Laura's Mommy Blog

Is it normal? This is a question I ask myself a lot when it comes to my daughter. Every parent asks themselves this question at some point in their lives. I probably ponder this question just about every day. Lately, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about my daughter’s friend-making abilities.

One thing you should know about my daughter is that she has a bit of a rebellious personality when it comes to anything I suggest or even think about. Of course, this should not surprise me, since I was and still am the same way when it comes to my mother. If I suggest that Ava wear a certain outfit, she protests. If I suggest that something we are eating is yummy, she all of a sudden doesn’t like it. The other night I played a little game with her to test her out and I told her that she had to eat candy and ice cream after dinner. Exactly as I expected – she vehemently refused, but she left the window open and said that she could possibly eat it at a later time. Smart little cookie….

Lately, I have been observing how she interacts with other kids at school. I want to make sure she is having a good school experience, and as we all know, making friends is a big part of it. At drop-off the kids seem to arrive in class and go directly to whatever toy sparks their interest that morning. Most of the kids greet each other and play together. Ava is a different story. She is not at all interested in going to see the other kids. In fact, this morning a little boy walked over and gave her a hug and she just shoved him away. Well, at least I don’t have to worry about her interest in boys for a little while longer!

So, I find myself asking the famous question - is it normal that she isn’t interested in making friends? Is my kid destined to be a loner? Why doesn’t she believe me when I tell her having friends is fun?

I did a bit of reading and it seems like it could be considered normal for preschool children to not always want to play together. Does this mean that this behavior will change when she gets older? Boy, do I hope so!

I am curious to know what other parents have experienced in regards to their children’s socialization habits. Please leave me a comment and share your story, I would love to hear from you.

I’ve always taken pride in dressing my daughter. I like to buy her cute outfits, she is a girl after all, and I enjoy picking out what she is going to wear each morning. That is…. until now. My daughter is really starting to assert herself lately and all of a sudden she has started to demand that she pick out her clothes. Oh boy! I admit that I have a bit of a control problem and I like to be in control of most situations and that includes how she looks, but if you could see what she is picking out, you would agree that she is certainly not qualified to be making these decisions.

Not only does she want to pick out her clothes, but she seems to only prefer a few pieces of clothing. If I let her pick out her clothes, I would be doing laundry every second day and my kid would look like she never changes her clothes. I usually don’t care much about what other people think of me, but I kind of care about what people think of my child.

I remember once a few years back I was working at the daycare where I volunteer and it was a hot July day. All of a sudden, one of the kids showed up and he was wearing a lion Halloween costume. I couldn’t understand why his mom would let him wear that out in public, first of all, and why she would let him wear that in the middle of summer. When someone asked her what the deal was, she just said that he wanted to wear it and she just gave up and let him do what he wanted. My daughter was only 1 at the time, so I couldn’t quite understand how a kid could win such an argument, but boy do I ever understand now! Every morning when I fight with Ava about what she is going to wear, I get an image of that kid in the lion costume. Please God, don’t let Ava ask me to wear her Elmo costume…

So, how do I teach my daughter how to dress properly. Please keep in mind that I am dealing with someone that has no reasoning capabilities whatsoever. Now, I have a couple of ideas in mind:

• What about that show on TLC? Maybe I can send her on “What Not To Wear”. Do they accept two year olds? NO? Crap! Oh well, I’m always the optimist, so maybe the producers will change the rules. Stacey and Clinton, please come find me!
• This next idea would probably be the most effective. We are getting ready to go on a family vacation, so I have been busy preparing my daughter’s suitcase. I got the idea of putting her outfits into large ziploc bag from some message boards that I have been visiting while preparing for my trip. I take each outfit and individually package them in a large ziploc bag. In the morning we simply have to pull out a bag and we’re ready to go. That way my husband can’t mess up her outfits and it makes it so fast and easy in the mornings. So I thought maybe I should do this for her clothes at home. Package her tops and bottoms into bags and then she can pick a bag in the morning. This would take a lot of time though and I would have to re-package them every week. So, I’m not too sure if I want to commit to it.
• I could just let her dress herself and go out looking like a fool. Hey, maybe when she’s older and looks at photos of herself she’ll say “Why did you dress me like that?”, and I’ll tell her that I tried to tell her what to wear, but she didn’t want to listen to me. Right at that moment she will have a revelation that I am always right and then she will always take my advice from that moment on. Ummmmmm, in my dreams, right?

I am kind of hoping that this issue will just go away. I really do not want to deal with it and start every day with an argument, which probably means that my daughter is most likely headed for “What Not To Wear” fame. Well, I hope she takes me on her shopping spree!

Health Canada announced today that a brand of foaming baby wipes solution that was sold in Ottawa and Quebec has been recalled.

