Poo in space

“I want to do a poo SO BIG that it goes all the way to the ceiling!!” Daniel (3) told me randomly the other day while I was driving down the road.

“That’s a pretty big poo buddy,” I told him, attempting to stifle my laughter.

“Actually, I want to do a poo SO BIG it goes to SPACE! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, TEN POOPS IN SPACE!!!” He told me, clearly excited about the prospect of space poop.

“Wow, that’s a lot of poop,” I told him.

“Actually, zero poops in space.” Okay then.

Maybe we’ll just work on trying to get it in the potty  for now…..

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

Daniel at the children’s hospital

1 week ago:

My eyes are slowly drifting open.  The sound of coughing, barking, or maybe some kind of machine failure fills my ears.  It takes me a little bit to wake up properly and realise scream crying and gaging noises are accompanying the strange noise.  Adrenaline rushes through me and I am wide awake with realisation that the noise is coming from Daniel.  As I get out of bed, I see that Aaron is not here.  He must be up with Daniel already. How long had I slept through his horrible sounding cough and crying?  I must have been in a deep sleep.  It’s only 10:30 and I’ve only been asleep for an hour.

Daniel is coughing a so loudly and uncontrollably that he is gagging and throwing up a little.  It’s not a normal cough, but a strange sounding one, kind of like a dry bark.  His coughing is distressing him so much that he is also screaming and crying and Aaron is having a hard time comforting him.  He wants me to lay with him in his bed, but first I have to put his dinosaur sleeping bag in the wash, as there is mucous-y vomit all over it, making this only the second time in his entire life that he’s thrown up.

The crying stops when I lay down with him in his small junior sized bed.  Instead his every breath is audible and seems to be a struggle.

“I’m calling the doctor.” I tell Aaron.  The crying starts again as I exit the bed to get my phone.  I’m told there is a 5 hour wait for the after hours home doctor.

“You can call the medical advice line in the mean time.” The operator tells me.  I do it straight away.  I tell them about the horrible sounding cough, the laboured breathing, and the coughing so much he vomited.  I put my phone up to Daniel’s face, much to his displeasure, and let the doctor on the phone listen for herself.  He coughs while the phone is next to him.

“I suggest you take him to the emergency room, that sounds like a bad case of croup.”  She tells me.  I’ve called the medical advice line a few times before, and they’ve never told me to go to the hospital, so I know it’s not just a standard line they give everyone.

There is a general hospital about 3 minutes away, but there is also a children’s hospital about 25 minutes away.

“Ok Buddy, we’re going to take a little trip to the Children’s hospital.  I’ll get dressed and pack my iPad and stuff and then we’ll go.”

“Can I come too?” Hannah asks.

“No sweetie, it’s night time and you have school tomorrow, you need to sleep.”

“I DON’T WANT TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!!”  Daniel is upset and crying again.

“It’s ok Daniel, the Children’s hospital is really fun!” I hear Hannah telling him while I get ready to go.  “There are toys there, and it’s only for kids!  There is a playground, and they are really nice, and it’s so much fun.  You’ll love it there.  Don’t be scared Daniel, it’s good there.  I wish I was going.”

Hannah’s kind words calm him down and his screaming is replaced by excitement.  I’m not sure why she loves it so much.  The only time she went she had pneumonia and pretty much laid in my lap the whole time.  She played on the playground for about 2 minutes, but that was it.  But I suppose that experience was much better than the time she went to the local general hospital when she was under 2, had a 40 degree (104) fever and refused to drink anything.  I took her to the doctor who told me to take her straight to the hospital.  She was admitted for the night as she was so feverish and dehydrated.  They tried at least 3 times to get a cannula in, but failed every time.  They never did end up getting one in so that she could get the fluids so so desperately needed.  They also needed to check her for a UTI, to see if that was the cause of infection, which entailed 3 doctors holding her down on a bed as she screamed the most horrible, heart breaking scream I’ve ever heard in my life while another doctor shoved a small catheter tube inside her.

Again, they failed.  While I held her hand and tried my best to avoid crying so that I didn’t upset her even more, they held her down and did the whole thing again, failing for second time.  They couldn’t get the cannula in, and they couldn’t get the catheter in, but despite not actually being able to do anything for us, they made us stay all night.  I was about 37 weeks pregnant at the time but Hannah was too terrified by that stage to sleep in the hospital bed all by herself, so both of us slept in her bed together.  She took ages to fall asleep after all her trauma and when she finally did, they shoved a thermometer under her arm, waking her up, as they did every hour.  Haven’t they ever heard of an ear thermometer that won’t wake sick kids up all the time?  It was horrible.  Needless to say, I now drive the extra 20 something minutes to the children’s hospital.

