Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Definition of 'bath'


To me, a bath involves either physically washing your child or verifying that your child adequately washed themselves. So tonight, Mark was in charge of the bathing task. We arrived home much later than normal, but both kids needed a quick bath.
Lauren proved she can take a shower and perform all necessary tasks to assure cleanliness. From hair to toes, she can do it. Occasionally there will be a little shampoo left - but that's fine with me.

Mason on the other hand prefers to play in the bath. He still requires someone else to appropriately wash his hair. As for washing the body, there are also two options. The first is to wash him. The second is to talk him through washing all his body parts. Either is fine. What is NOT fine, however is leaving the child to perform all tasks of the bathing routine!

So, imagine my shock when I was told by husband that Mason had had his bath. Mason emerged from his bed to use the toilet. When I went in the bathroom to help wipe him, I notice he has dry hair. I notice there is absolultely NO soap OR shampoo in the bathtub. There is also no "cup" to rinse his shampooed hair with water. The toothbrush is also dry. So, I ask husband WHAT he actually did while bathing Mason. "Um, I, uh....". See, there is really no answer to this question when it is obvious he just let the child sit in a tub of water. No soap, no shampoo, no nothing. In regards to the toothbrush I was told that husband wasn't done tucking him in yet. Funny thing, is that Mason came from his bed into the bathroom. His bedroom lights were off and curtain was closed. His music box on the side of his bed was on. You see, to me, that means tucking in was done.

So, I just spent the last few moments of another long day actually giving the child a bath. Guess what? I used shampoo and soap. I also made sure the toothbrush (with toothpaste) actually entered his mouth! And the even funnier thing....I told husband earlier tonight that he's got to give 110% to the kids when he's actually home and not traveling. Geez, I'd hate to see what a 70% "bath" is!

Wednesdays with Jack

For the past year I have watched Jack on Wednesdays while Meghan was at work. On occasion I would need to cancel if Mason was sick, I was out of town, or I had an appointment. Other times Meghan would cancel if Jack was sick or if he didn't feel like joining us. Here's some examples of our Wednesdays:

SWIMMING: For the first few months Mason had swimming at 10am. So Jack & I would color or play with various toys while watching Mason was in his lesson. The mid-part of the year Jack would go swimming too. This however, was short-lived due to the pool's staffing. It also required serious bribery to get him into the water. But, once he was actually in the pool he did great. The funny thing was every time the boys were changing into or out of their swimsuits, Jack would look at Mason, then at me, then say "God made us all different sizes". Think penis.

PARK: Occasionally we'd go to a park. This too, however was short-lived. Due to weather, obviously!

OUR HOUSE: Since the weather was pretty much awful and rainy, we'd spend time playing in the playroom. Occasionally we'd have a change of venue and play at my parent's playroom and with their dog. Sometimes Jack came as a character from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Super Mario, or another favorite "person". All the while, he would not usually allow me to call him Jack - but by the name of the character du jour. Mason happily went along with that!

ERRANDS: My favorite Wednesday activity with Jack & Mason was running errands! After all, being a free babysitter did not require extensive, prearranged activities! I could treat Jack as my own & load him up for errands!!! My favorite errand of all was Costco. Both boys were easily bribed with a churro or pizza or samples & I could get my glasses adjusted or shop. It killed a TON of time. Sometimes it was Whole Foods for a few groceries (with a cookie for a reward). Today was Best Buy (no free samples here) & Target. You name it. Both boys would either be in the cart together or just Mason (Mr. Run Away) would be in the cart. Jack always stayed right with me. Never a problem. The past two weeks Mason would pretend Jack was his brother and Jack, laughing, would play along. Being the wise old age of 4, he would come up with all sorts of hilarious comments. I couldn't even begin to list "Jack-isms" because they were so funny and he'd quickly come up with another. Often it would just be typical potty humor, which would only spur Mason on to try to compete too. Today a sample of the words of the day were toot, bottom, and booger.
Now, Wednesdays with Jack have come to an end, I must say I will miss him and his "Jack-isms" on Wednesdays.
Note to Meghan: I will not miss Jack so much that I want him next year when Mason is actually IN School on Wednesdays!




