Nothing, and I mean nothing, can prepare you for parenthood.
Recently a coworker announced that she was expecting. And all the women in the room, mostly moms, said cute things like, "wow, how exciting," and "Oh! Yay!" Why is it that all us other moms, us more-experienced moms, don't clue the new mom in on what to really expect? Is it because we think that they should just figure it out like we had to? Is it because, well, they're already expecting so now they're stuck learning all of those little "lessons" anyway? No one asks other moms before they're expecting how parenthood really goes. And come to think of it....if we really knew, and I mean, REALLY knew....would we still do it???
My answer? Yes. Absolutely.
I remember bringing Lauren home for the first time. We had just spent three days in the hospital after her birth where you have all these nurses, doctors, and aides talking you through every little thing that happens. They tell you when to feed her, how to feed her, how to change her, how to bathe her, how to dress her, how she should sleep, etc. Then they wheeled us outside, helped us get into the car and wished us luck. Jason and I seriously looked at each other as we pulled away from the hospital and said, "So, I guess we just leave then?" We were on our own with this little person, and no doctors, nurses, or aides to talk us through the ins and outs of our days with her! It was the most bizarre feeling to be suddenly on our own and totally responsible for another life.
And then they grow up. They grow up and learn new things and go through new stages, and at each step you are asking yourself if you are doing this right. Am I feeding them the right foods, are we reading the right books, is my discipline strategy working the way I want it to? And just when you think you've got it figured out....BAM! Their teacher calls you in the middle of the day and you are right back at square one!
Sigh.
Your children are going to disappoint you. They are going to anger you. They are going to make you cry. They are going to make you say things in your mind that you NEVER thought you'd say. And sometimes you are going to handle these little setbacks correctly, and sometimes you are going to yell.
But, your children are also going to make you proud. They are going to make you smile. They are going to make you laugh. They are going to make you cry happy tears. They are going to do something that makes you realize that all of your hard work is actually paying off.
Those are the moments that we are thinking about when we tell that new mom "congratulations." We know that she is going to be ok, because WE are ok. We don't have to tell her about all the not-so-fun stuff that comes with parenting. We just need to be there for her when she's going through it. If for nothing else, but to tell her a story that makes her current situation seem less awful.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Weekends
I am NOT Superwoman, or Supermom or anything "super" for that matter. But, I try to do my best to balance my life on the weekends. It's a difficult job to be "mom," "housekeeper," "entertainer," and SANE! My weekends are so full, mostly because I have chosen to be a working mom.
On Saturdays we have to play catch up from our work week. There is laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, floors to be vacuumed and scrubbed, and grocery shopping to be planned for and completed. This long list of time-consuming tasks are only made more difficult to finish when one parent is absent.
Jason has a play date with one of his buddies today. They are currently fishing on a little lake with their bows and arrows trying to win a fishing tournament. Don't ask me why this is fun, I will never understand it. They are fishing for large carp-like fish that are not native to our area, but were introduced to our lakes and rivers after the Missouri flooded our area last summer. I'm not sure if the contest is decided by the amount of fish they catch or by the weight of the fish, but either way these are not fish that this family will be eating. ;)
At any rate, since Jason is off having, what he calls, "fun" with his friend, I am tasked with completing our Saturday "to-do lists" by myself. Well, not really. I have two "helpers" to involve as well. Ha! So this is how our Saturday is going at this point:
Enjoy your weekends everyone. Take some time to be silly with your kids, make a few messes, make a few memories, and maybe get your laundry put away. :)
On Saturdays we have to play catch up from our work week. There is laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, floors to be vacuumed and scrubbed, and grocery shopping to be planned for and completed. This long list of time-consuming tasks are only made more difficult to finish when one parent is absent.
