I must be crazy for posting instead of napping right now, but I had to share a quickie. Inspired by Awkward Mom's recent post about grammar, here's a little dialog between Katie, Grammy and me that took place last week.
Scene: Outdoors. Katie and Grammy are playing in Katie's playhouse. Katie is inside and Grammy is outside, ringing the doorbell.
<Ding-dong!>
Grammy (to Katie): Say, "Who is it?"
Katie: Grammy!
Grammy: No, say "who is it?"
Katie: Grammy!
Grammy: No, I ring the doorbell and you say "who is it?"
Katie: GRAMMY!!!
Me (after controlling my laughter): Here, Katie, Grammy and I will show you what we mean.
Katie exits playhouse, I enter.
<Ding-dong!>
Before I can ask "Who is it?" Katie interrupts -
Katie: GRAMMY!!!
And we all dissolved into peals of laughter. Katie didn't know why we were laughing but she joined in anyway. Good times!
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Sleep (or lack thereof)
Here I am again, folks! One daughter is napping peacefully, like a little angel. The other is talking, singing, banging on the walls, rummaging around in her closet, and generally just not sleeping. Can you guess which is which?
I would like to say I don't care, as long as she doesn't wake Audrey up...but I do care. Nobody in this family is getting enough sleep. Nobody. Audrey happens to be the best sleeper out of the four of us, and even she isn't getting enough. Katie woke up three times last night. Twice she woke up and screamed "POTTY!" and Dada took her to the potty. Once she woke up just plain screaming. And a couple of times she woke me up by talking in her sleep. Add those to the two times that Audrey woke up to feed, and the 30 minutes or so I spent pumping at 3 am, and I am one tired mama.
Dada is tired, too. Not only is he on "Katie duty" at night, but he is the worst sleeper imaginable. It takes him forever to fall asleep, so every time Katie wakes him up it's an ordeal. Three times in one night means that he got maybe 3 hours, tops. And not consecutive hours, either!
I think it might be time to take back the nighttime reins from Dada. We had decided that I'd take care of Audrey and he'd take care of Katie at night, but I don't think it's working. Katie's room is right next to Audrey's. I sleep in Audrey's room, next to her bassinet. If Katie wakes up, I'm going to hear it, so there's really no point in making Anthony get up too. Of course, he often hears Katie even without the baby monitor - she's that loud.
Sigh. Can I just point out how unfair it is that I finally have a baby who sleeps, but I'm STILL not getting any sleep myself? Audrey has been sleeping 5-6 hours at a time every night since she was about a week old. It's so good it's ridiculous. But Katie has to find a way to wake up screaming right in the middle of that 5-6 hour stretch, so I never get more than 3 hours in a row. Thanks, Fate or the Universe or Murphy or whatever. Thanks a bunch.
And napping. What is it with napping in this house? Katie hasn't napped in days and I can see it's taking its toll. Her little eyes look tired, she's crabby a lot, and we've had full-on screaming meltdowns in the evenings. I do everything I possibly can to ensure that she naps. I keep a consistent schedule, I use blackout curtains and white noise, we read books to wind down, and we have a sweet little tucking-in ritual that Dada and Katie invented. I even moved her naptime earlier. What more can I do? Give her a shot of whiskey?
And don't think we can just make her bedtime earlier or that she'll sleep later in the mornings. Oh, no. We've tried both. She'll only sleep about 15 minutes later in the mornings, if we're lucky. And putting her down early just results in more talking, singing and kicking the wall.
As I sit here listening to Katie on the monitor, not sleeping, I'm starting to dread the rest of the afternoon. The later it gets, the crabbier she gets. 5:00 is known as the witching hour for many families, not just ours, but it's 10 times worse if Katie doesn't nap. I'm also realizing that we're out of leftovers and that means I'll have to try to cook something around 5:00 too. OMG.
I pray this is just a developmental phase, or a growth spurt, or something. Lots of parents tell me their child gave up napping at age 2, or age 1, or some horrifically early age. But the sleep books all say that toddlers need naps until age 3 or 4. Whatever the case, I don't think Katie is getting enough sleep, day or night, and I don't know what to do about it. Help us, Mr. Sandman!
