Find It Yourself!

I have seen a few recent posts about Mommy Pet Peeves, so I thought I would chime in with my own two cents about the number one parenting responsibility that irks me. If there is one task above all, that makes me want to tear my hair out on a regular basis, it is looking for lost crap.

You know what I mean, right? When your darling little child starts a sentence for the umpteenth day in a row with "Mommy, where is my _____________?" Usually this inquiry is shouted from the bedroom upstairs while I am downstairs trying to conduct some sort of household duty, and my hearing is no good anyway. It always requires me yelling back "Get your lazy little butt down here and ask me I can't hear you, come down and ask me your question, please." The exchange is even more frustrating when The Baby has finally fallen asleep for a nap after 45 minutes and is jolted awake by the "conversation".

Why is it that kids believe their mommies possess some sort of radar to find their missing items? And why do we attempt to prove we do when they ask?

And so the search begins. Of course, they never know where they last played with/wore/looked at whatever they need RIGHT NOW. And in my house, a thorough search means ending up with a bigger mess than we started with.

We look in the "obvious" places ...
- under the bed, an area which seems to attract just about everything Little Diva doesn't feel like putting away when she is done.
-in the drawers, which have usually been pulled apart by Little Diva earlier in the day while she was attempting to construct her fashion ensemble for the day. ("Ensemble" is a fancy word for a ridiculously mis-matched outfit including short sleeves and flip-flops in the dead of winter.)

-in the closet, basically just a war zone. Enough said.

After 15-20 minutes of tearing through every possible inch of space, we either find it or we don't (by this time, Little Diva has usually lost interest anyway and is on to making more messes finding something else to play with). And the piles of crap relocated by our quest must be left unattended because The Baby's quiet whimpering has escalated into full-blown "get me now or I will puke" cries for attention.

I wonder if anyone out there has good strategies to help your kiddo keep track of their belongings. Anyone? Anyone?!

Today I Made a Pledge!

Today I took "The Mom Pledge" to join with my fellow mommy bloggers who want to keep our blogosphere free from bullying and negativity.

For me, blogging has become a wonderful way to connect with other moms, and share our triumphs and disappointments. It stuns me to think that some bloggers are waging war against each other via negative comments, and online bullying. I am lucky that I have only interacted with kind, honest and sincere bloggers since I started a couple of months ago.

We moms face enough challenges in our "real lives". I have a five-going-on-fifteen-year-old so I have all the drama I need, thank you very much! We have to stick together, share our stories, and have a good laugh at it all when we can. Or be a virtual shoulder to cry on when need be.

Of course, we are all very different, and just like in real life, we can embrace diversity and learn from it.

For more information about The Mom Pledge, check out http://www.efloraross.com.
Won't you take a moment to see what it's all about, and join the effort?

Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

I just signed up with this program to test out products and share my feedback on them. Not exactly sure how it works. All this techno stuff is sometimes a little much for me but it looked like a cute website, and I like smiles so I will check it out and let you know how it goes. Here is the link if you want to take a look:
Smile.ly—Be Heard. Be Happy.

Hello Dolly

Little Diva made her very first visit to the American Girl Place last week, and it was a day to remember. She loved having a fancy lunch and having her own little shopping spree with the gift card she got for Christmas.  Santa brought her an American Girl doll for Christmas this year, so she was eager to pick out some new outfits and in her words, "fantastic accessories."

Now Little Diva is technically "too young" for the American Girl doll. The recommended age for children on all the packaging for these dolls and their gear is 8+. I am not sure I totally get this. The dolls are sturdy, their hair stays nice and the clothes, for the most part, fasten with velcro and are easy to get on and off. (Not the shoes, though - they are even adult-proof, but whatever).

But more importantly, they seem like a logical toy for her play level and maturity.

Take for example, Barbie. The recommended age for Barbie is age 3+. Put the two dolls side by side, and which do you want your little girl to play with? Somehow, the American Girl seems a little more age appropriate.

I mean really, your three year old is old enough to play with a doll that dresses like a hooker runway model, wears tons of makeup, and is well-endowed, but not old enough to play with a child-like doll who wears kid's clothing and has a fresh young face? I find that strange.

And it is not as if you can blame it on the differing marketing ideals of two different companies. American Girl is a subsidiary of Mattel, who also happens to own that little empire known as Barbie.

Don't get me wrong, I like Barbies, and we have a vast collection of the dolls and her 1000+ piece accessory sets. We have had them since Little Diva was, oh yeah, 3. Basically since she was old enough not to inhale the miniature shoes and purses.

But I cannot understand what focus group at Mattel decides to market the hoochi-mama style doll to pre-schoolers, but wants you to wait until your kiddo is 8 before having a doll that she can should be able relate to. If I had researched this all thoroughly as a conscientious mama might do, I may have skipped the Barbies all together, and started her American Girl collection long ago. Somehow I like the idea of my little girl getting her doll ready for a play-date rather than a hot date. But I guess the toy execs might not agree.

Perhaps the Barbie is an iconic American toy, and to keep her place as the first lady of playthings, you gotta get them hooked young. But at the very least, it would do them good to re-evaluate Barbie's fashion choices of late. For example, the "I Can Be" series is a great nod to teaching kids about how to be anything when they grow up, but if the dentists, vets and teachers of tomorrow are going to dress in 3 inch heels and 3 inch skirts, we may all be in trouble.

And as for the American Girl doll, I am glad we did not wait until age 8.  For the cost of the darn thing, I want Little Diva to have as many years as possible to get our money's worth.

What kind of dolls does your child play with?

Hot and Bothered This Morning

Well, of course, it is time for another visit to our nearby medical professional! Merely a week has passed since Little Diva's mishap, and she is most definitely on the mend. So, now, guess what? The Baby is sick with a high fever. Again.

We are starting to become regulars at our pediatrician's office. I no longer need to say I have the after-hours doctor line on speed dial, because I actually have it memorized. I did manage to avoid another late night ER jaunt, thanks to the infant acetaminophen coming through around 10:30 pm, but we are back to a burning hunk of love this morning.

I am pretty sure I activated the jinx of all jinxes about 8 months ago when I commented on how lucky we were to have avoided the ER and most common illnesses with our kids. I cannot even remember the conversation very clearly, I just know I mentioned that I really would not even know how to go about getting to the ER because we had never had the need.

Well, I figured out it nice and quick. Me and my big freaking mouth.

So, it is on to another weekend with very little sleep, very lot of coffee and quite possibly a second mortgage to help cover the cost of co-pays for our play dates with germs visits to the doctor.

Happy Saturday!