Tip Tuesday

Finally, I am feeling better. The first trimester really wipes me out. The sickness seems to go on forever, of course it doesn't it just feels that way. So that is why I've been absent for so long. I'll do my best to get back on track for the entertainment and education of all.

So here is my...

Tip Tuesday

I actually planned to post this about a month ago. But...well...things happen and I just wasn't feeling up to it. But here it is now. Get a pen.

Anyone who is familiar with FlyLady knows that she's big into Control Journals. She suggests you schedule out you days, what cleaning or errands you are going to do, etc. When I started FlyLady I was overwhelmed. I wanted a Control Journal, but felt too overwhelmed to make my own. Fortunately for me (and of course her) she sells one. My mom got one for me for my birthday. I loved it and used it for awhile. I've fallen off the wagon as of late, but that okay. Here's what I have for my tip.

As a part of the Control Journal packet there is a part for directions to the house, important phone numbers, schedules, release forms for kids. So what I did, for ease, is put them those pages in its own Baby Sitter Control Journal. So now whenever we leave the kids with a sitter I pull it out and put it on the kitchen table, ir normally kept on the top of bookshelf. Since Sweet Girl has allergies I also have the EpiPen literature in there and have the sitter read through the directions before I leave.


So here's how mine goes.

1. Evening Routine
2. 
3. Child/ren's name , allergies, insurance etc. Special Instructions for the Babysitter
4. Babysitter Information, emergency contact numbers and medical release form (I often slide the insurance cards into the sleeve protector if I'm leaving for several hours.)
5. Allergy and allergy information and directions in case of reaction
6. Emergency Section: police, fire department, ambulance, and poison control numbers
7. Other Emergency numbers
8. Child Safety Identification Cards. You can get these off the internet and often at the police department. We happen to have a Boy Scout doing his Eagle Scout project and offered it free to the public. It was really nice. They took and printed the pictures right there, and did the finger prints and everything. Now that was a really great Eagle scout project!
   

It can have anything you want it to have in it. You don't have to buy it. There are probably internet source that will give them to you for free or you can make up your own. As you can see, some of the stuff is hand written and others are filled in on the form. I put all the pages in sheet protectors so the pages don't rip. I also write in pencil on most of the forms so that I can erase and change them as the children grow or we add another member of the family. It leaves me with a sense of calm when I leave the kids. I know everything is at the baby sitter's finger tips because I put it together myself.

With my last birth I put together a Birth Control Journal. It had in it who to call and when. My birth plan. Pertinent birth information from the midwife and where things were kept. I assembled all my stuff so I would be ready for use during and after the birth, but when in labor there is just no telling if I was going to remember. And I can tell Webby a million times, but there are no guarantees he's going to remember. So it's all right there for him!

Nursery Rhymes

Sweet Girl is too funny! She has a great sense of humor. But sometimes her funniness just comes from being a kid who misunderstands what is being said. Here are a couple of the funny ones. Both of these were overheard while she was playing and singing.

"There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed a fly. I hope she dies!"

"London Bridge is falling down.... Take the kids and lock them out, lock them out, lock them out. Take the kids and lock them in. My fair lady!"

Really this does not reflect her reality. It is too funny to listen to her sing. She has a lovely voice and can memorize words and tunes pretty quickly. But I love the mix ups as well.


And how about this one.

I took the kids up to the bigger city to get Sweetie Heart puddle jumpers and sandals. Webby only had to work for a couple of hours so we dropped him off at work to run our errands. I planned to take the girls to Ben & Jerry's as a surprise. So I turned onto the street. She saw the sign and read it, of course.

SH: Ben & Jerry's! Mom can we have ice cream?
Me: Yes
SH: Can we please have ice cream?
me: Yes
::I pull into a parking spot across from the shop::
SH: What are you doing?
Me: Parking so we can get ice cream
SH: REALLY!
Me: I told you we could get ice cream. Didn't you believe me?
SH: I think if it had been someone else I would have believed them. But because you're my mom I didn't.
Me: So because I'm your mom you didn't believe me??
SH: Well, sometimes you don't tell the truth. You say yes when you really mean no.

Take that! I guess I need to joke around a bit less. In my defense, I'm not malicious about it. I never say yes to something that she really wants when I really mean no. I might say no when I mean yes, or tease about giving her something I know she doesn't like. But I'm never mean about it.

So there you have it. A small piece of our life!

Pay It Forward!

The first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive a handmade (or possibly store-bought) gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch though: you have to post this same thing on your own blog and then come back and leave a comment telling me you're in. Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift!

Goal Accomplished!!

Sweetie Heart was born a thumb sucker. I honestly believe that she sucked her thumb in utero. She picked it up very quickly, she never did like pacifiers. But then again I never really hung in there with them. I don't have the patience to keep putting a pacifier in when it keeps getting spit out. Sweet Girl never took a pacifier, but she never sucked her thumb either. Hence my theory on in utero habit formation.

Anyway, for the past couple of years we have been working on breaking the habit. It's a tough habit to break. I should know. I was 9 when I finally stopped sucking my thumb. I did it so I could get braces. I wanted braces. Little did I know I would be in some sort of orthodontia until I was a senior in high school. Peeps, that's a loooong time and by the end I was none to happy about it. But that's a different story all together.

So last year we started really trying to encourage and help her stop. We reminded, we badgered, we begged, we bribed. We put band aids on her thumbs as a reminder and that worked pretty well during the day, but at night she just sucked them with the band aids on! We finally found something that she really wanted. She wanted her ears pierced! Bad!! So at the end of the summer we told her we would do that after she had stopped for 14 days.

Sweetie Heart really wanted them pierce before school started so we marked the day on the calendar. That day passed. So did many, many others. Mostly, she sucked her thumb when she was bored, upset, or sleeping, but I know she was doing it at school some, too.

I forgot about the bribes and moved on. I knew that she would do it when she was ready and not a minute sooner. So we waited. And something happened. About 3 weeks ago we went to the dentist. I didn't say anything about the thumb sucking. He had the last time, but there is no point beating a dead horse so I let it be. But she came home and said I'm not sucking my thumb anymore. Okay, I've heard that before, but I encouraged her. There were a couple of days with some false starts. But she got it! It had to be 14 day in a row, so if on day 13 she sucked her thumb she would have to start over. we were keeping track by putting stickers on my calendar and all was well. She was in charge of telling me how it was going. One night, on day 10, Webby went in to check on the girls before bed. She had she thumb in her mouth. He pulled it out easily and she didn't even know she had done it. So we talked to her about it and told her that we were going to overlook it because she was doing so well and it was unconscious. It hadn't been happening the other nights so we know it was just an accident.

Last Saturday was the day! She was so excited! We went to a small place, not the mall. There was a young girl there who did the piercing. She was very good. With the first earring she winced a little, but it was fast and the girl just went right on with the next one. She didn't wait to ask if she was okay or wanted to wait, just did the second one. It was perfect! Bing, bang, boom and it was done! Here are the pictures I promised.