I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to be a whine-fest. I'm just so tired and crabby. But things are looking up: tomorrow we go to the occupational therapist for Audrey's breastfeeding issues. We've been waiting almost a month for this appointment so I'm super excited. And, it's my birthday. So maybe we'll have a little bit of extra luck and get these feeding problems solved once and for all. Fingers crossed!
I would like to say I don't care, as long as she doesn't wake Audrey up...but I do care. Nobody in this family is getting enough sleep. Nobody. Audrey happens to be the best sleeper out of the four of us, and even she isn't getting enough. Katie woke up three times last night. Twice she woke up and screamed "POTTY!" and Dada took her to the potty. Once she woke up just plain screaming. And a couple of times she woke me up by talking in her sleep. Add those to the two times that Audrey woke up to feed, and the 30 minutes or so I spent pumping at 3 am, and I am one tired mama.
Dada is tired, too. Not only is he on "Katie duty" at night, but he is the worst sleeper imaginable. It takes him forever to fall asleep, so every time Katie wakes him up it's an ordeal. Three times in one night means that he got maybe 3 hours, tops. And not consecutive hours, either!
I think it might be time to take back the nighttime reins from Dada. We had decided that I'd take care of Audrey and he'd take care of Katie at night, but I don't think it's working. Katie's room is right next to Audrey's. I sleep in Audrey's room, next to her bassinet. If Katie wakes up, I'm going to hear it, so there's really no point in making Anthony get up too. Of course, he often hears Katie even without the baby monitor - she's that loud.
Sigh. Can I just point out how unfair it is that I finally have a baby who sleeps, but I'm STILL not getting any sleep myself? Audrey has been sleeping 5-6 hours at a time every night since she was about a week old. It's so good it's ridiculous. But Katie has to find a way to wake up screaming right in the middle of that 5-6 hour stretch, so I never get more than 3 hours in a row. Thanks, Fate or the Universe or Murphy or whatever. Thanks a bunch.
And napping. What is it with napping in this house? Katie hasn't napped in days and I can see it's taking its toll. Her little eyes look tired, she's crabby a lot, and we've had full-on screaming meltdowns in the evenings. I do everything I possibly can to ensure that she naps. I keep a consistent schedule, I use blackout curtains and white noise, we read books to wind down, and we have a sweet little tucking-in ritual that Dada and Katie invented. I even moved her naptime earlier. What more can I do? Give her a shot of whiskey?
And don't think we can just make her bedtime earlier or that she'll sleep later in the mornings. Oh, no. We've tried both. She'll only sleep about 15 minutes later in the mornings, if we're lucky. And putting her down early just results in more talking, singing and kicking the wall.
As I sit here listening to Katie on the monitor, not sleeping, I'm starting to dread the rest of the afternoon. The later it gets, the crabbier she gets. 5:00 is known as the witching hour for many families, not just ours, but it's 10 times worse if Katie doesn't nap. I'm also realizing that we're out of leftovers and that means I'll have to try to cook something around 5:00 too. OMG.
I pray this is just a developmental phase, or a growth spurt, or something. Lots of parents tell me their child gave up napping at age 2, or age 1, or some horrifically early age. But the sleep books all say that toddlers need naps until age 3 or 4. Whatever the case, I don't think Katie is getting enough sleep, day or night, and I don't know what to do about it. Help us, Mr. Sandman!
I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to be a whine-fest. I'm just so tired and crabby. But things are looking up: tomorrow we go to the occupational therapist for Audrey's breastfeeding issues. We've been waiting almost a month for this appointment so I'm super excited. And, it's my birthday. So maybe we'll have a little bit of extra luck and get these feeding problems solved once and for all. Fingers crossed!
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Let's hope a picture is worth 1000 words...
And here it is:
I have about 100,000 words to write, but no time in which to write them. I've been blogging like crazy in my head again, usually sometime between 3 and 5 am when I'm trying to get back to sleep.
By some miracle, both of my girls are sleeping right now. Even more astonishing is that I actually prefer them to sleep alternately (although a few minutes of overlap is nice.) The reason is that I like to be able to actually give one child my full (ish) attention, instead of trying to juggle them. I say full-ish because I also have to still do dishes, laundry, wash bottles (long story) and do all sorts of other householdy things that just won't wait. Don't worry, I am heeding the advice of "let the house go and spend time with your kids". Boy am I! This house has never been such a disaster. I think for my birthday I'm going to ask for house cleaning. I'm tired of living in squalor!
