Consistency

I find parenting to be an interesting endeavor. You have a child, who depends on you to make somewhat rational decisions. However, I myself don't always feel fully qualified to be making all the snap decisions I find myself making.

With a second baby on the way in about 4 weeks; Greg and I decided to move Gwen into a toddler bed rather than purchase a second crib. We had the toddler bed already and thought this would be a simple thing after a week or so of adjustment. I decided that with Gwen in the toddler bed and full of new-found freedom, we would not just conveniently lock her in her room at night and naptimes...but rather consistently put her back in bed just like I saw on Nanny911 and SURELY, after some consistency here, Gwen would simply go to sleep when it was time for bed - door open and all.

For those parents who may be reading this blog; stop smirking.

I am constantly amazed at my daughters very pleasant way of stubbornness. There are no tantrums really, no wailing or sobbing, but rather; about 20 times every evening after we put her to bed; she gets up. Again, and again, and again. You say 'it's time for bed' or 'go to bed' and she happily says, 'K!' and trots on back to bed only to revisit in about 1 minute.

Greg is not quite the authoritarian I am, and so he may read her a story, or simply let me deal with it until exasperation kicks in and then he'll shut the door. Which instantly escalates the situation, of course. Occasionally, we have waited 2 and a half hours for her to fall asleep. Sometimes, she goes to sleep right away. There is no real pattern to this bedtime ritual.

I can only think/hope that consistency will continue to be key here, and so I will continue to get my exercise in after 7pm trotting up and down the stairs telling Gwen to go back to bed. As parents, its up to us to decide the best way to handle this situation, but as I stated above; having no prior experience, it's only a guess that this is a good way to deal with it. We haven't done this before, and a shoddy TV show with British Nannies serving as our guides does not necessarily inspire confidence.

Still, confidence will get you further than a ton of self doubt; so tonight, for the 3rd week in a row; we will put Gwen to bed with the door open and begin the ritual all over again.

My Excuse

Not that I seriously believe anyone is following this blog anymore, but, before I launch back into the world of blogging; I feel I should provide an excuse (or a couple) as to why my last post was over 3 (YIKES!) years ago.

First, I had a baby. In September of 2008. However the shock of finding out I was going to have a baby pretty well squelched any level of creativity that may have snuck its way into a blog. Most of my pregnancy was a long panicky dialogue that hoped everything was going to work out OK.

Luckily it did, and she’s beautiful and amazing and everything Greg and I hadn’t thought to have hoped for.

Then I started an MBA. I’m still doing this though I’m better at time management these days than I was last summer.

Then, I became pregnant again. He’s due next month, but I have some time between now and then and figured I’d get going blogging.

I had considered starting up another blog, but figured these old posts still had some entertainment value and also made it LOOK like I’d been blogging for quite some time. I like the appearance of that. Lends me 2010 credibility from 2007 efforts.

So, off we go…

Hair Cuts

I am working on growing my hair out. I’ve gone from shoulder-length to lower shoulderblade in the course of about 7 months. Big accomplishment and if I can stay patient…I’ll just keep right on going until it gets to mid- back.

I’ve never had my hair trimmed on a regular basis – I do try but it’s only when I notice it’s a bit frizzy do I remember that it’s been 3 months since my last cut. Time flies, what can I say? But there is something that happens EVERY TIME I get my hair trimmed.

I get in the chair, the girl examines my hair and asks what I want…I say something like ‘A trim’ and she starts fluffing my hair out to get a good idea of the work in front of her. And then she always says “Oh my, who cut your hair last time?! Jeeze. I need to take off at least (add an inch to our current agreement here).”

Each time. They complain.

I have even tested it and gone to the same girl 2 times in a row…and it was the same schpiel. I think perhaps they teach you to say that in hair school, so constant is it. Anyways, just thought I’d throw that out there.

Like a freight train

Sometimes, being silly is not always funny...when you're talking about freight trains. Observe:

MARYSVILLE, Calif. (AP) - A 54-year-old woman was recovering in the hospital after being hit by a Union Pacific freight train south of Marysville.

