Important Life Lessons for Miss Midget

So this morning tragedy struck and i was greeted with tears when I went to get Miss Midget up this morning.
Her poor long suffering Barbie has lost her leg just below the knee.



We are hoping Dr Daddy (Mr E) will be able to fix Barbie (Glue should work I hope).
This got me thinking about life lessons Missy has learnt in her 3 almost 4 years.

I would say this is a important one. Barbie's legs may bend but it doesn't mean they go that way. Also this could be a lesson on the fact that Mummy and Daddy may not be able to fix everything.

Another lesson she's learnt a few months back (I won't go into to much detail about it) - She has found out the hard way that if she swallows the likes of Barbie's little bracelet that while we may see it again we do not get to keep it and we count it as GONE.

Another one she's learnt is that yes we can give our toys haircuts but they are not like us and it won't grow back. This one she learnt after silly Mummy left a pair of scissors within reach and Miss had friends around. Really it's all Mummy's fault but still Miss has learnt a valuable lesson on that one.

I know there are more life lessons coming for her. Things like "We don't cut our own hair" and the like of so I guess I have things to look forward to. Feel free to let me know other fun life lessons I may not be aware of.

So I guess now we wait for Dr Daddy and figure out whether today's life lesson is about Barbie's leg or the fact Glue is a wonderful invention.

Will let you know how Barbie's surgery goes :)

If my daughter makes it to 18.......(Warning Content of this Post is a tad GROSS)

At present we are battling winter illness. So far this winter (Well actually the last 6wks) we've had a tummy bug, strep throat and now we're moving on to a wonderful cold which I won't go into great detail about (it's pretty gross). So again I have found that I have had to take time off work.

I'm now at the point where I'm getting cabin fever and my patience is extremely thin, It also doesn't help that I'm not feeling 100% either. At this point of having her home with me I'm thinking it's going to be a miracle if she makes it to 18yrs old.

My darling daughter when she gets cooped up she tends to go a little like her Mumma with cabin fever. I swear this afternoon was like I'd feed her a whole pile of sugar as she was running round like a crazy person. Was only when she stopped she realised she was still sick as the coughing came and the copious amounts of snot. Her ears must also not be working because everything I said to do (Like stay in the lounge cause it's warm) completely went out the window. Theres is also the entertainment factor that I'm having fun with. Her attention span is not lasting as long as normal.

This post is mainly because I'm frustrated. I know lots of kids get like this and I'm sure I'm not the only mother out there ready to rip their hair out due to not being able to win. I was even informed by the Doctor when we went last time that kids can have 12 sicknesses of a winter (which to me seems ridiculously high).

Be nice to catch a break sometime soon and be able to actually work. Its at this stage of the last few weeks I'm pretty sure I wouldn't last too long as a stay at home mum.

So now I'm going to stop whinging as a) theres not much I can do about the situation and b) having a child was our decision so I'm pretty sure this was self inflicted so time to take the concrete pill and harden up :).

Can't talk right now.................

So can't talk right now due to loosing my voice lol.
Went to bed slightly croaky last night and woke up with squat diddly voice this morning only to have it almost disappear completely when I got to work.
Went to the docs and apparently I have strep throat which is currently killing my voice. Have been given 10days worth of pills and told to rest my voice.

Trying to explain to the doc what was wrong was interesting then having the ladies at the pharmacy try and talk to me was a bit of a giggle.

Having picked Miss Midget up on way home and having her with me for half the day has certainly been the most trying of the lot. Trying to explain to a 3yr old why Mummy sounds funny and how talking hurts mummy was a challenge to. Pretty sure she doesn't get it. She told me that she didn't like me talking like this and I should talk like I normally do. If only it was that simple.

Mr E is going to think it's his lucky day when he gets home from work, he'll have a quiet wife for a change :).

I'll update this post on how I get on for the next couple of days :)

Having "that child"

Hmmmm so We have discovered as Miss Midget is getting older taking her places has become more of a mission.
While I realise the only way she'll learn what acceptable behaviour is for us to take her places and reward the good and not let her get away with the bad stuff.
It's just an incredibly draining exercise and can be highly embarassing having "that" child when your in a social situation.
You know the one I'm talking about. That child screaming or getting into something they shouldn't be or making their poor parent look like a idiot as they are trying desperately to get them under control.
This can be a lot of fun trying to figure out what to do when the child has their own ideas.

