July 15, 2011 · 6:02 pm

What’s Your Currency?

Everyone has a currency.  I learned this from Dr. Phil.   I don’t usually watch his show, but a little more than a year ago he did an episode on kids and potty training.  At the time, I was in the thick of it with Dylan, and when my mom told me about the show, I set my DVR.  His golden nugget of advice was that every kid had a currency – something you could offer them in exchange for, among other things, peeing and pooping in the potty, eating vegetables and going the bleep to sleep.   The tricky part, I’ve realized, is figuring out what the hell their currency is!

I’m easy.  For instance, I would do almost anything for an hour of guilt-free shopping at Anthropologie or dinner and a movie (and a babysitter).  Dylan, however is a child and a very complicated little creature.  At the time, pooping in the toilet required a six-pack of large, plastic dinosaur figures.  Today, he wouldn’t do anything for a dinosaur.  I can’t even get him to eat chicken for a Finn McMissile with “shooters.”

This morning, I took Dylan to the dentist.  Since I’m writing this now, you know I survived (Dylan is alive, too, by the way), but it wasn’t easy.  I made the mistake of telling him about the appointment on Tuesday.  The result was utter panic and excuses, like “the dentist is closed” or “I can’t go to the dentist if I have a Band-Aid on my foot.”  (He did have a boo boo on his toe.)  By bedtime on Tuesday, I told him we weren’t going to the dentist (not that day, anyway).  I kept my mouth shut after that hoping he’d forget about it, and thankfully, he did.

Today was literally D-Day.  I waited until we were about to get in the car for camp to let the cat out of the bag.  As soon as I told him we were dropping Riley off at camp and then going to the dentist, his lip curled, his eyes darted back and forth and the panic ensued.  I quickly told him I had a huge surprise for him for being so brave and gave him a splashy, new Cars 2 backpack.  Also, hidden in the backpack’s front pocket was Carla Velosa, the only girl race car from Cars 2.  (Insert “ooh” and “aah” here.  Carla Velosa was not easy to find!)  His lip instantly uncurled and he smiled.  In fact, he beamed.  He went to the dentist with no tears or whining, and he even sat in the big dentist chair all by himself (holding on tight to Carla Velosa the whole time).  In case you’re wondering, his currency for his last dental appointment was Bullseye from Toy Story.

I hit the currency jackpot…this time.  Next on my required parenting checklist is taking Dylan to his five-year check up in December (there will be shots!) and potty training Riley.  I’m going to need at least an hour at Athropologie before I commit to anything.

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Filed under Cars, currency, dentist

July 14, 2011 · 2:07 pm

The “M” Word

Well, hump day ended with a bang.  Or rather, a “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy.”  That is precisely how Riley began every sentence from the moment I picked him and Dylan up at camp yesterday afternoon until the moment I (finally) left their bedroom at bedtime.   There were six “mommies” every time he opened his mouth.  And then a demand.  Look here.  Get that.  Want milk.  All preceded by “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy.”

There is nothing more precious than hearing your child say “mommy.”  This is especially true for Riley since he didn’t even say it until he was nearly two.  (Thank you, speech therapy.)   That said, “mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy” times a million (that’s the number Dylan would have chosen) was enough to cause a severe overdose.  I think even Dylan was feeling woozy from the barrage of the “m” word flying out of his brother’s mouth. 

This “mommy” thing has been building for a few days, but last night was the pinnacle.  By the time I got the boys out of the bath, I had begun shushing Riley.  As soon as he got his first “mommy” out, I shushed him.  Shush.  “Mommy.”  Shush.  “Mommy.”  Shush.  Then he’d say, “No do that, Mommy.”  And then he’d start again.  “Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy…”

Needless to say, bedtime could not come soon enough, and, unfortunately, morning came too fast.  Riley woke up at 5:40am today, and, alas, I didn’t get my quiet cup of coffee and computer time.  So far today, his “mommies” have been reduced from six to approximately three, probably from exhaustion, but I imagine it will intensify later in the day.

The honeymoon is over.  Yesterday, I had the audacity to suggest that Mike should travel more often.  Now, I would like to raise a white flag and take it all back.  At 6:40am, about the time when I began to wonder how I would survive the next 36 hours, my friend called to tell me she and her husband woke up this morning to find half of their house under several inches water due to a burst pipe in the kitchen. 

She started the story by saying, “Do you want me to make you feel better?”  Sadly, she did.  This is the true gift of friendship, especially between mamas.  I needed a reality check, and she gave it to me.  I still can’t wait for Mike to get home, but at least Riley isn’t saying, “Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, look at all that water.”

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Filed under bedtime, business travel, friendship