Sunday, July 26, 2009
I'm surprised. It only took 3 months...
Wow! I completely under estimated Child #1. Exactly three months ago (April 26 Entry), Child #1 wanted her own room. Well recently, she has been singing a different tune. She’s been sneaking into her sisters’ room to sleep. When I caught her doing this, I asked her what she was doing and she replied she was scared and didn't want to sleep by herself anymore. I asked if she wanted her bed moved back into their room. She hesitated, but then confirmed by saying yes. She won’t tell me why she is scared, but I think her over active imagination is getting the best of her. Who can blame her? I remember being scared in the middle of the night occasionally when I was a kid too. So we moved her back in and we are back to the crazy slumber party level at bedtime. I’m not so sure this was the best thing to do. We may have to remove Child #3 instead. She tends to be the clown of the bunch and instigates the silliness.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Ignorance is Bliss…Sometimes
I try to reduce as much chemicals as possible by reading labels, mainly to benefit my kids health (I’m not saying I am perfect. Occasionally, I still eat Red #40 injected licorice and other things that are bad for me-and yes I allow my kids to as well just not all the time). Just to show you how effective I am this little story will explain everything.
Okay so I am a little crazy about dyes and a few other specific things, which I share with my children routinely. What? Knowledge is power. Who says it’s a bad thing? Right? This way they will be armed with all the knowledge they need to make right choices when their mother isn’t around, hence the story.
Recently, I have been getting an over abundance of unwelcome flakes on my head. Yes dandruff. And this wasn’t just a few flakes. It was like a winter storm when I ran my fingers through my hair. I couldn’t figure it out. At first, I thought maybe I had sun burned my scalp when we were out on the lake one weekend, but after a few weeks I ruled out sun burn.
So I thought maybe it was my shampoo. I changed to a new dandruff kind of shampoo. Nope that didn’t help. Of course, I start talking to my friend (thanks friend, you know who you are) about my situation. She suggested not to use a certain kind of hair style product (which I was using- Garnier Fructis) because it seemed to cause her to have an overabundance of flakes and caused an itchy scalp..
Thus as an advent label reader, how did I miss the label on the can of mousse I have been using for the last few months? I don’t use hair products everyday and since it wasn’t being directly applied on my skin or ingested I didn’t think it was necessary to read. I was wrong. But have you read a Mousse label lately?
AQUA/WATER, ISOBUTANE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, PROPANE, PHENOXYETHANOL, TRIACETIN, AMINOMETHLYL PROPANOL, POLYQUATERNIUM-4, PEG-4O HYDROGENATED CASTER OIL, METHYLPARABEN, PARFUM/FRAGRANCE,AMODIMTHICONE, POLYSORBATE 20, LINALOOL, PEG 192 APRICOT KERNEL GLYCERIDES, PEG-70 MANGO GLYCERIDES, TRIDECETH-12, LIMONENE, AMYL CINNAMAL, CERTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, CITRUS LIMONUM/LEMON EXTRACT.
Holy Shit! Propane. Propane is used to heat some people’s houses or start a camping stove. Why the hell am I putting propane in my hair? I’m not even sure if I spelled everything correctly, but really doesn’t that look like a formula to a bomb?
I know, it’s just what you wanted to hear, another one of my theories. I figure since it was summer and we’ve been out in the sun lately, the sun probably reacted to several of these ingredients causing my scalp to get irritated and distressed, therefore causing an overabundance of flaking. After two days of not using the Mouse and several conditioning products, the excessive flaking ceased.
Anyway I go to Target to see what other brands I can buy that might not make my head start on fire if I get close to a flame. I am definitely switching to gel, but nothing at Target had any ingredients that I wanted to put in my hair.
I actually had to go to ULTA (a beauty specialty store) to find a less harsh product that didn’t have ingredients I couldn’t pronounce. Quite a bit more on the pocket book, but the alternative is to walk around with a really frizzy head. I haven’t tried it yet, but I will let you know how things go.