Comes back down to a fight or flight scenario. Do you stand their and fight with you child until they see the error of their ways or do you excuse yourself and your child and run away before they can cause any more of disturbance?

I'll give Miss Midget credit she generally is a pretty good kid and most of the time we don't have to many problems when we go places.

Today was not such a cool example though. We were invited to a christening. Miss made some friends and was running round with them and then she gravitated to the sand and dirt and wanted to play in there, Obviously due to her being dressed up and where she wanted to play wasn't really meant to be a sandpit we had to keep steering her clear from it.There were a few other instances where her ears just didn't seem to want to work. Then it came time for the event. Well Missy didn't understand that you had to be quiet. It was explained multiple times but due to the no ears she was suffering from it became a bit much and she was taken out the front for a little while. We resorted to Mr E's phone for her entertainment and she sat on the ground quite happy for awhile until the speeches were over.

While it wasn't a epic scene we still felt bad. I know that sounds funny and I can hear some of you saying that I'm blowing it out of proportion. Factor this in too - My need to not have people looking at me and my parenting skills and the fact that we didn't know half the guests and it was a special day for our friends.

After the speeches we decided it ws probably a good idea to take our tiny terrorist home since her ears didn't seem to be switched on today, We excused ourselves which is a shame as it would of been nice to of stayed but Miss was just getting worse. We will be going back again this evening to have a couple of drinks so will explain when we get there which I'm sure they'll understand.

2 things I have learnt today though is always take food with you when you go somewhere. You can then combat the hungry child and also always make sure you have a escape plan in place just in case of a "that child" emergency.

So now Miss is sitting happily watching TV and isn't "That child" and we will attempt this social thing with her another day once we have her ears working properly.

The Parent Test - For those who have not seen it yet :)

For those of you who haven't seen the email or didn't manage to catch it on stuff.co.nz here is the Parent Test.
 

I love this cause it's 99% true :)

Test 1: Preparation 

 

Women: To prepare for pregnancy

1. Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
2. Leave it there.
3. After 9 months remove 5% of the beans.

Men: To prepare for children 

1. Go to a local chemist, tip the contents of your wallet onto the counter and tell the pharmacist to help himself
2. Go to the supermarket. Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
3. Go home. Pick up the newspaper and read it for the last time.

 

Test 2: Knowledge 

 

Find a couple who are already parents and berate them about their methods of discipline, lack of patience, appallingly low tolerance levels and how they have allowed their children to run wild.

Suggest ways in which they might improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and overall behaviour.

 

Enjoy it. It will be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.

Test 3: Nights

1. Walk around the living room from 5pm to 10pm carrying a wet bag weighing approximately 4 - 6kg, with a radio turned to static (or some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10pm, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
3. Get up at 11pm and walk the bag around the living room until 1am.
4. Set the alarm for 3am.
5. As you can't get back to sleep, get up at 2am and make a cup of tea.
6. Go to bed at 2.45am.
7. Get up again at 3am when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4am.
9. Put the alarm on for 5am. Get up when it goes off.
10. Make breakfast.

Keep this up for 5 years. LOOK CHEERFUL.

 

Test 4: Dressing Small Children 

1. Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
2. Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hangout.

Time Allowed: 5 minutes.

 

Test 5: Cars

1. Forget the BMW. Buy a practical 5-door wagon.
2. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
3. Get a coin. Insert it into the CD player.
4. Take a box of chocolate biscuits; mash them into the back seat.
5. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Test 6: Going for a walk 

 

a. Wait.

b. Go out the front door.

c. Come back in again.

d. Go out.

e. Come back in again.

f. Go out again.

g. Walk down the front path.

h. Walk back up it.

i. Walk down it again.

j. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes.

k. Stop, inspect minutely and ask at least 6 questions about every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue and dead insect along the way.

l. Retrace your steps.

m. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbours come out and stare at you.

n. Give up and go back into the house.

You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Test 7: Conversations with children 

 

Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.

