Supermom Chronicles
Thursday, August 23, 2007
My Review of Waterdrop Table Top Water Fountain
Originally submitted at SimplyFountains.com
The ancient technology of the aqueduct combines with the grace of contemporary design in this water fountain.
Excellent fountain
By Pet Vet from Kyle, TX on 8/23/2007
Pros: Quiet Pump, Attractive Design, Easy Set-up, Good sound quality
Best Uses: Home
Describe Yourself: Stylish
This fountain is perfect. We use it in the entryway of our home. I love the fact that there is a volume control (changes the amount of water flowing through). We set it on the medium volume and it is the perfect sound throughout the front part of our home. Plus the design is very elegant and nice to look at. We especially like the height that this fountain has that most tabletops do not. We've gotten many compliments. This fountain surpasses our expectations!
(legalese)
Monday, August 20, 2007
3rd child syndrome
So here's my latest twist on the 3rd child syndrome...
The 1st child wore a bib whenever she ate, and we meticulously wiped her with a wet washcloth every few bites to keep her clean.
The 2nd child wore a bib whenever he ate, and we wiped him down once after he finished eating.
The 3rd child won't wear a bib when he eats and he fights the washcloth, so when he's done we strip him down to a diaper, set him on the floor and let the dog lick him clean.
Yes, this sort of happened tonight. Oh well.
The 1st child wore a bib whenever she ate, and we meticulously wiped her with a wet washcloth every few bites to keep her clean.
The 2nd child wore a bib whenever he ate, and we wiped him down once after he finished eating.
The 3rd child won't wear a bib when he eats and he fights the washcloth, so when he's done we strip him down to a diaper, set him on the floor and let the dog lick him clean.
Yes, this sort of happened tonight. Oh well.
Friday, August 17, 2007
On a happier note...
So it took a day and a half to get my emotions down to almost normal from my last post. Unfortunately, I had to deal w/ some demanding, dare I say rude, clients at work. Communication, communication, communication. I think 90% of all the world's problems could be solved by thorough, exact, unambiguous communication. After Tuesday, I haven't had a lot of emotional reserve to deal with demanding people or mistakes at work. I have been working with a little bit of an "I don't really care if I offend you" attitude, which is highly unusual for me. Sometimes I'm just tired of being nice. But alas, I do feel that I am finally coming off this weird cycle of emotion. I think by next Monday, I'll be back to my smiling, cheerful, put-up-with-almost-anything self.
On a lighter note, here's some pics of my well-adjusted kiddos!
On a lighter note, here's some pics of my well-adjusted kiddos!
Faith decided to dress up as her version of a bride 1 day and announced that Cole was her groom...what a cute couple!
James is pretty proud of himself anytime he takes a few steps. He's really learning to walk (about 1 month earlier than big brother or sister did...he's 10 months old now).
Losing balance...
You talkin' to me?? I have no idea where this facial expression came from, but John managed to catch it on camera. Notice the 2 scratches on his nose and split lower lip...the hazards of learning to walk (both were face plants this week).
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Motherhood insecurity
Today I had one of the worst days ever as a mother. Every day is an exercise in patience, as each new day presents new & unique challenges. I meet most of these challenges head on, usually finding myself satisfied overall with the results. At the end of the day I feel like I'm a good mother. Of course there's always that voice in the back of my mind wondering if I'm really doing the best that I can...should I have played more with the kids today instead of doing 5 loads of laundry? Should I have put off paying the bills so that we could have all gone to the pool? Did I spend enough time with each individual kid so that they feel secure and loved, or did I leave somebody out? I comfort myself by saying, "Hey, I'm only one person, I'm doing the best I can. Surely each kid knows how much I love them." Overall, I feel like a pretty good mother.
