You are guilty.

Yes you are.

I’m guilty too.

As a matter of fact, the entire world is guilty!

It was done to us as we were growing up and it’s only by habit that we continue and pass this type of behavior on.

What is it?

An old wives tale….also referred to as an “old wise tale”

As a mom to a toddler old I haven’t had the opportunity to use any of these "tales" on my son...but sooner rather than later I’m sure I will. I could now tell my son something like, "If you pick your nose and eat the boogers, your tummy will get clogged with boogies and you won't be able to breath (and you'll die)"! However, he'd just look at me and repeat what I'd said and continue to do it! 

Cruel? Possibly but boogers are nasty - especially his. But, shhhh...don't tell him I told you his visible secret. Growing up a few of my favorite old wives tales were:

1. If you step on a crack you'll break your mother's back.
2. Breaking a mirror will earn a person seven years of bad luck.
3. Don't swallow gum or it will stay in your stomach for seven years.
4. Don't make silly faces or your face will stay that way forever.
5. It's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors.
6. A man must be the first person to enter your house on January 1 of a new year.
7. If you or someone sweeps your/their foot while sweeping you get bad luck.
8. You should put butter on a burn.
9. If the palm of your right hand is itchy, money will be coming your way. But, if you scratch the right hand while it is itchy, it’ll keep the money from coming.

Source: marquetteturner.com

And my personal favorite from my mom, which has me scurrying at the end of the year (till this day):

• If your house is not in order (clean, including all laundry) by December 31^st, your house will be dirty all year long.

What “old wives tales” are you guilty of telling your child/children to discourage unwanted behavior or scare them? What old wives tales do you hold from your childhood?  

in my purse:

pull-ups
wipes
tiny board books
used tissues
random trash picked up during our travels

...these are the small items in my purse that remind me you are NEAR
even while away each day amidst our daily routine.


This post is a part of the Six Word Friday's weekly over at Making Things Up. #sixwordsfriday
SWF: "Near"

a few things...Home Rules Mix tape Vol. 1.04

It's come to my attention that there are a few things that my kid needs to be aware of and they are:

1. Peddling your tricycle is for you to do, not mom (granted I could use the exercise)
2. Mom picks the boogers, not you.
3. You wake up late, you eat breakfast at school not at home.
4. Just because the "Cat In the Hat" thinks he knows a lot about that does not mean you do too - nor Sally, Nick, or Fish.
5. Sleep...it's awesome and I'll never get the kazillion hours I lost during my 20's and early 30's or nurturing you back, so stop manipulating my sleep and I'll stop manipulating yours.
6. It is not required that we go to the store everyday after school...so please stop asking when I pick you up (and maybe the teachers will stop looking at me weird)
7. You can NOT continue to run out into the street because you love the chase, to pet some unknown animal, because you have to say hi to the squirrel, or because you want to cop a ride someone's bicycle.
8. Prolonging the time you lay in bed does not get you off of potty duty in the AM.

...more to come...

the floor

(Back drop: Me sitting on the couch enjoying the boob tube as I attempt to wind down for the evening)

ACTION!

E: “wee,wee…arrrrrrrgh, ka boom!”

(as he proceeds to the ottoman – slamming hisself across it and bouncing off of the couch - apparently someone’s having a Friday Night Smack Down moment)

...10 minutes LATER...

I hear the giggles and I continue to ignore him (clearly someones seeking attention)

And then, out the corner of my eye I notice this last time is a bit different

This time...I see two little legs up in the air and a big head moving towards the floor.

MAN DOWN (I began to think)

E: "Mom you okay?" (As he slowly resurfaces)

Me: "No, are you okay...I've been sitting on the couch the entire time"

E: "I'm okay"

Me:  "Well since you're okay and not hurt...please tell me what exactly did you hit when you landed on the floor?"

E: "the floor"

(I just chuckled inside. kids, you gotta love them for their honesty)

contemplating b.w.'s*...