Jason has a play date with one of his buddies today. They are currently fishing on a little lake with their bows and arrows trying to win a fishing tournament. Don't ask me why this is fun, I will never understand it. They are fishing for large carp-like fish that are not native to our area, but were introduced to our lakes and rivers after the Missouri flooded our area last summer. I'm not sure if the contest is decided by the amount of fish they catch or by the weight of the fish, but either way these are not fish that this family will be eating. ;)
At any rate, since Jason is off having, what he calls, "fun" with his friend, I am tasked with completing our Saturday "to-do lists" by myself. Well, not really. I have two "helpers" to involve as well. Ha! So this is how our Saturday is going at this point:
- "Sleep in." Check. (If your idea of sleeping in is having two kids in your bed watching Phineas and Ferb while you try to snooze through their giggling.)
- Get up, throw on some clothes and go get donuts and COFFEE! Check. Awesome donuts by Jitters, and a large coffee later I am more prepared to take on my day of single parenting.
- Come home and play on the Internet. What?! I had to check out the worlds of Facebook, Pinterest, Zulily, Crazy 8, other blogs I follow, and then updating my own. I swear that this is how Saturdays are supposed to go....really!
- Help Lauren clean up the finger nail polish remover she spilled all over the kitchen floor....check. Shhhh.....don't tell Jason! He would ban all girly products from the house for sure!!! If the wood floor starts looking a little lighter in that area I will blame it on all of the sun that comes through our kitchen windows and maybe, finally, get the new flooring I want anyway! LOL
- Explain to Braden that he is not, in fact, a lion tamer and that Sadie (our dog) is not, in fact, a lion and that if he actually hits her with that leash then I get to play the part of the tamer and HE gets to be the lion! (Don't call DHS, I won't actually hit him with the leash, but HE doesn't know that so this comment works for getting him to take a step back from the dog. Hey, don't judge me, SHE was my FIRST child, so naturally my favorite! LOL)
- Now, on to the rest of my day. This is what we have in store:
- Laundry - What this consists of at our house is getting it all clean, piling it up on our chair in the living room, and folding it a few days in the future. Then a few days after that we will actually put away the piles that are left, and refold the piles that we have been rifling through for days on end looking for clean clothes to wear to work and school.
- Vacuum and Clean Floors - Sounds pretty straight-forward right? I should mention that I hate vacuuming stairs so I pay my 5 year old $1 to do it for me. LOL And I am too lazy to sweep the kitchen and bathroom floors, so those get vacuumed too. And maybe not mopped today....we will see how things go.
- Dusting....hahahahahahaha! Yeah right!
- 1:15 movie of Chimpanzee. This has been requested by my
slaveschildren for a nice break in our day. I am thinking that I will not eat lunch today so that I can eat a whole bunch of movie theatre popcorn with out all of the guilt. :) - After the movie we need to kick our cleaning into high gear before the man of the house returns and asks, "Huh...sooooo, what did you guys DO today?" as he looks around the house that really isn't much cleaner than when he left.
Enjoy your weekends everyone. Take some time to be silly with your kids, make a few messes, make a few memories, and maybe get your laundry put away. :)
Monday, April 9, 2012
Short-Order Cook
With the birth of our daughter, Lauren, we became first time parents. As first time parents we made lots of mistakes and learned lots of lessons. Seeing as how that was over 7 years ago, and both of our children are happy and healthy, I think we're doing an ok job.
Lauren was an exceptionally easy baby/toddler/little girl, and still to this day she doesn't stress us out too much. But one "phase" she did go through, which I believe to be very common with kids, is a picky-eater phase. There was a time, when she was eating solid foods pretty well, that she would only eat certain things. She went through a phase where I swear the only thing keeping her alive was crackers. Then there was the hot dog phase. And finally, the chicken nuggets phase. Just about the time that I considered saying something to her doctor about it, she would get over that particular phase and move on to something else.
Now, being a relatively new mom, I got a little tired of unsolicited advice, so when my child was going through something that I knew wouldn't kill her, I didn't say much about it to anyone. Looking back, that was stupid.
