Living With Children

Mother of two talking real life with a picky eater and a former protein-controlled vegetarian.

[livingwithchildren]

Financial Freedom?

I’m at the point in my life where I have been a single adult, divorced, with two kids, and I have lived on my own now for 3 years and running which has been no small feat. I came from a place where I was not involved with the household budget...bad idea...to coming up with my own household budget. Do I have debt? Yes, of course I do. I have a triple major of which I paid for myself with the help of Pell grants and student loans (and a shitload of jobs!). I’m busting my ass over here and it isn’t always fun; budgeting, I have found, is very rarely fun. However, I am a cheep skate at heart and I don’t over-indulge myself or my children. I am teaching them about saving money and hopefully, how to spend it wisely. I have made my son excited about making a deposit at the bank! 

The funny thing now...it seems like no matter what amount of money is in my bank account, I still feel like there’s not enough...which there is. And maybe it won’t ever feel like there is enough to cover all of my expenses but I will say that I have less anxiety knowing all of the ins and outs of where my money is coming from and where it is going. Can I get a better handle on my finances and budget...absolutely! And damn it, I’m going to! 

[livingwithchildren]

I think my son is broken

I think my son is broken! Last night as I am reading a book with his sister, my son, my less than motivated-sloth-like at times, in absolutely no rush son, decided to clean my living room WITHOUT BEING ASKED! He put things up where they were supposed to go and even took some things to my bedroom! This morning while he was waiting for his ride to school, he vacuumed the rug! Y’all. I’m not going to complain AT ALL-but I think my son is broken!

[livingwithchildren]

I won't let you down. I will not give you up. Gotta have some faith in the sound. It's the one good thing that I've got.

George Michael

[livingwithchildren]

Is time a healer?

After 6 years of blogging, I’ve gone from the extraordinary circumstances of having a vegetarian toddler, to living with children, and now, sharing children with an ex-husband. Time certainly takes its toll but is it a healer?

[livingwithchildren]

Detachment Disorder explained

My husband is my biggest advocator that every now and again, I should, maybe not want (he knows better), feel okay about taking time to myself and away from my children (even if for an evening out - HA!). In theory, it sounds okay, but usually when I get to really thinking about getting out for a few hours, I start to feel a huge sense of guilt come over me. What if they need me? What if I need them? I can't go, I need to be with my children! - That is always the outcome. So I'm sitting in the car at a stoplight and it dawns on me. Both of my children were born early - early. With my son, who was born 8 weeks early, I spent a month in the NICU with him, seeing him, holding him, staring at him every waking, breathing moment that I could. And was I a mess? Absolutely, but I knew he needed me and I needed him as well. My daughter, born at 6 1/2 weeks early required "special baking time" as I was in the hospital with her for a month on bedrest and then another 3 weeks in the NICU after she was born. And again, I spent every waking, breathing moment with her as well. In fact, I got kicked out of the NICU one night because I had had no sleep and was staying past 11 at night so I could give my baby a bath. When you start with such beginnings, it's not difficult to not be able to breathe without your children close by. I'm not an expert, but I am saying, MOMS, it's okay to need to be around your children. Life gives us these little blessings and I will not feel shamed for needing "me" time because my best moments are spent as a "we"!

[livingwithchildren]

Inspiration

It seems anymore, with all of the so-sad news stories, to find real inspiration in our daily lives. I can lump myself into that group of people who wakes up each morning with a rushed and negative attitude. But I have a dear friend at work who lives with daily struggles and does her best to remain positive every day, even if it's a bad one. Her faith is the strongest I've seem in most anyone I have met and to me, she is an inspiration to me, so that I can think more positive and that I need to stop saying, "Why is this happening to me at my age?" or "What more can I really do, how much more can one person really handle?" She is an amazing woman. I also have an in-law who is going through some difficulty with her mother, who is battling dementia. She will, more than likely, in the end move her mother in with her and instead of complaining about how that will effect her life, she says that she's the best equipped for the job and will give her great time with her mother. She raised basically 8 children, stayed home with her own 5 and has decided that has prepared her for this. Another amazing woman. Then, there is my grandmother, who at 84 still manages to be the matriarch of our muddled family. Even after over 30 years with MS, she still remains strong and is the rope that holds us all together. Even though our family is mismatched and all over the board, she finds it her responsibility to see that each person is cared for in some form or another. These 3 women suprise me, enlighten me, care for me, listen to me and INSPIRE me. Who inspires you?

[livingwithchildren]

My children

I absolutely love my children. There have been times, and will continue to be times, when I want to rip my hair out and run for the hills sure, but there are those moments (that outweight the bad ones) when I just want to skoop them both up and cuddle them all day long. My son, who is learning a bit of Spanish at school, has come home many times counting to diez, which is fun for me, knowing a bit of Spanish. So it makes since that when his sister starts talking a language known to most parents with a toddler as gibberish, he looks at me with a serious face and says, "Mom, she's speaking Spanish." I won't say that it doesn't get any cuter than that, because it does. Whenever life gets a little rough and things are looking the opposite of up, I think of them. I absolutely love my children.

