Stranger Danger …The Talk
When is the right time to have the “stranger danger” talk with your child? I’ll be honest, I really thought we would never have to worry about this with the Big One. She has always been very shy around people. Whether she knows you or not, it typically would take her a very long time to be comfortable enough to even say hi to someone. But recently that all seems to be changing.
When we were at the girls’ well-child appointments last week, the Big One gave the nurse a big hug when we left. Now this is a man who just gave her a flu shot and gave her sister three shots. Neither of my girls appreciated getting their shots so the fact that she then hugged the man right afterward skeeved me out a bit. Yes, he did giver her stickers and a lollipop which I am sure helped her “no fear” attitude.” And while I am fairly confident that “Jim” is not a sick pedophile, the point remains, the Big One doesn’t know this man, yet she was comfortable enough to give him a hug goodbye.
Of course the Husband and I were right there with her, so there was no harm done, but it got me thinking about the what ifs. I don’t want to freak her out about people she doesn’t know, but definitely want her to be safe.
The doctor’s office incident wasn’t the only thing that got me thinking about it. Part of this lack of fear is probably my fault. Wherever we go, we seem to attract attention and I always encourage the girls to be friendly and talk to the people who always want to talk to us. But again, I am right there with them so no harm is done.
What if by encouraging her to talk to people we don’t know, I am inadvertently setting her up for a dangerous situation? I will not always be with her, ready to go all “Momma Bear” on anyone who tried to hurt her.
So now my mommy guilt and mommy worry have me thinking where is that fine line between being friendly and being unsafe? I certainly don’t want her to be afraid of people, but I certainly don’t want her to wander off with anyone who offers her a sticker or lollipop.
Anyone got any great tips on the talk and timing of the whole “stranger danger” concept? I think we are going to become hermits until I figure it out.
A 70’s Flashback
The girls were eating breakfast the other day when the Big One decided she was done with her yogurt, she slid it over to the Little One to finish.
I asked her what she was doing, to which she replied, “I’m just full and {Little One} is still hungry, she’ll eat it. She likes it.”
Obviously my child was not alive in the 1970’s when LIFE cereal commercial featuring “Mikey” and his brothers became popular, but her comment certainly brought back memories of “He likes it! Hey Mikey,” rang through my head when she shared her yogurt with her sister.
I guess some things never change and kids will pawn food off on whoever they thing might eat it for them. And sliding it to her sister was certainly cleaner than dropping it on the floor which is what the Little One does when she is finished with anything.
For those of you youngins’ who have no idea what I am talking about, here it is.
Picky Eaters ~ Phase or a Lifetime?
The Big One is a picky eater. She eats some form of chicken for lunch and dinner every day…. Yes every day. I am not exaggerating. If we have pizza for dinner, she will eat that, but that’s maybe once per month.
She does okay with breakfast type foods. She will eat cereal, yogurt, toast, pancakes, waffles and occasionally a biscuit.
When she was little we used to mix scrambled eggs into her yogurt (gross, I know but she needed some protein). She would also eat most flavors of yogurt when she was little. It had to be the Kroger brand. Thankfully once we moved back to the west coast, we discovered that Food For Less carries the Kroger brand, so we were still okay with getting her to eat.
But then sometime after the Little One was born, the Big One switched to eating only the Yolpait Orange Crème flavor. It’s fine, we buy it in bulk at the commissary, so I can deal with that.
My concern is this, will she live on chicken dinos, stars, finger, nuggets, racecars, whales and dolphins? {Y’all didn’t know that chicken came in so many shapes did you} Or at some point will she learn that hamburgers, pasta, macaroni and cheese, hotdogs, sandwiches and tacos taste great?
Will it be once she gets to school and sees her friends eating other things? Or when I pack her lunch and there is no chicken in sight? Or will she be in college and still ordering from the Kids’ Menu?
Anyone dealt with a super-duper-major-way-picky eater? Will it ever end?
