Nothing Too Exciting

Just wanted to share some links with everyone.

I recently discovered Shit My Kids Ruined, a hilarious website about unfortunate disasters caused by meddling kids. I was sent to it after I posted on Facebook about how Athena dumped an entire box of tampons [and some pads, too] into the toilet.

Also, feel free to add me on my Facebook. I'm always up for meeting new people. :]

Check out this video of Sean and Athena from a few months ago.

Have a great weekend, everyone. :D

Of Pacifiers and Punishment.

With the ominous approach of "terrible two's" comes temper tantrums and the beginnings of discipline. Personally, I am against spanking and hitting [or whatever variations you can come up with]. If you'd like me to expand on why these are my views, please don't hesitate to ask. Anyway, time-outs typically work very well with Athena. For instance, this morning I told her she couldn't have her binky [I'll touch on that topic in a moment] and she hit me on the leg. I put her in time-out for two minutes - one for each year old she is - and when I let her out, I explained to her what she did wrong and told her that I love her.

However, one problem I'm having is sometimes she'll repeatedly do the one action that gets her in trouble, despite putting her in time-out for it before. Athena loves to climb on the kitchen chairs, but it's unsafe because if she falls, she'll have a very unhappy landing on our tiled floors. I've put her in time-out many times for this, but she still continues to do it. Because I don't want to hit her and time-out isn't getting through, what other form of discipline would work? What kind of discipline do you use on your children or what kind was used on you? Is/was it effective?

On to another topic: pacifiers. Athena is extremely hooked on hers. I told the nurses in the hospital when she was born that I didn't want her having one as a newborn, but she somehow ended up with one anyway. I think throughout infancy, pacifiers aren't necessarily a big deal, but as they get older and their speech starts developing, pacifiers can really get in the way. Sometimes I can hardly understand what Athena is trying to tell me when she has her binky in her mouth. I have this horrific vision of Athena starting Kindergarten with a binky. I've been told to just throw all of the pacifiers away, but what if she gets sick and needs them for comfort? I try to only give them to her at nap time and bedtime, but she somehow manages to find them in obscure places all over the house. I'd like some advice, please. Do your children use a pacifier? When do you plan on breaking them of it? How do you plan on doing it? I read once that one parent buried the pacifiers along with some seeds in the ground and grew a 'pacifier tree.' I've also heard of mailing the pacifiers to the Binky Fairy [a relative or friend] to give to other babies when they're born. I thought those were very creative.

In other news, check out my best friend's blog. He's Athena's godfather. :]

Toddler Translator.

About two years ago, when I was still pregnant with Athena, I overheard my friend's toddler talking to her. I couldn't understand one word of what he was saying to his mother; it just sounded like a bunch of animal sounds and babbling. Yet, without hesitation, his mom replied as if he has spoken perfect English. I was baffled, yet very impressed.

Now I can understand my friend's fluency in the language of toddlers. With each new development involving my daughter comes some new bit of vocabulary. For instance, when she says 'cup,' it sounds more like 'cook,' and when she says 'belly' is sounds like she is saying 'baby.' The latter almost got me in trouble once, when she pointed to my friend's stomach and said 'baby.' I had to quickly translate and explain that she looked nothing near pregnant.

I get an amazing sense of pride when I can understand Athena's words when others can't. It feel part of an exclusive group with a secret language. Of course I can understand her, I'm her mother, but things can get rather complicated when she tries to communicate with new people

such as babysitters. I try to predetermine important words before I leave her with a sitter to make things easier.

The older Athena gets, the easier she is to understand. But there are still often times when she'll just babble to herself and even I can't comprehend what she's saying. I wonder to myself what she could

possibly be talking about. I remember when she first started talking; I knew most of her sounds were just vocalizations so she could hear herself, but I was also curious about what she was trying to say. It's so interesting watching her learn the English language. I can't wait to hear what she'll yell at me next.

Terrible Two's.

I can't believe my little Athena will be two years old in a month

and a half. It seems like only yesterday I was anxiously

awaiting her late delivery, munching on ice between contractions. Nearly two years have passed, and my little girl is a beautiful, blossoming toddler with impeccable manners. That's not an understatement; the other day I heard her sneeze, say "bless you" to herself, then thank herself. She's polite even to herself.

But between episodes of independence and adorable-ness [no, that's not a word], there are sneak-peeks of what's commonly referred to as "terrible two's." Right around 4 in the afternoon

is when some irritable, fussy demon-thing takes over my innocent daughter's body

and makes her throw tantrums and shriek and cry. The demon-thing hangs around until dinner around 7, when it's sedated by food and then calmed in the bath. By then, it's bedtime and the monster has

retreated until the next day, when it reappears as my daughter throws her sippy cup across the room because I didn't let her do tribal dances on the kitchen table.

When the demon-thing is not in possession of Athena, her personality is making leaps and

bounds as far as development goes. Each day she is more defined as a person. She loves getting on "stage" [usually a book, box or piece of furniture] and singing into a microphone [a shampoo

bottle or sippy cup]. Her social skills have just flourished; not only from daycare once or twice a

week, but also from spending time with other toddlers. I'm so proud of her.

Surviving Athena's terrible demon-thing possessions isn't that difficult if I keep her usual demeanor in mind. As long as I tell myself that I just need to make it until bedtime, I can put up with the screaming and throwing and irritability. Then, the next morning when I go to get her out of bed, my sweet little toddler has returned and is just as happy to see me as I am to see her.