June 29, 2006

The Terrible Toddler

It’s starting. The terrible two’s. And frankly, I don’t think I’m well-prepared to handle this yet. He’s not quite 22 months old, but Dawson is acting like those kids I see in the grocery store who whine, cry, kick, scream, swear and pretty much put their parents through absolute misery.

Every morning at 6:15 on the dot, Dawson wakes up with this horrible, demanding cry as if to say, “Mumma! Dada! I’m awake! You both better be awake! ONE OF YOU MUST COME IN HERE AND GET ME RIIIIIIGHT NOOOOOOWWWW!!!” I cringe everytime I hear this sound emanating from his tiny little vocal chords.

I try so hard to play dead in hopes that my husband will get up and deal with the usual duties of diaper changes and the doling out of Berry Burst Cheerios, but I think Doug is on to me.

I used the “I-got-up-with-him-to-nurse-for-7-months-now-it’s-your-turn!” excuse long enough. Doug needs his sleep, too. Except, wait! I’m the one who has to get him ready at 6:45. I give him a bath, dress him, fight to get his socks and shoes on and haul him, crying (me, not him!) to the car on the way to daycare. I complete this routine 4 days a week! Doug stays home with him every Wednesday and let’s just say he’s got it pretty easy compared to me.

I’d like to pretend that I’m super mom and I can multi-task on a super level, but I’d be fibbing. This motherhood stuff takes a lot out of me. Don’t get me wrong, the cuddles, smiles, kisses and cute things Dawson does are worth every minute of every day, but why do I feel guilty for not being able to “do it all?”

It’s like there’s this precendet laid out before me stating that I must be in 100 different places at once. I must be able to entertain my child without getting bored of playing with matchbox cars after 3.6 minutes. I must feel guilty for not wanting to deal with the temper tantrum because my child wants another flipping cookie. Why do our short comings make us feel like bad mothers? Did my mother feel this way? And now that the terrible two’s are just beginning, will I feel guilty every day for not knowing the Dr. Spock approach to “toddlerism”?

Dawson has this annoying (but still cute) way of throwing a temper tantrum, full throttle crying and kicking, laying on the floor. He’ll do it for what feels like an hour and it’s really only 9 minutes. And then when he’s finished, he looks over at me and says, “Hi!” in the most chipper voice with this big shit-eating grin on his face. As if he’s saying, “Haha, I drove Mumma crazy and now I’m going to pretend nothing ever happened! That’ll push her over the edge!”

-sigh- Please tell me I’m not the only mother who goes through this!

June 28, 2006

Stress, Stress and More Stress

It’s been a few days since I’ve blogged. It’s been a madhouse, a zoo, a chaotic 2 days. I just want to fly to Aruba. No, wait. I don’t. I just need a day away with no human contact whatsoever.

Yesterday I got into a fight with a friend. I’d blog it, but I just don’t feel like rehashing it all over again. Hopefully she’ll see the error of her ways, because, you know — I’m never wrong. Yes, I’m being sarcastic. It’s my pain talking.

My mother-in-law is in the hospital. A day after my father-in-law came home from rehab for his broken hip. I’m thinking anxiety is causing her physical ailments. I just want her to get better.

My little Bug is whinier than I ever imagined. I swear it’s pre-terrible-two’s. I’m dreading it.

And, I have a hair appointment today and I fear I will have to reschedule it. Again. Jenny — my hairdresser- is probably going to kick my ass. I feel bad, but with the MIL in the hospital, I feel I should go see her instead.

Okay, time to make some phone calls! I hope everyone else is having a better week than I am!

June 24, 2006

First Grade Student Beaten Up

This story infuriates me. I can’t even tell you how angry I am about it. We’re taught to be tolerant of the rights of others. I cannot agree more, but why should a 7-year-old be beaten because his parents are against homosexuality? I have nothing against gays or lesbians. I don’t think they should be treated any differently than any other human being on this planet. But what makes me mad is that their rights seem to be more important than mine or those of David Parker.

David Parker simply wished to have a say in his child’s education. And if he chooses to be notified of homosexual teachings in order to remove his son from the classroom, that is HIS RIGHT. Why can’t people (in general) understand that? And why do these 8 or 10 children who are responsible for the beating go unpunished? Regardless of why he was beaten, it’s a crime. These children obviously need to be expelled from school or need to be seen by a psychologist to figure out why they started beating someone up and more importantly, need to face the consequences of their actions!! I’m so angry I’m shaking. I can guarantee if the child who was beaten up was gay or had gay parents, it would be front page news and action would be taken. But no — not in this case. In this instance it goes unnoticed. I have two words for this: Fuck That!

Hook, Line and Sinker

Nope. Not talking about fishing.

All I hear is clickety-click-clicking of the computer keys under my fingers and that of those people who sit next to me. And the occasional, “….do you have the claim number?” or ” No, we don’t cover for STDs that you contract on your vacation….”

Wait! What??? Are you serious? You have to be kidding. Someone asked that question?

Indeed they did. And it’s not the first time. When I first started working for Travel Guard in 2003, I received an insurance telephone call from a gentleman named Mark who wanted to know if we’d cover his medical expenses if he contracted an STD in Las Vegas from a prostitute. I was absolutely mortified in answering his coverage questions. But I managed. He wasn’t too happy with our requirement that we would need proof that he indeed got the clap on his vacation and there’s no way to prove that. After 35 minutes of trying to get him to understand, in a fit of rage, his reply to me was “Well, I’ll just tie the girl up, take a picture of her with a newspaper in her hand and if I get HIV you’ll know it was from that whore.”

I didn’t know what to do or say and so I just said, “Well maybe if you’d use a condom OR here’s an idea: do not have sex PERIOD, you’ll have nothing to worry about!”

Instantly I feared that I’d be fired for my lack of compassion toward this “customer” but my manager was too stunned by the conversation to begin with (she had picked up the call to listen in as I explained our coverages) that she told me what I did was the not the correct thing, but that she wouldn’t have been able to handle it any better.

So now, my poor co-worker is dealing with a caller of the same magnitude. Ugh. I get a sick feeling remembering this topic. But I digress, some people in this world are just not bright! Go figure.

Do people seriously go on vacation just to have sex with prostitutes? Or, unprotected sex in general? I’ve heard of businessmen taking trips to Bangkok (and no pun was intended) because the “street vendors” are amazing (and here I thought they were talking about Thai food), but I never imagined going on a trip to have sexual relations with foreign hookers.

Maybe I’m just too sheltered. My world is too small here in Midwestern America. I don’t even know if we have hookers here. I’ve never seen one. I mean, there were girls I knew who were slutty, but I can’t imagine anyone paying them for sex. Then again, I don’t want to know. This topic is going off course.

I really need to get more sleep and then stuff like this won’t bother me so much. I really hope that the traveler going to Amsterdam is bringing a lot of protection for the “red light” district. Ugh. What a day.