No, Not that

For those of my readers that are parents.. Have you ever seen a characteristic in your child that is so much like you and you wished you could change it? I had a night like that tonight. Let me explain!

As a young child, I had a TERRIBLE temper. I would hit my head on the floor in anger and tear up my favorite toys. I was awful. My mom worked with me and never gave up. I claim that I would have been labeled emotionally disturbed or behavior disordered if it weren't for her. Sad to admit, but I still have some temper that I have to work CONSTANTLY on to keep it under control. So, tonight when I saw a HUGE temper out of Todd I wanted to scream. I wanted to beat it out of him so that he would not have the struggles I have had and still have to work on daily. As I took away the WII (his favorite thing ever) and then watched him nearly lose his chance to see Clone Wars (something he has talked about since April), I wanted to help him to see the way I see it now. Unfortunately, he can't yet. I wanted him to see how this entire fit was useless and would not end with him "winning" He would only lose things and still do it my way. Yet, it took many things being removed before he got the picture. As I came into our room, I told Brad, "I thought we were done with this phase from his terrible 2's". Unfortunately, he has to learn how to make a mistake and move on. He and I tend to get so mad at ourselves when we mess up that we make more bad decisions. I just hope that I can help him see this like my mom did for me.

Parenting is so tiring and scary! I know tonight I will say an extra prayer for wisdom for all of us. I think we could all benefit from more prayers for each other!

The Fall

As I have stated before in previous blogs, this pregnancy has been very different from the first. I have had complications, stresses, and concerns that I did not have before. Saturday night was no different. I was tired and had just put Todd to bed. We have been going to bed later than usual so I was very tired. I went to walk into our living room and fell flat on my stomach after tripping over a mop handle that was laying in the floor from where we had been cleaning earlier. I tried to catch myself but still hit my stomach. After a few minutes of being mad at myself and referring to my What To Expect book, I decided to call the Dr. I thought they would say, "NO blood, no big deal" but instead it was, "go to the Er and get hooked up to the monitors just in case". We got Todd out of bed and drove to the ER, where my parents met us and took Todd home. After 3 hours of monitoring, a urine sample, 5 tubes of blood, and the sounds of a screaming woman giving birth, we were discharged. We were out of the Er at 1:30 am. I was put on "bed rest" on Sunday as a precaution. I did not follow it too well because Todd's meet the teacher was that afternoon and so I wanted to meet her. I guess all of that will be another blog entry!

one really sad part to the whole story was Todd's reaction to the fall. He had heard me fall and came rushing from his room. He wanted to know if I was OK and then he asked what I had fallen on. We told him the handle and he went right back to bed with no other comments or questions. When he woke up in the hospital room, Brad was going to explain where we were and he said he knew it was because of the fall. He came to the bedside and said in the sweetest, most loving voice, "I am sorry mommy. I laid that mop down. I hope you are OK". I was so glad that the end result was good because I am not sure how he would have handled it all.


Anyway, I am fine and so is the baby. It was just another story to add to this pregnancy. Needless to say, I will be glad when October 15th arrives!!!

One of those days

We all had those days. The kind that you wished you had never even started and was excited that it was finally over. Monday was one of those days. Todd was going to stay with my mom and dad for a few days with my nephews so that they could all go to VBS at my parent's church. I had a few errands to run before getting over there. I agreed to stay and help get them to VBS since my mom can only carry 2 in her car. I was really tired that day because I had not slept well. That made for a negative start. During the day, things went fine. We were busy, but everyone was fine. I took Todd to VBS and went to Walmart while he was there. My mom was there so I did not need to worry about leaving him. I went and took him back home and helped get them situated for the night. It was then that things went downhill FAST. On my way home, Brad tells me that the addition we had already signed paperwork on, might not happen because of easement issues. I was FURIOUS. We had already ripped out a deck, signed construction loan papers and had part of a fence removed and we might not get to get our nice playroom! Brad and I were discussing this. We decided to go outside and see if we could find our property marker and see what we thought. As I walked out the door, Brad comes behind me and shuts the door. Sudden;y I hear him say, "Oh, no, the door is locked. We can't get back in". My response was, "Are you kidding me?!" Oh, I forgot to say that it is 11:00 at night. I had not eaten dinner and I already had a headache from the stress of the issues before. I immediately went to the back door, locked of course. Great. We had no phone on us, no way to get in, and everyone around us was asleep. Brad began to walk down the street to the nearest gas station. He took money to call my parents (who live 20 minutes away). My mom answered and my dad came to the rescue. By the time this was all done, it was almost midnight. I was so tired, mad, and exhausted. I am glad I did not have a Dr. appointment to check blood pressure, I am sure I would have been rushed to the ER with an injection to settle it. Anyway, after all of that, I went yesterday to get a key to hide. Our doors can be opened form the inside and are locked. I am really surprised we have not had more issues like that. And, our room issues were solved and my new addition is in the process. We just have to hope that it is finished before Jackson arrives!!

Oh the Joys

Since school begins August 1st, the class lists were posted today. I thought that teaching at the same school Todd went to would be a big advantage. Boy, was I wrong. As I looked over the list, I found my stomach turning. I would think to myself, "Oh, no, not that kid". I literally told Brad there was one kid I did not want to be in his class. Of course, there was that kid's name on the list. I told Brad and I will hold my tongue, but I do know all of the background to this student and will not put up with behaviors like last year. Todd was very good last year. He was in trouble 2 times, which is very good. However, he will have a lot of transition this year and has potential to get wrapped up into trouble. He is all boy. I do know this, I prayed that he would get who he needs for this year, even if I do not know that person. He got a new teacher. She has taught before and comes from a strong christian family. Let's just hope she has GREAT classroom management! I guess I will try to put aside my thoughts and go with an open mind. Oh, I only thought knowing everyone was good!

The Baby Borrowers

I had seen this show advertised but was at church each week when it was showing. Brad and Todd left today to go visit his dad at the beach for a few days so I had plenty of time tonight. I realized this show was on tonight in marathon form. I watched it and laughed so hard. The show is about teens that think they are ready to get married and have children. They set them up with babies under 1 first and then toddlers. It was so funny to watch them. They had each age for 3 days and nights. Some did very well but realized they were not ready. Others, could not communicate with each other at all.

Brad and I got married young. We chose to wait for 5 years before having kids. I think that was so wise of us. We were able to develop our relationship before bringing a baby into the relationship. As I watched this show, it made me realize a few things
1). I am glad I was older when Todd was born
2). I am so glad that Brad and I can communicate so well with each other.
3). Children are priceless but are a lot of work.
4). relationships are a lot of work.
5). I cannot imagine my life without the support of Brad and family.

This also made me wonder.. what do you think has been the hardest stage you have had to handle your child/children? Is it the first month of their life, terrible 2's, terrible 3's, etc. I am interested to see what you have to say. And for those of you with more than one child.. was it different with each child?