The name of the wipes is Northern Essence Foaming Baby Wipes Solution and it was sold at A Mother’s Touch in Ottawa, Calins et Popotin in Montreal, Boutique Pousse-Pousse in Longueuil, and Vive la Vie in Ste-Marie-de-Beauce. The baby wipes are said to be contaminated with Micrococcus bacteria which can lead to urinary and skin infections.

Health Canada is telling anybody that bought these wipes to throw them away immediately.

Let me start off by saying that my daughter is a great kid. She’s very sweet and gentle, and not a wild child at all. Now that I’ve said that, let me just say that even with the greatest kids in the world, it is still possible to lose your mind!

Lately I have been noticing a lot of changes in her attitude and behavior. Most of the changes are very cute and are just a normal part of growing up. Now that she is getting older, she is more interested in playing with other kids. And I mean, really playing, not that thing that kids under 2 years old do, where they play within a very close square footage of each other, but couldn’t really care less that the other is there. Ava is now playing interactively with other kids and having real conversations with them. Just the other day I heard her talking with another 3 year old about our federal health care and whether Obama should really be signing in that health care bill in the U.S..

Ava: You know that federal health care is very beneficial to all our citizens.

Other kid: Yes, but the United States do not want to enter into socialism, it is against their beliefs.

Ava: Very true, we will have to re-convene on this subject at a later date.

I kid, I kid… Of course they talk about normal kid topics, even though I would like to think that my kid is a super genius child. Later on today I will change my status on Facebook to brag about some sort of accomplishment Ava had, like “Laura is so proud that Ava counted to a bazillion today!!!!!!” I will admit that I am guilty of bragging about my kid on Facebook, but I have seen some posts from parents that make me want to puke. Let’s just say that when your status gets to be longer than 20 lines, it’s a bit overboard. We got the point after the 1st line!

Okay, so back to Ava’s changing behavior. She’s starting to play more with kids, she is starting to stand up for herself a bit more, which also means that she is starting to talk back to me. Let me just say that this is a wonderful phase (please insert sarcastic tone here), which I am guessing probably won’t end for about another 15-16 years? Yay for me!!!!!!!

She isn’t talking back as in she is telling me off or making arguments, but she is definitely giving me a hard time. Ignoring me or saying “No” is a regular occurrence. What happened to my little girl that would listen and do anything I would ask her to do? I guess this is the part where parents start talking about ripping their hair out? I am starting to envision how this is going to turn me into a madwoman. Do they sell prescription drugs for this because I think I am going to need them one day. Please, pharma companies out there, if you are reading this, please start the research on this. And if you could make us a drug that will not cause us diarrhea, nausea, insomnia, amnesia, trouble turning your head right, urgency to break out into song anytime, spontaneous combustion, planned combustion, melting of exoskeleton, exploding eyeballs, and any of the other undesirable side effects, that would be much appreciated.

So, the journey into my upcoming psychosis begins. Hopefully, I can stay sane most of the time. If not, god help anyone that knows me, I apologize for my future actions ahead of time….

Yesterday I was at my cousin’s 1 st birthday party and as I was being introduced to some of the other guests, one of them asked me “Are you Laura from Laura’s Mommy Blog?” I proudly said “Yes, that is me!” OMG, I’m a celebrity!!!! But then I felt a bit embarrassed that I haven’t blogged in a really, really, really long time. So, I decided that I am going to jump back on this horse, but with a different objective this time. When I started blogging last fall, I was trying to post everyday, and the pressure to find topics to talk about everyday really got to me. So, I put the blogging to rest for awhile and then I forgot about it.

Now I am going to go into this with some more realistic objectives. I am only going to try and blog a few times a week, and only when I really have something interesting to talk about. That way my articles will be more interesting (hopefully you will all agree ), and since I will only write about things that I am passionate about, it will be fun. I definitely still plan to bring the laughs. The biggest reward I get from blogging is when people leave me comments telling me that they enjoyed my article and it made them chuckle, so please, please, please leave me comments!

So, less quantity, but better quality! I hope you will all join along with me for this ride…

Amby Baby Motion Bed

The Amby Baby Motion Bed swing has been recalled by the manufacturer as a result of two infant deaths from suffocation.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission said that the side-to-side tilting and shifting of the swing can cause the child to roll over and become wedged up against the side of the swing, which can pose a suffocation risk.

The beds are marketed to help babies with colic and reflux. It looks just like a hammock and the bed moves up and down or side-to-side every time the baby moves or stirs. The idea behind the bed is that it mimics the mother’s womb, which would help a baby sleep.

The bed is available in only one model and has a label attached to it that is marked “Amby – Babies Love It, Naturally.” All of the beds were sold online, and have been for sale since 2003.

Parents are being advised to stop using the swing immediately. The manufacturer says it will offer a repair kit to parents, but it will not be available before January 2010.

For further questions, you may call 1-866-544-9721.