[livingwithchildren]

Diaper slide

I'm not typically one that endorces very many products as I buy whatever is cheaper, whatever is on sale, or whether or not I have a coupon. Fortunately I had a coupon for some Huggies diapers Little Cruisers and discovered something wonderful. Having a nearly two year old at home, we are still buying diapers but have reached that phase where she is trying to sit on the potty. So also has some understanding on when she goes and will pull on her diaper so that the tabs either hang below or above the waiste of the diaper. These diapers I bought yesterday have an extra little velcro piece that holds that part of her diaper that slips around where it ought to be. Awesome! I now have decided that I must buy these all the time as she is a very busy gal and that diaper looks out of shape within minutes usually. No long. I am sold. Huggies, you need to hire me on as a spokesperson and give me free diapers :)

[livingwithchildren]

New Year

In the world of parenting, at least the one I live in, the New Year doesn't come in January with the bells and whistles, parties and late nights spent throwing one back. In my world, the New Year comes in the middle of August: when my school teacher husband takes off to the classroom and my two kids prepare to go back to preschool and daycare. I must admit, having a husband at home during the summer this year, gave me great piece of mind about the care of my children, knowing I could just run home and see them. Now with the school year starting, they are headed back to their own classrooms. My son takes off toward the playground each morning, while my daughter has only gone two days without crying as I'm leaving (which is the worst feeling in the world). Although I must say the grocery bill has dropped considerably at home :) Happy New Year to all of you educators, mothers and fathers, and kiddos headed back.

[livingwithchildren]

zucchini crop

So I planted two pots of zucchini plants (2 in each) and they grew and grew and turned into two very beautiful pots of zucchini plants; very green and leafy with big yellow blooms. I've watered, added plant food and continued to prune when needed and so far, no zucchini. I had one little one a few inches long come on and turn green and was quite cute. Unfortunately, the little zucchini rotted on the plant before it could grow much over those few inches. I continue to water and continue to use plant food in hopes that we might get some zucchini yet, but for now, I'm buying mine at the farmers market! Wah, wah, wah

[livingwithchildren]

My Vegetarian Toddler turned 1 today, that is, the blog about our extraordinary journey through becoming one of the youngest vegetarians and now our crossover to the carniverous way of life. It's been fun and we plan on continuing to blog. Thanks to the handful of you that follow us!

[livingwithchildren]

I don’t always shred an ear of corn but when I do, I wear my monster bib and put my foot in the air!

[livingwithchildren]

The Fork

Living with Toddlers: Our former vegetarian toddler is a foodie! She loves to eat! In fact, there isn't much that we have tried that she has decided and that just isn't having. She'll even eat non-kid food items that my son would never touch, even now. With my son, we had to really work with him to use silverware, especially the fork. He was much too happy filling his cheeks with one fist over the other, which is also a method that my daughter is well versed in. So for us, it's hard to know when our daughter might be ready to handle using silverware and whether or not she will get enough to eat but feeding herself soly. Well, as it turns out, last night I made linguini with garlic butter sauce and tomatoes - pasta - a very difficult thing for a toddler to master with silverware, especially the long stringy kind, which is what my son prefers. A few minutes into dinner, my daughter reaches for my fork. Okay, so I'll get her one of her forks. She then proceeds to grab her plate, pull it in front of her, and fork away. She was actually using a fork to pick up these skinny pieces of pasta noodles. So, maybe she's known for a while and mom and dad are realizing that indeed, she is ready for THE FORK!

[livingwithchildren]

Bump in the night

Living with toddlers, I believe, sets off a domino effect most nights. I am a creature of habit, and my bad little habit is falling asleep upstairs in the recliner. My four year old also is a creature of habit. His bad little habit is waking up in the middle of the night and curling up with mom. One: he is a wiggle worm. Two: my recliner is not big enough for us both. Therefore, domino effect: I go to sleep in the chair, he wakes us, tries to climb in with me, he goes to sleep, I do not, and I get a rotten night of half sleep.

[livingwithchildren]

Living with Toddlers

Living with toddlers: Today after my lunch break, I'm walking back to my space with a squishing feeling in my left shoe. Back at my desk, shoe off, I have discovered my shoe contains ... sauce. I was so excited when I walked in and my children's faces had lit up, I took my shoes on and got my cuddles. Well, my children were eating leftover chicken enchiladas and my little girl was covered in saucy rice! Which, an hour later, was discovered in my shoe. The smiles really were great!

[livingwithchildren]

The sweetest face I know! Taken over a year ago.

[livingwithchildren]

Well, the day has come for my adorable little vegetarian toddler to permanently join the meat eating world. We received news that her levels are normal, normal! Not elevated, not low, not abnormal - my little girl has grown out of her condition. I know there are parents all over the world who wish they could say the same with all of the conditions out there that plague our little ones and I wish that more parents could say the same thing. I breath a sign of relief and hope that yet others might be able to do the same. However, now I believe I may have to rename my blog. Suggestions?