Products I Love: Disney Princess Decals

If you have a daughter who loves the Disney princesses, read on. I purchased a set of princess decals from Target. There are two sets that they sell, one for $10.99, and one for $19.99. I bought the $10.99 set, and I am pleased with my purchase.  

Pros:
The set includes the most popular princesses: Cinderella, Arora, Ariel, Snow White, Belle, and the newest princess, Tiara.
The set includes additional decals: gems, birds, butterflies, flowers, castles, and thematic decals for each princess.
The decals are good quality, and they are easily removable in case you want to move them or remove them.
The decals have vivid colors, and are true to the characters in the movies.

Cons:
You need to be very careful when you're peeling them off the sheets, because they are made of a thin, flexible plastic, and they rip easily.

Packing for Vacation

Before children, packing for a vacation went something like this:

Pack little black dress
Pack make-up

With children, packing for a vacation goes something like this:

Pack everything...except the little black dress (It wouldn't fit anyway.)
Pack the kitchen sink...don't bother packing make-up, because you won't have time to put it on anyway.

I know there was a time in recent history where mothers (maybe fathers too) packed only the essentials for a vacation - underwear, clothes, and shoes. The family would get to their destination, and the kids would play for hours with whatever they could find. For our five day trip to the mountains, in addition to the essentials, I have packed 10 movies, 20 books, 3 board games, 2 puzzles, 2 coloring books, crayons, 1 Leap Frog game, and 1 set of alphabet flash cards. Thankfully, I've done this so many times that I can get it done in a flash, but it is pretty amazing to look at the car once it's loaded.

What can you not live without when you go on vacation with your kids?

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

Gabrielle is my sensitive child. She is strong-willed and dramatic, but she does have a heart of gold. When the combination of these three characteristics combine, it is the perfect storm - perfectly horrible. 

Today, I'll just focus on one of the three - her sensitivity (and the fact that she is literal, as are all toddlers). When Gabrielle moved into a big-girl bed, which was when she was only 27 months old, because she had learned to get out of her crib, she cried saying, "I lost my bed". I get it; that was part of her young life since as far back as she could remember, and as exciting as I tried to make the transition from crib to big-girl bed, she missed her crib. Every time I strip her sheets to throw them in the wash she says, "Mommy, where are you taking my bed? Oh no, I lost it." When Martin sold our Trooper, she cried as the college student drove it away from our house. "I lost my truck." When we replaced our front door, you can guess..."I lost my door." Every Friday when the garbage man picks up the trash, she stands at the window and cries, "Where are you taking my trash? Oh no, my trash went away." And every Friday Martin explains that he pays the city, so that nice man will come take the poop away, which is a reasonable explanation because we have a cat and an infant, so there's A LOT of poop.

We have had a laugh or two over Gabrielle's literal sensitivity at the loss of certain things, but boy did we have a good laugh this morning. Let's back up a little bit. When I was pregnant, Gabrielle thought that Martin had a baby in his belly too. Since I've had Anthony, which was three months ago, she continues to rub my belly - "Mommy, you have another baby in your belly." Okay, so it's time to get back onto the exercise wagon. So, this morning I went to the post office, and picked up the workout videos that I ordered (more to come on that). When I brought them home, I gestured to the attractive fitness models on the front of the videos and I said to Gabrielle, "This is what Daddy is going to look like, and this is what Mommy is going to look like. Kiss our bellies goodbye!" Well, she started crying because she was so upset that our bellies were going away. "I don't want to say goodbye to your bellies. I don't want you to look like them." Eventually, I'll remember that I need to be careful with what I say to Gabrielle, remembering that she is sensitive...and literal.

Library Books Worth Checking Out

I've been taking Gabrielle to the library since she could hold her head up, and now that she's older it's so fun to go to the library to pick books out together. Having taught and worked as a curriculum adviser at a school that highly values great literature, I often find myself asking, "Is this a 'living book' or 'twaddle'?" I won't lie, there are times that Gabrielle will pick a book that I slyly put back on the shelf while she's preoccupied with making friends, because it has none of the things I value in a book. Each time we check out a new batch of books, I will list the ones that I think are worth checking out. Are they all "living books?" No. Some, may even be considered "twaddle", but if we enjoyed them then perhaps you will too. Starred (*) books are those that Gabrielle especially enjoyed, and that she had me read again and again.

