Parenting & Potty Words.

Parenting & Potty Words.

You know that you have reached another level in parenting when suddenly your daily conversations with your spouse, parents & friends feel like a spelling bee. 

We have recently had a rude awakening to how clued in Baby N is to adult conversations with her new found love for the phrase "damn it". Oh my, 20 months seems really young to start this sort of thing, but I suppose most kids (if not all) go through this stage of experimenting with strong language. Turns out this isn't the only word of this sort that she knows. During a recent conversation at lunch time we realized that she has been cataloging every bad word she has heard from every adult she knows for the past 3-4 months and has been keeping them in a mental file until she found the right way to use them. 

*Sigh*, it has been a humbling experience to say the least. I have felt like it is my responsibility to warn all my friends with small kids who want to come play about my daughters verbal experiments. In a community of little people, potty words are about as contagious as a case of chicken pox and sometimes equally as excruciating to deal with. 

I can't pretend that "I don't know where she got it from". Her dad and I aren't always super saintly in our expression of humor, frustration, etc. There have been many trips to the time out chair for the past few days... for her and for us too. (A side note of hilarity: Daddy slipped out a bad word & put himself in time out. Baby N saw this, started bawling, and said that she needed a time out too. She went and sat next to her dad the whole time. Sweet thing!)

So through lots of redirection (learning to say "dog gone it"), prayer and patience, we are slowly navigating our way through this experience. The thing that I think is neat is that I am changing with her, rather than standing back and forcing her to conform to my expectations. That is one amazing things about having kids & a family; we have the opportunity to "grow up" and be refined together. We mold each other by our responses to the experiences that we share, and the Spirit of God binds us together as we walk through life in faith. It's amazing that trials like this actually make me realize how much I really love being a mom. It's a precious gift that I wouldn't trade for anything.

The potty words, however, I could do without.

Bargain Lovers Weekend

Bargain Lovers Weekend

In our tiny community there is a yearly tradition that I wait eagerly for at the end of summer. Bargain Lovers Weekend. 

The weekend after Labor Day our neighboring town of Ferndale throws a city wide yard sale that is known far and wide as the capital of incredible deals with hours of treasure hunting fun. Hundreds of people come to see what they can find out on the lawn, and we decided to join the masses.

I packed in the troops and we headed out to see what little gems we could find.

I can always sell these kinds of things to the kids as an "adventure", and as long as snacks and blankies come as part of the deal, they are usually game.

We spent the morning strolling with a girlfriend of mine & found lots of cool things... for the kiddos we found a pink plastic mower as well as a little camping chair, a pony, a toy microwave, "cooking" utensils, several books, and a baby doll and some gold shoes for Baby N(of course). For mommy we found some books, clothes, a mortar & pestle  a glass domed cheese stand that will become a terrarium, and some funky vintage glasses, to name a few. 

Also, I scored this little cabinet (FOR FREE). It will become a baby kitchen. You should have seen me stuffing this thing into the front seat of my Versa "No no, it'll fit, trust me, I've done this before..."

And the best part? I spent about $16. Yup.

I <3 yard sales.

Check out these vintage beauties that I scored for 10 cents a piece. I was thinking of using them as candle holders, but I'm not completely sold on that idea yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

I <3 nap time.

I <3 nap time.

Nap time. Time for everyone to get a second wind. 

For the kids, that means listening to Celtic crooning and sucking their blankies into sweet oblivion. For me it means cleaning up every toy & nasty Cheerio I can find, praying that I can get dinner started, and if time allows, sitting on my buns with a cup of hot chocolate (often coffee laced) for 15 or 20 minutes. That little cup of sugar is mommy nirvana as far as I'm concerned. It's days like these that I pay attention to the simple luxuries in life and take a moment to thank God for the small things that keep me going.