I remember having a conversation with one of the smartest moms I know (my sister!). I happened to offhandedly mention that I was tired of Lauren's phase she was in at that time, probably the chicken nugget phase. My sister, who has always been great about not judging my parenting skills, managed to slip in a comment that didn't offend me, it actually made a light bulb go on in my head. She said something to the effect that her kids have had to learn that she is NOT a short-order cook and if they don't eat what she has made for supper, they go to bed hungry. Wow. Now that was awe-inspiring!
I remember putting that theory to the test not long after that conversation. Lauren was probably about 3 at the time and most likely made some disparaging comments, or bawled about what was for supper. So instead of making her something that she would eat, I calmly put her to bed. Lesson learned in ONE night. She has never had to go to bed hungry again, and I can cook ONE meal each night.
Enter little brother Braden.
He has never been an easy child. And he is a bit of a picky eater. Over the years I have done a pretty good job of making meals that everyone likes, or that contain at least one healthy element that everyone likes. Braden has heard the story a couple of times about when his sister had to go to bed hungry. We have used it as motivation for eating his meal. It has worked every time.
Braden's problem is different. He will take one look at the meal that I, or my husband, have prepared and deem it gross, or "bisgusting" and tell us that he is not going to eat it. But more times than not, he ends up eating enough of the meal that we are happy. Tonight started out feeling a LOT like the night we sent Lauren to bed hungry.
I tried a new recipe (very rarely is this a good idea with small children). Both of my kids made the "disgusting" face just looking at it. Lauren was easy to convince to eat it after I explained that all that was in it was chicken, veggies, and stuffing. Braden still refused to eat it. So, we recounted the story about Lauren getting sent to bed hungry. He still refused to eat it. We took the "ignore" approach. Meaning, we ignored his whining and just ate our meal. When he realized that no one cared that he wasn't eating, he poked a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth. Then he says:
"Huh....Mom! You're right! This IS good!"
Seriously!? And THAT was worth the 30 minute fit and refusing to eat? Good grief.
Lauren was an exceptionally easy baby/toddler/little girl, and still to this day she doesn't stress us out too much. But one "phase" she did go through, which I believe to be very common with kids, is a picky-eater phase. There was a time, when she was eating solid foods pretty well, that she would only eat certain things. She went through a phase where I swear the only thing keeping her alive was crackers. Then there was the hot dog phase. And finally, the chicken nuggets phase. Just about the time that I considered saying something to her doctor about it, she would get over that particular phase and move on to something else.
Now, being a relatively new mom, I got a little tired of unsolicited advice, so when my child was going through something that I knew wouldn't kill her, I didn't say much about it to anyone. Looking back, that was stupid.
I remember having a conversation with one of the smartest moms I know (my sister!). I happened to offhandedly mention that I was tired of Lauren's phase she was in at that time, probably the chicken nugget phase. My sister, who has always been great about not judging my parenting skills, managed to slip in a comment that didn't offend me, it actually made a light bulb go on in my head. She said something to the effect that her kids have had to learn that she is NOT a short-order cook and if they don't eat what she has made for supper, they go to bed hungry. Wow. Now that was awe-inspiring!
I remember putting that theory to the test not long after that conversation. Lauren was probably about 3 at the time and most likely made some disparaging comments, or bawled about what was for supper. So instead of making her something that she would eat, I calmly put her to bed. Lesson learned in ONE night. She has never had to go to bed hungry again, and I can cook ONE meal each night.
Enter little brother Braden.
He has never been an easy child. And he is a bit of a picky eater. Over the years I have done a pretty good job of making meals that everyone likes, or that contain at least one healthy element that everyone likes. Braden has heard the story a couple of times about when his sister had to go to bed hungry. We have used it as motivation for eating his meal. It has worked every time.
Braden's problem is different. He will take one look at the meal that I, or my husband, have prepared and deem it gross, or "bisgusting" and tell us that he is not going to eat it. But more times than not, he ends up eating enough of the meal that we are happy. Tonight started out feeling a LOT like the night we sent Lauren to bed hungry.
