twins | The Zimmer Zoo

Monster Spray

Posted on June 23, 2008 by Nancy

A very clever mom taught me about Monster Spray. (She’s also a good friend, a former co-worker, and an essential oil guru – don’t worry, Paula, I won’t mention any names 😉 ) She said that kids like to be in control – especially when they don’t feel like they have it – and one major time is when there are “monsters” around at night. Her solution? Monster spray! Let your child spray it herself and life will be good. (I’ll give Paula a little plug here…she wrote a book on essential oils: Seasons of Aromatherapy. Well. she’s written a few, but I know the monster spray is in this one.) Okay – back to my point. At one time, I made the monster spray from her book (before I had kids LOL), but we’re just using Febreeze now (Sorry Paula!)

It all started one night a few months ago when Maggie woke up crying and talking about how she was scared of the Cookie Monster. (Yes. The *cookie monster* – of all things!!) We got some “monster spray” out and that seemed to help a little. We doused one corner especially (I think she saw the laundry hamper and decided IT was the monster.)

We now spray before bed every night – everyone has to have at least one squirt if they’re in the room, including mommy and daddy. Figuring out how to make it so that beds, blankets, Dad, kids, etc. don’t get soaked is for another day…

On the subject of bad dreams, one other thing we do for Maggie is to make a big deal about how we must have put her pillow down on the wrong side… And then make a bigger deal (making sure she’s watching) out of turning it over to the “good dream” side. So far, this seems to help too. (I’ll thank my Mom for that idea – I remember her doing it for me 🙂 )

Any other bad dream breakers out there?

Filed under: behavior, Maggie, sleep | Tagged: bad dreams, essential oil, monster spray | Leave a comment »

Perhaps it’s Time

Posted on June 22, 2008 by Nancy

…for a bigger swing!!

Burke decided to try out Logan’s swing. You KNOW you’re too big when you can reach all of the controls yourself. LOL

Filed under: Burke | Tagged: swinging | Leave a comment »

Cat Thumb

Posted on June 20, 2008 by Nancy

What, exactly, is Cat Thumb? you ask…well, it’s not really the opposite of Green thumb (that would be Black thumb because YOU are the one killing the plants). But it’s close. I actually don’t know if I have a green or black thumb, because my Cat Thumb keeps getting in the way.

I’m sad to say that I can’t keep a plant alive…because my cat keeps eating them!! This also means that all those times I receive flowers (HAH!! “all those times” …I crack myself up), I have to put them on the top of the fridge. But only for as long as Tiger doesn’t notice that they’re there…otherwise, up he goes to the top of the fridge for a snack. And yes – he can get up there. *sigh*

It’s pretty sad, actually. Maggie planted a sunflower seed (in a pot to take home) at church a few months ago, and it started to grow really fast! We were going to put it outside once it got big enough (and warm enough) to do so. Apparently, even though it was planted in a house of God, He didn’t really want it to grow because Tiger got to it before it got warm enough outside. It sat in our windowsill, sadly brown and broken, as we hoped it would miraculously get healthy. mmm hmmm. So far, it’s all good because Maggie, apparently, doesn’t remember a thing about it.

We now have two Aloe plants (given to the twins on Children’s Sunday at church – what is it with plants at church?) sitting on our second fridge down in the basement. There IS a window down there, but it’s a frosty one…so the Cat Thumb may contribute inadvertently to the Black thumb there.

The twins picked some really pretty yellow flowers from the back yard the other day. THOSE actually lasted for quite some time on the kitchen table before Tiger found them last night. They must not have been very smelly…

Filed under: cats, Maggie | Leave a comment »

One of My Favorite Times of the Day

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Nancy

Bed time. Mine – not the kids’ (although, that works too…). And not just because I get that blessed sleep that is soooooooo needed. It’s because that’s when I go in to check on the kids one last time before my day ends. And there’s nothing that warms the heart more than a child sleeping peacefully. NOTHING.

It’s also the time that I move the twins from wherever they’ve decided to land for the night (floor, rocking chair, little chair, changing table) into their beds. And when you move a sleeping child, they automatically flop onto your shoulder and give a sleepy semi-hug. golden.

Filed under: sleep, twins | 1 Comment »

Learning by Example – From a 3 Year Old

Posted on June 16, 2008 by Nancy

Maggie has figured out how to get Burke to do what she wants…mostly…and Burke’s none the wiser. Take the other day at Costco for example. For the first time, we put Logan directly into one of the seats in the cart – instead of in his car seat – which meant that there was room for another kid in the two-kid-friendly cart. Burke sat next to Logan and Maggie sat in the back. About half way through the trip, Maggie announced that she wanted to be in Daddy’s cart. Okay – here you go…2 seconds later Burke announces that HE wants to be in Daddy’s cart. Okay – here you go…2 seconds after that, Maggie requests to go back into Mommy’s cart…in front. Burke stayed happily in Daddy’s cart. The little manipulator wanted to be next to Logan! And instead of saying that (which she knew would make Burke want to stay) she got the guy to get out and be happy that he was out!!

We need to harness this power……

Filed under: twins | Tagged: manipulation | Leave a comment »

She Did it Again.