I hear Audrey stirring in the other room, so let's pray she falls back asleep while I write a quick update. Breastfeeding is still not going well, though it's going a heck of a lot better than it did with Katie. Neither of my girls latch(ed) well. With Katie it was just impossible to breastfeed her, so I pumped 8 times a day for a year. Pumping 8 times a day (that's every 2 hours, in case anyone's counting) is utterly, certifiably insane. Pumping 8 times a day while your toddler tries to tear your baby's toes off, squirt laundry detergent into her own mouth, draw on the walls with a pen and pour water all over the carpet...well, that's more than I can take. And yes, all these things have happened within the last 24 hours. If I had to list all the things Katie has done while I was either pumping or feeding Audrey, I'd be here all day.
Yes, you read that right: I *am* doing some pumping. I am in the process of trying to transition Audrey back to breastfeeding after a couple of weeks of feeding her with a syringe. This means drawing up some breastmilk into a syringe, attaching a thin flexible tube, taping the tube to your finger and letting the baby suck the end of your finger. The milk flows into her mouth through a tiny hole in the end of the tube. It's supposed to be better than a bottle because the finger is made of flesh instead of silicone, and the milk doesn't pour out as fast as it does from a bottle. Anyway - we did that for about a week and a half, and then we tried a bottle. The bottle was way easier to manage, but I was worried that Audrey, like Katie, would never want to go back to breastfeeding. Luckily, she is back on the breast using a nipple shield and an SNS. I'm starting to bore myself here, so I'll just say that the shield helps her latch on and the SNS helps her get milk faster than she would without it. For now, it's working. She's gaining weight and growing like a weed.
But it's hard! I guess I forgot how hard it is to have a newborn. I, unlike other mothers, am nearly always unable to tell why my baby is crying. You're supposed to be able to tell a hunger cry from a gassy cry from a tired cry...I'm just awful at this. I've been offering Audrey the breast whenever she cries, figuring that sucking will comfort her even if she isn't hungry, but I'm quickly finding out that if she isn't hungry she will SCREAM at the breast and fight and push away. But she also does that if she's too hungry! Gaaah! And Audrey is much less able to tolerate a wet diaper than Katie was. Katie couldn't have cared less if she was wet.
Crud - Audrey's up - guess I better do a diaper change! Til next time!
I have about 100,000 words to write, but no time in which to write them. I've been blogging like crazy in my head again, usually sometime between 3 and 5 am when I'm trying to get back to sleep.
By some miracle, both of my girls are sleeping right now. Even more astonishing is that I actually prefer them to sleep alternately (although a few minutes of overlap is nice.) The reason is that I like to be able to actually give one child my full (ish) attention, instead of trying to juggle them. I say full-ish because I also have to still do dishes, laundry, wash bottles (long story) and do all sorts of other householdy things that just won't wait. Don't worry, I am heeding the advice of "let the house go and spend time with your kids". Boy am I! This house has never been such a disaster. I think for my birthday I'm going to ask for house cleaning. I'm tired of living in squalor!
I hear Audrey stirring in the other room, so let's pray she falls back asleep while I write a quick update. Breastfeeding is still not going well, though it's going a heck of a lot better than it did with Katie. Neither of my girls latch(ed) well. With Katie it was just impossible to breastfeed her, so I pumped 8 times a day for a year. Pumping 8 times a day (that's every 2 hours, in case anyone's counting) is utterly, certifiably insane. Pumping 8 times a day while your toddler tries to tear your baby's toes off, squirt laundry detergent into her own mouth, draw on the walls with a pen and pour water all over the carpet...well, that's more than I can take. And yes, all these things have happened within the last 24 hours. If I had to list all the things Katie has done while I was either pumping or feeding Audrey, I'd be here all day.
