A Weekend of Milestones

This past weekend was a busy one for our family.  After Thanksgiving Day we ran errands and cleaned out rooms in the house.  Looked for a new car and put up Christmas decorations.  We got a lot of things done, including getting a new toddler bed for Lana, and getting Georgia to start walking...sort of.  

Georgia has been taking steps for a couple weeks now, but this past weekend she really started to do more.  She would get up on her own and take steps across a room.  She still is mostly crawling, but the walking has begun.  Except for today.  Today I keep trying to get her to walk and she looks at me with no clue.  Then when I try to stand her up to make her walk, she takes a few steps and falls back on her butt.  She gives me a look as if to say,

"Yeah-I know I did that walking thing for a bit, but I'm all done with that now.  This crawling is WAAAAYYY faster."

Then she hurries away from me on her hands and knees before I can pick her up to make her try and walk again.  Oh well.  I guess I'll save money on shoes for her, but it's going to hell on the knee area of her clothes when she's crawling around at preschool.  

Then there's Lana with her new "big girl bed".  I've been meaning to put her in a toddler bed for a while, but we just weren't sure what we were going to do with the girls room. We thought about bunk beds for a while,  but in the end we decided Lana needed a toddler bed first.  To be completely honest, I've been putting it off for a while, because Lana has never been an easy sleeper, as I may have mentioned before.  So, I was worried about how many sleepless nights it would take before she would stay in her bed.  I finally decided to just go ahead and get it over with.  Really, most of my nights are sleepless anyway, so what difference does it really make?

Yesterday we all went to Babies R Us and purchased her a toddler bed.  She was very excited about the whole thing and we made a big deal about it.  After she woke up from her nap, I took apart her crib and put together the new bed.  (Andy was on the roof putting up Christmas lights so I did this all on my own.  Yes, I'm THAT good.)  She was happy when it was all put together, but seemed a bit apprehensive.  Still, she went over and laid down on it seemingly excited.  The true test came at 7:30 that night.  l

At first she cried, got out of the bed, and crawled around on the floor, but didn't come out of the room.  We would tell her to go back to her bed and she would on her own.  We were very forgiving and loving with her.  I knew it had to be hard to go from the crib, which probably felt safer, to the bed.  I thought it would take forever, especially because this is Lana we're talking about, but nope.  Half hour and she was out.  30 minutes!  That was it!  We couldn't believe it.  She only woke up once in the middle of the night, which is normal for her anyway.  I was amazed!  This morning she called me from her bed.  

"Mooooommmmmyyyy!!  I wanna get up!!" 

"Go ahead Lana," I told her. "You can get up on your own."

I don't think she realized she could do this.  She came out of her room and the best part was she was HAPPY.  I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Lana does not wake up happy, um, ever.  She's usually pretty cranky for the first 15 minutes.  But there she was awake and happy.  Looks like the bed agreed with her.  

Now don't think I'm getting ahead of myself, because I know it was only the first night and we still have a nap to deal with.  As I'm writing this, the nap part isn't going particularly well.  I expected this.  When Sonya first switched to a bed she would play during her nap and I would find her asleep in the middle of her room, twenty minutes before she was supposed to get up.  It lasted about a week, and I assume Lana will be similar.  Right now I can hear her in the room playing.  Every time I walk over to the door I hear her little feet run over to her bed.  I open the door to find her with the covers over her heard and her legs dangling over the guard rail of the bed, giggling hysterically.  The current bribe for her taking a nap today is a lollipop.   

The good thing is, if she doesn't take a nap it's not that big of a deal.  I'll just put her to bed very early.  Hmmmm, that might be a better idea anyway.  

update: She's been in there an hour now and we've moved on to crying for the lollipop. Okay, perhaps the bribe wasn't the best idea, but she's sure to wear herself out soon, right??

