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A Couple of Ways to Keep You and Your Toddler Sane

There’s someone I don’t blog about enough. He’s cute, he only answers a question properly if the answer is going to be “No,” and I think the only time he’s ever truly, truly happy is when he’s frolicking about butt naked.

I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not Paul. (Well, I should probably blog a bit more about how Paul’s totally awesome and whatnot, but that’s not who I’m talking about in this particular instance…)

It’s this guy.

One of the things you have to deal with when you’re a stay-at-home parent is entertainment. How in the hell are you supposed to properly entertain this little person…all day long?

If you’re a parent with an internet connection, most likely by now you’ve discovered that you are not, in fact, entertaining properly, and are probably going to ruin your child for the rest of his/her life with your terrible, ignorant, and wrong-in-general parenting decisions.

I, personally, am trying very hard to tell myself that as long as Charlie seems happy, healthy, and is utterly and totally loved by Paul and me…he’s probably doing okay.

That being said, I realize it’s not okay to let your kid sit and watch cartoons for 12 hours straight. So, one of my goals has been to find fun things that Charlie and I can do at home, since it’s winter and generally crappy outside.

Table Bubbles

Bubbles are awesome. I know that they’re usually more awesome when you can prance freely amongst them and pretend that there are weird Seventeenth-century dance partiesgoing on inside them, but Charlie would have the entire house covered in bubbles by the time he was finished…so we play with them at the table.

Since I had neither bubble solution nor bubble wands, I did a little MacGyvering. I found a recipe online for bubble solution (8 parts water to 1 part dish soap and 1 part corn syrup) and I fashioned some pipe cleaners into wands. They worked out pretty well, I’d say.

Bath Gambling

Next, since Charlie was covered in sugary bubble juice, I decided it was time for a bath. I’ve been following a blog called Play at Home Mom, and they’ve got a lot of really great ideas for engaging your kids at home. Note: The moms on this site are pretty much supermoms, and I tend to leave the website feeling inadequate…obviously this is my problem and not theirs, but I’m just warning you. They’re supermoms.
Anyway, one of the things they do is let their kids have a lot of sensory play with small objects. Paul has a set of poker chips that have long ago lost their manly dignity via hours of getting licked, thrown, and stuffed into toy helicopters. So I threw them in the tub.

This provided us with about 45 minutes of pretty serious playtime. Of course, if you’re concerned about sparking an early gambling problem, you can always use something else.
Charlie’s not big on having people interfere with his playing…I tried to make a stack of poker chips and he freaked out like I had just told him he could never eat another bite of cheese. (That’s a pretty serious freak-out.)So I sat and read him books…since he has no interest in reading unless he can do it while jumping off of something. This is about the only way we can get any literature into him.

Charlie’s started taking two baths a day… one is a no-soap, strictly playtime bath…the other is the usual hygiene-related one. We lotion him up a bunch so the extra bathing doesn’t dry him out, and I just really appreciate the break in the morning. Charlie loves playing with water, and I’d like to think that he’s doing some decent learning and exploring while he’s having fun.

Okay, this post is encroaching dictionary-like proportions, so I’m going to stop typing. If you’re looking for more toddler ideas, check out Deb’s blog, Dose of Happy, and also make sure you hit up Play at Home Mom. Supermoms aside, they’ve got some awesome DIYideas to help you keep your sanity.

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Letter to a Former Lover

Dear Theatre,

It’s been awhile since we’ve talked…or hung out…or really even thought about each other. Sometimes I feel like I’ve got a hole in my heart where you used to be…but lately, I’ve realized I view you like I do some of my ex-boyfriends.

Fun at the time, but not nearly as meaningful as it should have been.

I mean, I know some people who live and breathe you. Some of them have a genuine fire about them when it comes to you, and it’s something I admire but simply don’t understand. I think, 5 years ago, I could have understood it…but now, sometimes I can’t believe that you were one of my majors in college.

