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10.23.12

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Yesterday I started a post about how we thought it was time to transition out of afternoon naps.

I talked about how Wes still LOVED his naps, but that bedtime was becoming more and more of a challenge.  Or, to be frank, that bedtime wasn’t the problem.  It’s was the reading books, playing, singing and lately, the coming out of his room and trying to sneak into his sister’s room to wake her up long past bedtime that was the problem.

Then I mentioned how yesterday I offered him the choice. And that he chose quiet time instead of his nap.

Then I said that we’d try this out and see what happens.

Ha.  😐

At around 4 o’clock my typically sweet Wesley morphed into a giant , pissed off bear.  He cried.  He whined.  He fought.   And in the car home from picking Jaia up from school, he fell asleep.

We woke him an hour later and the bear was even angrier.  There may have been some growling.

He perked up though…At around 7:30 pm when he began to run around, play hard, jump and dance.

Bedtime last night was worse than normal.

So, we are back to square one.  Naps are back in the rotation, at least for the time being.  We are all much happier when the bear is well rested.  There’s far less growling that way.

How old were your wee ones when they gave up the nap?

 

Filed in: Life | Milestones | Wes
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October 24, 2012 - 10:25 pm

Julie - 3.5. They weaned themselves but we would have stopped it around then anyway. Bedtime was becoming a problem and at nap time they stopped staying in their rooms. They are five now and the days they aren’t in school we have quiet time. I put on a movie and they chill. Give it a bit longer and it will all work out.

October 30, 2012 - 5:55 pm

Grandpa - Shannen; I hate to confess this, but I still am taking afternoon naps at age 60. Sorry to spoil your plan 🙂
Love Grandpa Doug

10.20.12

Saturday Mornings.

Dan takes Wes to floor hockey. That leaves the girl and I to do what we want. Today it was a leisurely stroll to the local market for dinner supplies.

Hot chocolate is a must on our Saturday morning dates.

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I look forward to this all week….

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10.17.12

On the pot.

Potty training. Do any of us enjoy this time of our child’s life? No.

Jaia was easy. I don’t remember many obstacles as she trained. She almost did it herself, with lots of dancing and celebrating by us when she had success. Before she was 2 years old, we were done. No more diapers.

Wes sailed by his second birthday without even looking in the direction of a potty. Not his thing. And not for lack of me trying.

But a few months after, I decided it was time to try again. And this time I took the advice of the many moms who have raised boys before me and instead of sitting him on the potty, I stood him up and made it fun.

First we tried using cheerios in the toilet for target practice. Fun, but lost it’s allure quickly. And then it came to me…what if he could change the colour of the water? Genius!! Food colouring! In went a few drops of blue and the rest, as they say, is history.

I’m not going to say there were no accidents. There were. Two within 20 minutes at Ikea one day, in fact. But with some patience, he figured it out and is 100% a pee pee potty user.

Number Two, though, not so easy. Our success rate is about 1%.

After doing some reading, I found that this is apparently a very common situation parents find themselves in. Potty triaining typically happens in two stages. As this was not the case when Jaia trained, I was unaware of how hard it could be to convince a little dude to wait it out and do his business on the toilet.

I tried EVERYTHING. And my last resort was to entice him with a BIG reward. Wes loves dressing up. And he adores Spiderman. I did what any desperate mama would do and I found him a Spiderman costume and hung it in the bathroom. Strange decor you say? Well, I say I’m brilliant. Each visit to the bathroom led to a conversation about the costume and a friendly reminder about how we could get to wear the costume.

The first 5 days had the discussion fall on deaf ears.

And then yesterday…

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Filed in: Uncategorized
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10.15.12

Absenteeism

At the end of the year I will certainly not get the certificate for least days missed here on the blog.  Does such a certificate exist?  Probably not – but you get the idea.

I’m swamped, People.  Up to my ears in stuff I need to do and almost none of it is getting done.  Throw in the nasty cold that has been kicking our butts since the second week of September and if we’ve got enough clean dishes to use in the morning for breakfast, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

I’m trying not to complain.  Much of what has kept me so busy is something I’ve wanted pretty much forever.  I’ve had photography jobs every weekend for sometime now – some of them BIG – and the time it takes to do the shoot and process the photos is mind-blowing.

So while I am doing what I love, it is literally sucking every single spare minute from my life.  I’m kind of excited for a wee break over the winter months when photography jobs tend to dry up a little.

But until then, I need to try to tackle the every day things in a manner that makes sense and that’s a a little bit at a time..  I do not have full days to spend on cleaning anymore.  Nor do I have neat and tidy kids.  Far from it.  Have you seen this?  It is pretty much life at the moment.

So I started looking around for ideas and quickly stumbled upon all of these cleaning schedules that people have so generously published online.  Apparently, if you keep up with it and only spend 30 minutes a day, you can keep your house clean.  30 minutes a day and I get a clean house?  I’m all in.

Here’s one example that I grabbed from the Little Green Notebook:

Doable, right?  I’ll admit that my own version will not look exactly like this, but i feel like it is worth a try.  Having a schedule to follow will also help the kids get involved as they both seem to be allergic to any form of cleaning.  As in, a run for the hills kind of allergic.  A clean and they will die kind of allergic.

It being Monday, I can’t think of a better day to start.  I’d better run.  I have some deep vacuuming to start.

What are your tips and tricks for keeping the house somewhat tidy?  Any time-savers you want to share?  Any offers to come clean my house for me (I’m only half kidding.)

Filed in: Daily Us
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October 15, 2012 - 3:05 pm

Julie - I like this Shan, thanks for posting. I’m still at home (though looking for my sanity, I mean a job) and I find it hard to keep up with the mess of two five year olds. Oh, and the swing day chores? Those are likely to happen once a year around here! Good luck with all of your endeavours and remember, your children are happy, healthy (save for the colds) and most importantly loved. Everything can wait.