Day glow pink....

If you've been following my blog, you'd know by now that I have a very creative 3yr old with an incredibly active imagination! The days of her stripping, pulling her poopie diaper off and finger painting on the wall are gone. The bedroom has been emptied of anything that she could possibly have fun with during naptime. The lamp has been removed, so she can't wear the lampshade on her head as she dances around the room. The toy bin is gone, so she can not line up her dolls and stuffed animals, then cover them with band aids. Most of the art has been removed from the walls, so she can't rearrange it.

So what is left for her to do doing during naptime? Sleep, I would think, but now who am I kidding! So now really what is there left to do???? Well, to take apart her bed, of course and "paint" the walls with Vaseline! As I stared in wonderment at her room. I keep thinking how could this happen? I had removed everything that I thought she could get! The only thing I had left in the medicine closet of her bathroom was a small jar of Vaseline. A small jar of goo, aka Vaseline, would be way too appealing for my daughter. And now how did she reach the medicine cabinet? Well, she had opened each drawer of the bathroom vanity to create her own steps!

She explained to me that she was "cleaning" and the furniture needed to be polished. As I assessed the situation I see that she had "polished" the entire bed, 1/2 the wall, her bedding, and the mirrored closet doors. Yes, she was a busy bee! To top it off she pulled out the decorative flowers on her bed that covered the screws that hold her bed together. I am positive if she had been able to rig something together to get the screws out, she would have!

After all said and done the room is back to normal. It did take several washings to remove all of the Vaseline from the linens. The only hint left from the crime scene is the shiny patch of paint on the wall that now looks like a day glow pink!

It's hard to trust just anyone...

It is so hard to trust a stranger with watching my daughter. My husband & I don't live near any family, so we have always had to depend on sitters if we wanted a date night, attend a business function, or just some basic down time. I admire the few who are able to call a new sitter right off the bat, and then walk right out the door without a second thought. I, myself can't do that. I am overprotected, miss my daughter desperately, even if I am only in the room down the hall and my husband is certain, that the sitter will sell our beautiful daughter to the highest bidder. Yes, we have issues. I am so fortunate to have a wonderful sitter, who is an LVN, amazing with my daughter and accepts that I text her every 30 minutes to see how "my baby" is doing. But I know we should have a few back ups. Now that the twins will be arriving shortly, plus keeping my daughter busy, I am beginning to interview sitters, again.

The scary thing is, that no matter how well you screen someone, how many references you check, it is still ultimately a leap of faith. I would hope that everyone out there wants the best for a child, and would do anything with the baby/child's best interest at heart. Unfortunately we've all heard stories where that is not quite the case. So what should one do? I don't quite know, but I guess the best we can do is screen as vigilantly as we can. Here are a few tips that I have found helpful when looking for a babysitter or nanny:

-Hire babysitters who are knowledgeable about first aid
and CPR.
-Always ask for and validate references. Check the experience of the babysitter. What age groups did the person work with? How much time?
-Babysitters with professional training in nursing or childcare are most preferable.
-Interview the sitter to check for sense of responsibility, temperament, understanding of children, common sense, ability to understand and follow instructions, etc.
-See how your baby reacts to the sitter. Even though a sitter may sound great on paper...it all comes down to chemistry.

Feel free to download a copy of my " Questions for Babysitters". Some of the questions are tough, but I figure that if it doesn't scare or intimidate the sitter, then she has passed the first step!
http://www.babyproductreviews.net/pdf/Questions_for_Babysitters.pdf

What do you do all day?

Now that I am pregnant with twins and it is becoming closer towards the end of my pregnancy, my doctor has put me on moderate bed rest. What is moderate bed rest? Well, I haven't quite figured that out. I took it as, 1 free pass a day to escape from the house, but apparently that's not the right interpretation. The hardest part for me is just trying to keep still. It is not because I am too uncomfortable to stay in one place, it's just that there is still too much to do before the boy's arrive. So as I wander around the house trying to figure out what needs to be done, deep down I know I should be in bed, but I just can't stay put. As I drive around town doing all my errands, I wonder what my doctor would say. I don't think she would be thrilled. So many people say "oh you must be SO DONE", but quite honestly, I really wish I had another 4-5 months to go. Others say it must be so nice to be catching up on some good Oprah shows, but I haven't watched one yet. A few say how nice it must be to have some down time to read a few good books, but I haven't made a dent in the stack of books on my nightstand. What am I doing? I am working like a madwoman, trying to come up with names for the boys, preparing meals, doing laundry, ironing, running errands, trying to play and be an active part of my daughter's life. I know I must stop. I keep getting reprimanded by my daughter's sitter and my husband. I really don't mean to be causing them so much angst. I know I will look back and think how I should have taken advantage of the mandatory down time...but I have never been one to just relax and veg out, so it is extremely difficult to follow the doctors orders, even though I know I should. Today, I have decided that as soon as I finish my work project, pick names for the boys and paint art for their room, I will stay in bed. Unfortunately, I have a feeling the boys will be born by then!

Elmo told me to do it!

I've always thought that my daughter was an easy child, but the more & more I am with other children I realize that she's not as easy as what I had believed. She is an active & adventurous girl. I mean really, how many little girls scale the exterior of a spiral staircase, get to the top and yell "mommy, catch me, I am going to jump"? Yes, she did jump and fortunately, I was there to catch her. Not a simple feat considering I am pregnant with twins. When I reprimanded her for her actions, she looked at me quite plainly and simply explained that Elmo told her to do it. Well, needless to say she & Elmo both received the longest time out ever. My next clue was when I was cooking dinner and I heard "Mommy, look I'm swinging". I couldn't quite figure out what she could be swinging from, until I entered the dining room and there she was hanging from the chandelier. Needless to say another time out was given and the chandelier was replaced with a different fixture the next day. So I came to the conclusion that she's not easy, she just has good sleep habits. Naps everyday at 1pm, bedtime at 7pm and awake at 8:30am. People I tell think this is a crazy amount of sleep, but if you met my daughter you'd realize she really wears herself out. So now that I am 8 months pregnant with twins, I can't physically keep up the pace. Everyday I try to figure out ways to entertain her in a sedentary way. As I rack my brain on a daily basis to find a solution on what could preoccupy my active daughter in a passive way, I think I've finally found my dream solution... crayons, watercolor & finger paints!

When my two and a half year old daughter got her hands into the bright and colorful finger paints for the first time, her face lit up with a delightful smile! She was hooked on art and color, from the moment that her hands started spreading the magical colors around. Finger painting, watercolor paints and crayons have really made a difference! She loves to work with the textures and colors of the finger paints, and the painting process has seemed to open a whole new part of her brain. I think all children should definitely be introduced to crayons and finger paints. It is now a battle for me to pull her away from her "art" instead of having to worry about which light fixture she is swinging from. And that's a "battle" I'll happily deal with!