A post about modeling.
(Sorry to disappoint you with no pictures of me in the newest clothes to hit the runway - you're welcome. This is not about that kind of modeling.)
We try very hard in our house to value each other as well as every person or animal that we meet. It is not actually all that hard, I tend to view people in their positive light before I ever notice their flaws. I don't think this is a bad thing.
The thing is that we send our daughter out into the "real world" every day by sending her to preschool. We love every aspect about the care she has gotten since she was ten weeks, so don't look for this post to blast that choice. We are extremely happy that we chose to send Abby to daycare, even so young. Many added benefits.
But she learns things at daycare. She learns so much every day that in our house we call it "school" and not preschool. She had learned colors before she could really even say them. She learned shapes early enough that she's already able to draw circles, triangles and squares. She has learned most of the letters of the alphabet in more detail than "The ABC's Song" - what words they start and how they sound and such. She knows many more songs that we even uncover at home because she sticks to two of her favorites and the others don't come up.
But she learns things at daycare. She learned to spit and push at daycare. She may have learned this from her peers, but might have had it in her and it just came to revelation at daycare. I prefer to believe the "blame school" side of things, as I am the first to give school the credit for having taught her all of the great things in her education, like the stuff in the paragraph above.
The thing that drove me really mad that she learned at school was the proper use of the word "stupid." "Daddy, you're stupid" is not something that I was prepared to hear from Abby just yet, but it is something I was greeted with during silly play at home. There was nothing to invoke it, we were just playing, but out it came. I was ready to drop all of the good things that I have ever said about how great daycare has been for Abby's cognitive and social development. Gone in that instant were my continued high hopes for her to continue to be the cute AND smart girl. Now, thanks to daycare, she was going to be the cute terror of a child that drives her parents to the asylum.
But then I realized that it was TV.
Abby watches TV, and I am not going to continue to apologize for that. A lot of the movies that she watches - Shrek and The Grinch come to mind - use "stupid" as if it was a prefix to your name. "Stupid Donkey" has to come out in each of the movies, at least twice. I realize that the movies are not designed for toddlers, so I can not and do not fault the movies, but I realized how much the word pervades in other shows/movies, like Madagascar and such. Shocking, but it should not be.
After I realized that, I realized something really sad - it was not the movies, it was ME.
It was me that calls me stupid. I have never, and will never, call Abby (or Anny) stupid. But my self esteem is not the best, so when Anny calls me on something my response is typically "yeah, I know, I'm stupid." Abby was hearing me say something, and she was mimicking. How could she know that she should not say something that her parents are saying? I was the problem. I can pinpoint the spot in my kitchen when I heard myself and winced.
Since that day my attitude has changed. I remind myself that I am not stupid, but more important is that I have changed the way I think about both myself and others. Some jerk on the road driving up the median in traffic? Maybe they are on their way to the hospital to see someone important. Slow wait staff (not THIS slow!)? Kitchen is busy and everyone is probably covering. I have always been positive, but I am actively looking for the good behind the perceived bad. I give the benefit of the doubt to anyone I do not know, and do my best to ignore initial appearance. Clearly I need to work at that - the eyes are powerful - but it has begun for me.
I think that this attitude is showing in Abby now, and that is my whole goal. She has not called anyone a name in my presence since the day that it clicked for me. She is faster to say "please" "thank you" and "how are you" to people she knows and people she meets.
Parents - it's all about modeling. A positive attitude in you will be reflected by the ones you are raising. Practice this and see what a difference it might make in your house!
May 11, 2010
Menu Monday (on Tuesday)
Crazy weekend that ended up with me being really sore and not feeling like blogging on Sunday night or Monday morning.
Last week I mentioned that we were doing a new slow cooker brisket recipe, and shortly after that I realized that it took 24 hours to crock pot. It was awesome, and made two complete meals for us!
This week we are intentionally incorporating two of the meals from the frozen food party we went to a week ago. We would likely space them out to once a week, if we felt like we could plan out that far. Right now, with the move coming quickly, we are trying to be sure that we account for everything in the freezer. Maybe with a little luck we will have an empty freezer soon, and resort only to fresh fruits, vegetables and meats for a stretch in June.
So, the menu this week:
Sunday - Leftover Brisket in tortillas (added rice, salsa and sour cream)
Monday - Hearty Chili & Cornbread - From the Frozen Food Party
Tuesday - Macaroni and Cheese with turkey hot dogs
Wednesday - Burrito Pie - From the Frozen Food Party
Thursday - Family Dinner
Friday - Picnic with Abby's Daycare (five centers, ~22 children from each, FUN!)