[*b.w. = butt wiping]

no, I'm not contemplating on wiping my butt or even if i should.
i'm a-okay with that!

it's the boys bootie to be exact
i've been contemplating which is worse:

wiping a babies/ pre-toddlers booty when changing a diaper OR wiping a toddlers butt?

i mean one does get used to it.
you're supposed to, right?
it's a necessity as a baby - who else will wipe the booty when he/she stinky's?

but, the stage where the kid is being potty trained...
well...umm you know...

you get all excited (and possibly you do a happy dance)!
the stage has been set - you're in the process of losing the diaper and the "changing of the diaper ritual."

but then
there comes that moment
you know, the poo? boo boo?  #2?
and the kid attempts to wipe...
just disgusting

and, well
you're back to contemplating and wondering - really does this ever end!

Which do you think is worse, wiping a babies/ pre-toddlers booty when changing a diaper OR wiping a toddlers butt?

What have your experiences been? I wonder if anyone has ever kept a record of how many times they've wiped their kids butt? No seriously, I know someone has!

[image via]

Who will become a hero now?

image+text source via

Waiting For Superman: Get the 411 here

Call To Action: Sign the Petition or Get Involved here

Have you seen the trailer or read the synopsis behind this movie? 

What are your thoughts? 

Some believe education is the schools responsibility. Are you waiting for Superman as it pertains to the school system?

Have you as a parent, individual, or educator taken your own steps to help better your child/ a child's future? If so, how?

it's okay - it's not just me!

i'd have to say parenting can take many shapes, forms, likes and dislikes and during my 11year  journey of parenting*. i've come to realize i am okay...with parenting!
well okay with a few things-ideas-situations and they are:

"poop happens" - otherwise known as sh*$ happens, because really it does! literally and figuratively. and if  you know like i know... it can happen in the most interesting places.

it's okay to scream - kid(s) giving you the blues crying and screaming, don't think about tying him/her/them up or hiding in the closet, just join in- scream, cry, or fall out on the floor with them - it helps (not the situation of course but your mental stability)!

a messy nest is sometimes best because "mommy maids", well she was laid off...and the clean-up song was instituted

so why am i okay with this...

because it's life and i've heard and read similar stories from other parents [which has to mean something] and I now realize, it's okay - it's not just me! and well, knowing that in itself is awesome and gratifying!

snack while pondering late @ night.
©beekabeeka.com

so now i'm off to other realizations that don't make sense. 

what things have you become okay with during your parenting journey?

*[on parenting: okay so there have only been 2 years the other 9 years were with my GOD kids - that really doesn't count ya' know considering i could send them home].

Her Child, My Child...young two's

Young Two’s Teacher: I’m excited 'E' will be moving over to the young two’s classroom soon.  He’s such a sweet boy and friendly. He plays really well when he comes over in the afternoon.

Me: Yeah, I’m looking forward to him moving as well.  All his current teachers think he’s been ready to move. You know, the only thing I worry about is…

Well…

Ummm…

Marsha [she's this bad ass little girl that used to be in my sons class but moved when she turned two – Thank GOD - and I don't like to talk about folks kids].

Young Two’s Teacher: [just smiles – really hard]

[At this point Marsha is running around the room knocking everyone around with her book bag – the kind with wheels – you know the type you can travel with]

Me: You know she’s [speaking of Marsha] bad as shit! (and I never curse, really I don’t)!

Me: Seriously, you can be honest, she’s bad isn’t she?

Young Two’s Teacher:  yes [as she clears her throat]…but she’s getting better.

Me: Right! That’s why she’s running around here as we speak tormenting the other kids!

Marsha, please stop. [in her sweet voice]

Me: Okay have a good evening, 'E' say good evening!

[As I open the classroom door Marsha’s mom is walking in]

Marsha’s mom to me: Says hi and smiles. She then says, “Oh your son’s such a cutie pie and so pleasant.”

Me:  Hello…I know…goodnight [in a sarcastic voice as I smile and walk out the door thinking otherwise about her child]

Sayings, Situations, and An Incident

SAYINGS

“Mommy  top (stop) it, top it!”     