Forever Thankful

This morning I was in the kitchen getting the girls breakfast and I had the TV on NBC in preparation for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, one of my most favorite things to watch all year.  The Today Show was on, and they were doing a story about kids who they've featured over the past few years who were diagnosed with horrible cancers.  They were reporting how they all were today.  It was  sort of a shout out for St Jude's Children's Hospital.   All of the kids they had done stories on were alive and thriving, except one.  I don't know what it is about the holidays or stories like this, maybe a combo of both, but all of a sudden there I was sobbing into my bowl of Mini Wheats.  I felt so badly for those poor kids to have to go through something so terrible so young, and for those families who suffered along beside them.  As much as I bitch about my girls on this blog, I am ever so thankful, especially today, to have three healthy, happy, beautiful girls.  I consider myself very lucky and blessed.  I hope all of you have something you feel just as thankful for and I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

My Sidekick

It appears Sonya may soon be taking over my duties as mom.  Or at least helping out with some of them.  Yesterday, she and Lana were playing in their room.  As far as I could tell, they were pretending she was the mom and Lana was the kid.  She kept telling Lana what to do, and lo and behold, Lana was listening and obeying to everything she said.  Not sure how she accomplished that, but somehow she did.  It was so cute listening to the two of them play like this and the best part- no fighting!  Then I heard something that I thought was just play, but ended up being real, and I was forced to intervene.  

At one point during their play, Lana said she had to poop.  Then about ten minutes later I hear Sonya saying something to the effect of, 

"Hey, I can change Lana's diapers now!"

I was in the kitchen cleaning, and at first thought I didn't hear right, so I asked her to repeat it and she said the same thing.  I thought for sure they were just playing pretend still, right?  Then I thought, what if they weren't.  All of a sudden I remembered Lana talking about pooping.  OH NO!

I ran into their room and sure enough, there was Lana laying on Sonya's bed in full diaper changing mode.  Sonya was wiping her with the wipee, and doing a pretty good job.  Luckily, Lana had a very small poop and I got there soon enough to avoid any grossness.  I told Sonya how good she was doing, then said I would finish and Lana yelled, 

"NOOOOO, I want sissy do it!"

Then Sonya pointed out, "Look I even got the rash cream!" And indeed she had.  She had gotten the wipees, the rash cream and a new diaper, and by all appearances had it under control.  Huh.  Does this mean I can go take a nap and she could feed them dinner and give them their bath too?  

I did help a little with putting the diaper on, because that can be tricky, but other than that, Sonya did most of the work.  Yup, I have my own little apprentice.  Next on the list, teaching her to clean the bathroom sinks and toilets!  See THIS is why I had more than one kid, so they can eventually take over ALL my chores! 

The Good, The Bad and The Even Worse

Okay, I'm not sure what's going on in our house the past few days, but I'm soooo over it.  For some reason Sonya, and especially Lana, have been CA-RAZY.  Perhaps Venus is in retrograde or Aquarius is in it's wheel house or something.  Who the hell knows?  All I know is I'm ready to sell a 5 year old and a 2 1/2 year old, or perhaps give them away. Any takers?  7:30pm can not come fast enough the past few days. Here, I'll give you a taste of what I'm talking about.

Sonya, for the most part, just doesn't want to listen and do what we ask.  Usually, she's pretty good, but not the past few days.  She ignores us  when we ask her to do something.  Even worse, she's been talking back.  Oh, that's my favorite!  Now, let me be clear here.  I have no doubt that in about 9 years I will have a mouthy teenager on my hands, much to my mother's satisfaction.  I was one myself and I fully expect to get it back, in spades.  HOWEVER, I do NOT need it now.  I was good when I was five.  It wasn't until the hormones took over that I became a force to be reckoned with.   She's only five!  Nowhere near ready for excused teenage bitchiness.   So when I ask her to do something and I get, 

"No, Mommy!  I do NOT have to do that right now." 

 It takes every ounce of me to not drive her out to the desert and leave her there.  Instead she gets time outs and less magnets on her "responsibility chart".  Friday night she had to go to bed early and with no stories.  You would have thought a fate worse than death, and you would have thought it would make her better on Saturday, but no.   Still bad.   I think between her and Lana there were 11 timeouts this weekend.  Although, Lana did have a bigger chunk of them.  

Oh Lana!  She was being so good for a few weeks there.  She was sweet, happy and most of all compliant.  I don't know what happened last week.  It was like she went to sleep one way and woke up mean, cranky and combative.  I kept thinking she didn't get enough sleep or she was hungry.  However, I've come to the conclusion that she's just like this sometimes.  It's her personality.  Perhaps she's practicing for her future PMS, I don't know, but I hope it ends soon.  She's been impossible to get to bed for naps or at night.  She's always been a bit difficult getting to sleep, but this has been off the charts.  