Saturday - Family Dinner to celebrate Gramps' birthday, in Rehoboth, DE!
All in all it looks like we will not even have a chance to go out to dinner this week - lots of time and money savings going on here! How about you?
Last week I mentioned that we were doing a new slow cooker brisket recipe, and shortly after that I realized that it took 24 hours to crock pot. It was awesome, and made two complete meals for us!
This week we are intentionally incorporating two of the meals from the frozen food party we went to a week ago. We would likely space them out to once a week, if we felt like we could plan out that far. Right now, with the move coming quickly, we are trying to be sure that we account for everything in the freezer. Maybe with a little luck we will have an empty freezer soon, and resort only to fresh fruits, vegetables and meats for a stretch in June.
So, the menu this week:
Sunday - Leftover Brisket in tortillas (added rice, salsa and sour cream)
Monday - Hearty Chili & Cornbread - From the Frozen Food Party
Tuesday - Macaroni and Cheese with turkey hot dogs
Wednesday - Burrito Pie - From the Frozen Food Party
Thursday - Family Dinner
Friday - Picnic with Abby's Daycare (five centers, ~22 children from each, FUN!)
Saturday - Family Dinner to celebrate Gramps' birthday, in Rehoboth, DE!
All in all it looks like we will not even have a chance to go out to dinner this week - lots of time and money savings going on here! How about you?
May 07, 2010
Frozen Food Party!
On Sunday of last week we went to my brother and sister-in-laws house for a different sort of party - a party focused on frozen food! It's an idea that I had a few years ago, when we needed to stock the freezer before Abby was born, but never got enough support to pull it off. I was very glad to have Nadia (SIL) ask me about doing one this spring as they are expecting.
The process was as such -
Decide on an invite list, being sure to include folks that would take it and run with it, but don't let the invite list get too big. Everyone has to bring enough food to send home with each person/family participating, so a party of 12 families would end up being a ton of work for everyone. This task fell to Nadia, as it was her party, but I was sure to get some names in there of cool people that I hang out with too.
Explain the party in detail to everyone coming. I think it would have been greatly embarrassing to have someone show up with no food to share, and would have been awkward to figure out for everyone in the end! Be open to questions, as there will be some since a lot of folks have not heard of such a party before!
Well, Rob, what IS the detail? That's the fun part! Each person/unit plans out a meal that they prepare or organize that can be stashed in the freezer and brought out on a night that you don't want to have to cook fully! Then they cook or prepare it. There are whole websites dedicated to "Freezer Meals" and the like, but it is amazing how many things you already make that you could double when you have time and freeze some of for later! We did a crock-pot meal (recipe below), dished it into a freezer bag and included tortillas and cheese for a whole meal. Everyone must label their bag with reheating instructions, and the recipe is optional but nice!
Once all of the RSVP's have come in, or the RSVP date has passed, let everyone know how many meals they are bringing. If six families are coming, each family needs to bring five of their dish to share - one for each other family. (For the one we went to, the number six was passed around, so most folks had an extra of their own to take home, too!)
So, for a total of about 30 minutes of work on my part - deciding the meal, preparing it, overnight in the crock pot and assembling for the freezer - we gotfive six meals that we get to take home and try over the coming weeks! Throw in about two hours of hanging out with some fun people and their fun children!
The meals we got were:
Chili
Burrito Pie
A Red Chicken with Cous Cous (I missed the name!)
Rico Chicken
Creamy Chicken
Chicken Soup
The meal that we took was one that we have adapted from a kidney-friendly blog. It calls for pork, but we had chicken and used that. So, here is our recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken and Green Chili Stew:
Serving size: 3/4 cup stew, 1 tortilla
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup all-purpose white flour
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 pound chicken, cut into bit size cubes
* 1 4-ounce cans green chili peppers, rinsed, and diced
* 1 garlic clove, crushed
* one 14-ounce can low-sodium chicken broth
* 6 flour tortillas, burrito size
* 6 tablespoons sour cream
* 3/4 cup iceberg lettuce, shredded
* 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Preparation and Serving
1. Place chicken, flour, pepper, peppers, garlic and broth into a slow cooker.
2. Cook for 10 hours on low heat.
3. Place 3/4 cup of stew on a tortilla and roll burrito style.
4. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream, lettuce and cilantro.
The process was as such -
Decide on an invite list, being sure to include folks that would take it and run with it, but don't let the invite list get too big. Everyone has to bring enough food to send home with each person/family participating, so a party of 12 families would end up being a ton of work for everyone. This task fell to Nadia, as it was her party, but I was sure to get some names in there of cool people that I hang out with too.
