The downfall of the digital era

After going away for a two week holiday and taking somewhere near 1000 pictures I have a constant nagging feeling like I'm forgetting to do something. Oh right, do something with the damn pictures!

Now don't get me wrong, they are off the camera and I've even uploaded them to facebook and Flickr. But you see, while we were on holidays I was talking about making a photo album for Mr Man, so the memories will stay with him, and of course one for my husband and I, so we can look at the pictures whenever the mood strikes, and not be hunched over my laptop.

It's a big job though, sifting through hundreds of photos. Which one of Darling son is the best one? Is his smile brighter in #456 or #465 (note 10 pictures of exactly the same shot, only each one taken a second later). The responsibility is too great! I can't decide. Heck, that's why we've got so many darn pictures in the first place.

Part of the problem is that everywhere you turn someone is suggesting you turn those beautiful pictures from your last family holiday into a coffee table book or have that million dollar shot printed on a canvas for all to see when they enter your home. Nowadays you don't subject your family and friends to slide shows of your last holiday, no instead you send them a picture book starring you & your family. Because that's what Uncle Joe wants for Christmas...not so much.

Sleep...

I never really paid much attention to sleep before having kids. I mean, I used to get a lot of it. Probably more than your average person. I really really really like(d) it.

But with children sleep becomes something different. And I'm not even talking about my lack of it. It is often the first thing people will ask you when they see your newborn. "Oh, what a cutie" they'll say, promptly followed by a "is she a good sleeper?".

Listen in to to 3 conversations at a playground and at least one is bound to be about sleep.

With the newborn, I don't like to talk about her sleeping habits, lest I jinx it.

This superstition is a hangover from my first. Without fail, as soon as I would mention that he was a good sleeper, we would have a week of lousy sleeps. So now I just nod and smile and quickly change the topic when Little Miss' sleep enters the conversation.

As for the Little Man, his sleep, well...he's entering that stage where if he naps for too long during the day, he's ready to stay up past my bedtime at night. This is a sad stage for Mommy...a really sad stage. To say that when they both nap at the same time is my favorite time of the day might sound unloving, but it's true, it is my favorite time. I love the quiet. I will just sit on the couch and enjoy the silence. I mean I never have enough time to actually get anything done, so I just sit there for the few minutes of quiet and enjoy. But now I will have to start monitoring Little Man's sleep, and wake him up after an hour or so. Those few minutes of absolute silence may end up being only a few seconds. It's either that or kiss my own 9pm bedtime goodbye!

Extreme Makeover: Toddler Edition | momlogic.com

It has been such a long time since I've posted anything. I'm a little surprised the blog is still here...I guess, where would it go?

Well, my darling son never did drop that midday nap, thank goodness, and I now have a darling daughter to wish about being a better mother to :-)

I just came across this video Extreme Makeover: Toddler Edition | momlogic.com, which I'm sure is a lark, but makes you wonder: How soon is too soon for plastic surgery. Apparently not a silly question, as according to the American Association of Plastic Surgery, it's on the rise for those under 18. They do have ethics and standards though and will normally not give girls breast implants until they are 18, and girls must wait until around 16 (boys 17) before they can have their nose done.

But what about Botox, the great fad of injection poison into your skin? Well, that's all the rage too for the under 18 crowd, but not for the same reason as the old folks use it...Teens use it to look cool. Literally. Apparently, a quick injection of Botox makes signs of sweating disappear. No more sweaty palms or pit stains. Of course, good ol' B is also being used to reduce lines (like teens have lines??) as are other tricks such as microdermabrasion, all in the hopes of capturing that youthful look.

It's a bit frightening to think of teens trying to make themselves look younger. I guess they have to in order not look older than their Mom at their high school graduation ;-)

Is this the end of midday naps???

We struggled a couple of days last week, but I chocked it up to the heat as later in the week he started to nap again. We are now enjoying the same struggle this week, and yes, it is still hot, but...but I fear we are coming to the end of midday naps.

How can this be. He's not even 2. I'm pregnant. I need my 2 hours in the middle of the day to...to do things. Ok, maybe not actually do things, but I do need those two hours, if for no other reason than because I need a nap!

And the books...they all say he still needs to nap. Can't he read??? Doesn't he know what the experts are saying?

Sadly, as I sit here and type there is a chorus of 'MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA" leading me to believe that no, my little man is not up on the research and even if he is he's decided to buck the trend. What is a tired MAMAMAMMAMAMAM to do?