I tried a new recipe (very rarely is this a good idea with small children). Both of my kids made the "disgusting" face just looking at it. Lauren was easy to convince to eat it after I explained that all that was in it was chicken, veggies, and stuffing. Braden still refused to eat it. So, we recounted the story about Lauren getting sent to bed hungry. He still refused to eat it. We took the "ignore" approach. Meaning, we ignored his whining and just ate our meal. When he realized that no one cared that he wasn't eating, he poked a piece of chicken and put it in his mouth. Then he says:
"Huh....Mom! You're right! This IS good!"
Seriously!? And THAT was worth the 30 minute fit and refusing to eat? Good grief.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
A day in my life...
For those of you who don't yet have children, or who have children who are younger, this is what you have to look forward to:
There will come a day when your children are in early elementary school when you figure that they are old enough to be left to their own devices while you take a shower. You will get them settled at the kitchen table, coloring nicely. You will set the ground rules: "No answering the door. No answering the phone. If you need me I will be in the shower." They will say "ok mom" and into the shower you will hop.
Then it happens. You will be just about to rinse the shampoo from your hair when you hear the blood-curdling scream of "Moooooooommmmmmyyyyyy!" The thoughts that go through your mind first are: Where is the hand gun and where is my cell phone? You will jump out of the shower, stubbing your big toe on the shower door, run out the bathroom door, slipping and sliding all the way. You arrive in the kitchen with a hand gun in one hand, the emergency response team on your phone in the other, shampoo dripping into your eyes, and nothing on but your birthday suit. Then your child will look at you and say:
"Never mind, I found the red crayon."
There will come a day when your children are in early elementary school when you figure that they are old enough to be left to their own devices while you take a shower. You will get them settled at the kitchen table, coloring nicely. You will set the ground rules: "No answering the door. No answering the phone. If you need me I will be in the shower." They will say "ok mom" and into the shower you will hop.
Then it happens. You will be just about to rinse the shampoo from your hair when you hear the blood-curdling scream of "Moooooooommmmmmyyyyyy!" The thoughts that go through your mind first are: Where is the hand gun and where is my cell phone? You will jump out of the shower, stubbing your big toe on the shower door, run out the bathroom door, slipping and sliding all the way. You arrive in the kitchen with a hand gun in one hand, the emergency response team on your phone in the other, shampoo dripping into your eyes, and nothing on but your birthday suit. Then your child will look at you and say:
"Never mind, I found the red crayon."
Friday, November 18, 2011
Bad Mommy Moments
Do you ever have one of those days when you just really suck at being a parent? Today is my sucky Mommy day.
Our school makes a big deal out of having good attendance. One of the ways we show our appreciation to the kids and their families for getting their kids to school on time, every day, is by having monthly perfect attendance breakfasts. Last month Lauren's dad took her, and this month she asked if I would take her.
Today we were running late because Jason was out of town for work, so it was just me getting the kids around and out the door in the morning. This never ends well, and usually one of us ends up in tears. Today I thought I had done a pretty good job, despite the fact that we had no milk in the house for breakfast. No matter, we were out the door in plenty of time to stop at Casey's for some donuts. (Which totally makes up for not feeding my kids at home right?) I dropped the kids at the daycare that walks them to school for me, and went on my way and on with my morning routine. Then I see Lauren at my classroom door.
For those of you who don't know, I teach in Spanish every day, all day long, and when Lauren comes to my room for one thing or another she is expected to speak to me in Spanish. So today she says: "Mama, hoy es el dia de Perfect Attendance......" and proceeds to break down crying. Oh pobrecita! I feel about THIS big (picture me practically squeezing my fingers together to represent how tiny I feel)!