Explain the party in detail to everyone coming. I think it would have been greatly embarrassing to have someone show up with no food to share, and would have been awkward to figure out for everyone in the end! Be open to questions, as there will be some since a lot of folks have not heard of such a party before!
Well, Rob, what IS the detail? That's the fun part! Each person/unit plans out a meal that they prepare or organize that can be stashed in the freezer and brought out on a night that you don't want to have to cook fully! Then they cook or prepare it. There are whole websites dedicated to "Freezer Meals" and the like, but it is amazing how many things you already make that you could double when you have time and freeze some of for later! We did a crock-pot meal (recipe below), dished it into a freezer bag and included tortillas and cheese for a whole meal. Everyone must label their bag with reheating instructions, and the recipe is optional but nice!
Once all of the RSVP's have come in, or the RSVP date has passed, let everyone know how many meals they are bringing. If six families are coming, each family needs to bring five of their dish to share - one for each other family. (For the one we went to, the number six was passed around, so most folks had an extra of their own to take home, too!)
So, for a total of about 30 minutes of work on my part - deciding the meal, preparing it, overnight in the crock pot and assembling for the freezer - we got
The meals we got were:
Chili
Burrito Pie
A Red Chicken with Cous Cous (I missed the name!)
Rico Chicken
Creamy Chicken
Chicken Soup
The meal that we took was one that we have adapted from a kidney-friendly blog. It calls for pork, but we had chicken and used that. So, here is our recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken and Green Chili Stew:
Serving size: 3/4 cup stew, 1 tortilla
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup all-purpose white flour
* 1 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 pound chicken, cut into bit size cubes
* 1 4-ounce cans green chili peppers, rinsed, and diced
* 1 garlic clove, crushed
* one 14-ounce can low-sodium chicken broth
* 6 flour tortillas, burrito size
* 6 tablespoons sour cream
* 3/4 cup iceberg lettuce, shredded
* 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
Preparation and Serving
1. Place chicken, flour, pepper, peppers, garlic and broth into a slow cooker.
2. Cook for 10 hours on low heat.
3. Place 3/4 cup of stew on a tortilla and roll burrito style.
4. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon sour cream, lettuce and cilantro.
May 06, 2010
Our Little Family
Abby is getting better at repetition when it comes to her art work. Her lines are straighter and her circles are more rounded than eggs now.
In the last few months she has even moved on to drawing "people," as defined by Abby. Earlier this week she was tasked with drawing her family, and that she did. Here is the picture, and below I will give you her words to me about it:
I asked her this morning about her picture. She explained to me that the one on the left if "My Mother," "Abby Minroe" is in the middle and "Dally" is on the right. There was no explanation for the green blob up there, believe me I asked.
As you can see clearly, we all have eyes and mouths. Only recently have we begun to develop legs, and the arms are new as of this week. Maybe we are merely tadpoles in her mind! Some day I'll be able to hop!
In the last few months she has even moved on to drawing "people," as defined by Abby. Earlier this week she was tasked with drawing her family, and that she did. Here is the picture, and below I will give you her words to me about it:
I asked her this morning about her picture. She explained to me that the one on the left if "My Mother," "Abby Minroe" is in the middle and "Dally" is on the right. There was no explanation for the green blob up there, believe me I asked.
As you can see clearly, we all have eyes and mouths. Only recently have we begun to develop legs, and the arms are new as of this week. Maybe we are merely tadpoles in her mind! Some day I'll be able to hop!
May 05, 2010
Daddy Daughter Date
We have always been fans of Chick-Fil-A, and last night that appreciation grew even more!
About a week ago I saw on Facebook that the Chick-Fil-A in Columbia Mall was going to have a Daddy Daughter Dinner night. I popped an email over to Anny and suggested that she go out with a friend of ours and I would take Abby to dinner. She agreed and I signed up! About an hour later, though, I got a phone call from their PR person asking me if I was open on the time or had one specifically in mind. I told her that I could be open on the early side, but too late and Abby might be a Crabby. She then told me that they "hoped" it would be successful, and were now down to one open spot and a wait list for everyone else. The last slot they had was at 5:30 and I took it! (Sorry other dads, I won't be around next time, you take those slots.)
I hung up and then realized that on Tuesday I had a staff retreat at work. Argh. On a normal work day I would be able to sneak out a little early to try and beat the traffic. On a retreat day I would have no control over my time. That is okay, just something I did not factor in when agreeing to a 5:30 dinner date!