Something happened today, so out of the blue, that has shaken me, and I just can't get over it. I've given up waiting for times when John is home to watch the kids so that I can run errands. If I wait for John, I'd never get it all done (unless I wanted to go out late at night to run errands, give me a break). So for the past couple of months, I've found myself carting around 3 kids to run a couple of hours of errands on my days off from work. Usually it's trips to the grocery store, a quick visit to the clinic, or shopping for the kids (clothes, school supplies, etc). I've been pleasantly surprised by how well the kids behave on these outings. Yes, every once in awhile there's a squabble between Faith & Cole, resulting in a meltdown...but it's usually over in less than 1 minute and we go on about our day. Overall, I feel like my kids are well behaved in public, and I take credit because we discipline our children and balance it with love. In other words, out in public I feel like a good mom.
One of my 1st stops today was the clinic. Several people at the clinic felt the need to comment..."wow, can I help you?"..."here comes Super Mom"...."oh my God, look at all the little kids"..."that's why I only have 2"...etc etc. I let it roll right over me. On to the next errand...
Then I went to Target to finish getting Faith's school supplies. I decided to stop at the Starbuck's inside the store to reward myself and the kids for getting so much done today. I had James in his carseat in the front of the basket. Faith & Cole are instructed to always keep 1 hand on the basket so that we don't get separated. I turned from the basket to order my mocha frap, while Faith & Cole picked out their vanilla milk boxes. The basket was about 4-5 feet from me at one point while I threw some trash away and stuck the straws into the milk boxes. Every couple of seconds I did the "mom scan" (eyes darting quickly from basket to Faith to Cole and back to James to make sure everyone was close by and accounted for). The whole process probably took 2 minutes. I was very aware of everyone around us. There was a couple at the table behind me, a woman in a blue & white striped shirt talking on her cell phone at the table right next to my basket, and another late 50's/early 60's woman with her basket standing next to my basket. The whole process took about 2 minutes. I had everyone load back up onto the basket when the 50-60 yr old woman mentioned above put her hand on my basket preventing me from moving. She then said to me,
"You know, a woman in California had her baby kidnapped when she walked away like you did. I felt like I had to stand here and watch your kids for you because you look like you can't handle it all."
I said, very kindly, "Thank you for your concern. I really appreciate it," then tried to walk away. She wouldn't budge and wouldn't take her hand off my basket. Then she went on to say,
"I had to keep standing here. I couldn't leave without telling you how easy it would be to kidnap one of your kids. You can't just walk off and leave them like this...." and she went on and on...and I couldn't get away until she had taken all of my motherhood self esteem and trampled it on the floor, then picked it up, set fire to it, and blew the smoke in my face. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally was able to remove my basket from her firm grasp and push it 5 feet before Faith darted in front of it so that it hit her at the heels, causing her to collapse on the floor in a crying heep. I just put my head in my hands for about 30 seconds and took some long deep breaths.
The rest of the time at the store, I had several people approach me and say comments like, "Wow, 3 kids", "You sure have your hands full" and "you've got a big load" (referring to all kids in/on the basket). Good freakin' grief. Hasn't anyone ever seen anyone with 3 small kids? I'm sorry our family doesn't fit the average 1.86 kids per family in the U.S. As I walked through the store (which was full of parents w/ their children school shopping), EVERY mother had 1 or 2 kids. I only saw 1 mom w/ 3 kids, and they were spaced a bit apart. It seemed like everybody I passed had to look in my direction and pass judgement.
Yes, I have 3 kids under the age of 5. Yes, it's a lot of work. No, I'm not perfect, but I'm doing the best I can. All of my kids are disciplined. All of my kids have manners and say please, thank you, yes ma'am and no ma'am. My kids have tantrums (hello, they're toddlers), but we move on. They seem happy, well adjusted. I give and I give. I give to my kids, I give to my husband, I give to my clinic. I keep this house running. And yet today, I let a 5o-yr old stranger make me feel like a failure. I'm doing the best I can. Tomorrow is another day.