Yes, you read that right: I *am* doing some pumping. I am in the process of trying to transition Audrey back to breastfeeding after a couple of weeks of feeding her with a syringe. This means drawing up some breastmilk into a syringe, attaching a thin flexible tube, taping the tube to your finger and letting the baby suck the end of your finger. The milk flows into her mouth through a tiny hole in the end of the tube. It's supposed to be better than a bottle because the finger is made of flesh instead of silicone, and the milk doesn't pour out as fast as it does from a bottle. Anyway - we did that for about a week and a half, and then we tried a bottle. The bottle was way easier to manage, but I was worried that Audrey, like Katie, would never want to go back to breastfeeding. Luckily, she is back on the breast using a nipple shield and an SNS. I'm starting to bore myself here, so I'll just say that the shield helps her latch on and the SNS helps her get milk faster than she would without it. For now, it's working. She's gaining weight and growing like a weed.
But it's hard! I guess I forgot how hard it is to have a newborn. I, unlike other mothers, am nearly always unable to tell why my baby is crying. You're supposed to be able to tell a hunger cry from a gassy cry from a tired cry...I'm just awful at this. I've been offering Audrey the breast whenever she cries, figuring that sucking will comfort her even if she isn't hungry, but I'm quickly finding out that if she isn't hungry she will SCREAM at the breast and fight and push away. But she also does that if she's too hungry! Gaaah! And Audrey is much less able to tolerate a wet diaper than Katie was. Katie couldn't have cared less if she was wet.
Crud - Audrey's up - guess I better do a diaper change! Til next time!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Finally, a picture!
I have so many things to write about, and exactly zero time. I'm up to my ears in diapers, nursing just about every minute of the day, and trying to squeeze in quality time with Katie wherever possible. I'm enjoying Audrey's first newborn days SO MUCH MORE than I was able to enjoy Katie's, mostly because I'm used to sleep deprivation! Anthony and I were marveling at how normal we feel - we're tired all the time but that's normal for us now. When Katie was born, we were zombies. I was so cranky! I don't know how we got through it, but I'm so glad we get to enjoy ourselves more this time around. I think we deserve it! :)
Anyway, without further ado...Miss Audrey!
Anyway, without further ado...Miss Audrey!
 |
| Not sure what she's smiling about, but it probably has to do with milk. Or gas. :) |
Friday, June 21, 2013
Welcome, precious darling!
Audrey Gayle Cerna
Born at 12:14pm Pacific Time
8 pounds 15.8 ounces (holy mackerel!)
19 inches long
For you fellow mamas out there, one more statistic: head circumference 14 inches. O. M. Bleepin G.
Pics to follow!
And to sum it all up: "If there's a next time, I want DRUGS!!!!!!" Lol. :)
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Time Out
So you probably know that I'm a big fan of the concept of "Positive Discipline," which I learned about from Katie's co-op preschool. At first I was really skeptical, but the more I use the techniques, the better they work. Yesterday I found myself trying a new one, without any advance planning. In fact, it was a technique that I thought sounded a bit weird and unnatural, so I surprised myself when I heard some of the words coming out of my mouth.
I think most parents have heard of "Time Out," even if they don't use it. Long before I had kids (you know, back when I thought I was an expert) I thought Time Out made a lot of sense. It certainly seemed better than spanking. But I hadn't had any real exposure to it - I hadn't watched a parent actually use it on their child. The first time I saw a Time Out used, I was at the park on a playdate with a mom I really like. It's clear to me that she is a really good mom with a good attitude toward parenting, and her three kids are incredibly well-behaved to boot. Her three year old did something that required correction, and she calmly sent him to a corner of the playground for a Time Out. He wailed and howled the whole time. Finally I guess he must have gotten over it, because he was allowed out and continued playing. He seemed unharmed, but I couldn't really see that anything beneficial had taken place. But I thought to myself, "It must work, because her kids are awesome."
Months later, I watched another family use Time Out on their 18 month old toddler. He was doing something typical for a toddler (can't remember what) and the parents were getting more and more upset, raising their voices and threatening "If you do that again, you're going to get a Time Out!" I'm really not sure if the toddler understood the threat, but I'm sure he understood the angry tone of voice. And of course, he continued to do whatever it was (because that's what toddlers do) and he was summarily carried from the room and left to scream alone in his bedroom. The whole scene just felt so ugly to me. Again, it's a lot better than hitting, but I just didn't feel comfortable with it.