As it turned out the retreat ended right on time, which was a little late for my preferred plan but not going to stop me. I flipped on the traffic. Backed up the whole way from where I was to home. It would easily take me an hour to get home, then an hour to get to Columbia. That would be 6:00. Anny and I had talked about this on Monday, though, and agreed that we could meet somewhere and swap cars. We met close to the middle, but clearly at a convenient place in Calverton, made the swap and headed our separate ways.
Abby and I got to the mall a few minutes early, or in Abby time "just right" for getting on the merry-go-round! So we did that once and headed down to the potty. We both did what we do in such a place and still ended up at Chick-Fil-A about ten minutes early. They are close to the play area, and closer to a shoe store. I mentioned that we were in the 5:30 seating and knew we were early, but I thought I would give them a heads up. They noted that a lot of the 5:30's showed up a little early. All of them, actually! The tables were ready for us, though, so we sat immediately.
Our table - in the food court remember - was set our right for a date, even down to the doily! Abby was given a long stemmed rose to celebrate, too!
We had a table to ourselves, and even had a waitress! That is a little funny at a fast food joint, but appreciated because I didn't have to wait in line! We had our normal fare - Abby got nuggets, I got a grilled chicken sandwich. Abby at the strawberries, oranges and grapes from the fruit cups and I got the apples. Then we both share a chocolate shake. Delightful!
I was sure to thank the PR person, whose name is escaping me. It was a fun event and gave me an excuse to take my daughter our and spend time with just her.
We went and played in the play ground for a while, Abby even found an older girl to chase for a while. It was funny, but made it hard to drag her away! The only thing that worked was the promise of a trip to the pet store (we look, don't buy). After that we went over to the merry-go-round for a final ride and then headed home.
It was fun and I look forward to more Daddy/Daughter dates in the future! Maybe next time I'll upgrade the restaurant - a stand alone Chick-Fil-A instead of the food court!
About a week ago I saw on Facebook that the Chick-Fil-A in Columbia Mall was going to have a Daddy Daughter Dinner night. I popped an email over to Anny and suggested that she go out with a friend of ours and I would take Abby to dinner. She agreed and I signed up! About an hour later, though, I got a phone call from their PR person asking me if I was open on the time or had one specifically in mind. I told her that I could be open on the early side, but too late and Abby might be a Crabby. She then told me that they "hoped" it would be successful, and were now down to one open spot and a wait list for everyone else. The last slot they had was at 5:30 and I took it! (Sorry other dads, I won't be around next time, you take those slots.)
I hung up and then realized that on Tuesday I had a staff retreat at work. Argh. On a normal work day I would be able to sneak out a little early to try and beat the traffic. On a retreat day I would have no control over my time. That is okay, just something I did not factor in when agreeing to a 5:30 dinner date!
As it turned out the retreat ended right on time, which was a little late for my preferred plan but not going to stop me. I flipped on the traffic. Backed up the whole way from where I was to home. It would easily take me an hour to get home, then an hour to get to Columbia. That would be 6:00. Anny and I had talked about this on Monday, though, and agreed that we could meet somewhere and swap cars. We met close to the middle, but clearly at a convenient place in Calverton, made the swap and headed our separate ways.
Abby and I got to the mall a few minutes early, or in Abby time "just right" for getting on the merry-go-round! So we did that once and headed down to the potty. We both did what we do in such a place and still ended up at Chick-Fil-A about ten minutes early. They are close to the play area, and closer to a shoe store. I mentioned that we were in the 5:30 seating and knew we were early, but I thought I would give them a heads up. They noted that a lot of the 5:30's showed up a little early. All of them, actually! The tables were ready for us, though, so we sat immediately.
Our table - in the food court remember - was set our right for a date, even down to the doily! Abby was given a long stemmed rose to celebrate, too!
I was sure to thank the PR person, whose name is escaping me. It was a fun event and gave me an excuse to take my daughter our and spend time with just her.
We went and played in the play ground for a while, Abby even found an older girl to chase for a while. It was funny, but made it hard to drag her away! The only thing that worked was the promise of a trip to the pet store (we look, don't buy). After that we went over to the merry-go-round for a final ride and then headed home.
It was fun and I look forward to more Daddy/Daughter dates in the future! Maybe next time I'll upgrade the restaurant - a stand alone Chick-Fil-A instead of the food court!
May 03, 2010
Menu Monday
I missed last week - things were crazy around here! Anny had a phone interview on Tuesday, but I was at a work meeting so a friend came over to play with Abby then they went out to dinner. The rest of the week we stuck to the plan, though.
