Most Loved Toys - Vol. 2

Balloons

 While we do not have balloons around everyday, we certainly do not reserve them only for birthdays. It's just an empty rubber bubble, yet so much fun for a kid. Whoever came up with the idea really should have been paid a million dollars. I have a feeling he didn't.

Yes, that is my kid licking a balloon.

Big Box of Pom-Poms

Yes, it makes a mess every.single.time the box of pom poms are out, but for some reason, that box holds the magic to entertain all four kids at the same time. Into the box I threw a few small containers, some serving tongs, and an old Christmas candy jar. The kids play candy store, scoop and dump, throw snowballs (uh, yeah. not my favorite), stuff them in their shirts... whatever pops into their little heads.



{For those who are also Money Saving Mom readers, I promise that while she beat me to it, I am not just copying her post today. I took these pictures last weekend and woke up this morning with the intention of writing this post tonight. Honest, really and truly. I take no blame for making you want to run to the nearest craft store to buy pom poms.}

How Do I Stay Awake W/O Increasing Calories?

When my babies are in the 4 - 7 month range, I tend to hit a wall. I'm completely tired to the bone and so so so very sleepy. I have been known to fall asleep while changing diapers. I do not lie.

My solution, so far, has been Dr. Pepper. The sudden deluge of caffeine and sugar is enough to shock me awake. However, it doesn't last more than 2 hours, and I find it's time to reach for another. This, of course, adds up quickly, and it's not uncommon for me to add an extra 300-600 calories a day to my typical food intake.

Now I am certainly an advocate of sleeping when you need it. There's seriously no reason to purposely keep yourself from it. But my opportunities for sleep totally depend on my kids' schedules. I can't exactly just abandon them while I go catch up on my sleep.

So I'm looking for ideas... anything really... to keep me from falling asleep while caring for my kids, BUT without sabotaging my weight loss efforts. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Realness in the Raw

I'm going to totally go out on a limb here and assume I'm not the only one of those. You know... the mom who smiles calmly to those around her, but on the inside she's stretched tighter than a drum head. The very next slight tap will bust her nerves and send sparks flying in all directions.

It's not that she's angry about any one thing. It's not that she's a typically nasty person. She's just so dog gone overwhelmed by life and its petty demands.

She looks around her at church to see happy moms, dressed in smart, stylish clothes, hugging their precious little preschoolers, praising them for their little accomplishments. Every blog she visits online seems to the pour forth words from a mother who manages to boast on her kids, do her housework, run a home business, and blog at least three times a week, complete with photos.

She remembers back to the days before kids, when she could shower every day, paint her nails every week, clean the house, spend time online, and get in plenty of hobby time. But when she lets reality focus in around her, she trembles.

The laundry is piled five miles high in her living room. Three loads of dishes grace her kitchen counters. Her refrigerator smells as if it has 3 month old dinners within its never ending abyss... because it does. She can't remember when she last mopped the floors and knows it's been even longer since she dusted.

Her oldest child is banging her pencil on the table, waiting for help with her kindergarten work, again.... this being the 5th time it's been interrupted in the last 15 minutes. Her can’t-stay-focused-in-the-bathroom child is smearing toothpaste all over the mirror. Her nearly 2 year old is climbing, once again, to the top of the stove to reach the prized empty juice bottle. And of course, the baby is crying in her exersaucer.

She has a couple small side jobs waiting for attention... photo Christmas gifts she's wanting to work on... school to plan... blog to update... online friends who joke (rather sarcasticly) that she acts "like she's a mom of 4 or something", as they lament their neglect... parents who need to be contacted by their daughter... siblings who need a sister.

And while she's trying desperately to keep up with diapers and dishes, she has dreams, talents, and interests. What about the writing passion? What about the graphic design interests? What about the business ideas? What about the occasional hobby bug that bites her?

And so when her children simply act as children... and when chaos begins to reign in the house... when the noise level rises too high... or the mess is too big... the drum head breaks. Things come out of her mouth, sometimes yelled, that she would rather not have echo through her house.

It pains her to think of the wounds she gives to her children through her impatience. She asks their forgiveness, but worries that they don't understand just how incredibly much it pains her to know that she loses her patience with her very own children, whom she loves more than she could even comprehend.

She lies in bed at night and cries because she is the mother she never wanted to be. Those glorious, slow motion, sunny dreams of a mommy cooing to her baby as she swings him over her head are shattered by her own weakness. And all she can do is fall to her knees before her Father and beg for mercy, forgiveness, and grace.

Two Things That Have Made Shopping with 4 Little Ones SO MUCH Easier

I remember when I was expecting my second baby and I wondered how in the world I was going to shop with two? I mean, who do I get out of the van first? If the baby carseat is in the front of the cart, do I put the toddler in the back and just hope she doesn't poke holes in the hamburger? Or do I put the carseat in the back and toddler up front, leaving very little room for groceries? What do I do if both break out in tears and the entire shopping trip turns into a nightmare? Well, I learned a few tricks very quickly, and it soon became a breeze.


1) Park right next to a cart return. You've got a cart right there at your immediate disposal and you won't have to leave the cart uncorraled afterward. (Yes, I am one of those that does not always put the cart away. If I can't prak within one vehicle's depth from the cart return when I have my kids with me, I just push it in the four corners of the parking spots. I will not leave my kids in the van while I walk half a parking lot away just to return a cart. My kids' safety is that important to me.)

2) Go with your entire shopping trip planned to the T. This eliminates the need to think, which we all know is impossible in the presence of babies and toddlers and preschoolers.

3) Don't stress the small stuff. So you don't normal give your kids snacks right before dinner, but if that's when you're shopping, let them eat. It will keep them busy and avoid the "I'm hungry" meltdown.

4) DO NOT take them out during naptime or near bedtime. It's not worth it. THE END.

I only shopped with three a few times. My wonderful, spendiferous mother in law began to come once a week to babysit while I ran errands. With the addition of the fourth child and the aquirement of a new job, requiring my husband to travel further, we now have two vehicles. This has given me the opportunity to take the kids out during the week (instead of their only outing being church on Sunday). So sometimes, while out, I swing by a store or two to grab a few things. I found right away that shopping with four is really a stenuous feat. I mean, just the logistics of gettig everyone through the store in a timely manner without returning home minus a kid and plus several items I never knew were in the cart... just overwhelming to think about.


Here are two items I have found that greatly reduce the stress and increase the enjoyability.

1) The giant brand spankin' new (at our store anyway) Walmart shopping carts with a bench for two kids in front and the normal kid seat and a regular sized basket in back. (I tried in vain to find a picture. Might have to take one myself.)

2) A sling from sevenslings.com. (BTW, I hear you can get a free sling from them by entering "babies" at checkout. I haven't checked that out though. You will have to pay shipping, which is overpriced at around $11.75ish)




A combination of these two wonders allows me to have NO kids walking or running away or lagging behind. I put C and D on the cart bench, E in the kid cart seat, and wear F in the sling. Love it! I can then walk my own pace, grab what I need quickly and let the baby sleep on my shoulder, instead of fuss in her car seat and I have the entire full size basket to fill with the required groceries. Now if I could just find a way to tie E's legs to the cart, so he'll stop kicking C and D.