Over the weekend, I put her down for a nap and she asked for her drink.  No problem.  I couldn't find hers from earlier, so I got a new one.  Only, the new one wasn't pink like her last one, and when I took it in she insisted on the pink one.  I wasn't in the mood to argue with her and just really wanted her to sleep, so I decided to find a pink one.  I did, and when I brought it in she looked at it and said, 

"No, I wan puwple one, now."  The color she had just vetoed five minutes before.  I saw the game she was playing now.   

"Ooooh No!" I said. "You're getting this one now," I tossed the cup in the crib and walked out shutting the door to the screams behind me.  I think she cried for about 10 minutes and tossed the cup back out of the crib.  I went in there to calm her down, and she was too tired to fight anymore.  She finally fell asleep well after her usual naptime.

There's also the fact that Lana has figured a way to legitimatly, get out of her booster chair and not eat.  It took me a few days to figure out what she was doing.   Lately, when she doesn't want to eat what's in front of her, she'll sit there for a few mintues, drink her milk, then claim she has to poop.  She knows I'll get her out of the chair for this, because she likes to find a hiding spot to do her business.  I believe the first time she did it, she really did have to go.  Then she did it again and pretended like she was going to go.  I found her playing her running through the house with no poop in the diaper.  So for the next few days she would do it when she didn't like her food.  She tried it one more time this afternoon, but I called her bluff and made her finish eating instead.  

These are just a couple of the things that we've been dealing with recently.  There's more, oh trust me, there's always more, but I could be here all day telling you.  Again-ELEVEN timeouts.  The good thing is Georgia has been a peach through all of this.  That seems to be the way  things work out most of the time.  Even if I've got two, who appear to have been taken over by demons, I still have one acting like an angel.  I assure you the dynamics change, and it's not always G.  Sometimes, Sonya is good, sometimes it's Lana.  It changes on daily, sometimes hourly basis.   I suppose it's the way they help me keep my sanity. It has to be that way, because every once in a while when they're all bad, I'm ready to take that desert trip.  On the flip side, when the heavens part and the sun shines to them all being fantastic, I briefly think how great kids are and wouldn't it be nice to have more.  Then I'm smacked back down to reality with one screaming about the wrong color cup, and another crying because she wants more TV.  Some days I'm happy to just make it to 7:30.  

The Great Mom Debate

There is an ongoing war involving moms everywhere.  It's a war that I know I won't settle here, but I feel I must address it.  A couple weeks ago my friend, BethAnnDoddKoehn, mentioned on her facebook page that her oldest was starting preschool, and how happy she was for him to go.   Well,  he was actually going BACK to preschool, because he was at daycare when she was working.  Then she quit work to stay at home and take care of her two kids as well as another little girl, to make some extra cash.  She needed her son to leave some days though.  Trust me, I understand this.  One of her facebook "friends" commented that she was dreading the day her kids would leave to go to school.  She said that's why she stayed home with them, because she couldn't stand being away from them.  She pretty much implied any mom who went to work went because she didn't want to be around her kids all the time.  To which I say-DUH?!  Who wants to be with their kids ALL the time.  Crazy people that's who!  Anyway-it sparked a debate about stay at home moms vs. working moms on Beth's facebook wall.  Oh boy.  So I thought I'd throw my thoughts out there since I do fall distinctly into one category, but know moms on all sides of this debate.

Before I had kids I knew that I wanted to do whatever it took to stay home and take care of them myself.  I knew that even if I had a career or job I loved, I still wanted to do that.  Thankfully, I didn't leave anything I loved.  In fact I was more than happy to tell the company I was working for at the time, thanks for holding my job, but see ya later.  Luckily, Andy has a job that allowed me to do this. 

 Now, that's not to say I don't EVER want to go back to work.  I do.  Not sure doing what, but something I like, preferably.  I'm hoping this writing thing might be a jumping off point, but that remains to be seen for now.  There are working moms out there, who for some reason, think those of us who stay at home don't WANT to work.  Are you kidding me??  Do you think I WANT my bosses to be 30 years younger than me and yell at me on a daily basis?  Do you think I like not contributing money to the family, especially with the economy so crappy right now?  Um, no.  I just don't want to work right now.  I  like being able to see my girls take their first steps and say their first words first, and not just have someone tell me when they did it, so it's a trade off.  