Yesterday we went to a fun party based around frozen dinners. Will do a whole blog post about that because it earned it, and will include a recipe for a slow cooker stew that was requested on Facebook!
So, this week there is a special Daddy/Daughter night at Chick-Fil-A in Columbia, so I'll be taking Abby there. We got the last spot, so it's pretty popular and I am open to seeing what they do with it! Also a change this week is that we let Abby pick up okra at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. She was excited to see something new, and we are trying to try new things this year, so we got enough for a side for dinner. Will probably do that with the brisket.
Here is our plan this week:
Sunday: Out with the big family - 11 of us at the table!
Monday: Frozen Stroganoff on Egg Noodles
Tuesday: Daddy/Daughter dinner/Anny out with a friend
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Brisket (recipe over at Sarahlynn's Blog)
Thursday: Family Dinner
Friday: Pancakes
Saturday: Kabobs
In looking at our freezer yesterday morning in preparation for the Frozen Meal Party I noticed that we have things in there that we have had for a while and really need to eat, so our plan next week should include the use of frozen crab meat!
What are you eating? What is in your freezer that you have been avoiding or forgetting about? What are you going to do with it?
Yesterday we went to a fun party based around frozen dinners. Will do a whole blog post about that because it earned it, and will include a recipe for a slow cooker stew that was requested on Facebook!
So, this week there is a special Daddy/Daughter night at Chick-Fil-A in Columbia, so I'll be taking Abby there. We got the last spot, so it's pretty popular and I am open to seeing what they do with it! Also a change this week is that we let Abby pick up okra at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. She was excited to see something new, and we are trying to try new things this year, so we got enough for a side for dinner. Will probably do that with the brisket.
Here is our plan this week:
Sunday: Out with the big family - 11 of us at the table!
Monday: Frozen Stroganoff on Egg Noodles
Tuesday: Daddy/Daughter dinner/Anny out with a friend
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Brisket (recipe over at Sarahlynn's Blog)
Thursday: Family Dinner
Friday: Pancakes
Saturday: Kabobs
In looking at our freezer yesterday morning in preparation for the Frozen Meal Party I noticed that we have things in there that we have had for a while and really need to eat, so our plan next week should include the use of frozen crab meat!
What are you eating? What is in your freezer that you have been avoiding or forgetting about? What are you going to do with it?
April 30, 2010
Artsy Fartsy
As parents of an almost-three year old we are blessed to have a child that loves to both get dirty and clean up messes. We were such proud parents on Wednesday when Abby cleaned up her doctor kit before asking to play with her tea set, all without prompting.
Her at home painting routine involves picking out two colors and two brushes and getting on her smock in preparation. Painting involves the brushes for a few minutes, and almost always devolves into painting each hand and doing finger or hand painting before calling it quits. She always makes sure to grab her paint cups and brushes and brings them to the sink to spend almost as much time cleaning as she did painting. She will even "clean" other dishes if they are in the sink at the time. This has led to more than one instance of paint brushes being found later by turning on the garbage disposal, though. Working on a plan for that.
All of that is completely unrelated to what I wanted to share with this post. We get lots of artwork sent home from school and are never sure what to do with it. We decided early on this year that we will keep some of it, maybe three pieces a month, but most go right into the recycle bin after we ask Abby about it. I decided this morning to take some with me to work to hang up, and I thought I should go ahead and scan them to share since I had brought them.
Without further useless build-up -
She clearly likes bold colors. In one she was going for lines, and on the other it was more free form.
My question for you other parents-of-little-ones is: What do you do with your child's art? Do you keep all of it? None of it? Where do you keep it?
I kind of want to come up with a regular way to display it in our next home. I don't mean frames, but I want to get out of trashing each one right away. Do you have a good idea for keeping them short term and deciding what to keep?
Her at home painting routine involves picking out two colors and two brushes and getting on her smock in preparation. Painting involves the brushes for a few minutes, and almost always devolves into painting each hand and doing finger or hand painting before calling it quits. She always makes sure to grab her paint cups and brushes and brings them to the sink to spend almost as much time cleaning as she did painting. She will even "clean" other dishes if they are in the sink at the time. This has led to more than one instance of paint brushes being found later by turning on the garbage disposal, though. Working on a plan for that.
All of that is completely unrelated to what I wanted to share with this post. We get lots of artwork sent home from school and are never sure what to do with it. We decided early on this year that we will keep some of it, maybe three pieces a month, but most go right into the recycle bin after we ask Abby about it. I decided this morning to take some with me to work to hang up, and I thought I should go ahead and scan them to share since I had brought them.
Without further useless build-up -
My question for you other parents-of-little-ones is: What do you do with your child's art? Do you keep all of it? None of it? Where do you keep it?
