August 15, 2007

Under the Weather, But Now Feeling Better

Yesterday, I suffered a terrible stomach-achey-icky thing.  I stayed home from work and tried to rest and not do anything.  It’s tough to do with a toddler around, constantly making a mess of things.

I should have taken him to daycare so I could sleep without a foot in my face, but I feel so guilty when I drop Dawson at Renee’s.  It’s ridiculous.

I spent most of my time on the couch with a blanket, held hostage by episodes of The Berenstain Bears, Dora & Diego, as well as Thomas the Tank Engine.   I really had no choice if I wanted to keep the peace between me and a certain 3-year-old.

Doug went fishing in the morning and I cursed him for leaving me alone to die of diarrhea and not being able to eat. 

I hate being sick.

Hate it.

But I feel a bit better this morning and I grabbed a bottle of Pepto and I’m headed to work. 

Actually, I’m starving.  A slice of cheese and a slice of toast are calling my name.

August 13, 2007

Too Tired To Think

I spent yesterday morning moving furniture from the living room and bedroom into the dining room because we’re cleaning our carpets tomorrow.  It’s been several years since we Rug Doctor’d it and the cream-colored saxony  desperately needs a deep clean. 

After 2+ hours of that, I jumped into the shower and took Dawson to the store with me.  We needed diapers, a new outfit for Dawson to wear in his 3-year-old photos, filters for our fish tank, fish food, a rawhide bone for Murphy, black ink for the printer, rummage sale tags and refills for Dawson’s Nemo and Ratatouille Pez dispensers.  Yes, the Pez candy is a necessity unless you want to hear a toddler ask for the stuff 100 million times a day.

I completely forgot two items because I listened to non-stop chatter by a certain child sitting in the cart. 

I came home with everything but the printer ink and rummage tags, and instead, Dawson roped me into a new CARS! racetrack toy thing.  And I only bought it because it was on clearance.  I’m such a sucker.  

I even did that whole guilt trip thing my mom did when we were kids.

“Okay…but this is your birthday present.  Early….so you won’t get anything new in September.”

I know I’ll end up buying him something anyway because I love to see that happy smile on the Doodlebug’s face.

I’m not spoiling him.  Really, I’m not.  Before this, the last toy he got was for Easter.

When we got home, Dawson went straight to Daddy and asked for help putting together his new toy. 

“Daddy, help me o-ped this!”

And the two of them played with the CARS! and I went to cut my third of the grass. 

It took forever.  And it was hot outside.  Humid.  And my feet were yucky green when I was done.  Because I mowed the lawn barefoot.  I didn’t want my shoes to be green.  (And Kristen says I can’t wear Crocs even if I am doing yardwork or gardening.)

When I woke up this morning, I felt as though I had arthritis in every one of my joints.  I’m achey.  And tired.  But the good news is I probably melted away five pounds!

So, after a Sunday of getting things done, buying a toy for a cute, soon-to-be 3-year-old, and sharing feelings of great accomplishment with my husband, I feel awesome.  It was worth it.  Even if I’m too tired (and sore) to think, today.

Also, yesterday was my grandfather, Florian’s birthday.  He would have been ninety-four years old.  I can’t help but miss him.  He loved his family very much.  Happy Birthday, Grandpa, wherever you are…

August 10, 2007

Reading Brings Us Together (And Makes For One Sleepy Toddler)

Finding quality family time when both parents work is difficult. As a wife and mother, I often struggle with maintaining balance between work and home. And on a greater scale, I find it challenging to spend time with my husband and our son equally.

I know that equality in marriage is wonderful in theory, because household responsibilities get in the way when I’m not working 9 to 5. If anything I spend my non-working days with Dawson, coloring, bike riding, walking and playing outdoors.

My husband is often absent when it comes to “family” time because his work schedule isn’t as flexible, whereas I have weekends off. But I realize how important it is for Dawson to spend time with both his parents together. And so we try to make time.

One of the ways we spend quality time together is watching family movies. For a mere two hours, once a week, we can sit down in the living room and watch 101 Dalmations, Shrek, Cars (for the 90 bazillionth time) or our latest favorite, Charlotte’s Web.

Another thing we’ve tried is reading books together. Most days I read to Dawson before bed, and on the rare occasion, Doug will read to him as well.

Last night we sat together on the couch, Dawson sharing part of our laps, and read the book Murphy Jumps a Hurdle, that we borrowed from the library. We love this book because our dog happens to be named Murphy.

Doug and I took turns reading the pages and Dawson was so happy to be with us that he fell asleep, mid-book.

“Honey, I think he fell asleep.”

“Seriously?” I look down at the Doodlebug, fast asleep in our arms.

“This book-reading thing is awesome. Why didn’t we do this before?”

“I don’t know, too busy I guess,” I say. “Who’s going to put him in his bed?”

“Let’s just keep reading until we know he’s really asleep.”

And so we continued to read and occasionaly kiss our son on the top of his head. And I realized that family time is wonderful, even if it is few and far between.

(But if we had a Wii? I guarantee we’d be hanging out together more often. Seriously. How fun!)

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This post is brought to you in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network & EA’s Wii-Boogie, a family gaming experience. Shake it. Sing it. Create it.

What are your favorite family activities and how do you find the quality family time? And if you don’t have quality family time, how do you make up for it? What challenges do you face?

Tell us all about it in a post on today, August 10, and you’ll be entered to win a Nintendo Wii along with the new family video game Boogie. Then you’ll have no excuse for not being able to find any fun family activities! Click here for participation requirements.

To read other posts about quality family time, click here!

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**Also, I’m at Vodkarella’s today. Come visit me!

August 9, 2007

Dawsonisms Part II

The second installment of funny things the toddler said: 

My husband works in a grocery store and we often get the grocery flyers so that I know what’s on sale.  I left this week’s flyer on the coffee table after I was finished making my list. 

Dawson was playing with his cars on the table and saw the flyer and exclaimed, “Mumma, I need these!”  When I looked up, he was pointing to the Oreo cookies on sale, two for $5.

Okay buddy, you make the list next time.

When we were in Pulaski three weeks ago, I took Dawson to the parade that Sunday.  Many of the floats tossed candy to the kids and some parade walkers were handing out flyers, can coolers, match books and other promotional things to the adults at the parade.  I put the Green Bay Packers schedule and True Value match book into Dawson’s candy bag because I had forgotten to bring my purse. 

When we got home, Dawson was searching for the perfect piece of candy in his bag when he found the match book.  He said, “Heeeeey!  These are yucky! I gotta throw them in the garbage!”

Hmmm.  Yes, those are yucky.  Who taught you that?  What a smart kid.

When I was packing for the BlogHerCon two weeks ago, Dawson was sitting on the bed watching me.  I was running circles between the bathroom and bedroom trying to find what I needed. 

At one point I sat on the bed and said, “I’m going crazy!  What if I forget something?”  Little Dawson looked at me and asked, “Mumma needs prozac?” with a grin on his face. 

Thank you, Uncle Nathan, for teaching your nephew to say this.  I can’t wait for the day he says it IN PUBLIC and people start staring at me.

He just keeps getting smarter and funnier every day.