What happened to me? I’m not sure. I think that college Theatre quietly melted away the love affair I had with you in High School.

You remember High School, right? You were a pure, shining rope that was lowered into the murky social waters of of EHS. Once I was no longer drowning, you were the lasso that allowed me to snatch up emotional balance, creative satisfaction, and a new, fulfilling social scene.
Once I graduated, rather than let you pull me up, I buckled down, tied a few knots, and climbed my way to a comfortable place in college theatre, where I learned, performed, and took bows.
And then I graduated again. And I found myself holding a piece of twine that I thought would be longer. I didn’t know what to do with you. I knew that there were a million things I could do with a rope…I just wasn’t sure I wanted to make anything out of you anymore.

Sure, I got married…had a baby. Is that a good enough reason to forget why you love something? I don’t think so. I don’t think that’s it.

Here’s the difference between you and an ex-boyfriend: I have put you out of my life and I can’t figure out the reason why.

I think to myself, “Someday, when Charlie’s older, I’ll do some Community Theatre…that would be fun.” The thing is, though…lately, when I think about you, it’s almost always with a small amount of disdain…and that’s just not right.

I’ve been trying to figure out a way to bring some closure to this letter…but I don’t think I’ve got an answer right now.

You are important to me. I loved you, once. It’s obvious that we need to come to some sort of reconciliation… I just can’t seem to envision how you’re supposed to mesh with my current life. I’m hoping that this is simply that part in a romantic comedy where the protagonists encounter a misunderstanding…and we just need a twist of fate, or a quirky best-friend, or a random object like your Grandma’s teakettle to bring us back to the same level.

I’m not going to drown myself in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and a bottle of red, though. I’m hoping that one of these days you’ll show up with the ice cream and wine so we can share it together.
Until then, I hope you’re out there being meaningful for someone.

Love,
Lauren

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An Album Review! No More Invitations, by Jennifer Haase

So, here’s the deal: An awesome lady, who happens to be a family friend that I’ve only met through Twitter, has released a folk album this year. She, being kick-ass and all, sent me a CD to review…Blogview? Reblog? ReBlogview? Whatever you want to call it, I’m going to talk about it. Here’s the thing, though…I’m not a professional music critic by any means. So, if you’re looking for technical terms and relevant jargon…you’re just not going to find it. I like music, I like writing, and I’m going to write about some music…that I like.

So, let’s do this.

I was born in the 80’s, but I’m definitely a child of the 90’s. The TV was (mostly) awesome, the clothes were pretty much terrible, and the music was straight-up spectacular. I don’t know, there was just something about listening to music in the 90’s that made you feel like you were part of something significant.
I am aware, of course, that we are now in the 21st century, and that Jennifer Haase’s album, No More Invitations is very much a modern release.
It doesn’t feel like it, though, and that’s what I think is so awesome about it. After I gave the CD a listen, I could almost smell the Strawberries n’ Cream Glade scented candle I had down in my old basement bedroom. I remembered the crush I had on that guy, and how I was pretty sure that he was made in a mold specifically stamped “Lauren Blessing’s SoulMate. Do not touch or she will kill you in a hormonal fit of terrifying rage.”

Turns out I was totally wrong about that, but that’s not the point.

No More Invitations has all the perfect elements that are inherent to a well-rounded, kick-ass album. You’ve got to have songs that make you dance around…songs that make you walk through a particularly long room like you’re the protagonist of a romantic comedy walking to your awesome-but-not-totally-emotionally-fulfilling job. You’ve got to have a couple songs that make your heart hurt…and you’ve got to have songs that simply bring a smile to your face while you wash the dishes.

I’ll let you in on two of my favorites:

New Pink Sweater: Have you ever been listening to a CD while doing something lame (picking up toys, sweeping the floor, flossing) and had a song come on that makes you feel sexy and saucy, regardless of your humdrum activities? (Come on Dudes, I know you feel saucy every once in awhile, too.) This song did that to me. AND not only does the song make you dance with a swagger, but it was endorsed by Kirstie Alley (@kirstiealley) on Twitter. By endorsed, I mean, she liked it and she told her followers. I don’t mean officially. (Please don’t sue me, Kirstie.)

