Dey and Dee's Updates

TGIF!

I really appreciate weekends now that Deyan is working full time again. To give you a better picture of why, I thought I'd share a bit of my day with you all. *warning - it's a bit long*

Challenge #1: Wake Up
Esther hasn't been sleeping well this week (though last night was a bit better) and Simeon has also been climbing into our bed in the wee hours of the morning lately. Since Deyan needs to be up early for work and 4 in a double bed just doesn't work very well, he ends up going to sleep in the spare room leaving me between the 2 kids for the rest of the night. So although it was 8am, cranky kids crying for me to ge up and get them some breakfast just wasn't nearly inspiring enough to drag my butt out of bed. My pillow and duvet were very inviting at that moment.
Solution: "Go watch Baby Einstein and I'll be downstairs in a minute."

Challenge #2: "I can't find the Baby Einstein movie, Mom. I looked everywhere so you'll have to find it."
Solution: Get up. Find movie (in the VCR) and put it on while I prepare breakfast.

Challenge #3: Get Ready for the Day
Eliminating all extras (such as putting dishes away, throwing in a load of laundry, etc.) this boils down to 3 basic steps:

First Step- Eat Breakfast
This one usually goes smoothly, unless Sim's cereal bowls aren't clean or we've run out of mini wheats or milk. Even then he's pretty flexible in the mornings since this is his favorite meal of the day and we often have several cereal varieties on hand. On a good day he doesn't even mind a different bowl, he just won't be able to sip his leftover milk. Esther eats 'mush' so that's easy and I eat whatever I have time for whenever I remember to!

Second Step - Get Dressed
For me, it boils down to which 2 pairs of jeans I will wear and which sweater will be either the most comfortable or the warmest depending on the situation. Nothing fancy, but at least my clothes are clean! I usually get dressed last so as not to soil them during the rest of the steps.
Esther has lots of cute outfits, but getting her to sit still long enough to put them on is the hard part!
Simeon is pretty easy going about what he wears usually, but he's very distracted and I usually have to tell him several times to do each step.
Here is an example of what this step often looks like: "Simeon, take your jammies off and go pee on the potty." After some zipper help, the jammies come off. "Simeon, sit down and go pee!" "I don't want to go pee on the potty!" "You need to go pee because we're going out." Meanwhile I have Esther pinned to the floor trying to do up her diaper. Sim is whining and dancing around the bathroom. "I don't have any pee in my penis." "Simeon, sit down and try to go pee please so I can get you dressed." I manage to get an undershirt on E. S seems to be done on the potty and is dancing and singing naked around the room. "Simeon, did you dump your pee in the toilet? Good, please sit down and put your underwear on." E now has pants and socks on and is running and hiding in the closet. S has his underwear on his head, still singing away. "Simeon, I'm going to count to 3 and I want those underwear to be on you by the time I'm done! 1...2..." I find E and attempt to pull her shirt over her head while she throws herself on the ground in protest, often banging her head in the process. "...3!" "They're on Mommy!" "Great, next comes your pants." E is now sitting on the floor saying "koks". I glance over to see she has taken her socks off. While I'm putting them back on her, S is climbing all over me. "You be Goliath, Mommy, and I'll be David." He knocks me on the head. "Fall over now Mommy, I defeat you!" After performing a quick mock death, I resume the dressing ritual. By now I'm ready for a nap...

Third Step - Washing/Grooming
My teeth get brushed every morning. Everything else is bonus! Ok, so maybe that's an exaggeration. I usually brush my hair (rarely style it) and the kids faces get washed. Sometimes I even find time to style Esther's hair!
By now it's nearly noon... (just kidding)

Solution to challenge #3: Pajamas and cozy slippers are the best! Open to other suggestions here...

Challenge #4: Leaving the House
This may not sound like much of a challenge, so feel free to drop by anytime and see firsthand how difficult it really is. Especially good days are the mornings where we have to be somewhere at a scheduled time. Thankfully, today was more relaxed since we didn't need to be anywhere until lunch time and it was only -10 outside instead of the usual -50 which would require several extra layers of clothing! My plan was still to leave much earlier to avoid messing up Esther's nap...ya...so...guess who still fell asleep in the car?
Solution: Stay home forever, or at least until the kids are old enough to drive!
Real Solution: Take a deep breath and throw all 'plans' out the car window, and just go with the flow.

