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Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Go on over to see who else is playing – and join in too!
Nancy and Dad Working
Apparently my one-on-one time with my Dad started really young! (He used to show me how to use a new tool every week.) I think this has to have been taken in late 1975 or early 1976? I don’t look much older than 2 here…
Filed under: fam, me, WBW | Tagged: old photos, one-on-one time, time with daddy | 4 Comments »
A big block of time while waiting for Burke’s speech class (and no errends to run), a shady picnic table on a gorgeous day, and the new Dan Brown novel Make My Monday.
Cheryl over at Twinfatuation hosts this one. Head on over to see what else makes people’s Mondays (there are always some really good ones!)
Filed under: me, MMM | Tagged: Dan Brown, Lost Symbol, reading, time on my hands | 6 Comments »
***I apologize for the lack of flow here…it’s mostly just a brain dump***
Reading posts to my twin mom’s group has been bringing back memories of when Burke and Maggie first came home. I mean – they are sleep-deprived memories, but they’re MINE. 🙂
One of the things that’s being discussed is help when the kids come home from the hospital. This discussion is kicked up every few months or so, and each time I feel like shaking my head. NOT that I think there is anything wrong with getting outside help! Seriously – if you can afford it, and if you have the room in your house, and if it actually helps you out – that’s awesome. But it makes me sad when twin-moms-to-be automatically think they won’t be able to do it by themselves. (Granted, there are ALWAYS situations where it’s more than necessary…perhaps there’s a lot of travel on the spouse’s part…or more surgery needed on mom’s part …who knows.) I’m not here to judge, just sorting through my thoughts 🙂
ANYWAY…eventually the help leaves, right? So … eventually you need to figure out your own schedule and feel out what is going to work for you without all that help…right? I guess my thinking is to do it like a band-aid. Just rip that sucker off and get it over and done with. Some of these new moms are talking about months worth of help! Gah. I don’t think I could stand having a stranger in my house for that long. (But perhaps that’s because I have a bit of a control issue…)
So how DID we do it? We did have help in the form on my family. Both of my sisters lived in the area at the time. My mom came out for a week and my Dad and Step-mom did as well. And while this was awesome (seriously awesome – thank you, thank you) – and while it was probably very necessary while I was recovering from the C-Section – we honestly didn’t really feel like a “family” until all that help was gone.
The other thing that saved us is that the twins were in the NICU for about 2.5 weeks. This time of “adjustment” was kick-a$$. It allowed me to heal while the kids were being taken care of. Since I had a Mom’s Room at the hospital, I was able to be with them as much as I wanted (to the point where the nurses actually told me to get lost and get some sleep before I wouldn’t have the option to!) It meant that Mike and I could get used to the idea of being parents while still being “sheltered” from the harsh truth of no sleep. (Wait…I still don’t think we’re used to that.) The NICU time also helped put the kids on a schedule. Of course, when kids are that young, their schedules are forever changing; but starting out on one really helped.
Hm. So maybe I should just keep my mouth shut…we DID have “outside” help for 2.5 weeks…it just wasn’t at my house. 🙂
Filed under: deep thoughts, me | Tagged: outside help, twins home from the hospital | 4 Comments »
I watch a lot of TV with my kids. I like TV, they like TV…what can I say. We DO limit it, but they still probably get more than they should.
THAT said, I have so many questions about these shows!! I’m sure some have been discussed before, but the following is what goes through my head while watching these shows.
Disclaimer: There is a lot of “What the…?” in this post. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I don’t ENJOY most of these shows with my kids. With the exception of just two – I actually like all of the shows I’ve mentioned. I’ll let you take a guess at which two.
Max and Ruby
Where the heck are their parents? Grandma drops by now and again, but even SHE isn’t asking where the parents are.
Handy Manny
OMG, how incompetent are his tools?? Why does he keep them around? Are they the only talking tools he can find? (And I giggle a little each time I remember that it’s Fez from That 70’s Show doing Manny’s voice. 🙂 )
Backyardigans
What the heck is Uniqua anyway? Seriously – we have a moose, a penguin, a hippo, and a kangaroo…and then some alien thing? Why not a … bear, or *anything* identifiable.
Also, I read somewhere that they have *3* different actors for each character. One who does the speaking, one who does the singing, and one who dances so they can model after him/her. REALLY?? In all of … wherever they are … they couldn’t find actors who could sing AND speak? Perhaps I could see not being able to dance, but…really?
Dora
WHAT IS WITH ALL THE YELLING?
Mickey Mouse Club House
Okay, so it’s not just the club house version, it’s been for as long as Mickey Mouse has been around, but what’s up with Pluto not talking? All the other characters are animals too and THEY can talk.
Tigger and Pooh
Darby?? What, Christoper Robin wasn’t smart enough to form the Super Sleuths?
Caillou
Holy whine. I really just want to smack that kid.