I made all sorts of promises of taking her out for a special breakfast, letting her come to the craft fair with me tomorrow, etc. Finally, I asked her if she wanted to call her dad to tell him what a horrible mom I am. So......she did. Somehow, hearing all those promises from him made her feel better....and me feel worse. But who can blame her right? I had let her down. Lesson learned. :(
Our school makes a big deal out of having good attendance. One of the ways we show our appreciation to the kids and their families for getting their kids to school on time, every day, is by having monthly perfect attendance breakfasts. Last month Lauren's dad took her, and this month she asked if I would take her.
Today we were running late because Jason was out of town for work, so it was just me getting the kids around and out the door in the morning. This never ends well, and usually one of us ends up in tears. Today I thought I had done a pretty good job, despite the fact that we had no milk in the house for breakfast. No matter, we were out the door in plenty of time to stop at Casey's for some donuts. (Which totally makes up for not feeding my kids at home right?) I dropped the kids at the daycare that walks them to school for me, and went on my way and on with my morning routine. Then I see Lauren at my classroom door.
For those of you who don't know, I teach in Spanish every day, all day long, and when Lauren comes to my room for one thing or another she is expected to speak to me in Spanish. So today she says: "Mama, hoy es el dia de Perfect Attendance......" and proceeds to break down crying. Oh pobrecita! I feel about THIS big (picture me practically squeezing my fingers together to represent how tiny I feel)!
I made all sorts of promises of taking her out for a special breakfast, letting her come to the craft fair with me tomorrow, etc. Finally, I asked her if she wanted to call her dad to tell him what a horrible mom I am. So......she did. Somehow, hearing all those promises from him made her feel better....and me feel worse. But who can blame her right? I had let her down. Lesson learned. :(
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Sugar Free Gum
Have you ever had that experience where something you eat, see, hear, or smell brings forth an instant memory? I had a bizarre one today.
Lauren and I took a quick trip to Wal-Mart (groan) during half time of the Husker game. She had written us a list so that we wouldn't forget all of the "important" things we were there for. Well, a half hour later we left after paying way too much money for too few of items. I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't ever get out of Wal-Mart (groan) for less than $100. . .regardless of what I'm there for.
So, we got in the van and were headed on our way when Lauren asked for a piece of the gum she had talked me into. Our rules about gum are pretty simple: it must be sugar-free, and you are allotted one piece of gum per day. I dug some out for her and asked her to get a piece out for me too. Enter, THE MOMENT.
I popped that piece of gum in my mouth and was instantly transported to my childhood doctor's office. Dr. Mortimer always gave us a piece of sugar-free bubble gum at the end of every checkup. And this gum tasted exactly like the gum he always gave us. Weird. I don't actually have a specific memory that comes to mind, just the overall feeling of leaving his office with that gum in my mouth.
I remember Dr. Mortimer as being a very kind doctor, but a little "old school" looking back. Of course, what we might consider "old school" now, was probably very with-the-times then! When we would go in for our school/sports physicals he would actually tap our knees with that funny triangle shaped hammer thing that I have NEVER seen our doctor use on my kids. And he actually used those nasty tasting tongue depressors to check the back of your throat as you stuck out your tongue and said "Ahng." (No, that's NOT a typo....you try saying "ah" with your tongue out and a wooden tongue depressor pressing down on it! It comes out "ahng.")Speaking of those tongue depressors; maybe I have Dr. Mortimer to "thank" for my strong gag reflex and my sensitivity to textures in foods. Hmmmm.
Who would have thought that a silly little piece of sugar-free bubble gum could bring back such vivid memories. I wonder if he's on Facebook? LOL
Lauren and I took a quick trip to Wal-Mart (groan) during half time of the Husker game. She had written us a list so that we wouldn't forget all of the "important" things we were there for. Well, a half hour later we left after paying way too much money for too few of items. I don't know about the rest of you, but I can't ever get out of Wal-Mart (groan) for less than $100. . .regardless of what I'm there for.
So, we got in the van and were headed on our way when Lauren asked for a piece of the gum she had talked me into. Our rules about gum are pretty simple: it must be sugar-free, and you are allotted one piece of gum per day. I dug some out for her and asked her to get a piece out for me too. Enter, THE MOMENT.