Now, for those moms out there who do work, please don't start cursing me yet.  I have total and complete respect for you.  I have to get 3 kids fed and dressed every morning, and most mornings we don't all have to be somewhere at a specific time.  If I had to get everyone out of the house to actually go somewhere every day,  I would lose the rest of my mind.  I spend all day feeding and cleaning up after them.  I can't imagine having to go to a job, in the middle of doing that, EVERY DAY.  

There are those of you out there who have to work, to continue to support your family.  Not because you want to drive a BMW or have a million dollar home, but because you need to put food on the table.  Maybe you would even prefer to stay home, but it's not an option for you.  I understand that and commend you.  You may not be there for the first step, but you're there to provide for your kids and that is essential. 

 There are also those of you who still work because you love your job and you need it.  That doesn't mean you love it more than your kids, but it makes you who you are.  I get that too, and somewhat envy you.  I wish I had a career before I had kids that I liked that much.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure what else I'm good at besides being a mom.  You still love your kids and you're showing them what a strong and independent woman can do, and that is also very important.  Some of you may fall in between these two categories.

Then there are the moms who work 13 hour days all the time, don't need to, and never see their kids, ever.  These are the kind of kids who prefer the nanny to mom.  Okay, I guess THESE moms I don't get.  Why have kids if you're not going to raise them at all?  Just my opinion, but I'm sure most of you would agree.  This is a small percentage of moms though...I hope. 

Oh and I mustn't leave out the stay at home Dads.  There are not many of you out there, but you're numbers are growing.  My brother-in-law does it, even though he does work from home as well.  I commend you too.  You are most out of your element, only because society makes it that way.  We always hear about women working in a man's world, but can you imagine what it must be like to be a guy dealing with us moms on a constant basis?  Talk about wanting to lose your mind.  You Dads rock.  

I think the best of all worlds would be to stay at home with your kids and work from home.  Although, part of my envy for those who work, is that they do get a break from their kids.  

Some days I would much prefer an adult boss and coworkers, than the five year old who insists that grilled cheese sandwiches are healthy, and she should have as many as she wants.   

I think we all need to take a step back and realize we are doing what we can to raise our children the best we know how.  We need to stop being so judgemental toward each other and know that just because a mom stays home, doesn't mean she hates work, or thinks of nothing but her kids.  Trust me, this is the hardest job I've ever had, and some days I'd like to have a day all alone.  On the other hand, just because a mom does work, it doesn't mean she loves her kids any less.  The bottom line is, we all have to make a decision that is right for our family.

Remember, the extremes aren't good either.  If you find that your kids don't recognize you come Saturday, perhaps you should cut back on your hours at work.  Stay at home moms, you need to get out too.  If leaving the room to shower causes your four year old separation anxiety, it may be time for pre-school, or at least a babysitter sometimes.  There is a happy medium to every situation.  We just need to know how to find it for ourselves, and be tolerant of someone else's.  After all there's no right way to raise kids.  If you're around all the time or never home, kids are still going to grow and learn.  It's what we teach them that's important.  So for the sake of kids everywhere moms, let this debate go.  You are doing what is right for YOU and so is your friend, sister, or cousin.  So whatever their choice, support them and hopefully they'll do the same for you in return.  

WHY?

Someone help me out with this one.  Sonya had three days in row off of school.  Saturday, Sunday and they were off on Monday for the conferences.  So for three days in a row she was up at 6:30 AM happy and ready to greet the day.  Yesterday, and today there I was dragging her out of bed at 7AM.  She was sleepy and cranky.  REALLY?!  Because I thought this having to pull them out of bed to go to school didn't start until they were teenagers?  She's only FIVE!  I am SO screwed.

Five Fast Years

Once again I've been MIA for a few days.  It was a crazy few days with Sonya's birthday, then my parents coming, then her party.  Oh plus I've been sick for almost 2 weeks now.  I'm thisclose to being over it though, unfortunately my sexy voice is almost gone.  We were tired yesterday, and I was in no mood for writing.  I really wanted to write something on her birthday, but just never got around to it, so here I am now.  

