Motherly Advice

For the last several days my son has been down and out with a terrible cold/flu. On Sunday night his temperature got up to a whopping 104.9°, which certainly worried me. I remembered that children can tend to run high fevers and that it isn't necessary cause for panic, but I didn't like it being that high.

My mother-in-law told me that what she used to do to naturally lower a temperature was to run a lukewarm bath and spoon the cool water over the child. So, immediately upon hearing this advice, I ran a bath. I have just two things to say about this method: first of all, it works! My son's temperature dropped to about 103.4° right after the bath. And second of all, he HATED it when I would pour the water over him. It is quite uncomfortable to have water touching your skin when you have such a high fever but it didn't harm him, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

His temperature hasn't been that high since, but he is still feeling pretty miserable and will barely eat anything. My main concern right now is dehydration. So, after seeking my mom's advice, we determined that tonight his dinner will consist of Sprite and vanilla pudding to ensure that he is getting something in his system that is easy on his tummy and that will taste good - now how could he resist that?

Thank you to my moms for your help! I would be lost without you.

Conversations With A Five Year-Old

My daughter. So articulate but it is difficult to have a conversation with her. Why? Here's a snippet of my conversation with her earlier.

Me: Okay, we are at the library, lets go get some books.
Her: Are they open Mom?
Me: Yup, they are open.
Her: Because it's Wednesday?
Me: No, it's Friday.
Her: So, they are closed?
Me: No, they are open until 5:00.
Her: It's 5:00?
Me: No, they are open UNTIL 5:00.
Her: Oh .... so they are closed?

Somebody. Help. Me!

It's No Fun, No Fun Staring at the Wall

In a couple of weeks my son will be two. He is already moody, throwing tantrums, getting into things and getting into trouble. I designated one corner in our house as "The Corner". When placed in the corner, the following sounds are heard: yelling and screaming at the wall, a sudden silence, followed by a doiiinnnnnggggg sound (from him playing with the doorstop), and then the yelling and screaming resumes. It was so funny, I just had to get a photo of my pitiful boy ... but while keeping a straight face of course!

Explaining Death

I have to remove all of the childrens' Bibles from my daughter's room. I know that sounds a bit strange and extreme, but what I didn't realize when I gave them to her was that they are quite graphic about battle, death, murder and The Crucifixion. Not a very good thing when my baby is afraid of death, even at her very young age of four. She's also afraid of growing old.

On the way to school the other day my daughter saw a plane in the sky and said "Look Mom, that plane is flying so high! Is it going to Heaven?" I said that it couldn't go as high as Heaven. She then asked if dying was bad. I said no, and explained that death is a part of life. That Jesus loves her and will one day call her home to be with him in Heaven.

Then she asked if she will have nails in her hands when she dies. Yeeesh! How does one explain to a little girl that crucifixion is no longer practiced. That she does not have to worry about such things. And, yes ... everyone dies.

It's moments like these that make it very difficult to be a parent sometimes.

Believe Me, It Was A Bear!

Yesterday was a bear of a day. In fact, I think my daughter said it best at 8:45 am as we were rushing off to school, "Mom, this is a bad day". As she said that my mind went back over the last hour or so of the morning, it was a bad day because of one little lie.

When I got my kids up for the day, my daughter said that she had a headache and an earache. Knowing that her ear had been bothering her for the last couple of days, I didn't question it, but thought she should get dressed and eat breakfast and then we would see how she was feeling. I told her that if her ear was hurting I would give her ear drops to soothe the pain. Well she hates the drops and changed her story. Suddenly her ear was fine but her head still hurt. She then asked if she could watch a movie to which I said no. She told me that it would make her feel better. Again I said no. Realizing that she wasn't going to lay on the couch all day watching TV she told me that she was just joking about being sick. What?????!!! I was NOT cool with that!

Her little "joke" resulted in a frustrated call to Daddy, reprimand, and being considerably late for school. Not to mention a very cranky mother and a day that spiraled into chaos. She's a good girl and rarely is punished, but she needed correction at a time like this. After calming down from my initial anger, I calmly dealt with her and she knew that lying has certain consequences. She was truly sorry, but starting the day like that really affected me for the rest of the day.

I knew that as a parent I would be faced with such things. But now I really identify with the saying "This will hurt me a lot more than it hurts you."

Healthy Deliciousness

Health nut? Me? Not exactly. While I think that eating healthy is important, I also believe in the "everything in moderation" philosophy. I think it is okay to have an Oreo or two once in a while, but when it comes to my household staples I want to get the healthiest products for my family.

What child doesn't like macaroni and cheese? I have so many memories of eating it when I was a kid and lately as the weather has been cooling down I start to crave a box of Kraft. There is just something about the cheese powder that I love - it's probably all of the artificial ingredients! I recently picked up a couple boxes of Annie's Mac & Cheese from the health foods isle at the store. I made some for lunch yesterday and it is delicious! Pretty comparable to Kraft and it has all natural ingredients. Of course the two tablespoons of butter I added really made it good! Annie's also makes cereals and cheddar bunnies that taste just like goldfish crackers.

A favorite breakfast of my daughter and I is Nancy's Organic Vanilla Yogurt topped with super nutty granola. My daughter can't get enough of this stuff which surprises me because the yogurt isn't very sweet. Sometimes I will get the non-organic yogurt depending on the price, but the organic stuff has a creamier texture and tastes a little better. I really like that this yogurt is made in Oregon and is all natural.

I am not a huge snacker, but sometimes in the late afternoon I need a little energy. My mom introduced me to Larabars ... thank you Mom! I have only tried two flavors but these bars are so good they put Powerbar and even Cliff bars to shame. What is so great about them is that they are made with as few ingredients as possible. The Cherry Pie flavor only has three ingredients: dates, almonds and unsweetened cherries. They are dense so a half a bar will fill you up. My favorite is the Lemon Bar if anyone wants to know.

So while I love a good Oreo (and who knows what horrible artificial ingredients they put in those), it is good to know that there are some great products out there that are made with ingredients that God created. And they really are delicious!

Mini Me

My daughter reminds me so much of ... well me, and it scares me a bit. She has the same tendencies to worry and be uptight. She likes to eat things like M & Ms or crackers in even numbers (silly, I know). And she loves clothes. She'll tell me out of the blue that she likes my sweater or a skirt that I am wearing. In some ways it is flattering and in other ways it is unfortunate. But either way it is a reminder that I should strive to be an example to her at all times ... because she is watching!

Yesterday I had put on a suede skirt and she wanted to wear her jean skirt because they were similar. She loves my hair when it is curled because that is how a "princess" wears it and she wants the same style. She likes the music I play on my iPod in the car; she wants to crochet or cook with me; she wants to go to the store with me; she likes to take naps in my bed and on my side of the bed. I am the central figure in her life right now.

A couple of weeks ago I heard her talking to Meemaw on the phone and was describing a recent car ride she took with me. "Mommy was frustrated because people were driving too slow and she got frustrated and yelled." That caused me to really think about my actions. She notices everything and mimics me. I'm just glad that I don't use profanity or obscene gestures to act out my frustrations - then I would really be in trouble!

I say that it is both flattering and unfortunate because it is nice to be loved and admired ... but I am flawed and don't always do the right thing. Then I remember that human role models are never perfect; and also that I can't get away with using the old saying of "do as I say and not as I do".