The rest of the day went well for the most part. We ran a couple of errands, visited a friend for lunch and spent the afternoon there.


Challenge #5: Naps
As I mentioned Esther fell asleep for 20 minutes in the car in the morning. She normally sleeps 2-3 hours in the afternoon. However, when we left my friend's house ~ 3:15pm, she fell asleep quickly and slept all the way home. Sim on the other hand was up late last night and early this morning. He doesn't nap anymore, unless we're in the car in the late afternoon. But I really didn't want him to nap today because that would mean he would be up late again tonight.
Solution: Engage him in conversation until we got home.

Challenge #6: Conversations with a 3 year old
"Mom, what's the name of that movie where the boy is in the toilet?" "I think it's called Flushed Away Sim." "Oh. What's the boy's name?" "I don't know, do you know his name?" "I don't know, you better ask me!" (I think he means you need to tell me.) "I don't know his name Sim, sorry." "You know Mom, you better ask me!" (Repeat the last 2 lines over and over again.)
Solution: Sim - "Well, maybe I will ask Daddy." Me - "Yes, please do!"
Cute Note: He is a great conversationalist and I love how his vocabulary is expanding every day. When answering one of his many questions today he responded with, "Hmmm, that's very interesting."

Challenge #7: Back Home to the Chaos
So, due to challenges 3 and 4, I left the house in quite a mess and I didn't prepare anything for supper.
Solution: Thankfully, Dey wasn't starving after work and helped me throw together some scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. Leave the messy house and start fresh tomorrow.

Challenge #8: Bedtime
Deyan went out for the evening so I had the privilege of putting both monkeys to bed. This is basically a repeat of challenge 3 (minus breakfast) with a few extras.
Solution: A rubber mallot comes in handy!
Real Solution: Just kidding, but a stiff drink usually works well! hahaha

Challenge #9: Power Struggles
When we first moved into our house, I noticed Simeon often changed his mind about things. I was told this was a normal reaction to change and that as he settled in it would stop. And it did. Well, the indecisiveness has recently returned with a vengence and is associated with HUGE fits! It seems that whenever there is a choice involved, he switches back and forth until I get fed up and make the decision for him and then he throws a fit. Tonight it was about the bedtime story. I offered him 2 books and he chose 1. I put the 2nd one back and he changed his mind. I knew what was coming so I got down to eye level with him and explained that we weren't going to play this game and that he had 1 more chance to make a final decision on which book we would read tonight and that was the end of it. So he chose his book, I put the other one back and he proceeded to scream and cry that he wanted the 1st one, etc. I don't think I handled it well (sore voice, hand, bottom, you get the idea) but after a few deep breaths, I managed to find some control.
Solution: Don't let the tears and screams get to me. Once I've made the decision, don't argue with him about it anymore. In fact, it's best not to talk to him at all until he calms down. This one is really hard on my nerves!
Cute Note: We did read the story and he went to bed quite peacefully. He was especially happy when Esther was 'tucked in' beside him for prayer time. Those 2 love each other so much and it's beautiful to watch their relationship grow. Esther shows Sim lots of compassion when he's upset!

Challenge #10: Esther's Mishap
After Sim was settled down for the night, E and I came downstairs to tidy up a bit before her bedtime. I was trying to load the dishwasher (which she loves to 'help' with) but she was getting fussy and asking for something (which I later realized was yogurt) on the counter. When I didn't understand her at first, she threw herself back in frustration, hitting her head on the cupboard, at the same moment that I was closing the dishwasher. The bonk knocked her forward and her lip caught the edge of the dishwasher door. Poor little thing.
Solution: Fed her some yogurt and put her to bed!

Well, that was the extent of my day. I ended it with a bag of mini eggs and a LOST episode I had missed. Now all I need is some sleep. Well, maybe that's not ALL I need, but it is a good start! :)

Labels: challenges, solutions

posted by Deanna Momtchilov @ 11:36 PM