Finally, The Poop Post

Yes, I am a lazy blogger. I know it. You know it. Statcounter, with it's tragic drop in stats last I checked (weeks ago), knows it.


But I have to share.


I had to go to Sunday School training for an hour yesterday evening (yes, I am teaching Sunday School. Fear of speaking in public not-withstanding - a fear which extends to kids as I give them credit for their intelligence where credit's due - I am doing it. Well, to be honest, I am being the helper this time. But I will have to teach. Anywho.).


Anyway, A called about 30 minutes into my meeting to say: "J just pooped in the potty".

In the background I can hear the J-Man screaming "I POOPOOED IN THE POTTY!".

So, praise all around. I came home with the following:

1. A Hot Wheels "Jurassic Attack" monster truck
2. A plush Spiderman (clearance table at Kroger, a deal) which J, upon seeing, said "I am going to sleep with Spiderman tonight). I don't understand the Spiderman love, just simply because he has never seen any Spiderman cartoons or movies (definitely too adult). Found this on Youtube though, which he loves.
3. Chocolate Chip Cookies. It's a celebration ya'll.

Unfortunately the child pooped his brand-new Spiderman underwear this morning, saying "Do you smell it?". But at least he's done it now, and I hope this is the turning of a huge new leaf in potty-training. 'Cuz he's totally got #1 down.

Real Moms

Jamie, in her infinite wisdom at how "real" I am, tagged me for this. Her post is brilliant. I will try my best.

• Real moms love their kids, but always sigh a little when the peaceful quiet of naptime ends.
• Real moms (of more than one) do a little dance when a true miracle happens - both kids nap at the same time (like now. Hence the blogging).
• Real moms, be they workin' moms, SAHM's, WAHM's, or on odd mix of all three, just do what they feel is best for their families.
• Real moms will let their skinny kid eat two PBJ's in one day if it means he got two solid meals.
• Real moms can use stickers as a bribe like nobody's business.
• Real moms know there are not enough hours in the day, so it's all about priorities.
• Real moms sometimes let the laundry, dishes, and cleaning go if it means spending some quality time with their kids. OK, well maybe that's just me. I lack the housekeeping skills.
• Real moms spend a good portion of the day on their kids', um, output (we're potty training right now).
• Real moms look at their stretch marks with an odd mixture of horror, pride, and nostalgia.
• Real moms will cry as a result of their kids' general wild antics, and then a minute later will laugh out loud...at their kids' general wild antics.
• Real moms worry.
• Real moms love their kids unconditionally.

Tagging Angelle & Kristen.

Nuggets of Bloggin' Inspiration

I've been super busy. Plus, like Angelle, I sometimes "have nothing interesting to say".

It's funny, because sometimes I will get little nuggets of inspiration and write it down. But then I actually have to sit down and find the time and the mood to actually write something. And that can be darn difficult, considering that my most recent call to Dell (don't ask) resulted in Jackson coloring on the back of our couch (thank goodness to Crayola for washable crayons) and touching his own poop (we're hoping this is a sign that potty-training will get better. I did accomplish the art of getting him to pee three times this morning in the potty for a sticker reward).

Anyway, to my nuggets of inspiration:

1. "Minimum Wage" - a They Might Be Giants tune from Flood. I don't remember what I was originally thinking about when I wrote this down. The song is hilarious, because it starts out with a man singing "Minimum Wage!" and a whip-snap, then gears into some Muzak. I wonder if my friend Lynn has heard it, and if so, does it remind her of her days at Bi-Lo, because it's total grocery store Muzak. My first job was at the mall, at a little jewelry store called Afterthoughts (later bought up by Claire's). I worked there for a month, and in that time had 3 different managers. I left due to hours (I was hired in to work 15 hours a week and they cut me down to 3, but manager 3 was "disappointed" when I left to work at Sears for better pay and way more hours. Whatever.). The preteens were the worst part of the job - I think preteen girls may be, in fact, of the devil - they would come through (our store had two entrances, basically serving as a shortcut to the food court) and check things out, knock the hats off the wall, and not buy a dang thing. I don't know how those kinds of stores make money. I was hired as prom season was closing, so there was a good cash flow during that time and then...crickets. It would be a Friday night and I would maybe sell a $3 pair of earrings. The other bad part of the job - I had to pierce ears; it was required. Who thinks it is a good idea to have a 16-year-old girl piercing ears? Not me. I pierced one pair of ears - there's a poor gal out there who's probably just graduating college this year, and likely still curses the day she went to Afterthoughts to get her ears pierced. They were slightly crooked.

2. The Dove ads. I love the Dove beauty ads. I know this got a lot of press about a year or two ago, so I am jumping on that wagon late, but who cares. The most recent one I saw was a magazine ad. It was one of the aging gracefully ads, but the ad showed a woman - nude but covered) - and you can see her, rolls and all. And God bless her, but she looks radiant in the ad. I love it. Having had body issues specifically for the past 8 years or so (OK, well who doesn't have body issues, even if they seem perfect, right?), and finally coming to terms with the fact that I am likely never going to be that size 6-8 I was in early college, and that's OK - I really appreciate those ads. I had a lot more to blog about it earlier - like going into how I gained the weight (I was not a good vegetarian - I ate a lot more Pasta-Roni than vegetables & tofu, like a good vegetarian should. I am not a vegetarian anymore but if you are hurray to you, just make sure you eat those veggies).

It's late but I am trying to upload to Snapfish and order before I go to bed. I have 20 credits expiring April 2 and want to use them! We are so backed up on ordering prints. It's embarrassing so I won't admit how far behind we are, but it's bad. That's the downside of going digital. So I am trying out Snapfish - they seem cheap and I have heard good things. This week/weekend I am going to try to take some portraits of Tucker. It's one of the reasons we went for the big camera upgrade. Poor Tucker doesn't even have any photos on our walls - I need to buy some frames! I can't wait until we get a Walmart in this town.

You mean everything they said in the ad wasn't true?

Has anyone seen the ad for the Huggies Cool Alert diapers?

The basic premise (they're pull-ups, training pants, by the by) of these diapers is that, once your child wets him/herself, the diaper gets cold, and your child is so bothered by the coldness that it reinforces the idea of "diapers suck, underwear rules" that potty-training parents are trying to convey to the kids. In the ad, the boy immediately runs to the bathroom and goes after he feels how "cool" the diaper is.

Jackson was interested in the ad (he sees advertising with kids in it and tends to pay attention), and I am willing to try anything, and since they cost no more than normal Pull-Ups, and since they still have the Cars graphics on them (and since Jackson hates being cold), I thought I would give them a whirl.

These things don't work that way on my boy.

He could care less how cold those things get. He'll still sit in a wet diaper for hours if you let him. Plus, unlike regular Pull-Ups, these leave a weird residue on him sometimes - I've had to turn around and put him in the bath because a wipe won't get that stuff off. I think that's what bothers me the most.

So we're back to regular Pull-Ups. And yes, I know these things won't get him potty-trained any faster - the only reason we use them is around age 1 it got hard to get Jackson to hold still for a diaper (I think we're heading down the same road with Tucker). I think tomorrow we may go all underwear, no diaper, since we have no plans to leave the house. We'll see if he's agreeable to that.