Don’t ever ask your child this question. If they are anything like my daughter, they will say “yes” and stick out their butt for you to spank it. My guess is that I’m not spanking hard enough. Yes, I spank. I never thought I would, but I do. My blog last night seemed to hit home with a lot of Moms. I appreciate everyone’s comments. It’s nice to know I’m not alone. Today was a much better day, however, it started out as one of the worst mornings of my life. First off, my littleRacecar woke up at 4:20am. I went to bed at 1am. (it’s hard work having TWO Tivos!) Brian got up with him, normally you can just go in there and soothe him a bit and that is that, but not this time. They sat out in the dark living room until 4:50am, at that point I rescued Daddy. I sat with him and sang one of my favorite songs to him called “Butterfly.” And then I laid him down in his crib and I was staring down at him and telling him how much I loved him and he said “BYE!” I was dismissed. I crawled back into bed and laid awake until 6:05am. My mind raced and I couldn’t slow it down. I was awakened twice after finally falling asleep, once at 7:10am by Brian saying goodbye and then at 7:30am his alarm went off. (I think he was confused when he set it the night before.) ThenRacecar was up at 8am. I was none too pleased because I was so tired and I knew he was too. So, I brought him to bed with me and he pretty much said “screw that, I’ve got stuff do to.” One thingRacecar does that is really frustrating is he wakesAriel up by going into her room. He’s really slick about it. He’ll wait until the phone rings, or until I have to use the bathroom and slithers off, throws open the door into her room and exclaims “hi morning!” And then she cries. Today I thought I was safe. He was sitting in his chair very quietly watching Teletubbies for about 10 minutes without moving, so I snuck into my bathroom to take my medications and I heard him through the monitors “hi morning.”
Then it was time to try to feed the children andRacecar cried AND screamed the entire time. I’m not going to go into the details, but trust me, it was miserable. At the time of these shenanigans, I decided to callRacecar’s doctor’s office. I spoke with the nurse and we discussed symptoms and we both agreed he has a nasty virus. Then it hit me after talking to Brian, he’s got a sore throat, that is why he won’t eat! So, I got out a cold container of berry yogurt and the poor, little, beautiful boy at every bite. It warmed my heart. After that, he was pretty okay! And, honestly, so wasAriel! I decided I would try to give him ibuprofen or tylenol to try to help his mood and his throat and it really helped!

We went to the store (and bought tons of yogurt), the bank and to McDonald’s, we came home and they both ate. They ate cheeseburgers, fries, peaches and cookies! It was wonderful. We played and then they napped!
Success!

My niece Amber came over to watch the kids. Brian and I went to dinner, we went to the mall, Target, Circuit City, Pier One, Old Navy and Lowe’s. (I went to Pier One, Brian hates that store so he went to Old Navy.) It was great. The best part was thatAriel was still sleeping when I left so there were no dramatic departures! THANK YOU AMBER! I was away for almost 4 hours. HALLELUJAH!

Back to spanking. One of my friends called after reading my blog and said “are you sure you were writing aboutAriel? I think you meant to use my daughter’s name.” She said her daughter is going through the same thing. We talked in great length about why they are acting this way and what disciplinary action we take to change their behavior. We talked about how much guilt is associated with spanking and how society now seems to frown upon it. My friend’s biggest concern is what if something she is doing makes her daughter have low self esteem when she gets older. Are the disciplinary actions she is taking today directly impacting how her daughter feels about herself in the future? What pressure! I think if we can continue to nurture our children and show them love, structure, patience (ha!), and praise that is what will give our children the confidence they need as older children and as adolescents. (I hope!) Obviously I don’t know. I will someday find out. Until then, I will love, tell stories, play, praise and quite dutifully spank!

I am a very frustrated Mom. Last night I slept for 8.5 hours. I woke up and did a full video of Yoga while the kids slept and they nap at the same time for 2 hours just about everyday. So, why do I feel I am losing my patience? I’m pretty sure it’s not me. It’s my children.Ariel is going through a stage right now that I, to be honest, am not prepared for. She challenges everything I say and rule we set. And I’m tired of it. It’s like she woke up one day and said “I’m independent, I’m old enough to make my own decisions, I only need them to do my laundry and drive me to Target. I’m 3 and damn proud of it. Aint nobody gonna stop me.” I know this stage will be over soon, but it’s only been 13 days, (seriously, 13 days) how much longer can I last?

Today was exceptionally difficult simply because myRacecar is just not feeling well. When this child doesn’t eat, he’s sick. BUT THEN AGAIN… what if he’s being naughty? I mean, when I serve him is big, glorious plate of food, 3 in one day, he practically throws the plate across the table and won’t eat.
Being a Mom is more than cleaning after your child, nurturing your child and teaching your child…it’s being psychic and having the ability to be on your toes every single moment of the day. I’m not psychic. So, I’ll call the doctor tomorrow and say “Noah has had a cold, he’s sleeping and napping fine, no fever, but he will not eat.” I’ll bring him in and I’ll find out “it’s just a virus.” Does that mean he’s just naughty? Am I secretly wishing for an ear infection because that’s easier to explain than “he’s just being a turd?” I don’t know what I want. What I do know is that even though these days have been very hard and I can’t wait to put them to bed, I do always love being a Mom. always. I am not lying. I am not wrong. I am quite clear on this issue. I love it. Sometimes the responsiblities are something I could pass up for an hour or two, or maybe even 3 days! but being a Mom, nope, I’ll take it, through thick and through thin, through sickness and in health. I read something recently by a Mom saying “Personally, I think that woman who say they “love” being a mom all the time are full of crap. Who could possibly really enjoy being woken up out of a deep sleep in the middle night by a puking kid.“ I don’t enjoy a puking kid waking me, but I LOVE that I am the one to bring comfort to this poor “puking kid.”

