Life with a nudist

My two and a half year old is officially a nudist.  He hates clothes.  Loathes them, in fact.  He definitely did not get this from me....must be from his dad : )  I guess he wants to be fair to all parts of his anatomy.  I mean, is it really fair that the eyes get all the enjoyment?  Why shouldn't every square inch of his skin enjoy all the sights and textures he encounters every day?  Here are just a few places/times he particularly enjoys being nude.

1.  Outside.  It's nothing for me to look out into the back yard only to find a nude child running around playing with the dog.  Most of the time, he'll maintain a shred of modesty by leaving his shirt on, but you can forget about bottoms staying on.  The thing that gets me the most, is that he sits in his sandbox this way.  Can you say ouch?  That cannot possibly be pleasant.  And what about bugs?  Aggghhh.  It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it.  If the neighbor relations weren't so strained, I'm sure we'd have complaints coming from them.  But, since they chose to allow their vicious mutt to return after his stay in the doggie joint, I guess it's only fair that we get to run a mini nudist colony.  

2.  On the couch.  The cold, cold "inherited from Brandon's pre-marriage days" leather couch.  He will strip down and promptly crawl up onto the couch to watch his "tartoons" in morning.  I guess even his "peewuh"...I think you can guess what that is in his language...likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  At least he has one other being in this house who shares that sentiment.  

3.  After his "showah wit daddeeee".  The child hates baths, so we've gotten into a routine where he takes showers with daddy at night.  After his shower, my husband throws a towel over the little nudist's shoulders and releases him from the bathroom.  He makes a beeline into the living room where I'm usually feeding the baby or taking a breather and yells "Tada!" while he simultaneously drops his towel, bearing all.  The kid never even uses a towel to dry off.  He air-dries.  I guess he's just keeping it all natural.  

4.  Random public places.  Now this has to be my absolute fav (this is dripping with sarcasm).  There's nothing like seeing a shirt flung from the left side of the stroller and instantly hearing a burst of giggles.  I stretch around the edge to look at him, and what do I find?  A beaming boy who is rubbing his chest and belly.  All the while, everyone else surrounding is either laughing or thinking "I'm sure he gets that from his mother.  There's no way he would just up and do a thing like that if he hadn't seen it modeled at home."  Well, little old ladies and uptight moms, I'm here to tell you that he did in fact start doing this on his own.  I haven't shed my shirt in public in years.  JUST KIDDING.  Never done such a thing.  

Bonus:

I wanted to throw in this incident which occurred yesterday.  In an attempt to get some editing done, I'd allowed him to take my phone into the living room to "pway games and make T wex".  Yes, he has his own apps on the phone.  Don't judge.  Those babies got me through a 2 1/2 hour wait at the doctor's office on Tuesday.  Take that.  Aaaaanyway...my darling walks in the room where I'm working away and says "Where's mommy's phone?" in the most mischievous tone I've ever heard from him.  Without glancing at him, I say "I don't know.  Where is it?"  Again, he asks me where the phone is.  I look over at him to see his pelvic region jutting forward in an unnatural stance.  Upon closer inspection, I also notice an odd shape in his underwear (yes, he actually had some on).  You guessed it.  He'd put my phone, the object I have to touch and allow my face to touch many times a day IN HIS UNDERWEAR!    Gross, I know.  But I couldn't stop laughing for a solid 2.41 minutes.  

Never a dull or fully-clothed moment in this house.  

It's not easy being green

First of all, I will throw this disclaimer out there...I am far from being completely green. I don't drive the most fuel efficient vehicle out there, I drink bottled water, and I use tons of paper towels. However, over the last year, I have tried to be very intentional about eliminating as much waste as I possibly could and slowly transitioning to a more organic diet. So, for today's post, I'm going to share a few of those ways.

1. Shopping organic- Let's be honest. Organic products are not cheap! I almost hyperventilated the first time I saw the $4.29 sticker sitting beneath Annie's Cheddar Bunnies at the grocery store. I mean, we'd been spending a dollar on Goldfish. How in the world would I be able to afford replacing all of my food with food that is four times as much? It took me a little while to realize...I wouldn't. There

was absolutely no way I could afford to pay full price for those precious little bunnies, and the thought of paying $7 bucks for apple juice was enough to give me palpitations. I realized there were certain foods which are more important to buy organic than others. Meat, for instance, is one thing that I try to buy organically. After watching Food Inc., I decided this was definitely one of the items I'd replace with organic products first. If you haven't seen Food Inc., you should watch it. I will warn you, though. Don't expect to be able to walk into your grocery store ever again without gagging or triple thinking every purchase! Like I said, the transition has been gradual, and we are faaaarrr from being totally switched over. If I need an item one week, and the organic version is way too expensive, I buy what I can afford.

