Commercials

Kids are funny with what they pick up from TV. Mine are no exception. They watch mostly PBS and Disney Channel or some DVDs from the library. I never have the TV on during the day for me. Not because I am that granola...but because I seriously don't have time to watch it. It's not part of my routine, which isn't a bad thing. I joke with Kurt that unless it pops up on the MSN home page or people are chatting about it on facebook, I really don't know what is going on in the world until 10 or 11pm at night when we watch the news. Occasionally before dinner I will turn on the news, but usually that is if the kids are playing somewhere else. So, they do see and watch regular TV on occasion. Which would explain a few things. Yesterday while I was unloading the dishwasher, Jimmy came over to me and asked me "Do you have credit card debt?" I had to ask him to repeat it, because I thought that can't be what he said. He did. I laughed and said no, but asked him what if we did, are we supposed to do something? He then went on about some 3year old gibberish nonsense. Then today he asked me why I didn't use Oxy Clean Max. Apparently he is worried that the Oxy Clean that we use needs a little boost. Julia told me the other day when I was doing laundry that they have these great balls for the dryer that are good for months and you get 2 when you order now. Both kids can also tell you all of the uses for Pillow Pets (you can take it to Grandma's with your PJs inside). WTF???? It's like marketers can't get it right. I can't tell you verbatim about all of these products, but a 3 and 5 year old can. Perhaps all products are marketed to them so they can market to their parents? Anyway, as annoying as it is, I think it is cute in a sick way.

Seriously?

Julia wears a uniform to school everyday and about once a month gets to wear jeans to school and a plain black shirt. She has gotten used to wearing a "boring" uniform and doesn't complain about it too much. She isn't a fan of wearing the turtlenecks and begs me to let her wear short sleeve shirts with a sweater over them. The school year has gone well and it does make getting dressed easier.

Tomorrow they are having some pictures taken at school and Julia can wear what she wants to. I thought that she would be so excited to pick out an outfit. Ugh, what happened next can only be described as my worst nightmare and a glimpse at the teen years. I pulled out a few outfits. All of them were pink. All of them had some girly girl flair. All of them were spring-ish. She wanted to wear her Easter dress. Normally I would probably not care, but this dress is dryclean only and isn't something that you could be crawling around a gym floor with (since she has gym tomorrow). I explained this. Tears ensued. Then she started to find fault in all of the outfits we picked out. One of them was scratchy, one of them she already wore in front of people and the other one had a side zipper and she was worried that it would show in the picture? I did yell. I did lose it. I seriously couldn't believe it. She was all upset. After realizing that this was going nowhere...I calmed down and showed her how all 3 were great options. Jimmy came in and gave his 2 cents and Kurt came in and tried to save the day. He got further than I did. Then Grandma called and Julia described each of the outfits (in detail) to her. Grandma will be coming over in the morning to help her. She calmed down. WTH? If this is what I have to look forward to, forget it. I know that I was a girly girl and I still am, but really? this was a little too much. But now that I can reflect on it a little...this is kind of where uniforms backfire. A way you can show your individuality is through dress. When everyone wears the same, they are all the same. There is a lot of pressure when you have to show who you really are. Maybe she is feeling this pressure? She was really concerned about what all of the other girls were going to be wearing and what if she picked the wrong one. We shall see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully my happy little girl who is just excited to wear pink to school tomorrow and not the tween drama queen I spoke with tonight.

I wonder if this is along the same lines of when I was in kindergarten and missed the bus because I was freaking out about my shoelaces not matching my outfit? My mom likes to tell that story. Hmm...does the apple fall far from the tree?

Baby Flash!

I can't say enough how happy I am that my sister had a baby! It is just so much fun this time around being an Aunt. Last time I was pregnant with Jimmy, Julia wasn't even 2 yet. So I had my hands full. It was hard to "enjoy" Olivia and revel in her baby-ness. This time is so different and I treasure it. I think part of it is because the baby phase is so short...it's gone in an instant. At the time, it seems to creep by. The lack of sleep does that to you. No matter how many times someone will tell a new mom "Enjoy it, they grow so fast!" - you can't comprehend it until you've passed the phase. I remember hearing it over and over again and it irritated me a little. I feel like I blinked and my kids are now 3 and 5. Where did the time go? I am not that crazy where I wish my kids baby little again, but I can pop over to my sister's house and love on this sweet little baby. It really puts things in perspective and warms my heart. I don't think Kurt minds being an Uncle again either. But he's been an Uncle 9 times already from the get-go. He's practically a pro.

Shhh...I think he's got it!

I hate to post this, because well, when you say something out loud, it basically nixes things. But what the heck. We're going for it.

Jimmy has been wearing underwear accident free (mostly) everyday!

To some people (those without kids or those who hate kids) will think that this is stupid to post. But whatever. It is a big deal around here and I am giving myself a great big pat on the back! We're getting braver every day, going places in underwear (while I tote around spare bottoms & socks just in case). It's so exciting! He's becoming a big boy!