Memorial Day Lessons

A friend was just telling me a story about her son's recent school trip to Washington, DC. While they were visiting the Arlington National Cemetery, they happened to cross paths with a funeral procession for a fallen soldier.

Instead of showing respect and honor for this hero's final journey, many of the children began taking pictures and videos of the horse-drawn casket and the grieving family walking behind. Even some of the adults in the group didn't have enough respect for the soldier's family to stand quietly as the procession passed.

My question to you on this Memorial Day is: what are you teaching your children? No matter what your political stance on the war or your own personal feelings about the manner in which these soldiers died, are you teaching your children to have respect for those who have sacrificed their lives for their country?

Pro or anti-war, soldier or civilian, respect is an important issue that should not be ignored when raising our children. Take a few minutes today to remind your children and yourself just what Memorial Day is all about and why honoring those who have died serving our country is important.

Take a few moments to say a little prayer or send positive thoughts to the families who are trying to heal themselves after the loss of a loved one in battle. As you prepare for your Memorial Day festivities with your family, spend a few minutes remembering that this isn't just a convenient day off to start the summer.

A World Without Little Boys

A friend was telling me tonight about a story on Nightline that suggested that in about 125,000 years, men would cease to exist, due to some defect in the Y chromosome. Women would evidently live on, as science has recently proven that it is possible to procreate using the genetic material from two women, however the result would always be girls.

At first, I was amused by this concept. Though I love my husband dearly, there are days when a world without men doesn't sound like such a terrible thing. Not trying to get rid of him for anything in this world, but the fantasy, in and of itself, could occasionally be appealing.

But then my thoughts turned to my kids. For anyone who doesn't know, I have three boys, ages 13, 2, and 1. Life without the male of the species would mean life without little boys. That would be the most horrid world that I could imagine. Occasionally, I complain about the overabundance of testosterone and the sickening balance of power in this house, but honestly I wouldn't change things for the world. Sure, I would like to buy something pink, now and then, or have a tea party with a table full of dolls, but I'll take trains and race cars, any day.

Without boys, the world would be lacking so many little things:

~ No one would pee all over my walls because they want to do it like daddy.
~ No one would hand me boogies, expecting a "thank you" in return.
~ There would be no Hot Wheels cars to slip on or Legos to step on in the dark.
~ I would never have to move furniture to set up a train track or race car set.
~ There would be no more "wet doggie" little boy smell, after coming in from outside.
~ No one would bring wildlife into the house, as if it was a rare treasure.
~ No one would try to "fix" my coffee table with daddy's hammer and screwdriver.
~ No one would crawl into my lap asking for "tisses mama"
~ No one would run to kiss me goodbye, as they headed out to the store with daddy.
~ No one would play with my hair when they were getting sleepy.
~ There would be no one to tuck in at night, or to crawl in my bed at 3 a.m.
~ There would be no one to wake me up after only 3 hours of sleep, saying they're "Hungee"

There are too many things that would be missing from my world if the male species were to disappear. I certainly would have no desire to exist without the excitement, imagination, determination, and love that go along with my little boys.

Is There Anything Better Than Free Toys?!

Once again, the ladies of 5 Minutes For Mom have outdone themselves with another great promotion. Over the next two weeks, they will be giving away loads of amazing toys from well known retailers. So far, they have offered prizes from Playskool and Lego, and there is much more to come.

The competition is stiff, but it only takes a minute to enter and who knows, you might just get lucky! Swing by 5 Minutes For Mom, through the button above and find out how you can enter, too!

Kids Do The Strangest Things

My kids are very smart for their ages. This may just be a biased mom talking, but they impress me on a daily basis with their newfound capabilities and understanding. That said, even with their budding intelligence, sometimes I wonder what ARE they thinking...

Now my oldest struggled with ADHD when he was young, but has since outgrown it and developed into a very mature and responsible young man. One of my favorite stories of the funny and strange things he did is the day he decided he wanted to water the lawn, but didn't feel like being outside. It was a warm, early spring day and I had the windows open. So he closed his door, pushed out the screen, hung the ladder from his bunk bed out the window(first story), climbed out and turned on the hose. By the time I noticed the door was closed, he was climbing back through the window, hose in hand and spraying water all over his room. I believe this was right around his fourth birthday.

The middle baby, who turned two in February, hasn't quite matched his big brother in the scheming and plotting department as yet, but I have a feeling his day is coming. His current obsession is with spices, particularly pepper. This morning's adventure took place while I was changing and dressing his brother. In about 5 minutes, while he was supposed to be watching the Wonder Pets, he managed to pepper half my house. He dragged a kitchen chair to the counter to get the pepper shaker, somehow quietly enough that I didn't hear the chair scraping the linoleum. He then peppered all the couches, and headed to the bedroom. He opened my bedroom door, which he had never managed to do before today, and peppered our bed and the pillows. I came out as he was coming back into the living room and when he saw me coming, he took off and jumped on his own bed. I knew he was up to something, and by the time I figured it out, most of the almost-full pepper was gone. I'm now washing all the sheets...And there's quite a bit of sneezing going on around here now.

