Girlymama

I am a Type A, Perfectionist. (Not totally type A, but pretty high-strung.) Particularly when dealing with something that I have control over.  I fully realize that I cannot be a perfect parent or have perfect kids and I’m okay with that. But my house? Clean. Clutter? No way. Dirty dishes in the sink? Dirt on the carpet? Spots on the mirror? *Gasp!* Must clean now!!
This behavior can really come out when I’m dieting. Perfectionism. I’ve done it all – The Zone. South Beach. Atkins. Weight Watchers. Once I gave up all forms of sugar completely for 4 months. In my early days, I had some unhealthy habits (eating only Special K, pills, etc).  I need to be really careful, because clearly obsessive eating and exercise is not good, and I have a slightly obsessive personality.
I was thinking about this today when I was feeling fat. While exercising. After having eaten Total for lunch. And breakfast. (Not on purpose. The kids ate all the lunch meat and the lettuce had gone south, so I needed to eat something.)  Its natural for me to go overboard on dieting without meaning to. I mean, I’m only trying to lost about 5 pounds. Maybe 10. That would put me solidly pre-first-baby. (I’m not trying to get solidly pre-second-baby when I sunk below 110 after being sick, pregnant and nursing. Not attractive.) So I don’t need to go overboard. I need to keep telling myself this. I’m not fat. I know this. I need to be realistic here. Keep a healthy perspective.

All children who are not technically ‘napping’ must still be quiet in their room, staying out of my hair, for an hour every afternoon.

Big Sis does not typically nap, being almost 4. If she’s really tired, she’ll lay down and sleep for an hour or so, but normally I make her play quietly in her room and get out of my hair for at least an hour every afternoon. Today I let it slide. 
She had a friend over all day. No problem. Kid’s mom was sick and overwhelmed at the thought of entertaining a 3-year-old all day while trying desperately not to throw up. So we brought Friend over to our house (Friend already had the stomach bug and should not be contagious. Plus we’ve already had it, so we should be safe. I hope. God wouldn’t do that to me, would He?) Friend does not nap in the afternoons. So, in an effort to help Big Sister not feel like a loser, I did not make Big Sis nap.
She did great. Played all day like a champ. Had a great time. Went right to bed at 8 and was asleep by 8:10. (really)
I’m a mess. Not only was I not able to exercise (darn!) but I am totally, completely wiped out. I underestimated how much that little breaktime in the afternoon helps me survive. I need one hour without being asked the same question 853 times. One hour without wiping anyone elses nose. One hour without whining or fighting over toys. One hour without having to reprimand or discipline. 
I’m thinking of applying this to Husband as well, what do you think? 😉

Just mere hours after resolving to stop buying crap and realizing I have zero extra spending money, I went to unload the laundry from the dryer. I had thrown a load in earlier that night, whatever was dirty. (Yes, I know you’re supposed to separate lights, darks, delicates, whites, blah blah blah. But having children has morphed our clothes into three plies: clean, dirty and burn.) Have you guessed where I’m going with this? I accidentally threw in a sweater that my mother-in-law had recently re-dyed black for me. So, Husband’s t-shirts are now dingy grey. I had a t-shirt ruined. The girls’ new Princess pajamas were ruined. The girls’ nice white blouses for church were ruined. 3 pairs of Big Sis’ pants were ruined. Two new towels were ruined.
Then, this morning I was unloading the dishwasher and dropped one of my cute new bowls I got for Christmas. And broke it.
Sigh. Can I go back to bed yesterday and start over?

Their new favorite word is “BUM!”
Not as in “My brother is such a bum!” or “That totally bummed me out!” or “Hey, can I bum some money for lunch?”
No. This is “BUM” as in “bum ²   (bŭm) n.   Chiefly British Slang The buttocks.”

Yup, their new favorite word refers to their butts. They love to pretend to fall down and yell “Ouch! My bum!” or chase each other yelling, “I’m gonna get your bum!” Or just for the sheer heck of it, yell “Bum, bum, bum, bum, BUM!!” (followed by “gigglegigglegiggle Mama, she said ‘Bum!'”)

I thought I wasn’t going to have to deal with this having only girls….

I know I already listed all of my new years resolutions in this post (you know, exercise until I can wear a bikini in public, be perfect, etc.) But I need to add one. I’m inspired by a friend of mine who has resolved to “stop buying crap.”