 

Test 8: Grocery Shopping 

1. Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can find to a pre-school child - a fully grown goat is excellent. If you intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
2. Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) out of your sight.
3. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
4. Until you can easily accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Test 9: Feeding a 1 year-old

1. Hollow out a melon
2. Make a small hole in the side
3. Suspend the melon from the ceiling and swing it side to side
4. Now get a bowl of soggy cornflakes and attempt to spoon them into the swaying melon while pretending to be an aeroplane.
5. Continue until half the cornflakes are gone.
6. Tip the rest into your lap, making sure that a lot of it falls on the floor.

Test 10:TV

1. Learn the names of every character from the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies and Disney.
2. Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.

Test 11: Mess 

1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains
2. Hide a fish behind the stereo and leave it there all summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flowerbeds and then rub them on clean walls. Cover the stains with crayon. How does that look?
4. Empty every drawer/cupboard/storage box in your house onto the floor and proceed with step 5.
5. Drag randomly items from one room to another room and leave them there.

Test 12: Long Trips with Toddlers

1. Make a recording of someone shouting 'Mummy' repeatedly. Important Notes: No more than a 4 second delay between each Mummy. Include occasional crescendo to the level of a supersonic jet.
2. Play this tape in your car, everywhere you go for the next 4 years.

You are now ready to take a long trip with a toddler.

Test 13:Conversations

1. Start talking to an adult of your choice.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your shirt hem or shirt sleeve while playing the Mummy tape listed above.

You are now ready to have a conversation with an adult while there is a child in the room.

Test 14: Getting ready for work

1. Pick a day on which you have an important meeting.
2. Put on your finest work attire.
3. Take a cup of cream and put 1 cup of lemon juice in it
4. Stir
5. Dump half of it on your nice silk shirt
6. Saturate a towel with the other half of the mixture
7. Attempt to clean your shirt with the same saturated towel
8. Do not change (you have no time).
9. Go directly to work

You are now ready to have children. ENJOY!!

Have a good Sunday people :)

 

Rare opportunity

Well talk about strange. I'm currently sitting at home all by MYSELF. Yup thats right no one is hear.
I don't have a little person saying "I'm hungry" and yeah.
I've had a wonderful long shower, hung out some washing and even sorted out my boards on Pinterest (Yeah I created a new board for toys so I needed to sort it out - I'm a bit of a computer file freak. I like my boards to be organised. Yeah I know I'm strange lol.)
So I even have a opportunity to write a blog post.
For those of you who arent friends of mine on facebook here is the progress of the Dollys and the house.

I have 24 days to complete it. So fingers crossed.

I have started in the house now, Have one window done and will hopefully finish the other and window and door tonight. That will just leave attaching the roof to both side of the house and then attaching the lining to the house and sewing it together.

Hopefully the sewing machine that I have borrowed started being nice to me and lets me sew the other side of the velcro on the lining for the beds and for keeping the house together.

Alrighty wish me luck :)

Lets see why................

So lets see why I have been to busy to blog?
Well I don't actually know why. Time seems to of run away from me.
We have been sick with nasty sinus infections and all those things. Poor Miss Midget has had a bad run with it all. Thank goodness the drugs that we have for her at the moment have kicked in and are working.

Mr D and I have also been busy preparing for Miss Midgets birthday which is next month on the 28th.
Yes I know we're running early with prep but we're making a couple of her presents and are trying to give ourselves a bit of time so we're not rushing through it.

So instead of just rambling on with what we've been doing, here are some photos.
First set is Mr D's project (It will have some paintwork done by me once it's completed.

You may remember a while ago I was going on about a toy wooden kitchen for Miss Midget. Yeah that idea evolved into what you see below :)

Miss Midgets Mushroom House (in the making)

Frame's up

Frame dry now and painted

Lining is attached now.

Walls and roof are currently being painted in the garage. Will post more photos as we make progress :). Currently Miss Midget thinks Daddy is building a "trailer shed" in the back yard. Wonder how long she's going to buy that one? lol


Ok so then comes my project.

Felt Dollys and eventually a Dolly House/Bag

Didn't do to badly with my score from spotlight. This is what $17 looks like :)

So didn't really have a pattern to go by so did a bit of drawing. Started off with the one down the bottom of the picture

All cut out and half sewn up

Love the wool I choose for the hair. It's come out great

And this is how she's sitting at the moment. All I have to do is the rest of the face and sew up the back of her dress.

