What is up with those Crock Pot Girls??

Announcing Contest to win $50 from Amazon!!

Greetings new readers!  I am going to have a contest!!  The first 100 people to become a follower on this site will be entered to win a $50 gift card from Amazon!  To qualify, you must Join the site by clicking on the right and signing up through Google or Yahoo.  It's very easy!  I will announce the winner this Friday, September 9th!  If crazy things happen and I get up to 200 followers, I will give away a 2nd $50 gift card...so join up!! :-)

Nap boycott

Oh the afternoon nap.  The blissful time when the kids go to bed and I can eat my lunch quietly while watching my guilty TV for 10 peaceful minutes (Bachelor, Real Housewives, etc.  Yes, I need help these shows are eating my brain).   Or for most moms they can clean, cook, exercise, etc.  I myself HAVE to work during afternoon naps.  If I'm home, it's still part of my workday so the kids HAVE to stay asleep!!  Unfortunately, Munchkin Girl has decided that sleeping is for losers (my words, not hers).

A few months ago she started only taking naps three or four times a week.  Now it's down to 0 or 1.  But it's not all about me.  I really feel like she needs that rest time or she gets so crabby by night time!  It's no fun to have Scott come home from work and have her whining all night.  Plus, the more she cries, the more Little Buddy gets fussy too.  So, I have vowed that she WILL go to her room for 2 hours.  She however, doesn't seem to like this plan.  For several weeks now we (the nanny and I, depending on the day) have fought during naps.  I'll tell her she MUST be quiet.  We have a sticker program too and she does like to earn those stickers, but after awhile, she can't help herself, "Mommy!!!!  I want to be awaaaaaaaaake!!!!"

Sometimes she wakes up Little Buddy too so I really had to do something.  My friend told me about a clock you can get that lights up at certain times.  I did some research and found THE BEST PRODUCT EVER!!!  I'm seriously shocked that I've never heard about it before.  You can set it to light up blue during night and you configure the night however you want it.  I chose 8-7:30am.  Then at 7:30am, it changes to yellow.  That's really great too because she used to wake up around 6:45 and I never knew when.  Now I can watch her in there on her monitor.  She plays until 7:30 and as soon as it turns yellow, "Mommy, it's yellow, good moooorning!!!"

And the naps!  Bliss!!  Again, you can configure it and I did two hours.  Now she is quiet (or moderately quiet.  Sometimes she sings at the top of her lungs, but I figure that is playing by herself, right??) until the clock turns yellow.  It's SOOO wonderful to know that I have a full 2 hour block in the afternoon even if she doesn't nap.  I really recommend this product and you can click here to get to it directly on Amazon!

Playdates

Even though I work, my sitter sometimes has to have the day off, which I actually think is really fun because then I get to play with the kids.  I have a lot of friends who stay home so we almost always have plans and we have a fun playdate with one (or several) of Munchkin Girl's little friends.

Well, last week my sitter had a day off.  The only problem is that every single one of my friends was busy!  I seriously almost felt panicky, like what the hell are we going to do?  Of course I could think of plenty of things I needed to do, like run to Target for diapers because they're cheaper than at the grocery store.  I also had a Disney Movie Club that I need to return and take to the Post Office.  Sounds like a blast, right?

I decided I wasn't going to waste this day doing something boring like errands.  I began to open up my mind to the possiblity of going somewhere...by ourselves!!  I know stay at home moms are faced with this dilemma every day.  I've heard my friends talk about it.   But most of my friends also do literally manage to have something planned with someone every day.  It's just what people do, right?  Even Munchkin Girl seemed confused about the idea of going somewhere without her friends.  She kept saying, "But who ELSE will be there Mommy?" 

It just kind of never occurred to me that Munchkin Girl and Little Buddy could be each other's playmates for the day.  Really, Little Buddy just started walking well within the past few months (he's 16 months).  Plus, he is a total pain in the ass with the stroller.  I see kids all the time that are his age, riding peacefully in the stroller, just looking around and taking it all in.  Not Little Buddy.  He wants to be out, roaming free.  Plus of course he thinks I need his help pushing the stroller.  But then Munchkin Girl wants a turn pushing the stroller and the next thing I know, the three of us will be fighting and pushing and grunting until the stroller accidentally gets pushed directly into someone's legs.  People tend to frown upon having the stroller slam into the back of their legs.  Go figure!

I decided to take them to a local farmstead that has cows, pigs, playground etc.  Normally, a stroller would be the answer but I knew it would be end up being terrible. Little Buddy would whine until I let him out.  Then Munchkin Girl would want to be pushed instead and I'd end up with her in the stroller and him on my hip.  I decided to think outside the box.  I supposed I could let them walk/carry them.  But then I knew once they got tired I would end up with a kid on each hip.  Suddenly I had a "Tadaaaa" moment.   I went out to the garage and came up with this plan:



We had bought these at garage sales and normally we just take them for rides in the neighborhood but I figured why not?  They love riding in them and Little Buddy NEVER fusses while he has his steering wheel.  So, I held my breath while I tried loading them in my car.  They fit!  Off we went with a bag full of snacks and two huge cars that are certainly not meant for trips to places like a zoo.

However, we had a great time!  The cars were PERFECT!!  They could scramble out of them whenever I told them it was time to get out.  They didn't fuss AT ALL!!  I could really focus on the kids and talking to them about stuff instead of being distracted by talking to other moms.  The kids really played together and enjoyed each other...frankly I couldn't believe it!!  We spent about 20 peaceful minutes feeding the fish handfuls of food (How do those fish not die of overfeeding, seriously???)  Anyway, don't get me wrong.  I LOVE playdates and having a change to talk to my other mom friends.  And it's great for the kids to be able to play with other kids and socialize.  But I was really shocked at how peaceful and fun it was to go for a big outing with just the three of us.  We probably won't do it every week, but the next time at least I won't feel panicked!