2. Re-usable bags- I love these! It's sooooo much easier to unload them from the vehicle. I know I'm not the only one who used my arm as a "bag hanging bar" on a rainy day and tried to haul in 3 trips worth of groceries in one shot. Afterwards, my arms would have red indentions all the way up them from where I'd hung 20 bags on one arm. Now, 3-4 of those bags are condensed into one re-usable bag. You may get treated like a shoplifter when you walk into Wal-Mart, but it's worth it. They can be expensive! I buy the 50 cent ones from Wal-Mart. I was once asked not to bring them back to Kroger. I thought that was a little dumb for two reasons. 1) I'm saving Kroger money by not using their plastic bags. Seriously, I saved them at least 15 bags. 2) I think it says something that I'll buy my bags from Wal-Mart, but I go to Kroger to shop. Ummmm...hello. No matter how much you pressure me Kroger, I will not succumb to your scheme to get my to buy your $2.99 bags. My next project will be to applique our initial to a rectangle of fabric, and I'm going to sew that piece over the Wal-Mart logo on my bags. Ha! Take that Kroger!

3. Cloth diapering- Probably 90% of you just said "Ewww". I know. Right now you've got this vision of me changing a dingy, brown, stained diaper and having poop up to my elbows. Ummm no. There is no way I would do it if it was even remotely that disgusting. When I first looked into cloth diapering, I was very skeptical and overwhelmed. I looked at one discussion board and thought what the heck are AIOs, Pockets, prefolds, WAHMs? I was lost. So, I started out with something "safe". I found a type of diaper which was sold locally so that I could see and touch it. I lucked up and found a big box of them for sale at a consignment sale and used those for a while. Then, as I became more familiar with the different types of dipes, I bought and bartered my way into having the more advanced, expensive kinds. I still use prefolds some at home, but I use mostly AIOs (all in ones). We have been purchasing disposable dipes to use for all outings, but now that my collection of AIOs has grown, I'll probably only use disposables for the church nursery. Moms, you know how much waste is caused by disposable dipes. I really think this was a leap, not a step, forward in decreasing our waste. It's made a huuuuge difference. Many people just look at the cost of the initial investment for the cloth dipes, and I'll admit, some of them are very pricey. You just have to figure out which ones work for you and your budget, and acquire the cooler, more advanced ones as you can afford them.




4. Breastfeeding- Now, this can be the real toughie. With my first child, I was teaching full-time, and though my lovely principal gave me a schedule which allowed for pumping time during the day, my surroundings just weren't conducive to really producing enough milk to completely sustain him on just breast milk (cinder block walls, voices in the halls, janitors trying to clean in the off periods...not very comforting : /) So, we supplemented. This time around, though, I was determined to breastfeed exclusively. Breastfeeding can feel very confining, and it can be if you let it be. No, I'm not one to just "whip it out" in public. I'm way too shy to nurse in a public place, even with a cover. I pump. I pump like crazy. I pump on the road. I pump while I'm watching TV. I pump while I work on the computer. That may seem incredibly inconvenient to you, but really after a few weeks of it, it just becomes part of your routine. Your new way of life. I go wherever I want to go. I go out on dates with my husband. I leave the kids with their grandparents while I run errands for the day. It IS possible to have a life and breastfeed. Right now, I'm working on what I've dubbed "Project Savannah". There's a checklist on the fridge with the number of containers of milk I'll need to freeze in order for my husband and I to be able to get away for 4 days in June. Another plus, especially for my daughter since she's been exclusive, has been no tummy problems or reflux.

5. Environmentally friendly cleaners- I've tried to switch over to as many "green" cleaners as I can. Some of them work well, some of them may as well be pure water. I've been using Seventh Generation laundry detergent for a while now, and I've really liked using it. The Seventh Gen all purpose cleaner is great, too. I wasn't thrilled with the dish soap, however. So, until I find another, greener, option, I'm switching back to the trusty old Dawn. I did looove the scent of the dish soap though. I've often considered making my own laundry detergent, but in the battle for time, it always loses. You have to read labels and do a little research. Just because an item is made by a company that calls itself "green", it's not necessarily the greenest option. There are many smaller companies with great cleaners. I just haven't gotten around to using very many of them










You should watch this video. It's crazy!









I'd love, love, love to hear how you and your family have "gone green". I'm always looking for little ways to improve out lives and decrease our footprint : ).


**I tried to throw a few links up, but they've disappeared after saving and editing a few times.  This post has been over a week in the making.  Busy, busy week!

you had a bad day

Yep. It's been one of those days. One of those "I can't look in the mirror because I look like death and I really don't want to see myself for who I really am" days. You know the ones. The ones you can predict before you get out of bed, or before you even go to bed the night/morning before. This would be my case because I went to bed waaaayyy too late. The ones where whatever you think spews out like word vomit, and you're wallowing so deep in self-pity that you don't even care to attempt to clean up the emotional messes you're making. The ones where you're so far in denial that you actually think the foulness of the day is caused by others, and you played no part in it escalating to its state of utter crappiness...for lack of a better word. Then what happens. You blow. You let it all out. You make complaints and claims that only make sense in your emotional and sleep-deprived mind. Ahhhh...and it's all better then....right?