[as I washed my sons private area during bath time]

 ---

“Kahthee sai’ (said), no, no, no, no!” 

[Beeka looking in window at daycare during drop off – referring to his teacher, Kathy]

 ---

“Get down Rayne, Get down Rian!” 

[conversations with cousins that are NOT present based on a situation that occurred last weekend]

 ---

“Mommy, Elmo not nice.” 

[random conversation while driving home from daycare]

---

“It’s rainin’ mommy” 

[while taking an evening walk -75 degrees and the suns setting]

---

Eat mommy, sit down now, eat!

[clueless, I guess the boy wanted some company]

SITUATIONS

Beeka: Wan (want) watch Elmo mommy!

Me: no, not tonight Beeka, its sleepy time

Beeka: Noooooooooo, mommy not nice…u not nice [as he runs off down the hall with his plush Elmo]

---

Preface: I’m in the kitchen doing who knows what and I hear some babble and yelling coming from the living room. I then proceed towards the living room only to find Beeka (my son) slouching down with his index finger pointed towards Elmo and he's yelling:

"Didn't I tell you no, Elmo, no...you don't do that...you kno better!"

I just looked and said, "Hey there...so you definitely learned a lot over Shelly's house yesterday, wow!"

[I then proceeded back into the kitchen to make a special phone call to Shelly - Shelly...well, she's my cousin]

AN INCIDENT

“Lego Storm”

I am sitting on the couch, minding my business and eating a bowl of soup because I’ve caught kiddie cooties.

Suddenly, a storm of toys come flying pass the side of my head, ear, neck, or whatever! I hear a giggle!

I think to myself, should I even wonder what the heck is going on, do I look back or duck?

Crap, too late!

I just got popped upside the head, not once but twice with a Lego piece.

Slowly losing it: incident report 011

Hi this is Mandy from the daycare.

I just wanted to let you know that your son lost his balance and fell out of his chair and cut the corner of his left eye. He cried for a second but is playing now. There wasn’t any bleeding or anything but we washed off the affected area and put some ice on his eye.  There's a little bruise.

So Mandy what really happened?  Was my boy really standing on the chair and trying to climb on something?

No, just as I said, he lost balance while trying to get out of his chair and fell on the backside of the chair injuring the left corner of his eye.

Well Mandy, you know yesterday the boy also thought he could walk/stand on a plastic ball in order to climb on the kitchen counter…fell and hit his noggin!

And the day before he thought he could swing on the living room drapes to get a better look at a bird outside!

You tell that child of mine to stop driving me crazy! I CAN’T TAKE IT. If he keeps it up mommy won’t make it to his 8^th birthday! Wait…Mandy, I know you have four older boys are you looking for another child…

Ma’am it’s okay, really it is. But just so you know this isn’t the worst of it!  If it makes you feel any better my son was hit by a car the other night!

Wordless Wednesday: Nooooo

i smelled it, so i decided to ask nicely...

mom: beeka, did you poop?

beeka: nooooo!
how's that for proof!!!

i'm pretty obsessed...

with eating and food preparation.

i think one should eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and snacks of course).

i think there should be a veggie somewhere in one of those meals - okay...twice a day.

this may explain why i’m pretty obsessed with what my son eats, how he eats, where he eats, and if he eats it all.

i send certain foods and snacks with him EVERYWHERE he goes.  no seriously, i do.

i know, i am a sad individual…possibly wasting energy.

and no i don’t follow the food pyramid to a 't' or the recommended measurements of how much from each food group one should eat…although i probably would if i could.

i’d say breakfast, for my son, is the SAME every morning, however, on the weekends I like to mix it up - i call it giving the boy a “weekend treat”

lunch, well that’s where the real obsession lies...

some days lunches are exciting, some days lunches are a drag.

i do wonder if my son knows or thinks this when he sits down to eat?

and again, i know, i am a sad individual…possibly wasting energy on these sorts of thoughts with a 22 month old.