I didn't think much more about it until I started reading the Positive Discipline books. In a nutshell, they categorize Time Out as a punishment; a nonviolent one, to be sure, but a punishment nonetheless. And their hypothesis is that punishment, in general, makes kids feel bad. I mean, that's kind of the point, right? "Sit in this corner and think about how bad you've been!" The authors feel that when kids feel bad, they act out, but when they feel better, they do better. So they propose a different twist on Time Out. They say the parents should take a minute or two in a quiet place, not the child! Or, that the parent should accompany the child into Time Out. Their idea of Time Out is just that - a little break from whatever drama is going on.
Like most of these new parenting concepts, I thought going with your kid into Time Out sounded pretty useless. But yesterday, Katie and I got into some drama. She wanted me to fill her bubble fan with bubbles. When I got the big 2-liter vat of bubble solution down from its hiding place, she immediately wanted that instead. I'm all for being flexible most of the time, but I said no. I couldn't stomach 2 liters of bubble solution all over the floor. But I filled up the bubble fan, brought it outside and turned it on for her. She was momentarily diverted while I put the bubble solution away, but soon she was back inside, and somehow managed to turn the bubble fan upside down. Bubble solution everywhere! But I kept my cool, and handled it just like we handle every other spill. I said, "Oops, the bubbles spilled! Let's clean up!" and I got a cloth for myself and one for Katie. We sang the clean up song and got most of the bubbles cleaned up. Then she decided she wanted to mop. I got the mop for her, but instead of mopping, she started waving it in the air and banging it on the sliding glass door. I asked her to stop, telling her that the mop belongs on the floor, but she ignored me. I took her arm and looked her right in the eye as I repeated myself, and she started to squirm away and scream.
And I just looked at her and said, "Do you need big hugs?" "No! No hugs! No!" But I could tell that this wasn't really about mopping or bubbles. So I gathered her into my arms anyway and said, "Let's go take a Time Out so we can both feel better." I was kind of stunned to hear myself saying it, but it felt right. We went into the den and read a book on the couch. I gave her lots of hugs and kisses. And when we both felt better, I asked if she was ready to try mopping again. She said "Yesh" and slid off my lap. We went back into the kitchen and cheerfully finished cleaning up.
I don't know if I did it right, or if it will work every time (nothing else does) but I kind of enjoyed Time Out yesterday! Somehow it felt really good to meet a tantrum with love. I know that my pregnancy is getting harder and harder for Katie, both physically since I can't be as active with her, and emotionally because she knows something big is coming. I wish the baby would hurry up so we can all wrap our minds around what it's going to be like as a family of four! It's hard enough for me to wait, I can't imagine what it's like for Katie, who doesn't have a real sense of time yet. She must think we're winding her up about a baby coming!
Cross your fingers and think labor-y thoughts for me! :)
I think most parents have heard of "Time Out," even if they don't use it. Long before I had kids (you know, back when I thought I was an expert) I thought Time Out made a lot of sense. It certainly seemed better than spanking. But I hadn't had any real exposure to it - I hadn't watched a parent actually use it on their child. The first time I saw a Time Out used, I was at the park on a playdate with a mom I really like. It's clear to me that she is a really good mom with a good attitude toward parenting, and her three kids are incredibly well-behaved to boot. Her three year old did something that required correction, and she calmly sent him to a corner of the playground for a Time Out. He wailed and howled the whole time. Finally I guess he must have gotten over it, because he was allowed out and continued playing. He seemed unharmed, but I couldn't really see that anything beneficial had taken place. But I thought to myself, "It must work, because her kids are awesome."
Months later, I watched another family use Time Out on their 18 month old toddler. He was doing something typical for a toddler (can't remember what) and the parents were getting more and more upset, raising their voices and threatening "If you do that again, you're going to get a Time Out!" I'm really not sure if the toddler understood the threat, but I'm sure he understood the angry tone of voice. And of course, he continued to do whatever it was (because that's what toddlers do) and he was summarily carried from the room and left to scream alone in his bedroom. The whole scene just felt so ugly to me. Again, it's a lot better than hitting, but I just didn't feel comfortable with it.