*Who's My Cupcake? by Elissa Haden Guest
*Try, Try Again by P.K. Hallinan
The 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett
*Dirt on My Shirt by Jeff Foxworthy
*Ballet Kitty by Bernette Ford
Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming
*Seven Hungry Babies by Candace Fleming
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
*Shout! Shout It Out! by Denise Fleming
*Who Loves the Little Lamb? by Lezlie Evans
Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! by Dr. Seuss

Never Say Never

Oh boy was I one of those single, childless women who would see unruly kids in the store and think, "I would NEVER have a child who acts like that." Or I would see how people around me would do little things to keep their kids under control, or to keep their own sanity, and once again I would say, "I would NEVER do this, or I would NEVER do that." Well, I'm here to tell you that the only thing I will NEVER do again is say NEVER when it comes to parenting.

Here are just a few things I said I would NEVER do:

I would NEVER give my child M&M's to go potty on the potty chair. She should be self-motivated. She should want to go potty on the potty chair instead of sitting in her own waste.
Not only did I give her M&M's, but she would get one for going pee, and three for going poo - because 1+2=3. Get it?

I would NEVER motivate my child to eat all of her food by placing a piece of candy within her view, but just out of her reach. She should want to eat the lovely array of food that I place in front of her, not only because it's good for her, but because she loves me, and if she loves me she'll eat it. Right?
I should have stock in Hershey's Kisses, because we fly through so many.

I would NEVER put a gate up to keep my child in her room, so my husband and I can sleep alone, without interruptions.
Ummm...we did, and we still do.

I would NEVER lose my cool with my child, no matter how much she drives me crazy.
Yeah right!

My child would NEVER sass me.
My daughter thinks she's the boss, and sassy to boot. Don't worry, we're working on that...all the time.

I would NEVER buy a McDonald's Happy Meal for my child. It's just processed food with a cheap toy.
There have been times that we collect an entire series of Happy Meal toys.

I would NEVER let my child watch Sponge Bob Square Pants. 
That's still a NEVER, and I'm so glad my choice has been supported by a study. Yay, for me!

I would NEVER let my child watch Yo Gabba Gabba.
That's still a NEVER too. The guy with the hat, and the weird characters, freak me out.

I could go on, but I want to hear from you. Is there anything as a parent you said you would NEVER do, but you find that you've done it, or continue to do it?

Mama Is My Name, Oh?

I have been a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a friend, a student, a professional, a wife, and a mother, among other things. My name is Heather. My mother, my peers, my acquaintances, and my co-workers have called me by this name for 36 years. My siblings had other choice names for me, and my grandmother called me Heather Feather Fiddily Fart and Matilda (both, for reasons unknown). My students called me Miss...and Mrs... My friends had all kinds of fun nicknames for me, as friends often do.

When I became a wife my name became Honey, Sweetheart, or Babe... But since becoming a mother, I have three new names - Mommy, Mom, and Mama, also known as (or heard as) MOMMMMMYYYYYY, MOOOOOOMMMM, and MAAAMMMAAAAAA! I have been a mother for 3 years, 3 months, and 23 days to a three year old daughter, and a 3 month old son. I spent approximately 7 months of that time teaching my daughter to say my names - "Say mommy. Say mom. Say mama." However, I didn't expect that my husband would also call me by these names. (He must have been subliminally catching on to the lessons I was giving to our daughter.) I dated a guy in high school whose parents did this. Of course, I was much younger, and thought that it was just so uncool. Then when my husband started calling me by these names I thought it was endearing and sweet. That's who I am, after all. But is that all I am? I am still Heather, right? Right? Right? My daughter calls my husband, her father, Dad (Daddy), but she balances that title nicely with his actual name. We correct her often, but as you'll read in other posts, there are bigger fish to fry with this girl than what she calls her father. We choose our battles, and we know that she's not doing it out of disrespect. She does it because that's what she hears me call him. (She has also called him Babe and Honey.) So, he's still Martin, and I'm Mom. This blog is not about my disdain for being a mom. It's an avenue to vent, to share, to motivate myself, and to discover things about myself, hopefully in the blanket of humor and transparency. I may have only one follower...my husband, but I still thought I'd give it a shot, because among the many things I love doing, including being Mom, Mommy, and Mama, I love writing too.