Leave it to Beaver Lied

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Not at my house!"][/caption]

Does anyone else wonder what happened to the quiet, calm peace of the 1950's Dinner table?  Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing wrong when I glance longingly at the wine bottle wondering if I should have it with dinner or enjoy a glass as a reward once the kids are in bed. Dinner at my house could qualify for armed forces training. There is flying plates to dodge when Tiny Tyrant spots something she would rather have than her designated dinner, search and destroy missions by Moody Tyrant when he flees the evil poison hidden in his food (anything red or green is immediately under suspicion) and negotiating worthy of the United Nations as I try to keep Mr. Tyrant from loosing his temper with all the drama and chaos.

Meal planning helps to some extent (www.savingdinner.com thank you so much!) but for the most part any given night can be a surprise raid that can turn my world upside down. I constantly walk a very fine line between trying to cook dinners that will suffice for my kids (or have components that I can quickly change up to something they enjoy (such as making Pad Thai but leaving noodles and chicken out and plain), and creating an atmosphere that doesn't completely cater to the tiny tyrants in my house.

I wonder sometimes how much of this is the changing society that our children grow up in.  Are they so demanding of our time because they have so little of it anymore?  Did kids use to enjoy playing outside or by themselves more because they were home with mom all day? Or have we created a generation of children that need to be entertained constantly since they are so very used to the instant gratification of television, toys and constant companions at childcare centers. Moving into the holidays I'm attempting to keep digital interruptions out of our evenings by keeping the computer, iPad and my phone off or ignored until the kids are in bed.   It's my own little social experiment and at the very least I'll spend sometime proving to myself that Pinterest doesn't run my life! :)

Today it's The Traveling Tyrant

Let me start this by saying that 5 am is a ridiculously early time to get up. I know there are some amazing/crazy people who get up at this hour every day to workout and do all kinds of good stuff, but since the onset of Moody Tyrant and Tiny Tyrant, the little people that run my life, there is never enough sleep. However today I was up bright and early at 4:45 am to catch a 7 am plane to the wintry northern lands of Detroit.

Generally I love to travel. I love the break from my routine chaos, love the adult time where conversation doesn't require an encyclopedic knowledge of every superhero every made, their superpowers and who's nemesis is whose. However this has been a tricky trip from the beginning. I got late notice, booked a super expensive flight, only to realize that Mr. Dictator was also traveling. So starts the scramble for a sitter for my kids who is willing to pull a 36 hour shift.

Sitters are never in short supply but I always feel a bit Machiavellian booking anyone for an overnight. My kids are not solid sleepers, nope not one bit. Matter of fact, Tiny Tyrant who is definitely showing significant signs of being another High Sensitivity Child (HSC) woke up with a blood curdling scream at 10:05pm last night just as I was getting into bed and for the next hour rivaled Paris Hilton with her dramatics. She screamed, she flung herself around, she demanded food and beverage befitting her tyrant state and then flung every offering away as unacceptable. All of this while tears pour down her face, she breaks out in a face rash from the screaming and refuses to be held and comforted, but also refuses to be put down. (this results in a series of back bends out of my arms so that she can be both in my arms and as far away from me as possible at the same moment)

Let me just tell you that there is nothing that will break your heart more than a child whose emotions are so overpowering to them that they are lost at sea and can't even recognize Mom as a safe harbor. Both of my kids handle the ups and downs that life dishes out with screams, tears and extreme joy. Every moment is an up or down and our life is a runaway roller coaster. Learning to accept this as normal for us, learning to brush off the judgmental among us and learning to accept my kids for who they are instead of who I pictured they would be.

This post is a bit rambling but hopefully you'll forgive me since this was written by a sleep deprived, caffeinated traveler!

Clocking Out

First day back at work went okay!  I did good on the food I ate, whohoo!, and best of all Eric is taking me out to dinner and a movie. I finally get to see National Treasure 2.  I'm excited!!! Since Alex was born I think we have been to the movies and dinner alone 2 times.  Bring on the diet food and entertaiment! 

New Years Day

2008 is here and I want to remember it is as my year of organization.  Although we keep a clean house, there is still a crazy toddler, two dogs and two busy parents that daily clutter up our house.  I want to spend January really getting everything in a designated place that is easier to maintain. 