I popped that piece of gum in my mouth and was instantly transported to my childhood doctor's office. Dr. Mortimer always gave us a piece of sugar-free bubble gum at the end of every checkup. And this gum tasted exactly like the gum he always gave us. Weird. I don't actually have a specific memory that comes to mind, just the overall feeling of leaving his office with that gum in my mouth.
I remember Dr. Mortimer as being a very kind doctor, but a little "old school" looking back. Of course, what we might consider "old school" now, was probably very with-the-times then! When we would go in for our school/sports physicals he would actually tap our knees with that funny triangle shaped hammer thing that I have NEVER seen our doctor use on my kids. And he actually used those nasty tasting tongue depressors to check the back of your throat as you stuck out your tongue and said "Ahng." (No, that's NOT a typo....you try saying "ah" with your tongue out and a wooden tongue depressor pressing down on it! It comes out "ahng.")Speaking of those tongue depressors; maybe I have Dr. Mortimer to "thank" for my strong gag reflex and my sensitivity to textures in foods. Hmmmm.
Who would have thought that a silly little piece of sugar-free bubble gum could bring back such vivid memories. I wonder if he's on Facebook? LOL
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Potty Training
For those of you who know me well, you are probably wondering why in the world I am posting about potty training when my children are 4 and 1/2 and almost 7 years old! The type of potty training I am referring to is not the conventional kind one thinks of when one becomes a parent.
By "conventional" I simply mean "parent training" where your young child trains YOU to take her potty every hour on the hour until she "gets it." No, the type of potty training I am talking about today is a much more important kind dealing with a parent's sanity.
In my line of work I deal with young children, which means all day long I am burdened with repeating myself 20 times, getting asked questions after every statement I make, dealing with puke, other bodily fluids, and my personal favorite....boogers. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job as a kindergarten teacher! My sanity, however, has a very hard time keeping up when, at the end of a long day, I come home to the same behaviors and bodily fluids I have been dealing with all day long at work.
Which brings me to the topic of "potty training."
When my children were infants I was not one of those mothers who was scared to death of germs, or of people holding my babies without washing their hands, or one of those mothers who had to do everything herself. But there was one thing that I did that I now find to have been very stupid. Whenever I decided to get cleaned up for the day, I wouldn't ask anyone to watch my infant while I showered even if someone else was in the house with me. I would simply bring them into the bathroom with me, sitting in their bouncy seat, and enjoy their cooing with I bathed. As the kids got older, they may not have stayed in the bathroom with me, but we have always had an open, or unlocked, door policy where our bathroom is concerned. Which brings me to the present day.
I was stupid to have invited my children into the bathroom with me at all.
For those of you who have seen the kids' movie: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, you will know, and can relate to, the scenes which I am about it describe. In the movie, the boys' parents leave them alone for a weekend in the house with the instructions that no one is allowed over while they are away. Of course the boys don't listen and they end up having a party. (A pretty tame one really, which was nice to see in a movie, that consisted of too much pop, food, and loud music.) The next day their parents let them know that they are coming home early, so the boys scramble to get the house cleaned up. They are very proud of the job they have done, until they walk by the bathroom door and realize that one of their friends has written Roderick Rules in permanent marker on the outside of the door. They rush to the basement, where conveniently there is an extra door stored, and change it out. Then they realize that while the original bathroom door had a lock on it, the new one in fact does not!
Everything is fine until their dad has to use the bathroom. He can be heard commenting: "Hey, didn't this door have a lock on it? Huh, I must be losing my mind. Oh well." The boys sigh with relief. Then their mom uses the bathroom. She, of course, notices that there is no lock. She confronts the boys, who try to convince her that there never was a lock, to which she responds: "Don't try to tell me that this door never had a lock on it! I KNOW it had a lock on it! Sometimes during the day the only solace I get is from going into this room, locking the door, and tuning all of you OUT!" (Or something to that affect.)