Dad walks into the grocery store with three beautiful daughters to buy hamburger and hotdog buns. Dad picks out the buns and then walks down the snack/treat isle.
Dad says you can pick out anything you want. A woman was in the same isle picking out her snacks. Daughter #2 picks a big box of brownies.
Daughter #1 says “We can’t eat those, we have to eat these. They are healthier.” Daughter #1 picked out a box of granola bars to show her sisters.
The woman couldn’t believe what she was witnessing and says “How did you do that?”
Dad replies, “That is ALL her mother.”
Dad says you can pick out anything you want. A woman was in the same isle picking out her snacks. Daughter #2 picks a big box of brownies.
Daughter #1 says “We can’t eat those, we have to eat these. They are healthier.” Daughter #1 picked out a box of granola bars to show her sisters.
The woman couldn’t believe what she was witnessing and says “How did you do that?”
Dad replies, “That is ALL her mother.”
Okay so I am a little crazy about dyes and a few other specific things, which I share with my children routinely. What? Knowledge is power. Who says it’s a bad thing? Right? This way they will be armed with all the knowledge they need to make right choices when their mother isn’t around, hence the story.
Recently, I have been getting an over abundance of unwelcome flakes on my head. Yes dandruff. And this wasn’t just a few flakes. It was like a winter storm when I ran my fingers through my hair. I couldn’t figure it out. At first, I thought maybe I had sun burned my scalp when we were out on the lake one weekend, but after a few weeks I ruled out sun burn.
So I thought maybe it was my shampoo. I changed to a new dandruff kind of shampoo. Nope that didn’t help. Of course, I start talking to my friend (thanks friend, you know who you are) about my situation. She suggested not to use a certain kind of hair style product (which I was using- Garnier Fructis) because it seemed to cause her to have an overabundance of flakes and caused an itchy scalp..
Thus as an advent label reader, how did I miss the label on the can of mousse I have been using for the last few months? I don’t use hair products everyday and since it wasn’t being directly applied on my skin or ingested I didn’t think it was necessary to read. I was wrong. But have you read a Mousse label lately?
AQUA/WATER, ISOBUTANE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, ACRYLATES COPOLYMER, PROPANE, PHENOXYETHANOL, TRIACETIN, AMINOMETHLYL PROPANOL, POLYQUATERNIUM-4, PEG-4O HYDROGENATED CASTER OIL, METHYLPARABEN, PARFUM/FRAGRANCE,AMODIMTHICONE, POLYSORBATE 20, LINALOOL, PEG 192 APRICOT KERNEL GLYCERIDES, PEG-70 MANGO GLYCERIDES, TRIDECETH-12, LIMONENE, AMYL CINNAMAL, CERTRIMONIUM CHLORIDE, CITRUS LIMONUM/LEMON EXTRACT.
Holy Shit! Propane. Propane is used to heat some people’s houses or start a camping stove. Why the hell am I putting propane in my hair? I’m not even sure if I spelled everything correctly, but really doesn’t that look like a formula to a bomb?
I know, it’s just what you wanted to hear, another one of my theories. I figure since it was summer and we’ve been out in the sun lately, the sun probably reacted to several of these ingredients causing my scalp to get irritated and distressed, therefore causing an overabundance of flaking. After two days of not using the Mouse and several conditioning products, the excessive flaking ceased.
Anyway I go to Target to see what other brands I can buy that might not make my head start on fire if I get close to a flame. I am definitely switching to gel, but nothing at Target had any ingredients that I wanted to put in my hair.
I actually had to go to ULTA (a beauty specialty store) to find a less harsh product that didn’t have ingredients I couldn’t pronounce. Quite a bit more on the pocket book, but the alternative is to walk around with a really frizzy head. I haven’t tried it yet, but I will let you know how things go.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
A little game of Telephone
If most people knew about this blog then maybe my family and I wouldn’t be such a mystery to figure out in this crazy town I live in. I assume every town has the same type of people, but apparently when you enter the school system as a parent it is a whole different ball game then when you were a kid.