Yes, I know I am the parent and I decide what she eats, supposedly. I’ve had two different pediatricians tell me it’s not worth the fight. They feel that it will resolve itself. Since she isn’t eating cookies and ice cream every day they told me not to worry. But of course I do want her to eat something else.
She Finally Made It!
The Little One had her well-baby appointment and we are excited to announce that she finally made it on the growth curve for height! She is very short and had not even been on the curve since she was about 6 months old.
Measuring in at 30 inches tall, she is just below the 5% curve. Yes she is still short, but her little dot is at least visible on the curve. WAHOO!
At 27 pounds, it looks like she is going to take after both the FixItMommy and the Husband as she is in the 70% for weight.
Granted, I have never been one to really put much into the meaning of the growth curve and the Big One’s results added to my disdain for them. She is a pretty skinny child we think. Many people are surprised when they hear how well she talks because she looks very small to them as well. At 36 inches tall, she is in the 10% for height, but at 35 pounds she is in the 70% for weight. Granted she was wearing heavy clothes because it was chilly outside, we were surprised nonetheless when 35 pounds put her in the 70%percent.
Oh well, all that really matters is they both are healthy, growing and developmentally right on track.
We Saw the Space Shuttle Endeavour Land Today!!
Yes, I know about a zillion people watched it land on their televisions or on the Internet, but we were there in person. Real life. Real loud sonic boom {okay, not as loud as our typical sonic booms, but cool none-the-less}. Real life Space Shuttle with real life astronauts on board. Those of you who “know” us in real life, know how huge this event is for the Husband. It was on his “Bucket List” and he says he can die happy now. He is a NASA fanatic and would give anything to become an astronaut. He applied this year, but we haven’t heard anything yet.
It was awesome. On Friday, the Husband told us to start praying for bad weather in Florida. Well we did and lo and behold due to strong winds and clouds, the Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at Edwards AFB and we were there to see it.
The FixItMommy’s mom even stayed behind while my dad drove their motorhome back to San Diego. Being the way cool mom that she is, she got the magnitude of this once-in-a-lifetime-type event. And thankfully, the Husband doesn’t mind driving so he is doing the roundtrip this evening.
Here are a couple pictures from this amazing event.
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It was the coolest thing ever! Of course the girls aren’t really big enough to understand it all, but we’ve got the picture to show them. The Big One was pretty excited last week to go outside and watch the International Space Station cruise by over head {it was visible three straight days in the early evening}, so I think she has some idea how cool it is, but just doesn’t get the magnitude of it.
Explain This to Me
How is it possible that the Big One, who is one of the most picky eaters I have ever known likes nacho cheese-flavored Doritos?
The kid will not eat cheese anything. She gags when we try to force macaroni and cheese in her. She picks the cheese off of pizza. She will not eat sliced cheese, string cheese, cheese in a can, Cheese Whiz, grilled cheese or queso with chips. But when someone busts out the nacho cheese-flavored Doritos, she is like a cheese fiend and gobbles them down like there is no tomorrow.
Any explanations out there?
Fashion Week, Here We Come
Those of you who know the FixItMommy or the Husband know that fashion and trends are not our forte. My girls will have to figure that stuff out on their own.
The Big One, well you decide if she is well on her way to being the next Project Runway Star or the next person to simply march to her own beat.
This is what she looked like after her “nap” yesterday.
I asked her what was going on with her socks and she said, “well I just wanted bows, not socks today.”
So there you have it, the latest trend in footwear, well we’ll leave that up to you.
Where on Earth?
The Big One comes up with some doosies. I mean the kid says some funny stuff. Often times she just repeats stuff that we say to hear and sometimes she translates the things that we say into “Big One Speak.”
But this morning she surprised me. She was going downstairs and the Little One was still at the top of the stairs. All the sudden I hear “Nanny, nanny boo-boo, you can get me.”