I kind of want to come up with a regular way to display it in our next home. I don't mean frames, but I want to get out of trashing each one right away. Do you have a good idea for keeping them short term and deciding what to keep?
Potty Breakthrough
So, lots has gone on this week and I have not blogged. Those my not be mutually exclusive... I might get a post or two up this weekend. Hopefully.
*This is a post about poop. And a shower. If you are a visual person, this is probably not for you...
Last Sunday we had a breakthrough of sorts on the potty front. Abby had been a week since pooping. Again.
We had been pushing blueberries into her like water starting on Friday as soon as she got home from school. I don't know if it is the same for every child, but blueberries are a go-to for us. They work to move things along in her little system, and they taste great! We are still using blueberries from last summers Farmer's Market that have been in the freezer, by the way. The only downside of frozen blueberries is that it make her lips look like she has been making out with Cookie Monster and her fingers look like she voted in an Afghan election.
So anyway, we could tell that Abby was finally going toexplode give in and poop, so we decided to take the opportunity to make sure it all ended up in the potty. She is still pooping in her underwear of late - when she poops, that is. She was doing a little dance and could not sit down any more.
I want to break in here and tell you that I am not an abusive father. It pains me to know that she is not passing her poo, and I am looking forward to your comments about things that help "move" your children along. This has only been a problem since switching from diapers to the potty, which she has embraced. Except the pooping part. I read a post about a child who finally gave in when he heard the word "suppository" and it was explained what that meant. I don't want to get that point.
Typically on Sunday morning either Anny or I will bring Abby into the shower with us to get a really good cleaning that does not happen in the tub and to wash her hair. Again, great father, right? Oh well. I got her into the shower with me with a guarantee that we would spend some time playing before washing her hair. This convinced her to come in, and then she got really uncomfortable on the poop front. She was not playing in the water because she was focused on holding everything in.
And then something clicked in her head. She asked for the potty. She wanted to poop - in the potty! This, my friends, is progress in a major way. Part of it was setting her up, but sometimes that is all it takes. She could not hide in her room if she can't get out of the shower.
Anny brought the potty into the kid-potty into the bathroom, but Abby didn't want to get out of the shower because she was wet and knew she would be cold. We did the only logical thing... We brought her potty into the shower for her to take a dump. Abby got special permission to poop IN the shower. Lucky kid.
So we reminded her about her "friend" Prudence from Once Upon a Potty who had to sit. And sit. And sit and sit and sit and sit.... And sit Abby did. For ten minutes.
But it worked. She pooped in the potty, and only in the potty. VICTORY!
As a reward she got to wear her new Sleeping Beauty Princess Dress, which is better than chocolate as a reward for my child. She wore her dress to church and got to tell everyone why she got to wear such a special dress - because she had pooped on the potty. She was fawned over, even more than usual, and got congrats and cheers and high fives for the whole day.
Maybe that will have been enough to make the "click" of using the potty stick.
Maybe she will think about all of the attention the next time she starts to poop in her pants and she will get our attention rather than get quiet and hide it.
Maybe, just maybe, my daughter will have to go to a local college so that she can come home once a week to take a poop in the shower.
I'm hoping for one of the first two choices above - you can guess which two.
*As an "update" to a not-yet-posted-post, it is Friday morning and Abby has not yet pooped since the victory I just wrote about. Two nights this week we have even given her medicinal help in the form of "Little Phillips" for toddler tummies. This child has a stubborn stomach I tell you. We will begin the blueberry regimen tonight, I guess.
*This is a post about poop. And a shower. If you are a visual person, this is probably not for you...
Last Sunday we had a breakthrough of sorts on the potty front. Abby had been a week since pooping. Again.
We had been pushing blueberries into her like water starting on Friday as soon as she got home from school. I don't know if it is the same for every child, but blueberries are a go-to for us. They work to move things along in her little system, and they taste great! We are still using blueberries from last summers Farmer's Market that have been in the freezer, by the way. The only downside of frozen blueberries is that it make her lips look like she has been making out with Cookie Monster and her fingers look like she voted in an Afghan election.
So anyway, we could tell that Abby was finally going to
I want to break in here and tell you that I am not an abusive father. It pains me to know that she is not passing her poo, and I am looking forward to your comments about things that help "move" your children along. This has only been a problem since switching from diapers to the potty, which she has embraced. Except the pooping part. I read a post about a child who finally gave in when he heard the word "suppository" and it was explained what that meant. I don't want to get that point.