I call it a small, big town that I live in. It seems like everyone is at the third degree of separation level and even closer sometimes, which may be true for most towns if you live long enough in one place. Considering I moved several times during my childhood, I never developed this closeness within a community or maybe I was just too young to be that aware of others.
Interesting enough I have been observing how parents interact over the last year. I have discovered that there are several different types of moms. The mom that I will be referring to is the (I had a little help from a friend with the name) crazy PTO mom. This mom will ask you what you had for breakfast last week Monday. No question is off limits.
I have no problems answering questions or even having my friends answering questions for me. Where the problem lies is not really with all the conversation going on first hand it’s the after hand. With so many questions, I start to wonder where all this information will be going. You got it, out to all the other crazy PTO moms. Because if she is telling you about other families (mostly innocent information about which kid does which activity), you know your family is going to be brought up in a future conversation with someone else.
People are always going to talk otherwise there wouldn’t be so many celebrity gossip magazines. The jury is still out on how I feel about all this. Not that I have any skeletons in my closet or really care what people think about me, but it almost seems creepy when people you don’t know, know more about you than you have told them.
Or maybe I am just paranoid and totally off on all this. It might be a long haul for me since I still have two more kids to integrate into the school system. I am sure you will all be dying to know which path I take in the future. I will keep you posted.
I call it a small, big town that I live in. It seems like everyone is at the third degree of separation level and even closer sometimes, which may be true for most towns if you live long enough in one place. Considering I moved several times during my childhood, I never developed this closeness within a community or maybe I was just too young to be that aware of others.
Interesting enough I have been observing how parents interact over the last year. I have discovered that there are several different types of moms. The mom that I will be referring to is the (I had a little help from a friend with the name) crazy PTO mom. This mom will ask you what you had for breakfast last week Monday. No question is off limits.
I have no problems answering questions or even having my friends answering questions for me. Where the problem lies is not really with all the conversation going on first hand it’s the after hand. With so many questions, I start to wonder where all this information will be going. You got it, out to all the other crazy PTO moms. Because if she is telling you about other families (mostly innocent information about which kid does which activity), you know your family is going to be brought up in a future conversation with someone else.
People are always going to talk otherwise there wouldn’t be so many celebrity gossip magazines. The jury is still out on how I feel about all this. Not that I have any skeletons in my closet or really care what people think about me, but it almost seems creepy when people you don’t know, know more about you than you have told them.
Or maybe I am just paranoid and totally off on all this. It might be a long haul for me since I still have two more kids to integrate into the school system. I am sure you will all be dying to know which path I take in the future. I will keep you posted.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Triathlon Times
Apparently, writing things down doesn't actually hold me accountable to myself. Okay so the last ten pounds didn’t come off before my triathlon, but I still dropped eleven minutes off my overall time from last year. Consequently, this gives me a new goal for next year to drop the same excruciating ten pounds. Of course procrastination runs in the family, which will probably lead to trying to drop ten pounds again two months before the race. What a vicious cycle I live in.
Anyway my official time is listed below:
Distance Short
Clock Time 01:23:57
Overall Place 165 / 2544
Division Place 18 / 258
Swim 00:13:10
Swimrank 105
Trans1 00:04:16
Bike 00:39:35
Bikerank 470
Mph 18.1
Trans2 00:01:31
Runrank 220
Run 00:25:24
Pace 00:08:11
Even though, I did better on my time I totally slacked in the swimming. I did better last year in the swim, but my bike and run improved. Maybe next year I will actually train for the swim part (nah, not training always makes it more interesting). I really need to carve out some time (Where did that 27 hour/day pill go? I know it was in my pocket somewhere).
James brought the girls so they could cheer on their mommy for a whole three seconds, but at least they got to see what the race was about. My parents came too, but they missed me on all three transitions. Oh well, there is always next year.