It's hard for me to believe that it's been five years since I was sent to the hospital to be induced.  I was eleven days away from my due date and Sonya was nowhere ready to be born.  Yet, the doctors said my "fluid was too low" and she had to come out, so there I was about to have my first baby. 

 After many hours of on again off again labor, I stopped progressing and they decided I needed a C-section.  Upon hearing this news I broke into tears.  I hadn't prepared myself for this possibility.  I'm not sure why, but it was not the way I ever pictured my delivery going.  None of it was living up to my expectations at that point.  Perhaps I should have known then this is what raising a kid would be like.  Expecting the unexpected.  

Andy, trying to be supportive and comforting, but still being a man, said, 

"What?  Don't cry, you're still getting a baby."  And in the end he was right.  We got our baby.  Our perfect little girl.  I can still remember her little face and perfectly round head-thanks to the C-section-all swaddled up in those bear blankets Cedars gives out.  She was so tiny and so QUIET those first few days.  Something that would never be said about her again.  Andy made the mistake on our second day in the hospital of asking, 

"How come she doesn't really cry that much?"

She must have heard him, because about two weeks later she made up for it.  I feel like all she did was cry for four months straight.  The only things that would keep her quiet were feedings and the stove fan.  Consequently, I had very sore boobs and didn't cook much for those four months.  

After she got out of her infancy, she became a really good baby.  However, she didn't want to walk.  Talking was NOT a problem. My mom always said I was speaking in complete sentences by twenty months and I never believed her until I had Sonya.  Being mobile she didn't care about, but she could hold a conversation with a thirty year old.  I worried about her not crawling early enough, then not walking early enough, but eventually she did both of those things. Then I realized you can't worry about those milestones so much.  They'll do it when they're ready.  Bottom line.  Even if it is almost 18 months before they take their first steps.  

When she was two, she became a big sister. She learned to share us and her toys with Lana.  Then again, 15 months  later at three when Georgia surprised us all.  She took it all in stride and has always been a big help to me with her sisters.  She watches out for them as much as she fights with them.  Hits are almost always followed by hugs, so I don't get too mad.  She likes to mommy them as well as be their playmates.  It makes it easier for me to have some help, even if I do have to discipline the help from time to time.

When it came time to send her to Kindergarten, we wrestled with what to do even though she made the age cutoff.  We went ahead and sent her.  She seemed to be doing really well, and that was confirmed today.  Andy and I went to her parent/teacher conference this morning and all Mrs. Lombardo could do was talk about what a great girl she is.  She's so nice to everyone, listens well and exceeds academic expectations in many areas.  She complemented Andy and I on what a good job we've done so far, and assured us we made the right decision sending her when we did.  

I couldn't have been more proud of my daughter and of us. Hearing that made me more proud than any other compliment I've ever received.   We try so hard as parents to do everything, and do everything right, but you just don't know what the end result is going to be.  I know we've only scratched the surface on raising her, but it's nice to know that in the first five years, we've done something right.  I just hope we can continue to do as good a job with her and with her sisters.   

Some days I think about that day she was born, and I feel like it was years ago while sometimes it feels like only yesterday.  Recently, I was looking at a professional photograph we have of her from when she was about eleven months old, and I can't believe that she's even the same kid.  She's so big now, with her own thoughts, opinions and expressions.   She can jump and play, make her bed and almost tie her shoes.  She tells jokes and laughs, and still cries.  Sometimes a lot, but she is a girl, after all.  She can even read and write. The amount that she's grown in five years, absolutely amazes me.  She's helped Andy and I to grow just as much.  

I look forward to the next five years, and even though they'll be hard, the next five after that.  Before I know it, she'll be packing her bags and heading off to college. That picture of the eleven month old baby will seem like a lifetime ago, while the day she was born will seem like a dream.  So, for now, I'll enjoy her and all my girls as much as I can, and be proud of myself for finding something I'm really good at in life.  Being a mom.  Happy Birthday Sonya Lynne.  Thanks for making my dream of being a mom come true and for being such an amazing little girl.  I love you, forever.  