Wrong

You look into the chocolate eyes of your two and a half year old. Those puppy dog eyes that were so full of joy when they peeked over the side of your bed at 6:47 that morning. But that joy is gone. It's been replaced with the threat of tears, and his face no longer glows...In fact it looks rather pale and dull. That's when it hits you. You've wasted a whole day griping, accusing, venting...For what? To make yourself feel better?

Well, since this has been my day, I'll be the first to tell you that "better" is the furthest from what I feel. I feel terrible. My head hurts, I look like an addict who is strung out, and I've been incredibly un-productive. None of that touches the hurt that I brought to my children, though. I know I killed my little warrior's spirit today. That hurts. It hurts so badly because I can't even apologize to him because he doesn't truly understand all that an apology entails. I think what hurts the worst is that he's probably already forgiven me. He loves me no matter what, and it makes me weep to think that I hurt someone who is so loving and forgiving.

I think if we're honest, we've all had those days. We're human. They're inevitable. But for us to grow and improve, I think we must strive to decrease them.

So you had a bad day....and it's ok.

Enter Sandman

Okay.  So, I'm totally drowning in photos which need to be edited,  but I needed a little change of scenery on my monitor, so here I am.  I don't really have a particular event to write about on this lovely (ha) evening.  If you are in the Jackson area, you understand the "ha" after lovely.  This weather and humidity is absolute misery.   Okay, so back to my lack of subject matter.  I guess I'll tackle the question that other mothers most often ask me.

How do you get your children to sleep all night in their own beds?

I will start by saying I am definitely not the sleep guru.  I don't have decades of data and facts to back up my strategy.  I simply knew what I wanted our nightly routine to look like...before my kids even came into the picture, and it didn't include them in my room.  It definitely did not include them in my bed.  I am not a snuggler, and the just the thought of those extra bodies in my bed irritates me.  I just got the heeby jeebies just typing that last sentence.

Now, before you call me cold-hearted, un-nurturing or even closed-minded, please hear me out.  I love, love, love my children.  They are such blessings, and I try to cherish every waking moment I have with them...note that I said "waking".  However, before my children comes my relationship with my husband.  He is my best friend, and he deserves a special time of the day when all my attention and energy is focused on him.  Granted, by the end of the day, my attention span and energy are almost non-existent, which means it's even more important for me to be able to focus solely on him.  So, now that my priorities have been established, and you know why the choice was made, you're probably asking  "how?"

Both of my children started out in their crib, in their room from day one at home.  Since I chose to nurse both of my babies, it definitely would have been much easier to have them right next to my bed.  However, I've learned through life's lessons that what's comfortable is not always what's best for me.  I didn't learn about the Ferber Method until my oldest was a couple of months old, but we basically started practicing it from the very beginning.  I didn't know in the beginning about timed intervals of crying and the "correct" strategy for building them up to self-soothing.  I just knew that a little crying wasn't going to kill my baby, and if I could just tough it out, it would probably pay off.  Neither of my children were/are rocked to sleep.   In the first few months, I made it a point to wake them when I placed them in bed if they fell asleep nursing.  Both of my children started sleeping through the night by six weeks of age (meaning 7+ hours).  Every other month or so, one of them with have a bad dream, be sick, or have an "off" night which will cause them to wake in the middle of the night, but the important thing is that they return to their own bed.

During the day, they both nap in their own bed, not mine.  Several people have said something to the effect of "Oh, you just wait till they get older.  They'll be in your bed every night."  I just simply flash them a big ole smile and say "No.  They won't."  How can I be so sure?  Because it's just not an option.

I'll be very honest with you.  Yes, they cried. Yes, it was very hard on my post-partum emotions.  Yes, it was hard to have a toddler trying to sleep two doors down from a sobbing infant.  But I feel like we've gotten over the "hump", and I now have a two-and-a-half year old and a six-month-old who are slumbering peacefully in their own rooms.

Like I said, I'm definitely not an expert.  I know everyone has their own routine, and many people happily co-sleep with their children.  I'm just simply stating what works for me and my family as far as sleep routines are concerned.

I do want to challenge you, however.  If you are co-sleeping with your children, and it causes friction between you and your husband, please consider re-thinking your system.  Remember, your relationship came first, and should continue to do so.  Change is hard, but sometimes it is so very necessary.

If you are curious about how I tackle anything else, I'll gladly share my experiences with you.  Just ask   : )