Typically on Sunday morning either Anny or I will bring Abby into the shower with us to get a really good cleaning that does not happen in the tub and to wash her hair. Again, great father, right? Oh well. I got her into the shower with me with a guarantee that we would spend some time playing before washing her hair. This convinced her to come in, and then she got really uncomfortable on the poop front. She was not playing in the water because she was focused on holding everything in.
And then something clicked in her head. She asked for the potty. She wanted to poop - in the potty! This, my friends, is progress in a major way. Part of it was setting her up, but sometimes that is all it takes. She could not hide in her room if she can't get out of the shower.
Anny brought the potty into the kid-potty into the bathroom, but Abby didn't want to get out of the shower because she was wet and knew she would be cold. We did the only logical thing... We brought her potty into the shower for her to take a dump. Abby got special permission to poop IN the shower. Lucky kid.
So we reminded her about her "friend" Prudence from Once Upon a Potty who had to sit. And sit. And sit and sit and sit and sit.... And sit Abby did. For ten minutes.
But it worked. She pooped in the potty, and only in the potty. VICTORY!
As a reward she got to wear her new Sleeping Beauty Princess Dress, which is better than chocolate as a reward for my child. She wore her dress to church and got to tell everyone why she got to wear such a special dress - because she had pooped on the potty. She was fawned over, even more than usual, and got congrats and cheers and high fives for the whole day.
Maybe that will have been enough to make the "click" of using the potty stick.
Maybe she will think about all of the attention the next time she starts to poop in her pants and she will get our attention rather than get quiet and hide it.
Maybe, just maybe, my daughter will have to go to a local college so that she can come home once a week to take a poop in the shower.
I'm hoping for one of the first two choices above - you can guess which two.
*As an "update" to a not-yet-posted-post, it is Friday morning and Abby has not yet pooped since the victory I just wrote about. Two nights this week we have even given her medicinal help in the form of "Little Phillips" for toddler tummies. This child has a stubborn stomach I tell you. We will begin the blueberry regimen tonight, I guess.
April 23, 2010
Moving Update
Anny and I are decent actors. I have heard her tell someone the same things that I have been saying to other people, but we don't say it to each other.
"Yeah, I am getting nervous about not having a contract on the house and no job lined up yet..."
On the House Front
We have had one open house and at least a half a dozen showings at this point. Our house is sloped inside so it is a harder sell, but I am getting frustrated with the process, and it has nothing to do with our Realtor, believe it or not. I do not play games with real life very well. Want to play a board game or a sport, I'm in. Want me to keep my house in tip-top shape because some people can not envision the house without a toy Princess Castle on the floor? Tell them to figure it out, I have better things to do with my life than move that stupid castle twice a day!
The other thing driving me crazy is the "game" of real-estate-showing windows. We get a call saying that somoene wants to show the house in a one hour window - let's say 6-7 pm. We get out of the house to grab some dinner, spending money we do not really have to spend on food and disrupting Abby's schedule beyond belief and come home at 7:30 to give the Realtor a half hour cushion. Why, oh why, did they show up at 8:00? I know that you're out seeing several houses in one trip, but you can't tell all of them that you will be there in a one hour frame, it's not fair to those of us who are trying to live a life. One Realtor actually snapped back at me "you know how it is when you're looking at five houses." I may have suggested that she be more considerate in the future. I bet we don't hear from her again. Oh well.
On the Job Front
Anny has entered her information into a big database for Missouri schools and has already had one interview! It turns out that she did not get that job, but she has since gotten a little more attention from one of the school districts. They asked her to do an online questionnaire, which she did on Wednesday. Then she got a call yesterday that they want her to come in for an interview. It seems that they can not do it over the phone, so we looked at our calendar and have been in contact with Paul and Sarahlynn about arranging a quick trip for Anny. Once she sets up with that particular district she is going to call one or two others to see if she can set up interviews on the same day and do it in one trip. So - Anny has progress made, but no job yet.
I on the other hand have nothing. Nada. I have applied for one job which turned out to be part time and thus I was disqualified. I have been pretty calculated in not applying for jobs until we have Anny figured out. It would be really nice if we can both work in the same area so that we can look for a house that would be close, too. The "good" part of not having a bachelors (or higher) degree is that I am not going to be tied into a particular field, and that is cool with me. I am completely open to anything! I have working in all sorts of places - my first job was driving a golf cart at a driving range, and since then I have worked retail, worked in a warehouse, worked in an office with three people and had my own office. I won't work construction (I'll admit it, I'm weak) but outside of that I'm open to absolutely anything. With that being said, I have made no progress and have no job yet.