I bundle Daniel up and put him in his car seat after warming up the car so it’s not too cold inside.

Since the kids go to bed at 6:30pm, they don’t often get to ride in the car in the dark.  I thought Daniel might fall asleep on the way, but instead he is looking at all the lights, cars, buses, and trucks.  “Mommy, I see, a truck!!”  He tells me with excitement.  The car ride seems to be calming him down, but I can still hear his loud breathing.

“Look, there’s Wet ‘n’ Wild!”  I say as we pass the giant water slides.  For some reason, all the lights on the slides and stairs are on, even though it’s the off season and it hasn’t been open for two months, not to mention it’s now 11 something at night.  I wonder how much money they waste on electricity?

After parking at the hospital, a triage nurse greets us straight away to assess Daniel.  He hasn’t coughed much in the car, but he sneezes in front of her, which also has the trademark croupy bark noise.

“Yeah, that sounds like croup.”  She tells me.  She gives me a number with an A in front of it and tells me that I will be next because no one else in the waiting room has an A ticket.

Sure enough, he is seen about 20 seconds later.  Although croup is a caused by a viral infection, and antibiotics don’t help, oral steroids are given to open up his airways.  “We will check him again in one hour to make sure the medicine worked, and then, if he is doing well, you should be able to go home.”  She gives me a pamphlet about croup before we go to the waiting room for an hour.

Croup is more common at night, when it’s cold, and is often sudden, like it was with Daniel.  Hannah had croup a couple of months ago, but hers wasn’t nearly as bad as Daniel’s.

Daniel lays on me in a comfy plush chair (not like the chairs of our local ER) and tries to get comfortable for a nap.  There are too many other people around though, and he is distracted.  He really wants to lay down properly, but the chairs aren’t big enough.

I spot a long soft bench seat in the overflow part of the waiting room where the TV and wall toys are and carry him over.  No one else is in there.  He lays there for about 10 seconds before deciding that it’s play time, followed by iPad time.  Oh well, at least he’s happy, and I can keep myself awake watching the weird movie about a kid with leaves growing on his ankle that is playing on the TV attached to the wall.

After an hour, they call him again, check his vitals, and then tell us we can go home if we see our usual doctor tomorrow.  The steroids have done their job and there is no more laboured breathing or coughing.

When we get home, I sleep on the couch with him for the rest of the night, and I keep him home from daycare, since he has a virus and I expect him to be very tired and lethargic all day.

I am wrong.  He is not tired, and doesn’t seem sick at all.  Instead, he spends the day running around the house and jumping off the couch whilst I attempt to study for my chemistry final.  The doctor says he can go to daycare tomorrow and to expect a bad night again.

We put a heater in the kids’ room as cold air negatively affects croup, but we still expect some coughing and waking.  Luckily though, it never comes. They both sleep all night, and past their usual 6am wake up.

If your child has ever had croup. you know how scary it is.  That cough is like no cough you’ve ever heard before, and the laboured breathing is enough to send us parents running with our kids to the ER.  Although death from croup is rare, it’s far better to be safe than sorry.  And perhaps it’s rare because so many of us seek immediate medical attention for it.  I’m just glad that he is fine now.

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Daniel asleep on the couch few days later, after the lack of sleep caught up to him

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

Early wake up

“I need my car vitamin,” I heard the other morning as I lifted my still half asleep eyes towards the bedside clock.

5:36am.  Argh.

“No vitamin yet Daniel, your clock hasn’t turned green.  You know you’re supposed to stay in your room until your clock turns green.  It’s not 6 yet.” I told him as my head settled back onto my warm, soft pillow.

“NOOOOOOOOO I WANT TO GET UP!!!!!!!!”  He screamed as he threw himself backwards on the bed.

Despite my half asleep brain fog, I knew a change in tactics was needed.  I had to outsmart the 2 year old.

“Daniel, it’s still night; it’s still sleep time.  Lay down and go to sleep.”  So what if it was morning, Daniel didn’t need to know that.  I would have made him go back to his room, but I didn’t want him to wake Hannah up.

My quick thinking did the trick and Daniel’s whinging immediately stopped as he thought about my words.  He wriggled himself under the blankets and laid his head on edge of my pillow.

A few minutes later,  a whisper accompanied by a dim light moved around the house. “Daniel?  Daniel?”  Hannah was looking for him.  She tip toed to the bathroom, the dining room, and the living room, quietly calling Daniel’s name.  I thought she would come in Aaron’s and my bedroom, but after checking everywhere else, the still dark morning returned to silence.

I thought she’d gone back to bed until I heard her soft footsteps coming towards our room.

“Hannah.  Hannah.”  I whispered.

The footsteps stopped, but I received no answer.