Family Dinner

When I was a kid, my whole family would sit down and have dinner almost every night together.  I miss that I don't get to do that with my family every night.  Andy's job and the way the business and this city is run in general, does not allow for most people I know to come home before 7pm.  This includes my husband.  That is way to late for dinner in our house.  Especially since the girls are usually in bed by 7:30.  Since we don't get to have dinner together during the week we make an effort to at least do it on the weekend.  When we do have dinner together, I realize why it might be a good thing that we don't get to do it every night.  It's usually pretty crazy.  Lana doesn't want to eat this, Sonya doesn't like that and Georgia is throwing food everywhere.  I usually end up eating fast or only half my food.   It's hardly the Norman Rockwell painting I like to think of in my head.  Of course if I remember correctly, most family dinners when I was a kid ended with my baby sister storming up the stairs to her room and slamming the door shut, for one reason or another.  

Sunday night we were sitting having our usual weekend family dinner.  Lana was refusing to eat anything.  Sonya was bartering with us about how much milk she had to drink before she got a "treat".  Georgia was eating most of her food, and tossing what was not interesting to her on the ground.  Lana finished her milk and she dropped her empty sippy cup on the ground.  Sonya got down and retrieved it for her.  Then she threw it down again laughing.  Sonya again picked it up.  Then they both threw their cups on the ground laughing hysterically.  

Andy and I were less then happy and warned them.  Sonya got down and got both their cups again but hung on to hers, heeding the warning.  Lana, always pushing the envelope, tossed hers back on the ground.  I picked it up off the floor to put an end to her game.  Meanwhile Lana was screaming, 

"My miiiiiiilllllkkk!!!!"  as I took her cup away.  I halfway turn around in my chair toward the counter behind me and gently toss the cup on the counter.  Because it was a throwaway sippy cut and because it was empty,  it was very light.  So it bounced on the counter, then off the  counter and right on to the floor.  The girls watched it fall to the ground and immediately burst into laughter.  Then Andy started laughing.  Since I was only half annoyed but mostly amused at the events, I started laughing as well.    

There we all sat on a Sunday evening as a family, laughing and eating or not eating all together.  I don't even remember what it was we had, but it was one of the best meals of my life.  Even better than a Norman Rockwell painting.

A True Girly Girl

Having a kid with a birthday close to Christmas makes it hard to figure out what presents to get her for both.  She doesn't get presents all year, and then all of a sudden I have to find something for two holidays.  Lana and Georgia have birthdays a safe distance from Christmas, so that by the time their birthdays rolls around, they need some new things.  Sonya, however, has her birthday and Christmas within 6 weeks of each other.  This is better than having her birthday the day BEFORE Christmas, like my poor friend BethAnnDoddKoehn, but still makes it difficult to buy for her.  Then there's the added problem of her not really needing anything.  She has so many toys already, and since she doesn't really appreciate money  yet, I'm at a loss when people ask me what to get her for one or the other.  

Last week my sister, Beth, told me she gave Zach the Toys R Us catalogue and told him to circle what he wanted for Christmas.  I thought this was a great idea, so when the Target toy catalogue showed up, I did the same thing.  I handed it over to Sonya and told her to circle what she wanted.  I did make it VERY clear that this did not mean she was getting everything she circled.  I simply needed some ideas to give to the family for her birthday and to Santa for Christmas.  

She took the catalogue and the pen and disappeared for about half an hour.  Then she came back to me wanting to show me what she circled.  The beginning of the catalogue was mostly toys for boys or girls.  There was a circle here or there.  She would say to me,

"I like this because it's Little Einsteins," or "this game looks like fun."

Then there were a few pages of boys toys where nothing was circled.  THEN we got to the girl pages and oh my!  I think every pink or princess thing on the page had a huge circle around it.  

"I want this because it's so pretty," she said to me.  "Oh and of COURSE I want THIS! It even has the new Princess from the Princess and the Frog movie," she remarked as she pointed to a pack of SEVEN princess dolls, all Barbie size.  Great, just what THIS house needs, MORE dolls.  Especially seven at once!  Bring 'em on!

She continued to point things out to me and say how pretty this was or how much she REALLY wanted that.  Then she got to a toy that was a doll who came with makeup.  She pointed to it and said, 

"This I really want too."  Well of course, it's another doll!  Then she stopped, looked up at me, put her hands up in the air and said,  "Really, anything that's pretty or has makeup, I like."  

Who would have guessed?  So anyone shopping for Sonya for her birthday or Christmas, just keep that in mind.  If it's pretty or has makeup, you're guaranteed she'll like it!  