If Anny has nothing lined up by June 1 I willbe freaked out pick up a job hunt and deal with a commute if I have to, but since we have some flexibility we are alright with how things are right now.
The Current Plan
People ask us when we are actually planning to move and we kind of duck and weave. We are not sure, but we do have a window available to us. As a teacher, Anny will complete her contract here and will be ready to roll at her new school in August. That is the bottom line. That leaves us about a seven or eight week window to get to Saint Louis. The best bet that I can give folks is that it will probably be between June 25 and the Fourth of July. If someone swept in today and offered us a contract on the house and says they want to close on May 31, we will figure out temporary housing to finish out Anny's school year and take off shortly after that. If we do not have the house sold by the end of June - well, that's where things get tricky. We are hopeful. We are prayerful. We ask that you are hopeful and prayerful for us as well.
The Listing
It seems silly to put up a blog post about our move and not include a link to the official listing for our home. If you know someone who is looking for a house inside the DC Beltway, please send them here:
It lists four bedrooms, but there is a fifth that we can't include because it does not have a window. New A/C, huge kitchen (big enough to be jealous of!) and a house-sized addition, too!
"Yeah, I am getting nervous about not having a contract on the house and no job lined up yet..."
On the House Front
We have had one open house and at least a half a dozen showings at this point. Our house is sloped inside so it is a harder sell, but I am getting frustrated with the process, and it has nothing to do with our Realtor, believe it or not. I do not play games with real life very well. Want to play a board game or a sport, I'm in. Want me to keep my house in tip-top shape because some people can not envision the house without a toy Princess Castle on the floor? Tell them to figure it out, I have better things to do with my life than move that stupid castle twice a day!
The other thing driving me crazy is the "game" of real-estate-showing windows. We get a call saying that somoene wants to show the house in a one hour window - let's say 6-7 pm. We get out of the house to grab some dinner, spending money we do not really have to spend on food and disrupting Abby's schedule beyond belief and come home at 7:30 to give the Realtor a half hour cushion. Why, oh why, did they show up at 8:00? I know that you're out seeing several houses in one trip, but you can't tell all of them that you will be there in a one hour frame, it's not fair to those of us who are trying to live a life. One Realtor actually snapped back at me "you know how it is when you're looking at five houses." I may have suggested that she be more considerate in the future. I bet we don't hear from her again. Oh well.
On the Job Front
Anny has entered her information into a big database for Missouri schools and has already had one interview! It turns out that she did not get that job, but she has since gotten a little more attention from one of the school districts. They asked her to do an online questionnaire, which she did on Wednesday. Then she got a call yesterday that they want her to come in for an interview. It seems that they can not do it over the phone, so we looked at our calendar and have been in contact with Paul and Sarahlynn about arranging a quick trip for Anny. Once she sets up with that particular district she is going to call one or two others to see if she can set up interviews on the same day and do it in one trip. So - Anny has progress made, but no job yet.
I on the other hand have nothing. Nada. I have applied for one job which turned out to be part time and thus I was disqualified. I have been pretty calculated in not applying for jobs until we have Anny figured out. It would be really nice if we can both work in the same area so that we can look for a house that would be close, too. The "good" part of not having a bachelors (or higher) degree is that I am not going to be tied into a particular field, and that is cool with me. I am completely open to anything! I have working in all sorts of places - my first job was driving a golf cart at a driving range, and since then I have worked retail, worked in a warehouse, worked in an office with three people and had my own office. I won't work construction (I'll admit it, I'm weak) but outside of that I'm open to absolutely anything. With that being said, I have made no progress and have no job yet.
If Anny has nothing lined up by June 1 I will
The Current Plan
People ask us when we are actually planning to move and we kind of duck and weave. We are not sure, but we do have a window available to us. As a teacher, Anny will complete her contract here and will be ready to roll at her new school in August. That is the bottom line. That leaves us about a seven or eight week window to get to Saint Louis. The best bet that I can give folks is that it will probably be between June 25 and the Fourth of July. If someone swept in today and offered us a contract on the house and says they want to close on May 31, we will figure out temporary housing to finish out Anny's school year and take off shortly after that. If we do not have the house sold by the end of June - well, that's where things get tricky. We are hopeful. We are prayerful. We ask that you are hopeful and prayerful for us as well.
The Listing
It seems silly to put up a blog post about our move and not include a link to the official listing for our home. If you know someone who is looking for a house inside the DC Beltway, please send them here:
It lists four bedrooms, but there is a fifth that we can't include because it does not have a window. New A/C, huge kitchen (big enough to be jealous of!) and a house-sized addition, too!
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