So all up I plan to have 2 dollys and maybe a pet (haven't decided yet). They are going to have a felt bag in the shape of a house that will have some beds in it for them (I figure this make keeping them together easier and also will be good on car trips). I have thought maybe to make the beds detachable so she doesn't have to have them in the house if she's playing with her big wooden house at home.

Anyway thats the plan. It's subject to change at the moment as all of this is being hand stitched.

Also while I'm showing photos of my creations. Heres one I made yesterday.

Meet Pandy

Ok so will try and give you updates on all these projects to let you know how we're going.

Getting rid of Dummies

So this post is about pacifiers and not stupid people just so we're on the same subject lol.
Don't want people to think my daughter keeps asking for her favourite stupid person - not that we know any.............

Anyway now that I cleared that up.
We are fast approaching Miss Midgets 3rd birthday (It's in August). Mr D and I have been talking about what to do about a certain dummy that Miss Midget is for lack of a better term addicted to and when to get rid of it.

No I know by writing about this I'm opening a big old can of worms but thats ok. I realise everyone has their own opinions on when to get rid of it and to be honest with you we had thought that we would of gotten rid of it by now.

We've been busy with trying to come up with a exit strategy for dummy for a little while now and basically we have come to the conclusion or at least I have that I need to harden up and not give in when Miss asks for her dummy and distract as much as possible. At the moment we are working on Dummy to be gone around her birthday and have been telling her "When your 3 that makes you a big girl and you don't need your dummy then and we'll have to say good bye to dummy", I think to a degree she understands but I'm also pretty sure she thinks her birthday is ages away.
To help make this good-bye process a little easier we have started with some rules.

1) If it's not bed time, no dummy. This to a degree works as long as Mummy toughens up. It worked last night :). The only time she gets dummy is right before bed time. We used to have this in place but we got a bit relaxed about it and it kind of snowballed. We'll know for next time to stick to our guns.

2) If she has a afternoon sleep at the moment we're (with the help of Nanny P) are in the process of weening her off it. So we're trying to convince her that she doesn't need it at nap time. I have yet to give this one ago myself as we only put it in place yesterday. So ask me again on Sunday evening how this plan is working lol.

Those are our major things we're working through at the moment.
With us working to the goal of it going at 3 that also brings up the debate on the date. Now I'm of the thinking that I don't really want to deal with having no dummy on the day of her birthday. By the time bedtime comes around she will of been running round like a mad thing for most of the day spoilt rotten with toys and sugar. So to me to take dummy away that day would just be plain mean (to me and to her lol).
I also think it needs to be a quiet weekend and we do it on the Saturday or even start on the Friday so that gives us 2 sleep ins up our sleeve to combat the screaming that will go with no dummy.

Yes I know there could be no screaming and it could all go really good. I'd be stoked if it did but with the attachment that Miss Midget has to dummy I'm picking we won't be so lucky.

We have been given so many interesting ideas of how to get rid of dummy. Some I'm not so sure I can go through with but some have been awesome ideas like
- The Dummy Fairy comes and takes it away
- You give your dummy to the Rubbish Bin and then you get to pick out a prize for being such a big girl.
There are a couple of others that were good but I can't remember them of the top of my head.

My daughter has a long history with Dummy.


26/11/09

As some of you know (probably most but I'm pretending people don't know me personally when I write this lol), my daughter was 3 and 1/2 weeks early when she was born. 4lb 4oz. She was just a tiny Midget back then. We stayed in the hospital for 10 days and got to bring her home finally after 10days. I think we lasted maybe 3wks at home before out of pure desperation and lack of sleep (I was having to feed her every 3hrs regardless of if she was sleeping or not because she was so little) and knowing she was not hungry etc we gave her a dummy. This dummy was a magic. I got to sleep and life was good. God forbid you went anywhere without said dummy though or you paid the price. There have been a couple of times where we had to make a emergency stops at the super markets to replace lost or forgotten dummy but we were fine with that as it brought peace and quiet and a happy child.
The dummy has had many names in our house like Gobstopper, Dumdum, Pipe (Mr D's childhood name for it) and d.u.m.m.y (spelling it out so Miss didn't know what we were talking about). It will be the end of era when dummy goes.
Well wish us luck on this new part of the adventure. At least if all goes wrong we still have blankie :)