With Children Comes Never-ending Change.... Some Spreading to This Blog

Times... they are a-changin'. And believe it or not, I will soon be utilizing this blog more smartly.... that is to say, differently.

My editorial staff, hard at work

You see, I love to write. More importantly, I love to write about myself. ("Narcissist much?" Yes.) Back before I had kids and had a bit more time on my hands, my current conglomeration of blogs and socially networked memberships worked well for me. I organized my blogs, Twitter and Facebook to kinda, sorta work in conjunction, for my own benefit and that of those who wanted to keep up with some aspects of my life, but not others. And it worked.... kinda.

Today I begin to restructure my personal "brand", as it were, here on the Interwebs. Changes, they are a-comin' - changes that may effect this particular url. Currently, I plan to keep this blog (I love SunnyPup! I am SunnyPup!) but will change the content I post here. This will remain, as it currently is, the "family" blog -- my primary place to share essays about being a Mom, and other mundane snippets of daily life.

In the meantime... I have years worth of stories in my brain that have never made it to this page. Yikes!

*wink!*

CANDEH CANDEH CANDEH CANDEH yum!

What Halloween teaches 2-yr-olds

HAPPY DAY-AFTER HALLOWEEN!


What a fabulous year for Halloween and dress up for our family. It wasn't easy to make it all work, but work it did -- and Lea sure learned how to work-it!

Work-It Baby! -- She learned that she's gorgeous in a dirndl. She learned that she only wants THOSE SHOES when she wears it. She learned that the unusual feeling of the felt of her cape isn't really "Yucky!" but it's just how it feels, and it's FUN!

(I'm so glad she got over the "yucky!" felt thing. My Mom slaved over that cape on one recent Saturday, and it seemed for a while that she wasn't going to wear it.)

Work-It Kid! -- She learned that if she behaves, doesn't throw fits, and is even helpful, she will generally get what she wants. So when she can't have a treat until after dinner, she pronounces that she's "All done!", calmly marches to the trash can with her dinner plate, and tries to empty it out and put the plate in the sink. Of course, she's hardly eaten anything on her plate, but she's trying so hard to get candy for dinner and she's doing all the right things. While we as parents are struggling to get protein and nourishment into her system, at least she's not screaming about it constantly. She's workin' it!


Work-It Girl! -- This child learns fast. She recognized that, even if she can't think fast enough to say "Trick or Treat!" or "Thank you!" on cue, all she has to do is stand there and look cute and people give her candy.

After she received her first trick-or-Treat, she abandoned the sidewalk - she tromped through the yard as quickly as possible to the next front door. She was in like Flynn and knew it!

She had her eye on her candy stash at all times. Every moment, she knew how much was in her bucket or bag, where they were, she checked on them, she practically hoarded them until we were safely home. It was her carefully guarded treasure, and in her mind she'd counted every piece and every piece counted.

Later in the evening at home, when she found an empty wrapper in the bucket, she immediately brought it to me. "What's dis, Mommy?" she sweetly asked, but as her Mom, I could hear the worry in her words. It was the wrapper from the one piece we let her have while at the local Halloween parade. I explained that, she got it, inquisition over. (Whew!)

Even later in the evening, we promised her she could have one more treat after she finished her milk. (Finishing her milk also means "Time for teeth" which means bedtime.) She dawdled, she tried to dilly-dally into staying up later, ran around like a psychopath (i.e. toddler on a sugar-high) and tried to extend her evening playtime, tried to ignore her milk, tried to pretend she'd already finished it. By the time she got around to preparing for bed, The E.P. had forgotten about the promise (or perhaps hoped that she'd forgotten!) Lo and behold, Lea began to freak out on him, sobbing, not allowing her diaper to be changed or her teeth to be cleaned. Her speech was garbled through her tears. But I knew what she was trying to say.

"Treat!"

So The E.P. got her one little crunch bar, and she cherished every bite, and then she was fine and went to bed without further complaint.

The girl remembers everything and wants what's hers.

Work-It for All It's Worth! -- Before I got Lea up this morning, I made sure to hide the candy. Because Lord Knows there'd be no eating breakfast if her bucket was visible. It was not easy to find a spot in our small apartment where she can't find it either on her own, or while watching us prepare meals in the kitchen.