Things That Go Bump In the Night

Yes, I've been out of touch for a bit now.  My computer was taken over by my father-in-law for the past week and I left the house ALONE every chance I got, so there wasn't much time to write.  I'm still here though!  I didn't get a chance to tell you all about Halloween, so I thought we'd start there.

I don't know if I've said it before, but Sonya is a the most scared, of all the scaredy-cat kids, in all the land.  This makes Halloween a very bitter sweet holiday for her.  She loves to get dressed up and get candy, but isn't too fond of all the creepy and scary decorations on people's houses.  We, in fact, have a decoration we get out every year she absolutely fears to death.  It's called Jabber Jaw.  It's a skeleton head that you talk to and it repeats what you say, while it's jaw moves, in a really creepy voice.  Every year when we get it out she wants us to put it as far away as possible.  This year before I got the decorations out she talked about Jabber Jaw and how she wasn't afraid of it.  She was going to talk to it and hold it.  She couldn't WAIT to get out Jabber Jaw!!   Then Jabber Jaw came out of the Halloween box and she froze like a deer in headlights and started to cry.  I'm not kidding.  Cried and begged me to put it away.  So once again Jabber Jaw got put up on a high shelf.  Although we did discovered, he serves a good purpose.  Anytime she started misbehaving we threatened to get Jabber Jaw.  NOT JABBER JAW!!!  Ahhh, antagonizing your children...sometimes it's so much fun to be a parent. 

 The biggest problem with her being so afraid of silly things, is that she's starting to influence Lana.  Who knows if Lana would have been as afraid of Jabber Jaw, if she was the firstborn.  She looks to Sonya to lead the way, so she was very afraid too.  Luckily, G is still too little to be led so she could have cared less about it.  

On Halloween night we went trick or treating with Sonya's friend Liza and her little sister.  (Sonya went as a witch, Lana as Minnie and Georgia as a duck and they were damn cute, I must say.)  Liza does not scare as easily, and was willing to ring any doorbell for candy no matter how dark or creepy the decorations looked.  She coaxed Sonya to go with her to most of the scary houses.  If not for her I think Sonya would have been eating the candy we handed out at home.  It didn't matter what kind of candy was promised at a house, if it looked scary she was out.  Fortunately, thanks to Liza, she managed to get a good haul.  NOT that we really NEEDED anymore junk in our cupboard, but still.  

After about 25 minutes we went home, because Liza and her family needed to leave, and Sonya and Lana were ready to be done with potential scariness.  After I put Georgia to bed, I convinced them to go back out to a couple more houses.  Andy and I took them, while my in-laws stayed and passed out candy.  We didn't end up going far because, once again, the houses that looked kind of scary, Sonya refused to go near. Now that Liza wasn't around to protect her, she REALLY wouldn't go.

We were almost back home when we stopped at one last, non-scary house.  The girls walked up to get their candy and I turned around to face two teenage boys in very creepy looking masks.  As soon as I saw them I knew the girls weren't going to like them.  I looked back to see how they were going to react.  They thanked the nice lady for their candy, then they both turned around and stared at the boys in front of them.  Their eyes got wide and they both looked nervous.  Then Lana, without taking her eyes off them said,

"yikes."

 Just like that.  Not loud or upset, just a very subdued, calm but scared "yikes".  Then she grabbed Andy and said, 

"Daddy pick up, peese."  

Andy and I laughed, and he picked her up.  I grabbed Sonya's hand to lead her away from the creepy looking masked boys.  We went back to our house where they were very content to pass out/eat lots of candy for the rest of the night.  Overall, they had fun despite being frightened, and we always have a great time watching them.

I'm sure as Sonya gets older she'll start to overcome some of her fears of Halloween decorations.  I can't say she doesn't come by it naturally.  I've always been a bit on the scared side myself.  I remember many a Halloween where I refused one particular house in the neighborhood.  They had black lights and spooky music coming from the front door.  That's all I needed to not go.  Even now I can't handle a lot of  scary movies, especially zombie ones.   I can't even imagine how tormented I would have been by MY father, if Jabber Jaw would have been in our family.  Maybe next year Sonya will successfully convince herself that she's not afraid of it.  Then she can take part in the fun of scaring her little sisters instead.