3000 Miles: For those of you who know me really well, you know I’ve got a thing for Victorian Literature, and painful love stories full of unrequited love. This song is a great fit for me. The perfect amount of haunting, the perfect amount of gentle Folkiness, and a blend of voices between Jennifer and singer-songwriter Stephen Kellogg that can melt butter (or your heart).

Chapter You: A great, bluesy feel, a reversed fairy-tale, and all of the appropriate relationship insecurities. Love it. That’s all. I just really like this one. Possibly my favorite on the album.

See, I could do a little blurb for each song, because I like them all. You’d get super-sick of reading, though, when you should really be listening.

Why, Lauren, how can I do that? How do I get my hands on this sexy little piece of East Coast Folkery?

How, you ask? Why, dear friends, by clicking here. You can also visit Jennifer’s websiteand sample a couple songs first, if that’s your bag, baby. Oh, and you can check out her fabulously honest blog, if you need to add a little more reading into your daily schedule.

Whether you buy it or not, you owe it to yourself to give No More Invitations a listen, and expose yourself to Jennifer Haase’s talent, honesty, and general Awesomeness. This album’s got a beautiful feeling, and when you add to that some guest appearances from people like Rosanne Cash and Stephen Kellogg, you just can’t go wrong.

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A Reunion with Routine

Okay. Back on track. No more of this “one post every two weeks” crap.

It’s the weekend. The weekend before school starts up for the Spring Semester, and I’m having trouble waking up before 8 am. This is not good. Ideally, I’d love to wake up at 5 every morning, get in a workout so I don’t have to worry about trying to fit it in during the day, get some (daily!?) blogging done, then make Charlie breakfast.

If you could pass that info along to Charlie, I’d really appreciate it.

Sadly, if I don’t go to sleep before 10, and if Charlie wakes up and flops around for an hour or so, 5 o’clock is simply not happening.

So, yes, Christmas break is almost over, and I’d say we’ve done a pretty good job of making up for the days we missed due to our vomiting parade. I think I’m actually ready to change my gears and be productive this semester.

Now, I may not the be the person going back to school, but it’s time for me to buckle down this semester, too. We’re going to work out a schedule in which Paul is at school a lot more than he was in the fall, and I’m going to have to work on dealing with it.

Sometimes my Self is a little…selfish.

Paul and I keep our marriage pretty 50/50. On the days that he’s home all day, he helps with things like cleaning and handy-man things, which is awesome. On the days that he works all day…he’s tired. And for me to expect him to come straight home and make dinner (like he has been during this break) or clean the bathroom, is pretty uncool.

Is that saying that I don’t work all day? Of course not. I definitely work all day taking care of Charlie, and I’m definitely tired. Do I have the option to take a nap, though? Yeah, I do. It might be a nap in which I get punched and kicked in the face by a toddler, but that just helps me get to sleep a little quicker, right?

Anyway, my point here is that I really need to find some kind of system to deal with keeping the house clean during the week without Paul. I would much rather spend time with him and Charlie than have one of us clean while the other relaxes. If I could just get things figured out, we could (gasp!) both relax at the same time.

Or, rather, we could both try to relax while we chase Charlie around.

I know it shouldn’t be hard, and I know that I’ve blogged about this before… Obviously it’s one of my problem areas…too bad they don’t make target zone workout DVD’s for your domestic problem areas.

“Cleaning Skills of Steel”
“8 Minute Organization”
“Ultimate Emotional/Domestic Balance Total Makeover”

Those titles are gold, I’m telling you. Anybody with mad organizational skills better snatch those up and make a fortune…and give part of it to me.

Or, at the very least, give me some advice. You guys have any?