I am *that* mom!

I am that mom
I’m the mom who is constantly meddling, and thinks my special snowflake needs to be dealt with with sensitivity vs. brute force.  It’s true.  Honestly, I’ve tried the brute force stuff with her and it just. doesn’t. work.  She doesn’t respond to it, just shuts right down.

So last December when her preschool teacher put her in time-out after she had a meltdown over sharing, her meltdown got exponentially bigger.  I wound up having to come get her from the class because she was quite literally hysterical.  Once I got her out, we talked about what happened and she calmed right down.  She was able to return to the class, apologize to her friends, and continue, and the behavior was not repeated.

Different things just work for different kids.

So.  I currently have The Rage because she has been hit by a little boy in her class twice.  Last time, the teacher brought L over to her after class and encouraged him to apologize.  This time, the teacher did not mention it to me (to be fair, she was busy when we left).  My daughter says the boy hit her back while they were all singing a song, and the teacher told him “no hitting.”  But did not put him in time out or initiate any further consequence for hitting.  Later, though, threatened the boy with a time out for using the word “poop.”

What.  The.  Hell?

So, physical violence is not a time-out level offense… but freaking out over sharing, or saying “poop”  are time-out offenses?

Please tell me I’m not the only one utterly perplexed by this bizarre-o concept of discipline.

I’m sure it doesn’t help that the mom of this little boy is one who told me recently that when kids knock each other down, it’s no big deal, because they are “just kids.”  Well, yes, they are just kids, and they don’t KNOW a thing is wrong unless we explain it to them.  I can’t help wondering if the kid hasn’t picked up on his mom’s blase’ attitude about physical contact with other kids, and now is picking on my LO.

Being hit and/or bullied by another child is NOT something I am willing to allow, and that is a dealbreaker for me.  I am sure some people would consider this overreacting, but I really am THAT MOM who is willing to make waves for her kid, and who will stand up for her now and forever.

I’m having to vent all this before I speak to the teacher about it.  I know she will work with me on this, but right now I’m too rage-full to talk calmly!  Someone HIT my BABY.  TWICE.  ANNNND… she said to me… “He will hit me again and again, Mommy.”  RAGE.

Edited: March 22nd, 2010

Back from vacation…

We’ve just returned from a positively lovely vacation down in Clearwater, FL.  So lovely, in fact, that I really REALLY did not want to come back, and I never say that.  I could easily see myself living down there, surrounded by water, the gorgeous Tampa Bay on one side and the stunning Gulf of Mexico on the other.  *sigh*

Anyways, I must say our trip out was quite pleasant, but all the asshats came out of the woodwork on the way home.  So I’d like to present a few asshat awards.

The first asshat award goes to:  The TSA agent at Tampa Bay Airport!  I have traveled several times with my daughter and always bring a bottle of water, and a bottle (or other container) of milk for her.  I declare these items as we go through security, they do a little test on them, and it has never been a problem.  Until yesterday, when Asshat #1 approached us after doing the test and said that he wants me to know that when they say they allow milk and juice/water for babies, they really mean “children in a stroller.”  I replied, “She is 2.”  I know she looks big for her age, she is 38″ tall!  He said, “Well still, really they mean toddlers in a stroller.”  Hmm.  Ok, a few things in response to you, Mr. Asshat.

1)  Some people can’t afford strollers, you elitist idiot.
2)  Toddlers are not defined by their mode of conveyance.  Actually, had you peeked as we came through the metal detector you would’ve seen that she was riding on my back in a carrier just moments before your lame shpiel.
3)  I would’ve had to take her out of the stroller to go through the metal detector anyways!
4)  Ultimately it comes down to the fact that you were annoyed at having to take the five seconds it took you to do that stupid test on our water and milk.  I feel your pain, really, five WHOLE seconds out of your day, but complain to your superiors, not me.  This liquids rule is ridiculous on every level.  If a terrorist wants to make a bomb with liquid, they can just pee in a cup!!!!

Next we have the asshat in the airport.  Bella had been playing in the airport play area (very cool one in Tampa’s airport, all planes and clouds to climb on), so had her shoes off.  I had gone to a little shop right nearby to get a package of band-aids for a blister on my toe.  After I paid, I turned around and there is my husband with Bella in arms:  She needs to pee and won’t let me take her!  So of course I grabbed her and dashed to the nearest bathroom, shoes be damned!

Coming out of the bathroom, we went over to our gate.  It was very crowded, there were not many seats, and finally I chose a seat and went to put her down.  My 42 lbs of toddler deliciousness is HEAVY and I didn’t want to put her down on the floor until we had her shoes.

But, hello, Mr. Asshat #2!  Who interrupted me as I put down my heavy girl to say “That is my wife’s seat!”  Well now that is not so bad, is it?  Except that there was an empty seat next to him on his other side.  Literally, an empty seat right next to him on his other side.  Maybe his wife insists on only sitting on his right?  I do not know, but I put Bella down for a minute, took a breather, and moved her to the seat on his other side.  Asshat!  There was really no reason for this except to be a jerk, and a jerk to a mom with a small child no less.

I don’t mean to sound like I did not have a good time on my trip, I did!  It’s just that the return trip was yesterday, I did not want to come home, and so the asshats on our way back are lingering in my mind.  Just one picture before I go, Bella ready for anything on our visit to the amazing and wonderful Clearwater Marine Aquarium!

Ready for anything!

Edited: July 22nd, 2009

Crafting *fail*

So yesterday I was feeling like *making stuff*, and I made Bella a little shopping bag for her kitchen/cash register experience. Mostly I wanted to practice putting felt pieces together in anticipation of the felt block I’m working on. I used colors of felt I happened to have handy, and blanket stitched it (not well, but I did blanket stitch!) up.

Then, last night after Bella went to sleep, I was inspired to try my hand at painting little wooden dolls. I was inspired by lovely little dolls like these, or this one.

You can see here, the first one I did is on the left with the oddly blobby eyes. I never claimed to be good at this!

But I must say I didn’t expect all of this to be rejected out of hand by their recipient. She said she just “doesn’t like” the little green shopping bag, and the dolls are “bad and angry.”

Back to the drawing board!

Edited: June 15th, 2009

Snack, baby, snack!

For ages now, I’ve been working on getting Bella to reduce the amount of milk she drinks; specifically, milk in bottles. This has been a huge struggle for me, because her comfort items are breasts and bottles, in that order, but both very very important to her. She really doesn’t have a blanket or anything like that, any kind of comfort object. But I really want her to eat more actual food, and less milk. I’m thrilled to report that I’ve finally gotten her 100% off of formula (who would’ve thought a child could LIKE that taste?), but she is still taking bottles (1% milk with a tiny bit of sugar).

Due to this situation, I find myself struggling all the time for exciting ways to tempt her to eat food. It doesn’t help that she is in the midst of the Worst Ever Picky Toddler phase right now. My lil’ one who at 9 months old would slurp curry sauce off of my spoon now refuses… well, pretty much everything. So I put spinach in anything that she will eat: egg drop soup, spaghettio’s, scrambled eggs. I offer a LOT of peas, because she does love peas. And the other day I tried again a tactic I had used when she was a new eater, but not in a long time… the muffin tin snack tray.

There it is. It looks so pretty, doesn’t it? I’ll let you figure out what’s in it; the only thing I think might be a little unrecognizable are the mother’s graham bumpers, which is an organic cereal that is super sweet and delicious, right up her ally.

She didn’t eat much of this. I think she ate the cheerio’s, and that was all. *sigh* I’ll keep trying!

Edited: June 11th, 2009