Girlymama

Everything in our house is breaking at the same time. Have you ever had a day/week/month like that?  Last week, we discovered our portable DVD player is now without a charger/AC adapter, so we are unable to, you know, use  it. It has either evaporated into thin air or it got misplaced while traveling for work. Husband thinks the former, I thinks the later.  Then, our PlayStation 2 broke. Husband is devastated. And so am I. Because the Playstation was also our DVDplayer. Have you ever tried explaining to a 3-year-old why she can’t watch a DVD? (“But, Mama I want to watch Blue’s Clues.” “But we can’t, the DVD player is broken.” “No its not. Its right there!” “Sorry, babe!” Breakdown.)   We have also had 9 light bulbs burn out this past week. Seriously.

And, after we got FIOS installed, our phone and the entire phone system in our house stopped working. According to Verizon, this is in no way related to the FIOS.*  Despite the fact that the phone stopped working the same hour  that FIOS was installed. Despite the fact that the phone has worked perfectly until the Verizon guy fiddled with it after admitting he had no idea how VioP works. This still is in no way Verizon’s fault* and is in no way  their responsibility to fix,* according to their very helpful customer service people* who did not make me cry twice.*

Anywho, we’re hoping our stream of bad luck with all things electronic or house related has ended.  After we buy a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff that we already owned (always annoying, am I right?), we should be good. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

On the bright side, my baby sister is here this weekend, so we’re having fun! I’ll post pictures on Monday – we got some great ones at the zoo this morning! Happy Saturday!

*all starred statements are lies. 

So fun! We went here for dinner – very yum. Appetizers in particular were devine. They have something on the menu called “The Perfect Cosmo” (for $11!?!?!)  Then we walked our tipsy sleves over to the Cheesecake Factory  (which is always, always yummy and worth every sugary, creamy fat gram) for dessert and coffee.

Quotes of the night include:
K: refering to her raspberry martini “They don’t taste as strong the more you drink.”
M: “Get thee behind me, Cosmos!”
C: “…and their men wear jean shorts!”

… I will not have internet for most of the day (Ahhh!!! Can she survive?) because we are getting FIOS installed in our house. Oh yeah. Its supposedly a zillion times faster than DSL. And we’re getting a free wireless router installed as well. For free. And its cheaper than we’re paying now for DSL.  So I will soon be uploading pictures at the speed of light, or something like that.

Sweet 😉

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently came out with a groundbreaking report on the importance of play in child development. (Here’s a one-page summary.)

Apparently (now this may surprise you) but the typical packed schedule full of activities, rigorously academic preschools and having no free time to simply play is causing stress and depression even in young children.

“Among the specific guidelines, the report suggests:

• Emphasizing the benefits of “true toys”, such as blocks and dolls, in which children use their imagination fully over passive toys that require limited imagination;
• Supporting an appropriately challenging academic schedule for each child with a balance of extracurricular activities. This should be based on each child’s unique needs and not on competitive community standards or need to gain college admissions;
• Helping parents evaluate claims by marketers and advertisers about products or interventions designed to produce “super-children;”
• Encouraging parents to understand that each young person does not need to excel in multiple areas to be considered successful or prepared to compete in the real world;
• Suggesting families choose childcare and early education programs that meet children’s social and emotional developmental needs as well as academic preparedness.”

So, basically, parents should stop trying to raise “super-babies” and go back to the basics of letting kids be kids.  FINALLY! I’m doing something right 🙂 That’s what I’ve been arguing forever. Kids don’t need to be doing ballet, soccer, swimming, gymnastics, horseback riding & french lessons at the age of 4. It is just not necessary! I will officially stop feeling guilty that I am not raising little over-achieving Baby Einstein robotchildren.

“Mama, do you need more coffee?”

“No, I am not going to hold you while I am sitting on the potty. Deal!”

“Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Mommy. Play with MEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! Now!”

“Daddy wants no some go.” (Little Sister as she unpacks Husband’s suitcase all over the bedroom.)

“Clip me, please!” (Little Sister asking to be clipped & zipped into Daddy’s now empty suitcase.)
“Don’t tempt me.”

“Why is the living room floor sticky and wet?” “Because Little Sister was carrying her cereal bowl and she spilled some. She’s not supposed to do that, Mom. She should get discipline.”

“cough, cough, cough, HACK HACK!” (Little Sister)

I remember thinking recently that I probably should blog about something meaningful, since I haven’t in awhile. Lately its just been “my-kids-are-nuts” entries with the occasional “misadventure-in-parenting” thrown in. But all that ended yesterday afternoon when I got an e-mail from our favorite baby sitter that said this: “I fortunately have a pretty open week and was just offering to babysit Mon, Tues, or Wed night.  Let me know!!”

There are not enough letters in the word “yes” to convey the true yesness of my answer here.

If you’re not keeping track, this was our last date night. Did ya notice the date on that bad boy? August 8th. As in two months ago. Oh, yes, it is high time for a date.  We’ve gone out without the kids since then, but it was for the terribly unromantic Back-to-School Night. So tonight we will be going out. On a realdate. I don’t know where yet. And, frankly, I don’t care. At this point McDonalds could be romantic provided my children were not there.

