Posted by: la folle maman | February 8, 2010

Schizo Boy

I need to stop using this term but it fits his behavior lately.  I’ll give you an example (this happened yesterday):

Me:  Let’s have mac and cheese for lunch.

Monkey:  I don’t WANT mac and cheese!

Me:  Well, it’s that or Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Monkey:  I don’t WANT Peanut Butter and Jelly!

Me:  Okay, mac and cheese then.

Monkey:  I don’t WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  Well, we’re having mac and cheese.

Monkey (still in the same upset tone):  I WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  You want mac and cheese?

Monkey:  I don’t WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  You don’t want mac and cheese?

Monkey:  I WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  Okay then, we’re having mac and cheese.

Monkey (still upset):  OKAY!

Does this happen to any of you who have toddlers?  This happens a LOT with different things, not just meals.  Going to the grocery store or playing with X toy instead of Y.  It’s starting to bother me and I’m wondering if it’s normal.  Need to do some research.

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Posted in For better or for worse, Parenthood | Tags: ,

Posted by: la folle maman | January 24, 2010

The Little Negotiator

Today Monkey was fortunate enough to be with us as we realized that the local Disney Store is going out of business and therefore, many of the toys there are on sale.  We ended up getting him the Handy Manny toolbox which he hasn’t let go of since (including during his nap).

Then just a little bit ago, as DH and Monkey were getting ready to go the grocery store …

DH:  We can’t take the toolbox to the grocery store.

Monkey:  TAKE toolbox to the grocery store!

DH:  No, how about we take ONE tool.

Monkey:  How about we take TWO tools?!

DH:  How about ONE tool.

Monkey:  How about TWO tools!

DH (using reverse psychology?):  How about we take TWO tools?

Monkey:  OKAY!

The boy drives a hard deal.

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Posted in For better or for worse, Parenthood, Silly Shenanigans | Tags: ,

Posted by: la folle maman | January 11, 2010

Otherwise innocent remark

We’ve had some incidents in our household lately that could fall under this cliché.  And because the first story I’m going to recount is so funny, it’s also my Funny Quote of the Week (which I realize I haven’t done since 2008!)

Monkey has been very cunning in his language and comprehension lately.  We ‘ve been potting training him and using M& Ms as rewards for those times when he actually says, “I need to use potty” and successfully makes it to the potty without an accident.  Well, he has caught on to this system.  The other day, he opened up our freezer compartment and pulled out an ice cream sandwich.  Then he said, “Go potty for this?”*  Huh.  Pretty smart little fellow.  An otherwise innocent remark is really manipulation at it’s greatest!

Recently my adult mind has taken notice of otherwise innocent comments or actions and twisted them.  This is my perverse mind (sorry).  For instance, Monkey received a Buzz Lightyear for Christmas from friends of ours.  He loves it.  But he duly noted, “I don’t have a Woody.”  Several times.  And I couldn’t help but chuckle each time he said it.  An otherwise innocent remark, but leave it to my childish mind to warp its meaning.

Please feel free to share your examples of otherwise innocent remarks your children have made.

*This is the Funny Quote of the Week.

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Posted in Funny Quote, Parenthood, Silly Shenanigans | Tags: ,

Posted by: la folle maman | January 2, 2010

To indidnity and de da dawn!

Recently Monkey learned about Buzz Lightyear.  And whenever we asked him “What does Buzz Lightyear say?”, he’d respond, “To indidnity and de da dawn!”  Now he’s getting better at it and it almost sounds like “To infinity and beyond!”  — although DH and I wish he wouldn’t.  This is something DH and I have found ourselves saying a lot lately.  It all apart of our realization that Monkey is getting older and not our little baby anymore. 

Other things he mispronounces and I’m sure we’ll miss are:

“Lellow” = “Yellow”

“Mook” = “Milk” (this has been this way for a long time, I think because we don’t say milk anymore either)

“Toopon” = “tampon” (don’t ask)

And there’s others that I can’t remember now.  Through the development of his speech and watching him grow so fast, I feel like any moment now he’ll be off to college.  I just want to hug him and have him cradle in my arms.  I know these days are numbered so I guess I’m just trying to get the most of them for now.

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Posted in Deep Thoughts, Parenthood

Posted by: la folle maman | December 8, 2009

Wow, what good excuses!

I know I’ve talked a lot about Monkey’s bedtime stall tactics lately but he’s really come up with some good ones in addition to “I need to trim my nails!”:

- I have a boo-boo, I need a boo-boo
- I need to go potty
- My belly hurts
- My pillow is dirty

That last one (which he said tonight) really cracked me up. Where to they come up with this stuff?

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Posted in Parenthood

Posted by: la folle maman | November 23, 2009

Wanna do dishes?

Some young lady will be very lucky one day!

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Posted in Happy Thoughts, Parenthood

Posted by: la folle maman | November 17, 2009

Such a little cutie

Tonight when I came home from yoga, Monkey was still up as we have adjusted his bedtime routine to start a half hour later.  As I came in the door, I heard DH tell Monkey to “Go give Mama a hug” and there he was at the top of the stairs waiting to give me a hug.  Once we hugged, he walked toward the kitchen saying “Come!  Come!  There’s pizza!”  Such a good little man.

Then he said something really cute at bedtime (even though in the end we still had a bedtime battle).   After reading some books and putting him in bed, we traditionally sit in the chair next to his bed for about 5 minutes and then leave.  While sitting in the chair tonight, I saw his little hand reach over the bed railing while he said, “Wanna hold your hair?”  (Monkey loves to play with my hair, I think it’s almost his security blanket).  Such a little cutie.  How can I be mad?