Dragon Tales
There seems to be a lot of time passing and parents don’t wonder or check on their kids. I suppose I could go with the “hours have passed in Dragon Land but only a few minutes at home” theory…but as a Mom, I know that if it were dead quiet in the playroom, I’d be going in to check on things!
Also, if you had a special Dragon Land, why would you ever come back?? 😉
Animation in General (no, it’s not a show)
Is there some unwritten rule somewhere that mandates only 4 fingers? It’s a little freaky.
Filed under: me, venting | Tagged: backyardigans, Caillou, children's shows, Darby, Dora the Explorer, Dragon Tales, Handy Manny, Max and Ruby, Mickey Mouse Club House, Tigger and Pooh | 7 Comments »
When I was younger and had bad dreams, I used to try to envision a jukebox full of all of my good dreams and memories.
In my mind I’d run the jukebox arm across the records (yes, they were records at that point!) looking for that perfect dream to “play” instead of the bad one I’d woken up to. They’d all pop up one at a time and show me a snippet of something I might be interested in. When I found the right one, I’d just relax into it.
I honestly don’t remember if someone put this image into my mind to help me out at night…it’s hard for me to imagine that I came up with it by myself!
So, how the heck do I pass that along to my kids? Do they even have jukeboxes anymore??
Filed under: iijm, me | Tagged: bad dreams, dreams, jukebox, memories | 3 Comments »
I read a lot. Well, let’s clarify that – I read as much as I can…which was a lot more before kids, but I still get a book in here and there now.
I’ve recently realized that I tend to “take on” the mood of where I’ve left off in the book. It’s only for a split second, but it’s there. For example, if I leave the book in a spot where the main character is in a snit, I’ll be snippy … until I realize “Hey! That’s not MY mood!” Seriously, it’s only for a few seconds with the first person I come across, but it happens. (Sorry, Mike!)
I suppose the same thing happens if I leave off when the main character is in a wonderful mood – but I don’t notice that as much, and don’t mind if I keep it 🙂
Filed under: iijm, me | Tagged: books, moods | 4 Comments »
Candid Carrie sponsors this one – head over to her blog and find LOTS of links for bloggers who’ve joined in! (You can join in too!)
Burke was feeling a little left out on Wednesday (Marjorie had a play date and he didn’t), so I took him to lunch on Thursday – just the two of us.
My first thought was “Man, this table is so small!” LOL
My second thought was “I should SO do this one-on-one thing more often.” We had a great time 🙂
Burke
Burke and Mommy
P.S. Thanks to Debi for the Tweet reminding me to take pictures! (I would have totally forgotten!! Bad Mommy Blogger! heh)
Filed under: Burke, FFFF, me | Tagged: just the two of us, lunch, one-on-one time | 2 Comments »
A few weeks ago, I mentioned my massage chair in a post. (The kids love pushing the button…the vibrarions make them giggle!)
The truth is, I have a love/hate relationship with this chair. I love it because it makes sitting on my bed to read or to type on my laptop a lot more comfortable. It provides all the right support for my back and my neck. And I love the arm rests. (NEVER put a drink in the cup-holder though – that’s just a disaster waiting to happen. What were they thinking?? LOL!)
I hate the chair because I really want to use the massage part of it but I can’t. Every time I sit in it I think “ooh, that would feel sooooo good on my tired back right now!”
So I push the button and can stand about 10 seconds before my ears start to ring and my head starts to hurt from the vibrations. Seriously. TEN seconds! It’s so unfair.
Filed under: iijm, me | Tagged: headache, massage chair, vibrations | 5 Comments »
Since I’m usually running late on Sundays, I tend to grab my coffee in a travel mug and head out to church…sipping and hiding my mug all through the service. Is this blasphemy?
This morning I had thought I was pardoned when I saw that the minister was trucking around through the entire service with HIS travel mug this morning…until he mentioned that he was losing his voice and it was lemon water.
I’m going to hell, aren’t I??
Filed under: me | Tagged: blasphemy, church, coffee, hell | 3 Comments »
Long trips make me munchy.
There’s something about sitting in a car (or a plane, I guess) that makes me feel like I need to be snacking. And not on the good-for-you stuff…just the good ‘ol junk food stuff.
I was driving from Vermont on Sunday and started to get sleepy…and munchy. The only thing I could find in the car that I could reach was Gold Fish. (Which I actually really like – but they seem more good-for-you than junky 😉 ) As soon as I started munching, my eyes popped right open. So I guess the munchy thing is for a good reason.
I also started thinking about it…I pack snacks for the kids when we go on long car rides. It just makes sense – it keeps them occupied: keeps their mouths too busy to yell, keeps their hands too busy to smack each other, makes the time pass.
I also remember my mom packing snacks for us. So…I guess it’s imprinted on us at an early age that long car trips mean snacking 🙂
Filed under: iijm, me | Tagged: car trip, junk food, long trip, munchy, snacks | 7 Comments »
The Zimmer Zoo 