I didn't think much more about it until I started reading the Positive Discipline books. In a nutshell, they categorize Time Out as a punishment; a nonviolent one, to be sure, but a punishment nonetheless. And their hypothesis is that punishment, in general, makes kids feel bad. I mean, that's kind of the point, right? "Sit in this corner and think about how bad you've been!" The authors feel that when kids feel bad, they act out, but when they feel better, they do better. So they propose a different twist on Time Out. They say the parents should take a minute or two in a quiet place, not the child! Or, that the parent should accompany the child into Time Out. Their idea of Time Out is just that - a little break from whatever drama is going on.
Like most of these new parenting concepts, I thought going with your kid into Time Out sounded pretty useless. But yesterday, Katie and I got into some drama. She wanted me to fill her bubble fan with bubbles. When I got the big 2-liter vat of bubble solution down from its hiding place, she immediately wanted that instead. I'm all for being flexible most of the time, but I said no. I couldn't stomach 2 liters of bubble solution all over the floor. But I filled up the bubble fan, brought it outside and turned it on for her. She was momentarily diverted while I put the bubble solution away, but soon she was back inside, and somehow managed to turn the bubble fan upside down. Bubble solution everywhere! But I kept my cool, and handled it just like we handle every other spill. I said, "Oops, the bubbles spilled! Let's clean up!" and I got a cloth for myself and one for Katie. We sang the clean up song and got most of the bubbles cleaned up. Then she decided she wanted to mop. I got the mop for her, but instead of mopping, she started waving it in the air and banging it on the sliding glass door. I asked her to stop, telling her that the mop belongs on the floor, but she ignored me. I took her arm and looked her right in the eye as I repeated myself, and she started to squirm away and scream.
And I just looked at her and said, "Do you need big hugs?" "No! No hugs! No!" But I could tell that this wasn't really about mopping or bubbles. So I gathered her into my arms anyway and said, "Let's go take a Time Out so we can both feel better." I was kind of stunned to hear myself saying it, but it felt right. We went into the den and read a book on the couch. I gave her lots of hugs and kisses. And when we both felt better, I asked if she was ready to try mopping again. She said "Yesh" and slid off my lap. We went back into the kitchen and cheerfully finished cleaning up.
I don't know if I did it right, or if it will work every time (nothing else does) but I kind of enjoyed Time Out yesterday! Somehow it felt really good to meet a tantrum with love. I know that my pregnancy is getting harder and harder for Katie, both physically since I can't be as active with her, and emotionally because she knows something big is coming. I wish the baby would hurry up so we can all wrap our minds around what it's going to be like as a family of four! It's hard enough for me to wait, I can't imagine what it's like for Katie, who doesn't have a real sense of time yet. She must think we're winding her up about a baby coming!
Cross your fingers and think labor-y thoughts for me! :)
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolli lolli lolli
Katie never ceases to amaze me. Today we were out grocery shopping. I'm not gonna tell you which store; if you've ever read this blog before you're undoubtedly nauseated by all the times I've mentioned it. Suffice it to say, they have mini shopping carts for Katie, and a find-the-hidden-stuffed-animal game. :) Today, the lady at the sample counter gave Katie a huge hint about where the stuffed panda was hiding, so Katie got to collect a prize. In the past, we've gotten clementines and apples, but this time the prize basket was full of candy. Oh dear.
Now I know what you're thinking: "Oh no, is she a Sugar Nazi in addition to being a weird crunchy hippie?" The answer is, sort of. For myself, I have a bigger sweet tooth than Buddy the Elf. But for Katie...well, I don't want her to grow up to be as sugar-addicted as me. I don't believe it's the root of all evil or anything, but sugar is so ubiquitous that I feel like it's a slippery slope if I even let her have a little. After all, she doesn't really know about all the sugary goodness that's out there, and she's a super happy kid, so isn't ignorance bliss?
When she's older, of course I'll let her have sugar. And to be honest, she actually is eating plenty of sugar now - the past two mornings we've had blueberry muffins for breakfast. Her yogurt has sugar. There's sugar in her peanut butter AND her jelly. Graham crackers? Hellooo, sugar! The orange chicken I made last night had a very sweet, sticky, sugary sauce. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Sugar is everywhere!