This is something I also need to do. Due to some big purchases coming up this year (trip to India, preschool tuition) and a very tight budget in our house, my annual gals-only trip to Hilton Head is getting squeezed out of the picture. sob. If I’m serious about going, I need to step up to the plate and save big time by May. I have $200 set aside that I got for Christmas. That’s a start, but let’s be realistic. That’s not even a plane ticket and its certainly not going to pay for all of the margaritas I plan on downing while lounging by the pool. Ahem. So its time for some serious budget crunching. Essentials only.

This means no wandering around Target. That leads to bad things, like triple digit check-outs. Great bargains, but as my darling Husband is always reminding me “You didn’t save any money if you weren’t going to buy it in the first place.” Food, gas and toilet paper. And diapers for the next few months. That’s it. I’m not quite up to this level, but who is, really? (Hey! Maybe this will motivate me to exercise & eat better so that my pre-baby clothes fit instead of buying new ones!)

DCRmom– I am so with you. Let’s do this together. You (and the blogosphere) can hold me accountable. For moral support, let’s meet at the mall on Thursday. Wait…. that might not help. (break the cycle! break the cycle….)

update:
Husband and I just spent the last 2 hours getting our budget to balance. This “no longer buying crap” resolution is no longer for fun. It is now a necessity, as my food and household (ie Target) money just got cut by $125/month. (Pancakes for dinner, anyone? No? How about ramen?) I believe Hilton Head is now a distant dream I may get to enjoy next year.  Dang it! Being responsible sucks. Big time.

1. little sister’s cry of “Hi, Mama!” when I go into her room in the morning.

2. the way the skylight in the master bath makes my bedroom sound on a rainy night.

3. getting kisses from a toddler (“mmmmm…MAH!!!”)

4. my new rug in the mudroom. (does this or does this not look like its from Pottery Barn? I know! Budget Chic – that’s me!)

5. girlfriends who always seem to know when i need a girls’ night out!

1. exercise 5 times

2. play with my kids every day. (like really play. for more than 15 minutes.)

3. go to bed on time. so i can wake up on time. and i need to be dragging my butt out of bed when the alarm goes off. not turning the alarm off and sleeping until my kids are poking me saying, “please come downstairs, mama. i hungry!!”

4. stop snapping at my family for no reason. stop being so grumpy to my family. this applies to my kids, for sure. but more specifically to my husband, who really doesn’t need this from me right now as our kids are driving us both crazy.

Today, as Husband and I were doing some work around the house, the girls were playing in their rooms (meaning they totally trashed their rooms). So I made them clean up their rooms.

Little Sister went right into her room and starting picking up stuff.

Big Sister picked up one thing and said “I’m done!” So I went in with her and worked on helping her pick everything up. (“Pick up the books.” “What books?” “Those books. Over there. In that huge pile.” “Oh. Where do they go?” “On your bookshelf.”) After about 5 minutes, Little Sister came in and started helping us. So after Big Sister’s room was finally clean and I said, “Let’s go clean to Little Sis’s room.”
Little Sis: “I all done, Mama. My room clean.”
Me: “Okay. Come show me!” (as I’m thinking ‘yeah, right…’)

Her room was totally clean! Everything was picked up and put in its proper place. She even picked up her laundry and put it in her laundry basket. All by herself. And, may I remind you that she is 2.

She soooo takes after me!

Said to my Husband at church this morning (by a guy who often says things that are, well, rude without meaning to):

Man: “Your father is a very handsome man.”
Husband: “Oh, Thanks.”
Man:”You look more like your mom.”
Husband: (trying not to laugh) “Uh, thank you.”

For Christmas this year, I got… more shelves.  If you recall, for my birthday I got shelves for the linen closet. Well, for Christmas I got shelves for the family room. So we now have floor to ceiling shelves on one side and… a place for coats. Finally. This is terrible exciting. And I spent this afternoon organizing and unpacking some boxes labeled “Family Room” and “Coat Closet” that have been sitting upstairs in the attic since we moved in.

tee-hee-hee.

p.s.
is it strange to anyone else that its 70 degrees out in Philly in January? Maybe I’m just getting paranoid after watching this movie last week? It made me want to ditch th eminivan and go buy a hybrid car.