but then i do sometimes wonder what the teachers think?

i sometimes think back and remember how my mom used to pack my lunch every single day.  i still smell the bologna and the thermos full of soup. Why is it i remember just that? was that the standard lunch for me?

so because of this slight obsession...

i’ve gone as far as taking a peek into the refrigerator at the daycare to see what other kids were eating!

so say it - i am a nut case.

but what i found out from that peek into the refrigerator? those kids lunches were sometimes crappier than “E’s”.

i also found out (from the teacher) that “E” is the only kid in his class that sits there – eats ALL of his lunch and appears to be excited about what i have sent/prepared...

even though mommy thinks it’s crappy at times.

sooooooo, i guess i can live with that thought for the moment...

but wait - i'm also obsessed with how i pack his lunch/meals! 

what are your kid obsessions? do share.

You Know Your Are A Mom When...

The Pacifier  = Happy Kid & Back Seat Meltdown Avoidance

• Mommy, is your first, middle, and last name every hour of the day including when your kids are asleep.
• You can fully decipher baby talk and mesh it in with adult talk (and not care if you get crazy looks from others).
• Your parents start acting like kids.
• Your once clean and spotless car has become a burial ground for every toy ever taken out of the house.
• You randomly smell poop everywhere you go.
• You give in to the pacifier/binky only to avoid some type of embarrassing fallout or kid meltdown. 

You're up next: You know you're a mommy when ->

my child can read

and tear up and bite books too...

One of many books gone to book hell. 

Thanks beeka, one day you will repay me - I guarantee!

My Favorite...

pastime 

[sleeping]

nowtime 

[kiddie laundry]

"crazy mommie maker" 

[fridge phonics]

"mommie refresher" 

[cellar no. 8, cabernet sauvignon]

hidden gem 

[rain boots that haven't be worn in over a year]

dust catcher 

[cook books, 4+yrs and older - never used]

what are your favorites: now and then?

Life as I know it…to date

Well there’s a saying that “time flies” and where the time went I have no clue!

Well then there’s my life and what it has become…quite interesting in some aspects or a drag in others.

Yet I think I probably shouldn’t complain – I avoid those who complain.   

I’m not going to cry or loose my cool – I’m superwoman.

What I did do – last evening that is...

I picked the boy up from daycare and received a delightful hello (awesome)

I then proceeded home to...cook dinner

I ate; the boy ate and ate and ate.

I popped open a bottle of wine and in the midst received a phone call from my cousin.

My cousin was bored (she has four kids of her own but they are away).

She said she was going to pick up a pizza and come by the house…she had some wine too:

Cellar No. 8, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2008

There was more wine to be had!

...and there was movie watching (a movie I’ve watched repeatedly for the last two weeks like it just came out).

Coming to America (the movie)…because it makes me laugh and Eddie Murphy was a genius – then.

Wait, I'm hosting an impromtu party - yeah me!

By this time the boy was running around the house like a chicken with his head cut off…my cousin thinks it's cute and funny.

I just shake my head and growl.

It’s now 9:30...the boy get’s put down to bed.

My cousin decides to leave (she’s yawning)...she’s the worse! damn party pooper!

Back to the norm...

I washed a load of clothes and tidy up the house

11:30 - I’m yawning...

bored out of my mind, but really, I should be asleep!

Lord knows I’m not getting any younger (in the real world that is).

Hmmm…Cheers to me! 

...this is my life as I know it to date.

Steel Magnolia's tonight?

I Mean, For Serious!

McGraw Hill Kingscourt: Literacy Links Books

I’d have to say I send my son to decent rated daycare provider with awesome teachers, a good program, a great student to teacher ratio, etc.  However this past week, I’ve noticed one of the teachers in my son’s classroom uses bad grammar or that maybe her sentence structure isn’t the best when talking with the children.  For example this week (not including other weeks) I’ve heard her say to a child, “Larry, you don’t want to play with the drum no more? or “Jill where is the book at?” Now, that’s not to say that I am a grammar scholar and that I’ve received accolades on my use of sentence structure – because I haven’t.  In fact I think I am horrible! To make it even worse, I throw in a bit of slang here and there just to make myself cool and hip (smile).  However, I do try very hard to speak properly and use the correct verbiage around my boy.  Why?  Because my son is at the age where he is starting to talk a bit more beyond the simple babble.  Every day he hears and says more words.  The boy’s vocabulary is growing and he repeats everything he hears!