Friday, June 6, 2008

A day in the life


It's Friday night. I'm now sitting down to write about my Thursday.
Let me say, that this post may contain items which are not suitable for children or for those of you with weak stomachs. Graphic contents may occur. Now, since I have given you my disclaimer, let me continue.
3:30am - Awakened to the "odor d' feces". In other words I woke, smelling poop. In my bedroom. From my dog! So, I cleaned it up, let the dog go outside, and FINALLY went to sleep (after the odor subsided).
7:30am - We are in the middle of having our kitchen remodeled. Part is new. Part is being refaced. Supposed to be an easy job. The installer arrived. I questioned the new cabinet above the fridge that was supposed to be attached to the wall. It wasn't. It was off the wall by about 3 3/4 inches. That's 90 inches total of storage space that I would be missing. After a very lengthy discussion between multiple parties (installer, me, designer, engineer, supervisor), they agreed to remake the cabinet. Yeah! However, I might add that the other cabinets were hung 2 inches above where we wanted them (but we've left them there - as it is the standard height). And, the alarm system was broken.
8:00am - Take the kids to school.
9:05am -Arrive at work and work.
11:15am - Pick up Mason. Go to Home Depot to get a part for the disposal. Since I still had a little $$ from my little winnings in Vegas, I decided to buy a new and improved disposal.
11:45am - McDonalds drive thru for lunch.
11:50am - Return home. Home to find brown wood trim around new white pantry door, white slider, and kitchen window. These were ordered to be "paint ready" for us to match the other linen white trim in the house. Discuss with installer. We have a lengthy conversation about if I really want white trim. Show installer other bedrooms with white trim around windows. Verify with friends & family that I wanted white trim. Notify installer I do indeed want the white trim that was ordered. Show installer the copy of the order that indicates WHITE trim! So, he has to sand down the kitchen window box and prime it. Now we have to wait for the "right" trim.
1:00pm - Security fit-it person arrives to fix alarm system. He spends time on the phone with the designer (who assured us their installer could re-hook up the alarm...but due to warranty told us this week they couldn't). Anyway, she has to pay out of pocket due to the error to fix our alarm.
3:30pm - Take Mason to speech.
5:30pm - Pick up Lauren from a play date.
7:30pm - Arrive home from parent's house (we had dinner there). Open garage door. Hit with "odor de feces" again. Look at crate Maggie is in. See diarrhea on the outside & inside of crate.
7:35pm - Hussle the kids to bed...explaining I have a major dog emergency to clean up.
7:50pm - With the dog leashed up to the deck, I start the crate-cleaning process. Picture this: I'm in a t-shirt; grubby sweat pants; green Costco rain boots. And, it's pouring! But, I'm hosing down the crate and using pine-sol to assist in the process. My next plan is to hose down the dog. Notice dog walking around in the "I have to poop" walk. I unleash the dog and she immediately runs over and has more diarrhea. Bloody diarrhea. Literally. Call the vet. Need to take her in & bring a sample. Call my mom. Gloved and gowned, I "retrieve" said sample.
8:15pm - Mom arrives. Maggie spurts out more bloody diarrhea. A lot of it. Go to the vet. Dressed in a wet shirt, wet pants and boots.
9:40pm - Arrive home with the dog. And, for only $368.80. Mind you, now my Vegas winnings are completely depleted! The x-ray was normal. They gave her injections of fluids to prevent dehydration. They gave her an injection of antibiotics. They sent us home with 2 different oral antibiotics and a special diet. The diagnosis: Hemorrhagic colitis. Stress induced. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/23311.htm
11:00pm - Go to bed. Exhausted. Broke. But, with a dog. And a torn up kitchen, (with only a microwave and toaster to use), with the wrong color molding! Did I forget to mention that Mark has been out of town all week too?????!!!!!!

Vegas Baby


Last week Mark & I went to Vegas for a few days before heading to L.A. for a wedding. It was great weather. Drinks were free (at the tables, of course). On Thursday night in Vegas we ate "cheap" and had salads for dinner. Mine, however, consisted of some meat for protein. Mark chose the primarily lettuce only salad. It would have been fine...however, might I say again, the drinks were free. Needless to say, Mark woke up feeling nauseated with a headache. Hangover!

Luckily by Friday night, his symptoms of over-drinking had subsided. So, off we went to the Barry Manilow concert. I admit, I am a "Fanilow". Not a crazy one who wears crazy shirts saying "I love Barry" or who follows him around on tour. I just love a good Barry Concert. It truly is one of the better concerts I've been too. I think the 800+ year old man from London who was sitting next to me (his 1st Barry concert - his wife dragged him) must have thought I was inebriated. But, I hadn't even had a drink. Just dancing and singing to Barry!

Aside from a fabulous concert, the gambling was fabulous. I took $150 to spend at the tables. I came back with $150 plus more. Both Mark & I actually came out ahead!! So, I had big plans for my winnings. Monday morning, I set my plan in action. I called the piano tuner/fixer and had him come out to take away the "innerds" of the piano & fix it. Good thing is that it will hopefully cost less than originally discussed.