When It Hurts Mom Too

If there's one thing that will stop me from being an irritable mom it's a real-life injury, no matter how small. Ellie fell today and bit into her upper lip with her tooth. I literally had to pull her lip off of her tooth. I can't stand blood, especially when it's someone else's, and especially when it's coming out of one of my girls. She was so sad and kept asking me to get a band-aid for her lip. How do you explain to a 2-year old that you can't put a bandage on the inside of a lip? Her sad little face was a small arrow to my heart! Right now I don't even mind that she sometimes picks her nose and eats it! For the rest of the day I'll just have to hold her tight and be grateful that her little fall wasn't worse. (Heaven help me with a boy!)

It's Yummy, Mommy

To my profound horror, Ellie has decided that she thinks it's funny to pick her nose and eat it. I have no idea where this came from! I'm beginning to think that she accidently did it the first time but was so amused by my reaction that she figured it would be fun to continue to freak out her poor mother. I only say this because she seems to take great care in making sure I am available as a witness each and every time it happens. Then she laughs. I'm beginning to think this child is not the sweet and innocent girl we think she is. 

"What's In Your Bag" Tag

Autumn tagged me with the "What's In Your Bag" tag today...and I'm afraid my response is going to be horrifically boring. So, for those who aren't seeking a sedating/mind-numbing reading experience I encourage you to look elsewhere for anything noteworthy. Sorry, I'm just not an interesting purse person...starting with the fact that I have a horribly boring purse today.

- Cell phone: I don't leave home without it
- Chapstick: I'm so boring I even have the old-fogey type lip balm
- Lotion: forever seeking skin nourishment
- Pocket Knife (with tiny scissors): I promise, it comes in handy
- $15 cash + misc. change: an unprecedented event
- Children's Place coupon (which I forgot to use today...Grrr)
- Receipt for Children's Place for 15% more than it should have been
- Costco reward "check" for $17ish
- Pen
- RedBox DVD: "Mr. Bean's Holiday" (I was obviously desperate for some family entertainment that didn't include me having to do anything)
- Costco card, B&N Membership card, Gap card
- Scrunchie: my hair is getting too long
- Palm: one of 3 electronic items that I couldn't live without

So, that's it. Revel in the fact that your lives are all more fun than mine. :) Just to prove it, I'm tagging Heather, Lindsey, Melissa, and Tiffanie. Ha!

Money, Money, Money

I always try to keep my ears open for various parenting techniques that will help us deal with our willful first born. Some time ago I had someone tell me that the trick is "finding her currency". In other words, I need to find out what she values most and use that in my disciplining style. For years now I've tested theory after theory to discover Lindy's "currency" with no success. We've tried toys, privileges, treats, etc. and if taken away we usually get a response similar to this: "I didn't really want to have that toy anyway." or "I wanted to have quiet time in my room anyway." Needless to say it hasn't really worked. She tends to make punishment of any kind fit into her well-calculated plans for the day.

Finally, at age 5, we may have stumbled across the answer. It seems her currency might actually be currency! Money! Can you believe it? She has recently expressed a rather desperate desire for a specific Fisher-Price camera that costs a whopping $70! She asked Ian & I if we had $70 and, to her profound dismay, we both responded with an emphatic "no"...after which we were treated to about a half hour of quiet weeping and sniffling. Ian and I discussed the situation and presented a plan: If she was extra helpful, listened well, and did odd-jobs around the house she might be able to "earn" enough money/allowance before our Disneyland trip in November to be able to buy the camera herself. Well...who knew the onslaught of helpfulness that would ensue? Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for the day she ran in to tell me that she had made her bed and Ellie's bed all by herself because she didn't want me to have to do it. The rest of the day was filled with similar "surprises" including a shoulder rub for mom. It seems we might actually have to follow through with this plan because she's taking it very seriously. We'll just have to see.  

Taking a Break

There are some great moments in the life of a mother. I was in the middle of cleaning the bathroom (not my favorite task by any means) and my girls decide they want to get dressed in their ballerina paraphernalia and dance along with Bella Ballerina. Lindy helped Ellie into her own pair of tights and leotard/tutu for the occasion. Ellie was taking the dancing very seriously and I just couldn't resist ignoring the awaiting toilet bowl to spend some time with my little ballerinas. It was worth the break.