So I've just been trying to avoid giving her blatantly obvious sugar, like candy. She's 2 1/2 and she's only had ice cream twice (both in the past month, and both from IKEA. Now she thinks IKEA is a huge, blue-and-yellow ice cream parlor.) She only drinks water or milk, never juice or soda. And we don't do dessert after dinner. (Anthony and I do, after she's asleep.) Am I depriving her of one of life's simple pleasures? Maybe. But she's a toddler, and toddlers find pleasure in such a wonderful variety of things (playing in the mud, swinging on swings, spilling bubble solution all over the kitchen floor, squirting Dada with the hose, to name a few). Does she truly need sugar to be happy? I say she doesn't.
However, someday she will probably LOVE sugar, and I won't stand in her way. I would be the world's biggest hypocrite if I did. I had friends growing up whose well-meaning parents made them eat carob instead of chocolate (my mom even tried it with me!) To this day, Anthony loves sugary cereal because his mom never allowed it. I don't want for there to be that kind of backlash with Katie. I'm just putting it off until she actually starts to notice and care.
Anyway, today Katie was presented with a big basket full of salt water taffy and lollipops. She's only ever had one lollipop in her life, and it was this past Memorial Day. I'm not sure what she loved more, the candy or the fact that she got to imitate the "big kids," who were all eating Dum-dums. Either way, it was pretty cute. But I was surprised today when she went for a lollipop instead of the taffy. After she said "thank you" I put her down and she proceeded to tear off the wrapper and stick it in her mouth like she'd been eating 50 lollipops a day since birth. Even the guy giving out the candy was impressed with her unwrapping prowess!
My little cutie! I hope she continues to be ignorant about sugar (and enthusiastic about broccoli) for a long time yet!
Now I know what you're thinking: "Oh no, is she a Sugar Nazi in addition to being a weird crunchy hippie?" The answer is, sort of. For myself, I have a bigger sweet tooth than Buddy the Elf. But for Katie...well, I don't want her to grow up to be as sugar-addicted as me. I don't believe it's the root of all evil or anything, but sugar is so ubiquitous that I feel like it's a slippery slope if I even let her have a little. After all, she doesn't really know about all the sugary goodness that's out there, and she's a super happy kid, so isn't ignorance bliss?
When she's older, of course I'll let her have sugar. And to be honest, she actually is eating plenty of sugar now - the past two mornings we've had blueberry muffins for breakfast. Her yogurt has sugar. There's sugar in her peanut butter AND her jelly. Graham crackers? Hellooo, sugar! The orange chicken I made last night had a very sweet, sticky, sugary sauce. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. Sugar is everywhere!
So I've just been trying to avoid giving her blatantly obvious sugar, like candy. She's 2 1/2 and she's only had ice cream twice (both in the past month, and both from IKEA. Now she thinks IKEA is a huge, blue-and-yellow ice cream parlor.) She only drinks water or milk, never juice or soda. And we don't do dessert after dinner. (Anthony and I do, after she's asleep.) Am I depriving her of one of life's simple pleasures? Maybe. But she's a toddler, and toddlers find pleasure in such a wonderful variety of things (playing in the mud, swinging on swings, spilling bubble solution all over the kitchen floor, squirting Dada with the hose, to name a few). Does she truly need sugar to be happy? I say she doesn't.
However, someday she will probably LOVE sugar, and I won't stand in her way. I would be the world's biggest hypocrite if I did. I had friends growing up whose well-meaning parents made them eat carob instead of chocolate (my mom even tried it with me!) To this day, Anthony loves sugary cereal because his mom never allowed it. I don't want for there to be that kind of backlash with Katie. I'm just putting it off until she actually starts to notice and care.
Anyway, today Katie was presented with a big basket full of salt water taffy and lollipops. She's only ever had one lollipop in her life, and it was this past Memorial Day. I'm not sure what she loved more, the candy or the fact that she got to imitate the "big kids," who were all eating Dum-dums. Either way, it was pretty cute. But I was surprised today when she went for a lollipop instead of the taffy. After she said "thank you" I put her down and she proceeded to tear off the wrapper and stick it in her mouth like she'd been eating 50 lollipops a day since birth. Even the guy giving out the candy was impressed with her unwrapping prowess!
My little cutie! I hope she continues to be ignorant about sugar (and enthusiastic about broccoli) for a long time yet!
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