Deborah Thompson told authorities afterward that she drank a bottle of whiskey before she wandered to the railroad tracks and tried to wave the train to a stop. When asked why, she told Yuba County sheriff's deputies she was just being silly. Instead, the train hit her and knocked her 20 to 30 yards.

Thompson suffered head injuries and a fractured thigh bone but was conscious and talking after the accident.

I suppose I'd want to know the baseline before the doctors confirm what kind of head injuries she has....sounds like there may be some sort of pre-existing condition.

Something strange here?

I was wandering through Barnes and Noble this evening, and this lime-green display of books caught my eye. Then I did a double-take as I saw the advertising:

"Inspired by....The Bible Experience Companion Bible"

Wow.

Now, I'm not sure just how many Bibles you may need to have an experience...but if you're already moving on to a companion, after reading something inspired by the 'Bible Experience'....well - good for you I suppose, but it sounds very convoluted. No doubt it's changed lives and yadda yadda yadda...but c'mon people - just how dumb do we as Americans need to be treated before we start catching idiocies like this? Let me spell it out for you:

There is a bible.

You can gain knowledge from it, and some people have had spiritual experiences from it.

There is no companion bible to the bible. Sorry - it doesn't get any simpler than cracking it open and reading it. Perhaps you will have an experience, perhaps not.

And in case you don't belive me:

Bickering

This morning we were driving to work. Greg pulled a rather high-speed, and in my opinion, dangerous maneuver where he zoomed up on a semi in order to cut around a car on the left and get in the fast lane – ahead of this other guy.

A session of bickering broke out after I criticized the action, and we went back and forth for a while before losing interest in the topic.

Rather, we ALMOST lost interest in the topic if it weren’t for this final comment:

“You know Christa, if you were more aware of your surroundings you wouldn’t make these kinds of statements because then you’d know the full situation.”

Funny how bickering can flare right up again after statements like that.

The Mile High Cosmos

I have this amazing garden out in our backyard. I was much more meticulous with it at the beginning of the year – cultivating it to have a wild, English Cottage sort of look. I planted delphiniums, larkspur, goblin daisies, irises, hollyhocks, snapdragons, marigolds…a couple of catnip plants for Cider (So she could roll around in one while the other was trying to recover from her affections – thank God catnip plants are like weeds) all of those sort of things.

Oh yes, I also had a few packets of Cosmos seeds…and so I threw them around by the fence not expecting very much. We have horrible clay soil, and so I really have a hard time growing much from seeds.

Now, in October it is very clear that I have underestimated Cosmos.

They started growing nicely in the spring, which just thrilled me – but then as expected, I had a number of seedlings die off from crowding and what I thought were soil conditions…so I thinned out the rest and remained hopeful that they’d do something. And for a number of weeks nothing happened. They shot up to about 4 inches tall and then just stayed there – not growing, not dying…just hanging out. So I assumed they’d be dying any day now because they hated the soil.

Well, maybe they were mutating…or perhaps they were adapting…or even just storing up energy much like a biker loads up on carbs right before the big race….but come August they TOOK OFF. Shot straight up in the air and kept going. And going, and going. Not many blooms, but they just kept growing. Cider soon began to love her ‘forest’ comprised of thick cosmos stems (about an inch to an inch and a half in diameter) and hardly any leaves (down by the ground) up top it was nothing BUT leaves in all their feathery green glory. Not that many blooms, just a lot of height – the day they went over Greg’s head was a big day (he’s 6’6”)…the day we couldn’t touch the top stems was even bigger. I figure that they’re around 12-15 feet high now.

And it just when they peaked like that that the blooms finally decided to show – in October. And their blooms are just as vivacious as their growth, it’s a sea of purple, maroon and white in the back corner of the yard. With those flowers came butterflies by the dozens – I think they were Monarchs. 2 Saturday’s ago I went outside and was amazed to see the whole backyard all a-flutter with butterflies all over the place. They’d come for the cosmos, of course, but were landing in the grass, on the trees, on the back fence, by the back door…it was an amazing sight. They must have been migrating somewhere, but I’ve never seen anything like it, and have no doubt there was magic in the backyard that day.

And the butterflies left – but my cosmos keep growing – I’ve put in some pictures for you to see just how amazing they are – I’m hoping for a repeat production next year.