She's been up all of 10 minutes before she was in Daddy's arms, eyes scouring the kitchen, asking "Wuck-ed! Wuck-ed?!" Her bucket was safely hidden and, being a reasonable child, she listened when we explained that the treats are "a sometimes food" and she would see them again.

My gratitude for this morning scene is boundless.

Work-It Momma -- We had a fabulous time, walked 3-4 miles through the neighborhood including going to the parade, and I'm so proud of Lea for how brave she was and how fast she comprehended what was happening in the moment.

And yet... I'm a bit shocked on how quickly she absorbed the "candy candy MINE MINE!" attitude of so many children on Halloween. Was it the big kids diving in front of her to pick up the candy thrown from floats (like a children's Mardi-Gras?!) Was it me? It is just human nature to go nuts when you realize someone will give you something for nothing (as long as you show up and look cute)?

Hmm....  Food for thought before next year's adventure. Food... candy candy candy candy......

The Terrible Twos

My daughter is driving me insane.

INSANE!

Sigh. We've reached a milestone in her development, which we always knew would come: The Year of Great Annoyance. Since she turned 2 about 6 weeks ago, she's progressively grown more demanding. If it weren't common knowledge that all toddlers go through this, and that she will grow out of it... well, I have no idea what we'd do. Seek professional help for our sanities?

We'd finally gotten to a place where I could get some things done at home while she played and did her own thing partially-supervised. Now however, unless Caillou is on, she will not. leave. us. alone! Not for five minutes! Once or twice I've sucuumbed to letting her paper the place with Sponge-Bob stickers just so I could get a little time to finish a project. Fortunately, she likes to un-stick what she's stuck to things. But I fear that the un-sticking-and-balling-up-for-easy-vacuuming is a fad whose time is soon at an end.

Suggestions? Offers to come babysit while The E.P. and I run screaming into the night for 20 minutes of sane-making time?

(Caillou is on as I type this, or else, these words would never see the screen.)

Changing Directions

I'm starting to type this post just as a cat purports to settle into my lap, and a 25 month-old wakes up and waltzes out of her room, ready to take on the afternoon. Let's see how far I get. ;)

Hurray for the Fall!  It's been a hell of a summer and I am so glad to see it end. Suffice to say it was super-stressful, but the worst parts are over.* Now we're in a transition period, as we remember what life was life before it became so busy -- and as we find new paths for using our talents or handling long-standing issues.

One thing is certain: I have got to bring home some more money! I Love my job. I love my boss, I love the work I'm supporting, I think it's important to get this work out into the world. That said, I do not intend to leave my current part-time position, despite our growing need for additional income.

That leaves me with finding a secondary source of income that isn't stressful or requiring of an upfront investment of some kind. I have nothing of value left to sell (and those items that I do have aren't moving in this economy regardless.) Also, minimum-wage jobs are not an option -- what little is left of my time to "give" to a job is more valuable than that. I could write and love the work... but the starting income is eq*uivalent to about $3 an hour.* Been there, done that, I need faster results!

Then, last night, as I lay in bed thinking, it occurred to me: I have one asset that I can give and give and give from without losing any inventory. One lasting resource that people have told me they would pay for: my voice.

Now, I can't play any instruments while singing - not well, anyway. It's not for trying/practice, it's just how I am.  So I need an accompanist, or backing tracks, or something. Or I need to sign up with a local talent agency and let them work on my behalf. I used to avoid doing that in part on the basis of my looks (hefty) - but last year in Ikea at Christmastime, I saw a man and a woman perform, and she was every bit as big as me and not nearly as good. And I thought, "I can do that!"

Christmastime is the primary gig time for musicians like me. How do I get started around here with something like that? Where do I find an accompanist willing to work for half of whatever gets tossed in our hats? I know some GREAT musicians around here, but none of them are right for this job - they are either soloists in their own right (and I'd be backup for them) or they're too busy with other things. I don't want to be backup. Give me the dang mic.

* denotes any place I was interrupted* while typing and had to leave for a bit. *