Diversions

There’s lots of fun stuff going on in the blog-o-sphere today. If you’re bored and just trying to kill some time at work, check out these fun blogs:

Heather at Not A DIY Life posted a link to a website that will turn you into a hero. (Or heroine, if you prefer). This is me in spandex (which is purely hypothetical because I would never be brave enough to wear spandex in real life).

If you have even more time to kill, check out Lynette’s pronunciation survey at The Best Things In Life Are Three.

Have fun!

Terrible

Its been a long time since I’ve shared a post on my blog simply because its difficult to admit to the world that I’m knee-deep in the terrible twos and I wish I could start drinking each day at noon.

Every single moment of every single day is an opportunity for conflict with this kid. He doesn’t want to eat, he doesn’t want to get dressed, he doesn’t want to brush his teeth, he doesn’t want to wear a coat, he doesn’t want to get in the carseat, he doesn’t want to stop jumping on my bed, he doesn’t want to clean up, and he definitely does not want to take a nap.

So, what does this kid actually WANT to do?

Jump on my bed while eating ice cream in the nude approximately one hour past bedtime.

It hasn’t actually gotten that bad yet, but the scenario I just described would probably be the perfect ending to David’s dream day.

Now, where did Mommy leave her flask...?

The Aftermath

I’m still trying to recuperate from our exhausting weekend at Kalahari Indoor Waterpark and the time change that you forgot to warn me about!

In the meantime, enjoy these photos of David’s birthday celebration.

Happy Birthday, David!

Walk with Mommy down memory lane...

Two Years Ago...

Two years ago, we met David for the first time.

Enjoy his birth story.

Works For Me Wednesday: Gift Wrap

Today is the last day in my son’s life that he will only be one year old. To divert myself from being ridiculously sentimental about it, I’m going to devote a few minutes of my time today to a Works for Me Wednesday post.

Anyone with a small child knows that any gift-receiving special occasion involves an excited child tearing the wrapping paper off of an incredibly awesome toy that they intend to play with immediately.

The joy fades when the child realizes that the awesome toy is impossible to remove from its packaging without adult assistance. The unlucky adult then realizes that the tools necessary to remove the packaging includes a pair of scissors to cut the tape off the box, dexterous fingers to remove the tiny metal twist ties, and inevitably, a tiny screwdriver to remove the tiny screws preventing the toy’s escape from the box. It’s also inevitable that no one will have a tiny screwdriver in their pocket at this moment and the child will be reduced to tears. If you are incredibly unlucky, the toy will also require batteries and fate always ensures that you don’t have the correct size batteries lying around in a drawer when you need them to be.

Last night I was wrapping birthday gifts for David and had a brilliant idea. Actually, it’s a suggestion that I got from another parent a long time ago and it happened to pop into my brain at an opportune moment.

If you are wrapping a gift for a young child, remove the packaging FIRST. Yes, the box is pretty and confirms that the toy inside is brand new. Yes, the gift wrap will look hideous without a box inside. Yes, the wrapped gift will look like it fell out of Santa’s sleigh and got run over by a school bus.

BUT

The child will unwrap the gift, shriek with joy, and then play with that awesome toy right away. No tantrums and no tiny screwdrivers necessary.

Hurray!

I think I’m almost ready for David’s 2nd birthday. Now, all I need is a Prozac…

That’s what Works for Me!

The Agony Continues

I just spent my entire lunch hour at Giant Eagle agonizing over which birthday cake to buy for David to take to daycare for his class to share on Thursday.

On an ordinary day, the decision would be simple. $10 cake or $28 cake? Obviously, the $10 cake!

Today, the decision was much more difficult.

What does the guilty mother that will be working on her child’s second birthday buy for his birthday celebration that he will have with his friends while his guilty mother is working?

Does she buy the expensive, professionally decorated Elmo cake that he will be thrilled to have and forget an hour later?

Or does she buy the inexpensive, simple white cake with sprinkles and write his name on it with decorating gel?

Or does she buy the mid-range, elegantly decorated cookie-cake with icing balloons on it to impress him?

Or does she agonize over this decision for an hour, then call Daddy at work for his advice?

She calls Daddy and he tells her to buy the $10 cake and write his name on it. He calmly reminds her that his friends will be wearing more cake than they will be eating, so it doesn’t make sense to spend $28 on a cake that will only be used to frustrate many mothers that are responsible for washing the laundry for the children wearing this cake.

Mommy relents and buys the cheap cake.

She’ll make up for it by going to Babies R Us tomorrow during lunch and buying the Birthday Boy shirt for him to wear.

Birthday Blues

I think its only fair to warn you that I’m going to be sentimental this week. David’s second birthday is on Thursday. Where has the time gone??

Rather than have a party at our house this year infested with relatives that just won’t leave, we decided to take the kids to Kalahari Indoor Waterpark for the weekend. I gotta tell you that I have never been to an indoor waterpark, but just the thought of putting on my bathing suit in public in the dead of winter is absolutely thrilling to me. But I knew David would love it, so how could I deny him this? I can’t wait to see his face when he sees the pool!

For his birthday on Thursday, Mommy and Daddy will be taking him to the indoor playground at Chick-Fil-A. We’ll pretend that we expect him to eat his chicken nuggets before he climbs out of the high chair to play. After dinner, we’ll do cake and candles at home and David will un-wrap his gifts. Daddy was cool enough to do the gift shopping this year and his choices of a Play-Doh Duffel Bag and the Play-Doh Fun Factory are going to be a hit!

I hope I don’t cry this year…