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Posted in Happy Thoughts, Parenthood, Silly Shenanigans | Tags: ,

Posted by: la folle maman | November 15, 2009

Stall tactics and other undesirables

The monkey has been a royal you-know-what lately in the bedtime department.  It didn’t help that my mother while visiting this week threw him off schedule by letting him nap until 5 pm on Thursday.  But even before that he’s been extra needy at bedtime and has come up with new “stall tactics”.

The other night while trying to get him into bed, he first asked for some water.  Then he had to use the potty.  Then he wanted another book.  THEN he said, “I need to trim my nails.”  WHAT?!  Wow, I was amused and pissed at the same time.  Where does a two year old learn these things?

Other trickery he’s been up to …  One of my common positive responses to Monkey’s requests is “That’s fine.”  So now he’s decided he’ll ask and answer for me.  For instance:

MONKEY:  Can I have animal crackers?

MONKEY:  That’s fine. (before I even get a chance to answer — this is in cases where he darn well knows I’m not going to give him any)

He’s also developed some very bad behaviors which are really starting to annoy us.  The one neither of us can get over is the wall banging thing when he doesn’t get his way or doesn’t want to do something.  He’s taken to smashing his toy cars into the wall repeatedly (leaving little dents and marks).  Then last night, because he didn’t want to go to bed, he sat at the bottom of stairs crying and screaming.  Amidst the tantrum, DH and I heard banging (assuming it was the car again), then I heard what I thought was him falling on the stairs.  Well, no, it wasn’t him falling.  He had taken the red step stool we have in our powder room near the bottom of the stairs and threw it at the wall TWICE, leaving larger dents and very distinct red marks on the wall.

DH has asked where he is getting this from and I’m hoping it’s not me.  I have been known to throw things when angry but I haven’t been that angry recently to encourage or teach this behavior to Monkey.  I do slam doors sometimes.  But I’ve been trying to check this behavior of my own because I realize he’s a little sponge.  In my defense, my tantrums don’t take on the rock star status that Monkey’s has been lately.  But oh I wish I could explain to him why putting dents in the wall is different but in the end it just isn’t really.  So in this regard, I can pinpoint the source (I think) and I need to correct it.

 

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Posted in For better or for worse, Parenthood | Tags: ,

Posted by: la folle maman | November 6, 2009

End of an era

My last post is completely different from this post.  However, I will try to include some positive somewhere in here.

The end of the 4fatcats era has come.  I suppose it’s time to move on and redefine myself as a non-pet owner.  For so long I was defined almost by the fact that I owned 4 cats.  This evening I went to the vet for one last euthanasia, this time for Pia.  I love the old girl.  She’s been with me through so much.  The dark ages with my ex-boyfriend from college, the trans-formative years when I was finally trying to figure out who I was, the dating years, the married years and lastly, the mommy years.

Often DH would play the “fire” game as he calls it where he’d ask, “If the house were on fire and all four cats were lined up equal distance from each other and you could only take ONE, which one would it be?”  I’d decline to answer because I didn’t want to seem partial to one but the answer in my head was always “Pia”.  But if anything I learned from Duzee, it was not to hold on too long.  Surrender and let go.Pia Maria

Pia’s inner eyelid on her left eye was messed up and caused her grief.  She had hypothyroidism like Duzee had and required medication every day.  And to top that off, she was in desperate need of dental work making it hard for her to eat.  To fix her up and continue medication would cost a good chunk of money which as everyone keeps telling me, just isn’t viable for an older cat like Pia (she was 16, would have been 17 in January).

For the past few months she had started crying at night and it had progressively gotten worse.  Then she started going into the hallway between all of our bedrooms and crying which woke everyone up, including Monkey.   It was clear she wasn’t well.

I hated making this decision but it’s the responsible thing to do.  Farewell, Pia.  I will always remember your super loud purr, your so very soft gray fur and the way you’d sit so elegant with your tail wrapped around you.  I’ll remember when you were a kitten and would suckle on my ear at night and sleep under the covers with me.  You’ve been a great companion and I will miss you dearly.

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Posted in Deep Thoughts, For better or for worse

Posted by: la folle maman | November 4, 2009

I’ll have some more positive, pleased

I’ve mentioned before that I practice Bikram Yoga and how that style of yoga is suitable to my personality than most other types.  It’s a little more hardcore and a bit less focused on the spiritual but the spiritual element is still there.  There is no chanting or singing but there is definitely a focus on mind/body connection.  However, that being said, I think in this cynical world sometimes we need some more spiritual, more happy, more positive thinking.  Less greed, less back-stabbing, less name calling, less dog-eat-dog.

During yoga class earlier this week I could imagine how most people attending the class for the first time would react to some of the common themes in any yoga class.  For instance, at the end of every class, the instructor says, “Namaste”.  And the students respond, “Namaste”.  It means “I bow to you” — sometimes interpreted as “the good in me recognizes the good in you”.  I can imagine them rolling their eyes during certain inspirational thoughts expressed by the instructor.  Or thinking that in general (especially Bikram Yoga) is completely nuts.

With regular practice though, you begin to appreciate the finer details of what it really is meant to do.  Strip away focus from the outer world and bring that focus onto yourself.  There are very few places where can you focus solely on YOU without guilt or regret.  Where your leader will encourage you push yourself but only to the point where you are without pain.  Where you can stop thinking so darn much and just follow the instructions as they register within your ear then your brain.

My yoga class is my refuge from my own worry and doubt, from scrutinizing peers or family and when the class is over, sometimes from physical pain.  I sincerely hope each of you has someplace you can call your refuge from the cynical, cold world.  Somewhere you can be you without fear or judgment.   And I hope you can find the time to create some positive in your own life and maybe, just maybe, if we all create some positive, it will become contagious.

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Posted in Deep Thoughts, Happy Thoughts | Tags: ,

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