With this being said, I believe it is extremely important for schools, centers, daycare's, etc. to set an example when parents are not around.  I also understand as parents it is important for us to do our due diligence and reinforce what is being learned or “overheard” in a proper manner.  Am I being completely ridiculous to have these types of concerns at my son’s age? Honestly, I am not going to crap my pants over this but I do believe my concerns are valid.  I mean “for serious”, we entrust these schools and centers and leave our kids in their hands.

What are your thoughts?

slashing time

A while ago I wrote about how I am often the recipient of the "backseat meltdown"...lucky me? Maybe you've experienced it too? For those wondering what exactly a backseat meltdown is - it's when my son gets in a whiny mood while traveling in the car - for no reason of course but that he's fed up with sitting in his car seat. This mainly happened on the trip from home to daycare vice versa.  Well guess what folks? I think our meltdown sessions have come to an end. I think, for now, that the culprit was travel.  We moved to a new home two weeks ago and our travel time from home to daycare vice versa is a total of 6 minutes. Before our trip was a total 60 minutes or more depending on the beltway festivities. How is that for slashing time?

So for now there are no more backseat meltdowns, no more of mommy turning up the music EXTREMELY loud to ignore the boy and certainly no more of mommy yelling at the idiots on the road (okay maybe there’s still some of that). But honestly all of that riff raff – who needs it? We are now on to bigger and better issues like the pacifier attachment and how to get rid of it – because poking holes in it and hiding it just doesn’t work (which is another story in itself)!

Wee-wee or woo-woo? Pee-pee or pooh-pooh?

Daily conversations with my son about using the potty (at 21 months)!

Mommy: Beeka do you have to pooh?

Beeka: Noooooooooooooooooooooo.

Mommy: Well, do you have to pee-pee?

Beeka: Yes!

Beeka runs to the potty and sits on it…with his clothes on!

OR

Beeka to Mommy: Potty…pee-pee (as he pulls down his pants).

Mommy: okay let’s potty...

5 seconds later, at the potty…

Mommy: (as I pull off the pull-up) Beeka, you have to tell me potty before you go, not afterwards

Beeka: oooOOOOOOOOkkaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy.

OR

Beeka: Yelling, “Pottttttttttttttttttttttty”, as he runs to Mommy with his pamper in his hand.

[I guess I shouldn’t complain…I pretended to start potty training at 19 months after buying this book and then seriously after receiving this potty video]

I Quit Mommyhood!

 

The question:
Do YOU ever get tired of being a mom?
Found:

babycenter.com blogs
Posted by:

Betsy Shaw
The Thought:
And if you don’t feel okay admitting it, if you have guilt about it, have you ever thought about why? Because, I mean,  everyone, EVERYONE, complains about their job now and then. So why shouldn’t you be able to complain about yours?

Statements made I can relate too:

1. I get sick of being a mom sometimes. I get sick of it a lot. But it doesn’t mean I don’t feel lucky to have it and it definitely doesn’t mean I want to quit.
2. Or when I see the closet in my daughters’ (son's) room, the one I just spent an hour organizing, and it’s a total and complete cotton avalanche...
3. Or when I just want to disappear for a minute, or two, or three, behind the closed bathroom door without someone calling my name… (Why do they always need me at the precise moment when I’m on the toilet?).
4. Or when I wake up early and sneak to the kitchen for a quiet cup of tea, and, while reaching into the fridge for the milk,  the jar of raspberry jam falls out and shatters on the floor, and I spend the whole of my 20-minutes of quiet time, cleaning it up …

Gotta Love It!!!! 

(image love: Getty Images)