Where on Earth did she hear this? I have certainly never said it to her, nor has the Husband. I am fairly certain Dora, Diego, Barney and the Wonder Pets have never said this.
She is not is preschool or daycare and she won’t even stay in Sunday School by herself. Typically when we go to the park, while she might acknowledge other kids, she rarely speaks others than to say “Hi, my name is {Big One}.”
So now I am perplexed as to where she may have heard this. Or is it something that is innate in kids? Please tell me that she will NOT grow up to be a bully. I mean if this is ingrained in her brain already, what else will she say to taunt people? She’s lucky she’s got amazing blue eyes. I think they will be used to get her little mouth out of trouble!
I Am At a Loss
And I don’t know what to do. I love my girls with all my heart, but the Big One is going to put me over the edge very soon.
She has been extremely naughty recently. When I ask {or tell} her to do something, she doesn’t. When I ask {or tell} her NOT to do something, she does it. She backtalks, sasses, rolls her eyes and generally causes me angst.
So at 4 this morning, she starts whining about her “blankey.” So I drag my butt out of bed to help her with her blanket. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I assume she has gotten up to go potty and has had some trouble getting covered up again.
I was wrong. Instead once I get to her room I notice that the ladybug light is turned on. We turn it on when she goes to sleep, it stays on for 45 minutes and then turns off. She is NOT supposed to touch it once she is in bed.
So I ask her if she did it, she confirms that she did. I tell her to NOT do it again, or I will take it away. So at 5:08 a.m. what do you think happened? She is whining again about her blanket. I go back in her room and she has turned it on again. So I calmly tell her that I said I would take it away if she turned it on again and now that she had turned it on, I was taking it away.
The tears start flowing and the whaling begins. I then tell her to knock it off, that if she wakes up the Little One I was going to spank her bottom. The Little One has a little cold and needs to sleep all that she can.
She cries for a good 45 minutes or so, but it’s not too loud so I let it go.
At about 6:45 I get up to take a shower. Now we have ONE major rule when it comes to waking up. The Big One is allowed to get up and go potty, but then she is to go back to her room. I don’t care if she goes back to sleep or reads books or plays with her toys, but she MUST be in her room. Under NO circumstances is she to go near her sister’s room, let alone in there.
So I get out of the shower and hear the girls having a conversation:
Big One: Did your body tell you it was time to wake up?
Little One: YESSSSSS
Big One: Are you done sweeping?
Little One: YESSSSSSS
Not only has she gone near the Little One’s door, she is in there chatting and playing. I am so angry I don’t even know what to do with her.
Now she is calling for me, “Mommy, {Little One} is awake!” Imagine that.
Anyone have any tips for dealing with an unruly three year-old? I have tried reasoning, bribing, yelling, punishing, spanking, taking away things, rationalizing, loving, and ignoring. Nothing works.
It’s Going to Be A {Long} Day….
This is one of those things that I just cringe when I hear.
I was upstairs drying my hair, the Little One was still in her crib and the Big One decided she was thirsty.
Next thing I hear is “UH-OH! I’m all WET!”
Apparently she filled her cup too full and had some challenges when trying to put the lid on her favorite Dora sippy cup. She then came upstairs waving the soaked arm like it was gravely injured.
“Wook, mommy, I’m all wet. I was just tryin’ to put the wid on and it spiwwed all over me and the floor. But I walked really slow and careful so I didn’t fall in the water. Cause the tile gets reawwy swipery when it’s wet and I didn’t want to fall.”
At least she has finally learned that the tile floor is just like black ice, you can’t see the danger, but once you hit, you are done for. Kind of like my first time driving in the snow in Washington DC on the Beltway during rush hour. I learned very quickly that my little pick-up truck and California driving skills were going to be put to the test. Thank God my angels were with me that day when I slid across three lanes of the beltway and into the median. Somehow the car behind me slid to the right and I slid to the left while everyone else magically disappeared.
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