I can TOTALLY relate to that mom's rant. There are times during my day when I invent reasons to go to my bathroom and lock the door. But my kids are too smart. They will stand outside my door and berate me with questions, or knock on the door because they think it's funny to hear their mom scream at them, I guess. Well, no more. We are going back to basics.....Potty Training 101.
The children are no longer allowed in our bedroom, which will also help with tripping over their toys in the middle of the night. And now when I go to use the bathroom (IE, escape from my children) I not only lock the bathroom door, I also close and lock my bedroom door. Then I close and lock my bathroom door, turn on the fan and sometimes the water, and relish in the quiet oasis that is now my bathroom.
Strange? Yes. Necessary for my sanity? Absolutely!
By "conventional" I simply mean "parent training" where your young child trains YOU to take her potty every hour on the hour until she "gets it." No, the type of potty training I am talking about today is a much more important kind dealing with a parent's sanity.
In my line of work I deal with young children, which means all day long I am burdened with repeating myself 20 times, getting asked questions after every statement I make, dealing with puke, other bodily fluids, and my personal favorite....boogers. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my job as a kindergarten teacher! My sanity, however, has a very hard time keeping up when, at the end of a long day, I come home to the same behaviors and bodily fluids I have been dealing with all day long at work.
Which brings me to the topic of "potty training."
When my children were infants I was not one of those mothers who was scared to death of germs, or of people holding my babies without washing their hands, or one of those mothers who had to do everything herself. But there was one thing that I did that I now find to have been very stupid. Whenever I decided to get cleaned up for the day, I wouldn't ask anyone to watch my infant while I showered even if someone else was in the house with me. I would simply bring them into the bathroom with me, sitting in their bouncy seat, and enjoy their cooing with I bathed. As the kids got older, they may not have stayed in the bathroom with me, but we have always had an open, or unlocked, door policy where our bathroom is concerned. Which brings me to the present day.
I was stupid to have invited my children into the bathroom with me at all.
For those of you who have seen the kids' movie: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick Rules, you will know, and can relate to, the scenes which I am about it describe. In the movie, the boys' parents leave them alone for a weekend in the house with the instructions that no one is allowed over while they are away. Of course the boys don't listen and they end up having a party. (A pretty tame one really, which was nice to see in a movie, that consisted of too much pop, food, and loud music.) The next day their parents let them know that they are coming home early, so the boys scramble to get the house cleaned up. They are very proud of the job they have done, until they walk by the bathroom door and realize that one of their friends has written Roderick Rules in permanent marker on the outside of the door. They rush to the basement, where conveniently there is an extra door stored, and change it out. Then they realize that while the original bathroom door had a lock on it, the new one in fact does not!
Everything is fine until their dad has to use the bathroom. He can be heard commenting: "Hey, didn't this door have a lock on it? Huh, I must be losing my mind. Oh well." The boys sigh with relief. Then their mom uses the bathroom. She, of course, notices that there is no lock. She confronts the boys, who try to convince her that there never was a lock, to which she responds: "Don't try to tell me that this door never had a lock on it! I KNOW it had a lock on it! Sometimes during the day the only solace I get is from going into this room, locking the door, and tuning all of you OUT!" (Or something to that affect.)
I can TOTALLY relate to that mom's rant. There are times during my day when I invent reasons to go to my bathroom and lock the door. But my kids are too smart. They will stand outside my door and berate me with questions, or knock on the door because they think it's funny to hear their mom scream at them, I guess. Well, no more. We are going back to basics.....Potty Training 101.
The children are no longer allowed in our bedroom, which will also help with tripping over their toys in the middle of the night. And now when I go to use the bathroom (IE, escape from my children) I not only lock the bathroom door, I also close and lock my bedroom door. Then I close and lock my bathroom door, turn on the fan and sometimes the water, and relish in the quiet oasis that is now my bathroom.
Strange? Yes. Necessary for my sanity? Absolutely!
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