Today Alex had his first New Year's Day meal.  He at Corned Beef, mashed potatoes, carrots, cabbage and black eyed peas...mmmm.  By far his favorite was the meat.  I got half the Christmas decorations down and will finish up tomorrow, but it was kind of sad as all the holiday charm is being packed away.

I got our Thank you cards ordered today and will hopefully have those out next week.  I really enjoyed hosting Christmas and hope that in the future we can surround ourselves with even more family than we have this year. I made so much food that we are just now getting down the end of the leftovers and it was so nice not to have to cook over the holidays. 

Ok off to get a good night's sleep and then tomorrow I have my last day of freedom! Here's to a great 2008 for everyone.

Home for the Holidays

Growing up the holidays definitely meant family to me... All four of them!  A typical holiday rush was visiting my mother's parents two days before Christmas or Christmas eve, my fathers family on Christmas eve, exchanging gifts with friends on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning at home, and Christmas day with my step-father's family.  Then we would rush home, pack quickly, leave all our neat new things and fly off to spend the week after Christmas with my dad and step-mom in Maryland.  We did Christmas the evening we arrived and finally got a few days to sit back and relax before flying home in time to start school.

This year, our first Christmas as a family in our own home, we decided to start some new traditions, one of which is staying put for Christmas.  So we invited the family to join us for a day of festivities, and I got cooking.  I have to say there is nothing like Holiday entertaining to get you cleaning.  Our home was ready for company a good 2 days before Christmas, and it was a darn good thing, since that was when disaster struck!  Since we were so ahead of the game I decided to sneak off for 30 minutes of remembering that I'm a woman and not just a mommy time and get my hair cut.  The guy who cut my hair was super quick, probably since he was chop happy :), and as I was leaving a mere 30 minutes later, Eric called and told me what no mother or hostess wants to hear.  Alex was defiling my clean house, but you can't blame him, the poor kiddo had a stomach bug.  For two weeks Alex had been fighting a cold that I told myself would be gone by Christmas, but now 48 hours before family arrived for the day, he was throwing up like crazy.  Luckily it only lasted about 12 hours and then he was good to go, but as these things have a habit of doing, the trouble was just beginning.  My Mother in law was kind enough to come and help me while Alex was sick and sure enough the next morning she and I both woke up feeling horrible.  Fortunately for me, my episode was brief and after liberal use of lysol the entire house I was ready to get in gear for Christmas day.  We celebrated Christmas even at my in-laws and my father in law was put to work in the kitchen while Debra rested and entertained. 

Christmas day was wonderful and thankfully sickness-free, but as the day wore down and the paper and boxes piled up Eric started feeling bad.  I cleaned and tidied, saw our overnight guests settled and grabbed what sleep I could before Alex's cough (his cold never went away and was back in force) woke him up at 5am.  Our day got an early start since I could only keep him in his room until 6:30, and we headed out to rouse the troops.  We made breakfast and I started on what was left of the Christmas dishes while Eric slept off the bug in our room.  At 10 last night he emerged briefly before sleeping a little more, and I am happy to say that today he is feeling much better, but weak from spending a day as a bump on a log.

Like most mom's around the world, I am working on finding a place for all the new toys Alex got and trying to get my house back in order.  I have also settled on my two New Year's Resolutions for 2008.

1. I want to get pregnant in 2008.  Now this is a little more involved than it sounds :), since I need to lose about 90 lbs before that happens.  Eric and I have both agreed that it would not be healthy at all for me to get pregnant now, so over the next 12 months I want to get to the point that we can start trying for #2.

2. I want to blog daily. This is a goal of mine for a couple of reasons. I have always wanted to journal and keep a record of the daily events in our lives, especially since I became pregnant with Alex.  However keeping up with a journal and dedicating the time to be consistent with it has never happened.  Since I am on the computer daily I have decided to blog my journal.  Another great reason for this is that I have always been told, by doctors, friends and more that keeping a journal can really help keep you motivated and losing weight. 

It is so lovely to sit here and be able to get these thoughts down on paper, so to speak, instead of being on the run somewhere.  I am truly looking forward to a great end of the year vacation starting off 2008 right for our family!