The YMCA Child Watch

I must start by saying I LOVE the childwatch!!! It saves my sanity:) There are many very nice ladies who spend a whole lot of time with a whole lot of kids that are not theirs and there is something to be said for that!!!

Lately, they have become very strict about checking tags and my id and such and the Y front desk has become more strict as well. I have no problems with that...it's a good thing!

That's why I thought it was funny today. They came to find me in the pool (I couldn't hear the announcement in there) and they asked for my name. I said it was me and they said Sam had an accident and wouldn't let them change him (very typical for Sam). The part that I thought was funny is that they didn't check my card orID or anything. Is it because no one in their right mind would voluntarily go to a child with a huge load in his pants unless that child belonged to them? For some reason, it made me laugh. They won't let me just grab the child that is screaming "Mommy" at the top of his lungs when he sees me (obviously mine), but they will freely let me go in and take the kid whose pants are full of poo, who could have cared less about whether I was there or not:)

Winter blahs.

It's been such a good month. I thought to myself, "Winter blahs? Not me. I am floating through it all this winter. None of that depressing stuff." And then it set in. Yesterday, I think. Not motivated. Wanting to eat everything in sight. Mood swings. Wanting to sleep. Not wanting to do the "to-do" list. Asking George to pick up something for dinner. You know these feelings, right? It's not bad enough to do anything about it except push through it. I am pretty sure this was brought on by Sunday's almost 50 degree weather and the melting of the snow. That wasn't the depressing part...the depressing part was the snow that was on the ground the next morning and the single digits that are promised for the next 5 days or so. Blah.

A great day!

Last week, the kids spent too many hours in front of screens on Saturday, so this week we did things differently and it was much better. We got the house clean, the kids had a reasonable amount of screen time, we refilled our 3 month storage (quite the project when you only do it once every 6 months or so), got to see Grandma and Grandpa, ironed (another thing I do only every 6 months or so:), kids got baths (thanks to George), choir phone calls got made, extra hangers went to Goodwill finally, and we got an adapter for a toy Levi got LAST Christmas and some batteries for our phones (3 out of the 4 handsets are dead). It was just a great day of getting little and not so little things done and out of the way. I LOVED IT!!! And I must say, ironing is a million times better when you are rocking out to your MP3 player:)

Potty Training, Polaris News, and Pure Indulgence

Thanks for the potty-training comments. Much better this last couple of days. He is deciding when to go... no more 1 hour timer and run to the potty. That was tiring! Two days of no accidents! Yippee!

On a different note, school is going. I don't know if it's going well, but it's going. We started a new math program called Math U See before Christmas and it's good. We watch a DVD of the teacher actually teaching the lesson and then go back to the table to practice. It seems to be working well. I will be glad to start my next child from the beginning as it is a little confusing to be learning concepts we already know and have done differently up until now. Levi is doing well. The concepts are a bit too abstract for Nat, so we went back to her Singapore math book and she is doing well.

We have been working on writing sentences (Levi) and words (Nat) and also dictating stories. That was so much fun! Even Sam wanted to do one and I was impressed! It had a beginning, middle and an end:) I think we will keep this up!

We have a poetry unit in the works as well as Australia, plants, and simple machines/magnetism. We are going to 2 Valentine parties and are still participating in the gym and swim class for Levi. Can't wait until Nat's old enough for that one.

It was fun to teach about Martin Luther King, Jr. yesterday. It's always interesting to teach big concepts to little kids and see what they will say and how they will react. I think they understood it on their level...don't judge a kid if they look different than you. We are all children of God. We should always "judge people by the content of their character" said MLK. I like it!

On a completely different and fairly vain note, I bought a coat today. I went to Kohls with my 30% off coupon. Today was the last day and I went in for 3 things ONLY!!! As I slowly walked through the women's coats on my way upstairs, I noticed the coat that I have always wanted! Well, maybe not always, but....

It's a black wool coat that hits at the hips and is kind of fitted around the waist. I have always wanted to wear something like this, but have always felt (well, at least for the last 5 years) too fat! Because of my new weight loss:) I feel much more confident about how clothes might fit. This is why I tried on the coat. I wouldn't not have done this otherwise. Once it was on, the coat whispered, "I'm only on sale 60% off plus your 30% off for 20 more minutes. Buy me!" So I did. And I was so happy, I put it on when I got home (to show George, of course) and left it on for a bit, smiling all the while.

Did I need a new coat? No. My old one is fine, but I bought it when I was pregnant with my first child 6 1/2 years ago! It is quite a bit like a warm, waterproof TENT!!

But...did buying the coat make me happy? Oh yes!! There is something to be said about "retail therapy"! :):):)

Potty Update...

After 5 whole days, Sam said this morning, "It's time for me to go potty?" and went in the toilet! I won't mention yesterday night while brushing his teeth, he peed his pants while he was 1 foot away from the toilet. Arg.

I do have to say, I've always thought, "If I am changing one diaper, I might as well change two." Not the case. I am loving having only one to change. And Sam doesn't like to be wet and dirty, so if an accident happens, I know right away and he won't sit in it or anything so that helps A LOT! Unlike one of my other children...her name I won't mention:)

It will get better, right??? There is an end...most adults are completely potty trained. Right????

New Year's Resolution...

To change less diapers! Sam is potty training. And it's horrible. Or maybe not. I have nothing to compare it to! I waited so long that both Levi and Natalie potty trained themselves. No accidents, no pull-ups, no help needed. Now, it's quite the process. Every hour the timer goes off and we head to the tiny bathroom, that we really don't both fit in. He can't efficiently get his pants down by himself...or up for that matter! Standing was way too messy for him...he's just not tall enough so he is sitting now and it's better.

Levi has a homeschool YMCA class tomorrow, so Sam will be in the child watch for close to 2 hours. Ha! That ought to be fun:) I will give them warning and see if they will even take him. I would just put a diaper on him for the time, but I read somewhere that can really confuse him and I don't want to waste the 2 days of horrible-ness that I have already gone through! Becca promised in 2 weeks, it will better. 2 WEEKS!!!! I hope I make it that long.

Poor Seth...he's gonna feel the brunt of this. I am not even mentioning the word "potty" until he is 5! :)