Ads.  While I didn’t really find the article to go too in-depth into anything important, I did find the comments (on the Facebook page) to be a bit worrisome.  There were many complaints about the costs of healthy foods as well as the time necessary to make said healthy foods. Now I understand that we have all grown up with Hamburger Helper & since we are living in a duel income society, anything other than a boxed meal is daunting.  A lot of people in my generation do not really know how to cook, so they end up filling their freezers with prepared & processed meals.  But the cost thing?  I honestly don’t get that.  I mean, sure, maybe if you are attempting all organic of some rare fresh fruits, but frozen or canned veggies are just as good, if not better than fresh & cost significantly less than fast food.  A sack of potatoes is certainly cheaper than it’s weight in french fries; it’s all in what you do with that sack of potatoes! I decided, again, to become a stay-at-home-mom at the end of August.  We figured that I would stay home with the boys until the youngest one was in school full time, then I’d go back to working.  There were lots of reasons why we decided to do this, and most of those reasons boiled down to money.  The cost of two working parents is actually a great deal.  And I’m not talking about missing moments like Jr’s first steps, I mean actual dollars and cents.  One of those money reasons had to do with food.  One, my husband & I were eating too much fast food for lunches and two, I was always so stressed & pressed for time that dinners went by the wayside & all too often we ordered out, went out, or ate frozen pre-made meals.  I felt sluggish & guilty, and knew that if I only had more time, I could focus on making fresh bread, shopping at Farmer’s Markets, canning fruits & veggies, and so on. But I’ve slacked.  I haven’t fully made use of my time & have taken a lot of short cuts.  Having children and cleaning up after them makes it hard.  And so, I do buy frozen packages.  Yes, I do make a lot of things from scratch, but certainly not what I could.  And I KNOW that it would be more cost effective to make my own pierogies instead of buying them, as it would for so many other things.  Now, my children are not obese, but I can’t tisk-tisk at the complainers to the ad campaign if I don’t actually eat better myself.  I think it’s time for a challenge! For at least one month, I will not buy anything from the frozen section (except for my usual peas & corn), nor will I purchase boxed rice, pasta, and the like.  If I can find a recipe for it, I will make it.  Sure, it may be a bit difficult at first, but I’m sure I can do it without too many issues.  I’ve already cut out all foods that have hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, and that wasn’t too bad.  I’m a bit excited for this.  I’m going to prove that eating healthy, REAL food can be done, especially on a budget.

Be Polite: Walking & Texting is Just Plain Rude

Search for “texting while walking” on YouTube & you’ll find a lot of funny stuff.  People walk into poles, walk into holes, one woman even fell into a mall fountain, all because they were texting instead of watching where they … Continue reading →

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Raising Bulls in the Teacup Generation

I like to think that I’m oh-so-sure about my parenting technique, but I certainly have moments where I just don’t know.  What I often question myself on is  whether or not I’m too hands off with my kids.  When I was growing up, my parents were the opposite of my friends’ helicopter parents.  After breakfast, my brother & I were out the door, getting into stuff & getting dirty.  We walked to school & back unchaperoned.   We rode bikes all over the place.  We were home in time for dinner (most of the time) & almost nothing happened to us.

But a lot of people say that we live in a different world now & that children need to be monitored, watched, guarded.  I don’t know if this is true or if the media hypes it up more.  Or maybe parents aren’t teaching their children some necessary street smarts.  I don’t know, but I do know that an awful lot of kids grow up to be afraid, demanding, entitled & simply unmotivated.  I don’t want my children to be like that.

My boys are currently 2.5 years & 1 year.  I close the gate across the driveway & let them play outside while I wash dishes, bake bread, or complete other tasks in the kitchen were I can see them out the window.  I let my little one fall down & I let the big one figure out things on his own.  I feel that freedom with responsibility is good for them & will help them grow into stronger adults.  But am I starting too young?

The family went to the a mall this afternoon that has a kids’ “Playtown” with various critters & slides they can climb on.  I don’t typically like such things, but it was bitterly cold & they needed to burn off some steam.  We took them inside the enclosure, removed their shoes (per the posted rules) & let them loose!  But as my husband & I sat, craning our necks to try & keep an eye on them both, we noticed a trend in the “helicopter parenting” style.  Most of the parents sat along the edges minding their children, reprimanding them cautiously for not sharing, & quietly flinching when their child tumbled backwards on the foam mat.  While most parents were fairly hands off, there were several who were very hands on.  They literally held their tot’s wee hand through the whole play yard, assisted them up the steps of the slide (and down again), and kept snapping fingers or clapping hands to get the little one’s attention focused on some sort of play thing.  These children all looked over stimulated & stressed.  I could tell that they weren’t having fun.  Besides, with all these “big people” in the way, I couldn’t see around them to keep an eye on my own kids!

