Parenting woes

I suppose everyone worries about being a good parent.

I'm laying in bed tonight frantic because I worry that The Boy isn't eating enough. We've never pushed food on him, letting him eat as much as he wants, and if he doesn't want a meal we don't make him eat it. He doesn't get substitute food, unless I haven't made dinner and the adults aren't really hungry - then I'll let him decide what he wants. But if I make dinner, he can eat it or not, as well as with any other meal. We don't really do snacks. He doesn't ask for food, ever, so I don't know if he's hungry and not asking, or if he's just not hungry. Lately, he hasn't really been eating much and I worry that he's not eating enough and if that is contributing to his toddler attitude problem.

I'm pretty sure I'm over-doing it on that front, but now I can't stop worrying about it.

Likewise, I'm also worrying that I'm not teaching him enough. Should he know how to draw his shapes by now? He can identify them, but he can't draw them. He doesn't attempt to color in the lines, or draw anything in particular. He can remember all kinds of songs (especially Beatles songs) and has an amazing vocabulary, but should he be reading sight words at all? What should I be teaching him that he's ready to learn?

I think all this is because I'm home on maternity leave so I feel more like a SAHM (which I am not cut out for, BTW), and I'm afraid I'm not being attentive to his needs enough because I'm worried about counting hours on when Turtle should eat, and trying to get him to sleep, and having some serious lethargy and lack-of-hunger problems of my own.

More reading and shopping, and child issues

Yesterday I read Graceling, by Kristin Cashore - an excellent YA fantasy read. I don't really like fantasy, but it was well written and immediately drew me into the story. I was sad when it ended. Kristin Cashore, write more!

We did some hard-core Labor Day shopping yesterday while The Boy was at daycare. I didn't do well with pants or dresses because of that dreaded belly flab from having Turtle two weeks ago, but I did find a plethora of new blouses and A BATHING SUIT. I wasn't looking for one, but I found a pretty aqua one-piece number which is flattering and hides the belly. I also got one dress which is very similar to all my other dresses, but what can I say? I have a style. It just happens to be a 1950s-style-off-white-with-large-black-flowers style.

The Boy has cradle cap. I guess I shouldn't be surprised as he has eczema which requires the occasional prescription ointment for flare-ups, but I didn't know that toddlers got cradle cap. he kept itching his head, and I thought that it was lice (thankfully, no). This week I noticed the scales on his scalp, so this morning we started on a baby oil/fine-toothed comb and scrubbing head bath regiment, and it already looks better.

Turtle has decided that sleeping at night is for losers, so the past couple nights have been a little rough. The silver lining is that I haven't needed my alarm to wake up, right?

My generation

This picture reminds me of something funny. You see that outlet to the left of my nightstand? Any normal person would see that and think, oh, phone outlet.

When I bought this house two years ago, I looked at those outlets and said, "Why are there ethernet outlets in all the rooms? Isn't that outdated?"

Yes, I'm a dunce. But I'm a dunce who hasn't had a home phone (save for a few years with Vonage) since 2001.

The definition of lethargy

Here's what I did today:

• Finished a Jen Lancaster book


• Read cover-to-cover the last Richelle Mead Succubus book


• Watched VH1 10 best celebrity slim-downs


• Watched VH1 Celebrity Plastic Surgery (horrors, mostly)


• Watched all 5 hours of VH1's Top 100 80s One-Hit Wonders


• Fed Turtle, held Turtle, watched Turtle, bounced Turtle.

Here's what my husband did:

• Mowed the backyard/jungle.


• Watched The Hurt Locker (I watched part of it, but I hate war movies so I was mostly reading my books)


• Watched all of the above with me


• Watched (currently watching) preseason football (aka the most pointless thing ever)

Here's what Turtle did:

• Ate


• Pooped


• Farted (a LOT)


• Cried (more than normal, probably due to farting)


• Slept (less than normal, probably due to farting)

Here's what The Boy did:

• Went to daycare


• Watched Caillou andBarney


• Ran around in circles singing Pop goes the Weasel and Shoo Fly

It was a much needed day of nothing for all.

What did you do?

I woulda driven (101.47) miles

Today we took an excursion 2 hours east to a town called Altamonte Springs.

Sounds like a pretty place - did we go for a theme park? No.

Did we go to visit friends/family/acquaintances? No.

We went 101.47 miles to visit a Game Stop and to buy a used PS2 video game that my husband has been on the hunt for, for quite awhile.

Over 100 miles.

To be fair, I was the one who bucked up and said, "How's Wednesday?" when he was thinking if he wanted to go out there. But this may or may not have been so that I wouldn't be dragged into every used game store in the area to look for said video game when it was obvious from the Game Stop people that our only other option was eBay, where the game sells for anywhere from $10 to $80 plus shipping.

Good news: When he gets bored, we can sell our $12 game for $10-$80 on eBay.

In better news, after we scored the game, we stopped at the mall and I got two pair of gold ballet flats for 70% off at Dillards. Gotta love Labor Day sales!

And now a commercial I love

This is totally my son:




I love this commercial.

A minor annoyance

Forget that I hate Pepsi. I actually love a clever commercial, no matter what it's shilling, but this commercial annoys the crud out of me because IT'S WRONG.



Do you see it? The can is in his right hand when he's drinking. But when the Pepsi dude records him with the iPhone, the can is in his left hand so you can see the logo. Bah! It reminds me of every Visa commercial where they swipe the card so the logo is upright, but when you swipe a card, the logo would be upside down. Is it that advertising people think we're that stupid, or is it that I shouldn't care so much??