Random Things

Everytime I see a mascara commercial on television it makes me want to scream, "CAN WE PLEASE BAN FALSE EYELASHES FROM MASCARA COMMERCIALS?!" I mean, come on! Could they possibly be any more blatantly misleading?

Now that I've got that out of my system, let's move on to potty training. I have officially washed my hands of potty training. I'm pullin' out. Isaac, in the phase traditionally referred to as "the terrible two's," threw tantrums almost everytime over just going pee on the potty. I decided to stop taking him to the potty and let him lead the way, but he was happy to just pee his underpants. Furthermore, he would hold his #2 for so long that when he did finally have to let it out (which would not happen until nap time or bed time, when he had a diaper on) it would hurt so bad that he would scream an ear-piercing, high-pitched scream at the top of his lungs. I mean, it would make your blood run cold. The climax was about a week ago when he was up in the middle of the night every 2 hours trying to hold it in, screaming at the top of his lungs.

If you read anything on potty training, they always list signs of developmental/physical readiness, and then they discuss volitional readiness, in other words, the child's will. Isaac most assuredly displays all signs of developmental and physical readiness. He just doesn't want to do it. So, we're back to diapers. I still ask him if he wants to sit on the potty before baths, and he always does, which is good. Other than that, I am taking a strict potty training hiatus for, well, I don't know how long. We'll see.

One thing to remember when kids are so little is that there is a wide range of what's normal for the different ages and stages. For instance, it's normal for a baby to walk at 9 months, but it's also completely normal for them to not walk until 15 months. Likewise, it's perfectly normal for a toddler to potty train at 2 years, as well as it is normal for them not to potty train until 3 years. Isaac got off to an early start, but it proved to be too much stress for him. Maybe our hiatus will only last another week or two, maybe it'll last until his 3rd birthday in January. One thing I'm sure of is that he must take the reigns from here on out. No more nagging on my part.

Ahh, now that I've got that out, what else can I move on to? How about our day thus far?

My day sort of began around 6:30am, when I think I heard Josiah starting to wake up. I tried to convince myself it wasn't happening, without success. At 6:45 I got up, made my bed, took my shower and got myself ready for the day. Then I proceeded into Josiah's room. It was a dark, rainy morning, so I was pretty disappointed he didn't sleep later, but oh well. We had places to go anyway.

After changing Josiah's diaper we went downstairs and started getting breakfast ready. I turned on the weather channel to see what the forecast was for the day (rain all day), and then did something I don't normally do. I turned on Fox News. Normally the TV stays off all day, but I just felt like having it on for a change. I caught Dave Ramsey, who I used to love to listen to on the radio, answering some financial questions. Next was Tucker Carlson talking about the ridiculous politically correct standards textbooks are being held to these days to completely eliminate gender altogether. For example, instead of saying "congressman" they have to say "member of Congress," instead of "chairman/chairwoman" it's "chair," instead of "caveman" it's "cave dweller." Now, I've always said my decision to homeschool has little to do with any opposition to the public school system. After all, Keith and I both went to public schools our whole lives and turned out fine, for the most part! :-D It's more like a calling that I feel I have, and an ideal learning situation I'd like to give my children. However, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disgusted by the lunatics that call the shots and this kind of absurdity that's happening in public schools today.

So anyway, while preparing breakfast, Isaac woke up screaming, which never happens so I was alarmed. We (Josiah & I) went straight upstairs. Not sure what Isaac was so upset about, but he wanted to cuddle with me right away. Perhaps it was a bad dream. Another diaper change (this one for Isaac) and we were officially downstairs having breakfast.

I would like to ask, does anyone have any unique breakfast ideas? I feel like the boys might be bored with Kix or Wheat Chex, toast or English muffin with jam, fruit, and milk every morning. The problem is Isaac is allergic to peanut butter, oats, eggs, and sesame, which leave a lot out. He also isn't wild about bacon or sausage. He does like pancakes and waffles of course. Josiah pretty much eats whatever you put in front of him. I think Isaac is going through a phase, most likely a terrible two's thing, because he used to eat everything in sight too. Anyway, I bought them some Eggo blueberry waffles to shake things up a bit. Just wondering if anyone else had any good ideas out there.

Our mornings are pretty military-like as far as the routine goes. After breakfast I clean up and do dishes while the boys play. Then it's upstairs to brush teeth and get dressed. Normally I would lay Josiah down for his morning nap after this, but I've decided to experiment with taking away his morning nap to see if he'll sleep later in the morning if he gets less sleep during the day. (Did that make sense to anyone?) We had a little bit of shopping to do nevertheless. I put all of the laundry away, and then we were back downstairs, getting ready to go out the door.

Our first stop was a nearby farm for some fresh eggs and peaches, and whatever else they had. Turns out, they didn't have any eggs (big bummer) so we just bought peaches, zucchini, garlic, and yellow beans. Next stop, Community Market. We're having our friends Jess & Phil & their daughter Jenna over for dinner tomorrow-Omaha Steaks' filet mignons and burgers, the promotional gift from Roomful Express when we bought our new kitchen and dining room furniture. Phil's birthday was Sunday so I thought I'd make some homemade baked good to celebrate. I decided on homemade brownies, which I've never made before, and I had to go to the store for a few things. I'll let ya know how they turn out!

I dropped the groceries off at home, put Maggie in the van, and headed for my parents' house for a visit, which is where I'm blogging from right now. It's a rainy day, so we've played inside for the most part. Isaac is getting really good at doing puzzles, and he did about 3 of them after lunch. Josiah's good at puzzles too, but he preferred to watch Sesame Street instead.

That's our day so far.