PS. These times are based on 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run just in case you were wondering.
Anyway my official time is listed below:
Distance Short
Clock Time 01:23:57
Overall Place 165 / 2544
Division Place 18 / 258
Swim 00:13:10
Swimrank 105
Trans1 00:04:16
Bike 00:39:35
Bikerank 470
Mph 18.1
Trans2 00:01:31
Runrank 220
Run 00:25:24
Pace 00:08:11
Even though, I did better on my time I totally slacked in the swimming. I did better last year in the swim, but my bike and run improved. Maybe next year I will actually train for the swim part (nah, not training always makes it more interesting). I really need to carve out some time (Where did that 27 hour/day pill go? I know it was in my pocket somewhere).
James brought the girls so they could cheer on their mommy for a whole three seconds, but at least they got to see what the race was about. My parents came too, but they missed me on all three transitions. Oh well, there is always next year.
PS. These times are based on 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 3.1 mile run just in case you were wondering.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Internal Pressure
Three must be the magical age to eliminate internal pressure.
Now according to www.yourdictionary.com
Internal means of or having to do with the inside, and
Pressure means a compelling influence, constraining force, demands requiring immediate attention; urgency
Essentially, I coined the phrase internal pressure for when you are away from your children and you feel this urgency to get back to them. Whether you are making a Target or grocery store run, you try to complete the task as quickly as possible just to get back to them (and it always pisses you off when you forget something you really needed because you were rushing). Usually you try to do these tasks when you need a break, but then you find yourself feeling guilty for not spending every waking moment with them when you are not at work.
I would find myself rushing home when I knew my husband had everything under control. Even when I was two minutes late for picking the kids up, I would internally beat myself up. This internal force sucks you into thinking your children need every second of your time especially when they are babies (obviously this is something us moms do to ourselves).
Since my youngest has turned three, I am actually enjoying my twenty minute ride home now, listening to music and not worrying so much (it is actually 25 minutes now because of Racine Ave being shut down, dam construction). I don’t rush in the grocery store or at Target anymore, although I end up taking one of the kids with me, usually the one who has been the best behaved for the day, the reward for good behavior (it always amazes me on how the behavior of one child is so much different than the behavior of three children together).
It probably has to do with my kids getting older and not needing me as much, but I do feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Because is that two minutes ever really going to matter in the grand scheme of things? It has only taken me six years to figure this out.
Everyone can tell you how hard it is going to raise children, but you never really grasp the level of difficulty until you experience it for yourself.
Now according to www.yourdictionary.com
Internal means of or having to do with the inside, and
Pressure means a compelling influence, constraining force, demands requiring immediate attention; urgency
Essentially, I coined the phrase internal pressure for when you are away from your children and you feel this urgency to get back to them. Whether you are making a Target or grocery store run, you try to complete the task as quickly as possible just to get back to them (and it always pisses you off when you forget something you really needed because you were rushing). Usually you try to do these tasks when you need a break, but then you find yourself feeling guilty for not spending every waking moment with them when you are not at work.
I would find myself rushing home when I knew my husband had everything under control. Even when I was two minutes late for picking the kids up, I would internally beat myself up. This internal force sucks you into thinking your children need every second of your time especially when they are babies (obviously this is something us moms do to ourselves).
Since my youngest has turned three, I am actually enjoying my twenty minute ride home now, listening to music and not worrying so much (it is actually 25 minutes now because of Racine Ave being shut down, dam construction). I don’t rush in the grocery store or at Target anymore, although I end up taking one of the kids with me, usually the one who has been the best behaved for the day, the reward for good behavior (it always amazes me on how the behavior of one child is so much different than the behavior of three children together).
It probably has to do with my kids getting older and not needing me as much, but I do feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Because is that two minutes ever really going to matter in the grand scheme of things? It has only taken me six years to figure this out.
Everyone can tell you how hard it is going to raise children, but you never really grasp the level of difficulty until you experience it for yourself.
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