The littlest has yet to do anything strange or mischievous, but I know it is only a matter of time. He has two very talented big brothers to learn from!

So what are your favorite "strange things that kids do" stories? I know mine can't be the only ones who find so many adventures!

We're Off And Running...Sort of...

My littlest has been working his way up to toddlerhood over the past few weeks. He's been cruising the furniture for awhile now and finally decided it's time to let go. He's still takes the occasional spill, but would rather walk than crawl now!

He seemed to get really brave, very quickly and has even figured out how to climb up onto the smaller pieces of furniture. I'm starting to see the baby slip away and the curious toddler emerging.


He'll be turning one on April 29th...where has the last year gone...

Happy Easter

The kids are in bed and the Easter Bunny has made his visit. We have baskets full of small toys and a bit of candy and plastic eggs full of M&Ms hidden throughout the living room.

My work for the week is done and I have all of tomorrow free to spend with the kids. Life is good, sometimes.

I'm keeping things brief tonight, as I would love to see the backside of my eyelids before 3 A.M. for once.

Hope all of you have a very Happy Easter!

It's Potty Time! Part One

We are about to take the plunge, so to speak, and get down to business with potty training our toddler. His 2nd birthday is next Saturday, so I think it is high time the "big boy" gets down to business. We have casually introduced him to the potty, but really haven't worked on it to date. I've been searching around for advice and here are the techniques that I am planning to try:

• Skipping Pull-ups at home - Knowing this child, he might be a lazy potty trainer. I can see him being too engrossed in what he's doing and treating the pull-up as a diaper. I think we'll jump right in with regular underwear. We will use pull-ups or diapers when we go out and at night, in the beginning stages.

• Character Underwear - We're picking him up a few packs of underwear in some of his favorite characters. Thomas the Tank Engine, Diego, and Toy Story, if we can find them. I'm hoping this will get him interested enough to not want to wear diapers anymore.

• Sticker Charts- This kid loves stickers and also loves to show off what he's done. I think he'll love the idea of having a chart to show daddy, when he gets home at night. I even found a potty training chart with his favorite thing: trains!
  

• Sitting First - Even though it isn't what daddy does, we plan on training him to sit on the potty first, before we have to deal with aiming. I have the rest of my life to clean up the off-target sprays from the bathroom floor and wall.

I'm pretty sure he's ready, as he's showing interest, tells me when he needs changing, can take off his clothes, and follows simple instructions. If I'm wrong, no big deal, we can try again in a few months. Wish us luck when we start next week and I'll keep you posted on our progress and any further tips and tricks I come across.

Sick Kids? Alternatives To Cough And Cold Meds

As the mom of 2 children under preschool age, my heart was broken when the FDA announced their new recommendations regarding cough and cold medicines for children under 2. The findings suggested that children under 2 should not take any over the counter cold medicine, as there is a laundry list of serious side effects that could result. Many of these come from giving a child the incorrect dosage, as there is no actual recommended dosage for children of this age range.

First, I was a bit afraid, as the older of the pair of babies is just turning 2 and last year I gave him cough and cold meds on a couple of occasions. Once I read the study and realized that I had obviously done now harm, I began to wonder what I would do for the inevitable next cold. Nothing is more miserable than a coughing, stuffed up baby who can get no relief, so I started hunting for alternatives to medication. Here are a few treatments that I have tried or am going to try.

• Steam treatments - My mother always swore by a humidifier in our room when we were sick as kids. While I haven't made the purchase yet, I figure I can try the approach of turning on a hot shower and steaming up the bathroom to help to relieve the congestion of the next cold.

• Saline and Suction - Saline drops are supposed to loosen the mucus in the nose, and the suction bulb will help remove it. This does work, but boy do my kids scream whenever they see me coming with the bulb!

• Extra Liquids - Replacing fluids is said to keep any mucus from becoming too thick. While my kids aren't big water drinkers, if there is just enough juice added to give it some flavor, they'll take it. Oh, by the way, chicken soup counts, too!

• Vapor Rub - Many do not suggest using rubs on babies' chests, but I've read that you can put a little on their feet and it will give them some relief. There are also infant versions that are a bit less intense.

• Raise The Bed - Putting a rolled up towel or blanket under the head of the mattress might help them sleep a bit better and breathe easier. Just make sure you never put anything in a crib with an infant, under the mattress is much safer. This suggestion wouldn't work with my crew, but might work for someone else. My kids sleep all over the mattress, upside down, sideways...wild little sleepers!

If anyone else has some tried-and-true cold remedies for babies, please share them in the comments. I hope none of us will need them, but they will certainly be welcome if we do!