My options are simple I guess. I keep on trying to put him down, day after day and hope for the best. Go in his room every 15 minutes or so and remind him that he should be napping. Close his door, turn the monitor off, and pretend that he's sleeping! Start praying (to who???) that this, like head banging, food throwing and spitting, is just another phase. Let's hope it passes. Quickly.

Maybe, just maybe, tomorrow I'll figure it out.

I love being a Mom. It's the best job ever. Yeah, I know the hours are long, there really isn't an exit clause but the rewards are worth every second. I keep reminding myself of this as I try, desperately try, and crack my one year old's habit of picking his nose!

"He does it out spite." "He does to get attention." "it's a power thing" "He does it because he can". "It feels good".

You name I've heard it, but no one can tell me how I can stop him from doing it. As soon as one finger is removed from nostril, the other one resumes where it left off, and so on, etc. Distractions. Oh yes, I've tried that. You name it. But as soon as he bores of new activity, Mommy making a fool of herself singing head and shoulders, the hokey pokey, old mcdonald (and on and on) he's right back where he left off. The kid does not miss a beat.

His will is stronger than mine!

We're going to our first proper activity tomorrow. I really hope we like it since we've paid for the term. In 50 minutes we're to sing, dance, play musical instruments, hear stories, do body movement, make sounds, do art, make a craft, play with puppets, rhymes, drama, do finger plays and social plays. I can't imagine doing all that in a week, let alone 50 minutes. I'll be sure to have a full strenght coffee before we get there!

That's all I have time for tonight. Must get a few pages in of the the book I'm reading (People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks) before Desperate Housewives.

Maybe tomorrow I'll find the perfect activity

I spent the better part of early Sunday morning searching the net for the perfect playground. You know, the one that's shaded, has the rubber on the ground (to help prevent serious injury when DS falls), has lots of swings and things for toddlers, perfectly manicured lawn surrounding it, with no dog poo, needles or other unsavoury items...I found what i thought would be the perfect place, and it was...it just wasn't worth the 20 minute drive. It was just like the playgrounds that are 5 minutes away, on foot. So why the drive? Online it sounded far superior, but in reality it was a playground, just like all the others. Ok, maybe it was a little bit more shaded, but not much.

What I don't understand is why more of the parks around here are not shaded, naturally or with the sails? When you read stats that say that 1 in 2 people here have skin cancer you'd think there would be a bit of an effort to try and help shield the little people as long as possible. I know shade doens't prevent you from UV but it helps a bit and makes it a bit more bearable to be outside.

In a climate as hot as this one, I'm a bit surprised there aren't more indoor activities for little people. I know children's museums are expensive to start up, extremely hard to raise funding for and difficult to maintain, but surely shopping malls can see how it could benefit them to have even a small indoor play area for babies and toddlers. Heck, I'd be there every day if they did...and i'd probalby spend a fair bit each of those days too. Instead, on days like today when it is supposed to be in the mid 30s with medium to high humidty my DS and I are stuck inside...ALL DAY...

Maybe I should stop 'blogging' and resume searching...maybe tomorrow :-)

Maybe tomorrow...

Maybe tomorrow...you know for well over a year now, there's barely been a day that the phrase "maybe tomorrow I'll do a better job at/be a better mother...." hasn't flicked through my mind. Now that I've decided to put fingertips to keyboard, I've stopped thinking like that. Maybe blogging is the cure to guilt?...nah. Maybe I've simply just been too tired and busy of late to pause long enough to put a complete sentence together in my mind. Because I certainly don't feel like all guilt has washed away from me.

Wouldn't it be nice...to live guilt-free? Can such an existence be possible? For a woman? A woman with Jewish ancestry? That's what I thought!

My guilt is so bad that recently I felt guilty for purchasing a magazine. Why you ask? Because I think I'm buying someone else's copy! You see, where I live there's a small news agent and I think they only buy the number of copies sold regularly. Since we've only been living here for a few months, in my mind someone out there is not getting their copy that they used to get before I arrived. Funny enough, in the last issue of the magazine there was an article about guilt.

I try, I really do; but no matter what I do, I can't shake the nagging feeling of guilt. I wonder if one day they'll be able to locate the guilt gene.

All this talk about guilt is making me feel guilty for not being more constructive with this little bit of quiet time I have before DS wakes from his nap. I should go and clean, or maybe read the article on guilt!