Here’s what I know. I KNOW that a person can handle any situation they are granted. My current situation is a 3 year old who is trying to figure out just how serious her parents are about not letting her set the rules in the house and a 2 year old who may or may not be sick and who may or may not be extremely naughty. All of the situations, I know I can get through. I once watched a Blue’s Clues episode LONG before I had children, where Steve taught his audience how to deal with frustration. He said “stop, breathe and think.”

I think I will try just that.

I was on the phone with my sister during nap time today, when all of a sudden I heardAriel’s door open. She walked out of her room like it was nobody’s business. I almost think she forgot about the rule and that she was dreaming about something that made her out of sorts, because when I got very stern with her about it she became genuinely upset. WhenAriel gets really upset her whole mouth turns upside down and she tries so hard not to cry. We’ll see if it happens again.

Noah is feeling much better. After my last blog we gotRacecar out of bed. We had given him Tylenol at 10pm and Kie syrup at 10:30pm. Around midnight I realized our doctor had prescribed something for the kids when they get colds to take at nighttime, it helps them sleep. So, Brian called the pharmicist to see if it could be mixed with Kie syrup and the pharmicist replied “well Kie syrup typically keeps kids awake.” So, there you go. That’s why he couldn’t sleep. We were told to give him the nighttime medicine at 1am. It was really hard staying up, I was so tired. ButRacecar and I just snuggled on the couch watching Baby Galileo while I drifted in and out of sleep. I liked it. I laid him down awake at 1:15am and he feel asleep without a problem. He woke up 5 times after that, but who is counting? What matters is that he is feeling better and sleeping better!

Today is Valentine’s day. We typically do not do much, but we kinda did today. I woke up this morning to a v-day card on the table from Brian.Ariel,Racecar and I ventured to Target this morning becauseAriel was promised more Sweet Streets if she would actually go #2 in the potty and she did last night for the firs time! What an accomplishment. We are very proud. We went to Target and had fun. We then had a playdate at Brian’s Mom’s house with their Aunt Michelle and cousin Megan, who live in Indianapolis. There, the kids exchanged v-day gifts and ate beautiful V-day cupcakes, made my Grandma! They looked wonderful! I didn’t have one!
After Brian got home, we ate dinner and then we sat on our bed and the kids opened the scads of v-day cards they received through the family and little gifts from Brian and I. Brian also got me roses and Swedish Fish. (zero fat—very clever!) I got Brian a CD and some cherry Kit Kats. They are to die for, hurry and buy them while the stores still have them. They are a Valentines special!
Now I leave you with pictures. Thank you for reading my blog, I really appreciate it.

Ariel with her new Sweet Streets.

My boy that I love.

Ariel in her new digs. This outfit was a little gift to her for keeping her undies dry while we had dinner at Brian’s parent’s house. First time ever going out without a diaper.
Bethie holding a candle she got for her birthday from her niece Amber, who is seventeen. Isn’t she the sweetest? She really is. On my actual Birthday she also gave me Yankee Candle votives. I love her, too.

Ariel in her scivvies.
Busy on the phone with Amber.
Moi.

I had planned on adding a lot of pictures and blogging tonight, butRacecar has other plans for me. Both the kids have the sniffles andRacecar feel much worse during the nighttime. So, I think I need to focus on getting him to bed! It’s 11:35pm and we put him to bed over 2 hours ago and he’s woken up at least six times. Think we’re in for a long night? We’ll see! So, here are the pictures I have added so far. Hopefully I’ll add more tomorrow night.

My friend Lynette and I had a babies on the same day.Ariel was 5 weeks early and Carson was 1 week late! Talk about meant to be. It’s one of my most favorite things, the fact the our babies share a birthday! Here are some pictures. The first was at about six weeks.

Ariel andRacecar at a playdate. They were pretend sleeping.

A nice picture the kids let me take on my birthday!

She’s just being naughty. There’s my update! We have had a very challenging couple of days withAriel Helen Pletcher, lately. Extremely tiring. For the most part, she is fine. She’s doing a great job potty training, but when she’s bad…she’s bad. Doesn’t she know Mommy is grumpy because she wants a piece of pizza. sheez. Another good point is that she is sleeping in her bed like a dream. She has never gotten out of it unless we are in there with her. We are very proud.

In other news, I went back to my doctor today for a thyroid recheck. We talked alot about how tired I am and he asked me a series of questions and he has decided to increase my thyroid medication despite the fact that my levels did not drop! HOORAY! That is great news. It’s even better news that he is increasing it again in 3 weeks. I’m very excited about this and very grateful that I have found such an understanding doctor. This should help with my fatigue and with weight loss. I need all the help I can get! It’s hard to lose weight without a properly functioning thyroid, that’s for sure! He says my tissues were rejecting most of the medication, it takes it fine at first, but then it stop accepting it.
Anyway, that is great news!