Something happened today, so out of the blue, that has shaken me, and I just can't get over it. I've given up waiting for times when John is home to watch the kids so that I can run errands. If I wait for John, I'd never get it all done (unless I wanted to go out late at night to run errands, give me a break). So for the past couple of months, I've found myself carting around 3 kids to run a couple of hours of errands on my days off from work. Usually it's trips to the grocery store, a quick visit to the clinic, or shopping for the kids (clothes, school supplies, etc). I've been pleasantly surprised by how well the kids behave on these outings. Yes, every once in awhile there's a squabble between Faith & Cole, resulting in a meltdown...but it's usually over in less than 1 minute and we go on about our day. Overall, I feel like my kids are well behaved in public, and I take credit because we discipline our children and balance it with love. In other words, out in public I feel like a good mom.
One of my 1st stops today was the clinic. Several people at the clinic felt the need to comment..."wow, can I help you?"..."here comes Super Mom"...."oh my God, look at all the little kids"..."that's why I only have 2"...etc etc. I let it roll right over me. On to the next errand...
Then I went to Target to finish getting Faith's school supplies. I decided to stop at the Starbuck's inside the store to reward myself and the kids for getting so much done today. I had James in his carseat in the front of the basket. Faith & Cole are instructed to always keep 1 hand on the basket so that we don't get separated. I turned from the basket to order my mocha frap, while Faith & Cole picked out their vanilla milk boxes. The basket was about 4-5 feet from me at one point while I threw some trash away and stuck the straws into the milk boxes. Every couple of seconds I did the "mom scan" (eyes darting quickly from basket to Faith to Cole and back to James to make sure everyone was close by and accounted for). The whole process probably took 2 minutes. I was very aware of everyone around us. There was a couple at the table behind me, a woman in a blue & white striped shirt talking on her cell phone at the table right next to my basket, and another late 50's/early 60's woman with her basket standing next to my basket. The whole process took about 2 minutes. I had everyone load back up onto the basket when the 50-60 yr old woman mentioned above put her hand on my basket preventing me from moving. She then said to me,
"You know, a woman in California had her baby kidnapped when she walked away like you did. I felt like I had to stand here and watch your kids for you because you look like you can't handle it all."
I said, very kindly, "Thank you for your concern. I really appreciate it," then tried to walk away. She wouldn't budge and wouldn't take her hand off my basket. Then she went on to say,
"I had to keep standing here. I couldn't leave without telling you how easy it would be to kidnap one of your kids. You can't just walk off and leave them like this...." and she went on and on...and I couldn't get away until she had taken all of my motherhood self esteem and trampled it on the floor, then picked it up, set fire to it, and blew the smoke in my face. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally was able to remove my basket from her firm grasp and push it 5 feet before Faith darted in front of it so that it hit her at the heels, causing her to collapse on the floor in a crying heep. I just put my head in my hands for about 30 seconds and took some long deep breaths.
The rest of the time at the store, I had several people approach me and say comments like, "Wow, 3 kids", "You sure have your hands full" and "you've got a big load" (referring to all kids in/on the basket). Good freakin' grief. Hasn't anyone ever seen anyone with 3 small kids? I'm sorry our family doesn't fit the average 1.86 kids per family in the U.S. As I walked through the store (which was full of parents w/ their children school shopping), EVERY mother had 1 or 2 kids. I only saw 1 mom w/ 3 kids, and they were spaced a bit apart. It seemed like everybody I passed had to look in my direction and pass judgement.
Yes, I have 3 kids under the age of 5. Yes, it's a lot of work. No, I'm not perfect, but I'm doing the best I can. All of my kids are disciplined. All of my kids have manners and say please, thank you, yes ma'am and no ma'am. My kids have tantrums (hello, they're toddlers), but we move on. They seem happy, well adjusted. I give and I give. I give to my kids, I give to my husband, I give to my clinic. I keep this house running. And yet today, I let a 5o-yr old stranger make me feel like a failure. I'm doing the best I can. Tomorrow is another day.