What I noticed about these helicopters was that most of them were not the actual parents; they were grandparents!  Now I know why so many folks from my generation are having such a hard time getting out into the world.  They too were latched to their parents’ hands, never learning how to explore, problem solve, or go down a slide on their own.  And apparently, the helicoptering is a trait that’s being passed down.  You raise the way you were raised & you grow to fit your world.  If a parent shrinks the world down to the length of their arm, wouldn’t the child’s growth be stunted?

I also wonder how my children’s world will be with so many helicoptered peers.  How will they affect my children & the way they choose to raise their own?  Will my children end up being the bulls running through a china teacup shop?  I’ll probably remain more on the “free range” side, but I’ll keep wondering until they are done growing & set out on their own.

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My landlord is a strange lady. She likes to be in complete control, and she is also very cheap. When my family moved in a year & a half ago, we offered to save her some money & take care of the lawn & snow removal ourselves. She refused saying that she wanted to be in charge of the grounds, per the lease agreement. Ok, fine.

Well, the first month, which was June, the lawn guy never showed up. So my husband cut the grass. No biggie. Well oh man was she mad! She shook her finger at him as if he were a delinquent teenager & yelled that he was violating the lease agreement! She revoked our “shed storage privileges”, changed the locks AND took the lawn mower away because she didn’t trust us. She ended up cutting the grass herself that season.

No one came for snow removal that winter.

At the beginning of this past summer she decided that it was too much for her to cut the grass herself. Again, we offered to help, again she was snippy about it. Instead she hired a different landscaping company. Kiel Landscaping. And she must only be paying the man 20 bucks a week since he does the most half @$$ed job I’ve ever seen! He never cleans up the clippings, trims, or edges. Oh, and he ALWAYS parks across my driveway so I can’t get in or out. It’s aggravating only because we have the trashiest lawn in our neighborhood, but we can’t do much about it.

Often, my husband will try to do some of the edging himself & lately I’ve been doing all the raking myself. Again, it’s no big deal. We enjoy the work & the exercise, just not being scolded for something as stupid as raking leaves!

Well, our landlord came to do her quarterly inspection last week & asked why the fallen tree branches (from the Nor’easter that dumped 20 inches of snow on Oct 31st…that’s right branches from a month & a half ago!) when he did the leaves. I was confused.
“No one came for leaves,” I said, “I’ve been doing them.”
“That’s not true,” the landlord snapped back. “I’ve been charged twice for leaves!”

Now, I know that leaf removal can be expensive. Some of my friends were getting quotes of $400 & $600!! We told her that no, we hadn’t seen anyone since long before the storm. She was not pleased with this information.

Guess who sheepishly pulled up to my driveway JUST now?! Yup, the lawn guy & his Kiel trailer. The poor man is out there mowing frozen grass & raking frozen leaves into bags. Ya get what ya pay for, I guess.  And to think that if she hadn’t been so suborn, cheap & “in control”, then the job would have been done better & for free.   But it’s not my house, yard, or concern.

It’s too bad that the last yard waste removal truck of the season rolled by an hour ago.

Womb No Longer for Rent

So I’m closing the doors if you will on the Womb for Rent.  It turns out that I won’t be able to carry for at least two years because, well, we have an occupant.  That’s right.  Someone sneezed & I got pregnant!

We found out on December 1st when I was late (by a day).  At first we weren’t really sure what to do.  Oddly enough, my first reaction was to get rid of it.  I already have two that are 18 months apart & having three under the age of three was terrifying.  However, a good friend of mine pointed out that having three so close to the same age could be good in the sense that a lot of things will be over & done with at the same time (like diapers).  Still, I liked having my four-some family.

But, as I’ve looked around over this past weekend, I’ve noticed an awful lot of three-kid families.  I for one am one of three.  And many television families have three kids.  Plus, an awful lot of my friends growing up came from families of five or more.  So, maybe it’s doable after all!

This means that my body will be going through three, maybe four, maybe more pregnancies, but I’m all for it.  I think this little surprise baby will be a fun pregnancy.