Posted on June 14, 2008 by Nancy

Cathy, Cathy, Cathy. These Jib Jab sessions are going to be the death of me 🙂

Here’s the first one sent today:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/7YpUxDTUBwERbVu9TLtrQbLv#/view/8R3oBuRQQKURzEyj5ahybsve

Yup. those are MY kids breakdancing. LOL!! I made the mistake of opening it in front of Burke. . . so he was sitting here watching it with me. “Burke dancing!” pause. “Maggie dancing!” pause. “Logan dancing!!” He loved it. I think I had to replay it about 14 times before the only thing that would tear him away was some pizza. AND after the pizza, he came back over to me and said “I need more Burke.” It took me a second to realize that he meant he wanted to see “himself” dancing some more. I finally gave up and showed him how to push the mouse button to replay it himself. I have no idea how many times…

THEN comes THIS one:

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/SvXzCebsmHkmS9wjiRj8SJKX#/view/cORhDFrsv7RtZ7vxjL16vcCw

Sharon and Jason. Totally fits – in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the ones to dance for the original video *grin* (although, the models are kinda pasty white…)

Burke liked that one too, but not as much as watching himself. He did request one of Grandpa though…Cathy? 😉

Filed under: Burke, sibs, twins | Tagged: dancing, jib jab | Leave a comment »

Unintentionally Rewarding Bad Behavior??

Posted on June 14, 2008 by Nancy

One of the only things that will calm Burke down when he gets…let’s say, upset…is turning the TV on. When he’s going on something like a “Maggie took all the good toys and I’m not going to stop crying for 3 hours” type cry, I am all for the calming effects of the TV. Right now, Curious George is our friend. However, when he’s upset because “I did something to upset mommy, she punished me, and now I’m upset” I have a hard time using the TV to calm him down…even though that’s usually what ends up happening. *sigh* Am I rewarding his bad behavior??

Take this morning for example, it all started with Burke coloring on non-paper items (with markers) so I took the markers away. Continued with coloring on non-paper items (with crayons) so I took the crayons away. Screeching ensued. After trying to talk with him and let him know that the screeching hurt my ears (etc. etc. etc.), he kept screeching so I took him upstairs (the normal progression). I left him alone to “think about things.” He threw books at the door. I went in and told him if he did it again he’d get a spanking. Did it again. Got a spanking. Did it AGAIN. Got another spanking. (I can’t not follow through on a threat!) So…now he’s calmed down a bit and we go back downstairs. Logan is “playing” with the Legos (which Burke thinks are HIS), and I can see a meltdown starting to happen, so the TV is used as a diversion (I have to put Logan down for a nap anyway and the TV serves as a mindless distraction so I know the twins won’t get into too much trouble while I’m out of sight)…but then I think “damn. Am I rewarding the bad behavior from before???” I can only hope that he doesn’t associate the two…

Filed under: behavior, Burke, twins | Tagged: behavior, Burke, twins | Leave a comment »

Potty Training

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Nancy

I’m not quite sure who is training who…but the twins are (finally!!!) showing an interest. Burke, of all people, is the one showing the most interest, and I thought he’d be the one to trail behind. I honestly don’t know if it’s the pennies we’re offering as incentive for each trip to the potty, or the fact that he can flush toilet paper down. (MAN are we going through a lot of water. The boy doesn’t listen to “Wait until you’re FINISHED …. before… flushing…too… late. *sigh*”)

Today started out as any other day. Burke didn’t want to wear his Spiderman pullups – he wanted his Finding Nemo panties (or, as Daddy keeps stating – UNDERWEAR. Perhaps we should have another boys vs. girls chat). Anyway … I warned Brenda (the nanny) about it, and as usual, we asked and asked and asked if he need to use the potty and he says no, no, no…and then pees in his pants. Yep – that happened this morning too. HOWEVER, Brenda came running upstairs around 3:00 to tell me that Burke asked to use the potty and then WENT in it! :O Color me happily surprised. And a big grin on his face too.

A few hours later he gets a look on his face “uh oh!” his shorts and (okay, okay) underwear are a little wet and he says “Potty!!” so we rush to the bathroom and I ask if he has any left. He says he does and sure enough! Out comes some more while he’s sitting there. (we do the sit-and-push-it-down thing right now. We’ll work on standing later!)

Later on, we all went outside to play in the water. (water table, kiddie pool, sprinkler…) I turn my back on them for 2 minutes to help Logan out and boom. Nekkid. BOTH of them. oy. Fine…we have a kiddie potty out there – I ask if they have to go. oh – hm…sure! And they BOTH DID!!! And then proceeded to run around the back yard nekkid as jay birds for the rest of the afternoon.

I was able to convince Maggie that it wouldn’t hurt as much going down the slide if she HAD HER PANTIES on. LOL But as soon as she went back to the kiddie pool, panties were thrown at mommy. “Put these on the chair.” mm hmm. One of these days we’ll work on starting out with “please” …

Filed under: potty training, twins | Tagged: potty training, twins | Leave a comment »

Boys vs. Girls

Posted on June 13, 2008 by Nancy

(originally emailed to MMOTA group and family)

Ahhh the minds of kids. I brought Maggie a headband tonight and she loved it…Burke wanted one too, so we told him that headbands are for girls, not boys and went on to explain that mommy and Maggie are girls; Burke, Daddy, and Logan are boys. hmm. okay.

At bath time, Maggie put up a HUGE stink and did not want to get in the water. Cried the whole time…through drying off, getting PJs on, brushing her teeth, combing and drying her hair, waiting for daddy to get her taggie from downstairs.. .oy!

She FINALLY looked up at me with huge tears in her eyes and said “Maggie’s not a girl any more!”
To which a baffled mommy said “wha..? What did you say Maggie?”
“Maggie’s not a girl any more! Daddy took Maggie’s headband off!!”
whooo boy. She was sooooooo sad!

It’s not easy to explain to a kid that wearing a headband isn’t what makes you a girl! (we tried some anatomy, but I’m not sure she believed us…)

Filed under: gender roles, Maggie, twins | Tagged: twins | Leave a comment »

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One of My Favorite Times of the Day

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She Did it Again.

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