I’m also really excited because I have not been to a restaurant in about a month, unless you count having a hoagie the other week. The last time I ate in a nice restaurant was when I went here for my sister-in-law’s bachelorette party in August. Good food, excellent drinks 😉  And, of course, husband wasn’t with me there. So, I’m excited for tonight. It’ll be fun! Details tomorrow!! 🙂

Today while shopping at Old Navy for some jeans, I lost Little Sister. Really. And it took me a good 10 minutes to find her. I looked under all the racks in the section I was in, then in the sections next to that, then in the Halloween section and she was nowhere to be found.

I was terrified. I was seeing flashes in my mind of newspaper headlines: “Girl, 2, Snatched From Store While Negligent Mother Browses Sales Racks.” I literally broke out in a cold sweat when I couldn’t find her after about 5 minutes. I asked the store sales clerk for help, and she used her little headset to send out a warning about a missing child.

Then we found her. Where?

Playing with the jewelry. (She clearly is my biological child!)  She gave me a big “Hi, Mama!” as I scooped her up for kisses and a dire “You stay with Mommy!!!” warning.

She is okay. God is merciful, she was not really lost or hurt. (Unlike, oh say, earlier this year, when Little Sis dived out of the shopping cart while Mommy was comparing prices and ended up in the ER with a concussion. ahem.) But I need to pay more attention when shopping with my kids! No more clothing stores with them. Ever! I mean it!

and finally turned on the heat on Friday. The house temperature was 59 degrees and Little Sister’s teeth were chattering.  And she wouldn’t take off her new coat. I just hated turning that blasted money-sucking furnace on. Really, wouldn’t it be cheaper to bypass the oil and just throw money directly into the furnace? Our first bill was $450. And its not even really cold yet. This could get ugly.

Saturday night, we built a fire in the fireplace. I just love that. Husband and I just sat on the couch and chatted in front of the fire after the girlies were abed. Sigh. I love having a fireplace. Course, today its like 80 degrees, so we’re back in t-shirts. Love that Northeast weather.

And here is my pride and joy — the linen closet. My father-in-law used old Ikea furniture he trash picked to make our new linen closet shelves. Now this  is recycling I can get used to! We still have two shelves to add, but we’re looking good!!  You will notice that my cleaning supplies and medicines are finally, finally after over 3 years, finally out of reach of my children.

Oh – and as a bonus, he also put a shelf up above my closet rod, so now I have another shelf in my closet. I have empty space. In my closet. This must be remedied immediately.

Last night I made out pretty well at the consignment sale. Not as good as past years, but still pretty darn good. I got a lot for Big Sis for school – not too much for little sis. (A new feature – if you click on a picture, you can enlarge it. Figured that out, finally!) Anyways, here’s what I bought:
                                           
Gymboree sweatshirt – a splurge at $4!   Baby Gap legging outfit – $3 total
(both for big sister)

Baby Gap pink sweaters – $2/each, red cord skort for big sis – $1.50

 long-sleeved t-shirts for Big Sis –
brown butterfly one was $1, Tommy H striped one was $2.50

                         
play dress for Little Sis-$2                    Gymboree jumpers (2T and 4T) – $2, $2.50 

 Jeans for Big Sis $3     
                                                               and that’s a designer label, thank you!

 denim jumper and shirt from BabyGap for Big Sis – $3
(cord skort and this are for next year, size 5)
 BabyGap peacoat for little sis – $4

So, there’s the haul! $30.50 for the lot. 
Now, Husband just took the girlies to the park so I have the house to myself. So, I’m off to enjoy!! 

Not only am I getting some new shelving, which I am totally psyched about, but today is the day of the Children’s Sale. The preschool I used to work athosts a consignment sale twice a year. And, being that the school is located in what is probably one of the wealthiest towns in the entire country, they are nice clothes. Really nice. There’s also shoes, toys, books, nursery equiptment, maternity clothes and a whole bunch of other stuff. Its great.

The majority of my kids clothes comes from either this sale or hand-me-downs. It only a mildly philosophical thing, my buying their clothes second hand. I refuse to spend loads of money on kids clothes. I think things like this  and this and this are just disgusting. I mean, $150 for a outfit for a 2-year-old? Yes, its cute, but seriously. Is this really the best way to spend your money? Its just going to get pooped on or spit up on or used as a kleenex.

Now, I also don’t have loads of money to spend on anything, so this is a very convenient philosophy to have 😉  I buy clothes everywhere from the babyGap (clearance rack or outlet, please!) to Target to yard sales.  They also get great gifts of clothes for their birthdays and stuff, so they really usually are looking super cute, despite our dressing them on the cheap.  But, honestly, even if I did suddenly inherit $3 million, I simply could not see myself spending that kind of money on clothes for my kids.

But, anyway, being the bargain hunter that I am, this sale is always one of my favorite places to shop for them. Anything my kids have that is ‘designer’ (Ralph Lauren, DKNY) is from here. Almost all of their Gymboree stuff is from here, and most of their BabyGap stuff is from here. And everything costs $3 or less. Its awesome. I just l-o-v-e when someone says, “That outfit is so adorable! Where did you get it?” And I get to say, “Well, its a Ralph Lauren jumper, but I got it at a consignment sale for $2.50.” I’ll report tomorrow on the hunt. Maybe, if I can wrestle my kids into it, we can do an online fashion show. (don’t count on it!)

So today will combine two of my favorite things: organizing and bargain shopping.  Heaven.