“It’s ok, you can come in.”  I told her.  She quickly came to the bed and got under the covers.

“I was looking for Daniel,” she told me “he escaped from our room.”

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Friends

Hannah LOVES prep (like preschool, but it’s at school and they have to wear school uniforms (which is what we do down under, at all schools, public or private) just like the rest of the kids). She likes it so much that she can’t wait for kindergarten to start.  That might be mostly because she gets to wear a dress everyday though, rather than the school’s sports uniform she has to wear in prep.

Every time I pick her up, I ask her how her day was.  She is so incredibly shy that it took her a while to make some friends.  Probably because her response to people saying hi to her was to put her head down and stare at the floor instead of answering them.  I can’t imagine that many 4 year olds would know how to combat such shyness.

Despite not having any little friends in the first few weeks, she was still having lots of fun and was excited every school day.  She soon started talking about a girl we’ll call Kid1.  “Mommy, Kid1 and I played together all the time today.”  She told me when I picked her up.

I know Kid1’s grandma from the gym and heard similar stories from her.  “Kid1 talks about Hannah all the time.  They are so cute.”  Her grandma told me.

It was like that for a couple of weeks, both girls raving about each other and playing together all day.

But then it started to change.  “Kid1 and Kid2 told me she didn’t want to be my friend anymore.” Hannah told me sadly. I asked her some questions about it and found that Kid2 befriended Kid1 which for some reason meant that they didn’t like Hannah anymore.  Of course we’re talking about the view of a 4 year old, so it could be very different to reality.

Every school day it was the same.  I picked Hannah up and she told me that Kid1 and Kid2 told her they didn’t want to be her friend.  She said they played games where Hannah was in jail and they would laugh at her or they would pretend she was dead.

“Did you tell them you don’t like playing those games?” I asked Hannah.  She is so shy though, so of course, she said no.  “When they are being mean to you, why don’t you go find some nicer kids to play with?  It’s important to be nice to everyone, but that doesn’t mean you have to play with people who are not being nice to you.  If they are always mean to you, it’s better to find some new friends who won’t be mean to you all the time.”  I told her.

My sweet little shy girl

“I really want to play with Kid1 and Kid2.”  Hannah told me.

Why does she want to play with girls who clearly don’t like her?  Why not find some friends who actually want to play with her?

I didn’t think I’d have to have to deal with such things at 4 years old.  Maybe she was making a mountain out of a mole hill.  I was only going off one side of the story.

I decided to speak to the teacher who told me that lots of the girls have been saying they don’t want to be friends with the other kids (but that Hannah hadn’t said it to anyone).  At least they weren’t singling Hannah out, but that doesn’t make it any better for anyone.  The teacher said she has been talking to them about it and telling them multiple times every day that they can’t say that but that they still do.  She asked them why they were saying it and found that they said it when they don’t want to play what the particular child they say it to is playing with at the time.

“Hannah is more advanced emotionally, so she seems understand the severity of their words better than the other kids.”  The teacher told me.

It’s true, Hannah emotionally advanced.  She is so sweet and compassionate, which is great, but can also mean she gets hurt more than the other kids.

The teacher said she’d keep an eye on it, and didn’t know that Hannah was upset by it (which is not surprising since she doesn’t say anything about it).  Apparently a lot of the kids had been taking turns being in jail and also playing dead.

“If they tell you they don’t want to be their friend anymore, tell them that’s not nice, and walk away.  Go find other kids to play with.  You can tell the teacher if they are mean to you.  You don’t have to, but you can.  And you don’t have to play things that you don’t want to play.”  I told Hannah.

She still tells me that Kid1 and Kid2 are mean to her.  I still don’t know why she wants to play with them.  “I’m not inviting them to my birthday party.” Hannah told me when we wrote out her party list.  She is only inviting 10 kids to her party (my limits, gymnastics parties are expensive), and only 5 from school.

“Kid2 played with me all day today because Kid1 wasn’t at school.” Hannah told me the other day.  I didn’t let my frustration show, but I find it so annoying that when Kid1 and Kid2 are together they are mean to Hannah, yet when one of them isn’t there, it’s Hannah they go to for a playmate.  “I want to invite Kid2 to my party.”

“Sorry, you can’t.  Remember, I said 1o kids only, and that once we got the invites out, we can’t add anyone.”

Judging by the fact that Kid2 handed out birthday invitations the same day as Hannah, and Hannah didn’t get one, I think they really do mean they don’t want to be Hannah’s friend when they say that, not that they just don’t want to play with her right then.

It’s heartbreaking to see my little girl not have any good friends at school, but I know that some of it is her own shyness.  We saw a different girl from school (who is nice to her and whom she invited to her birthday party) at playgroup the other day, and Hannah wouldn’t even say hi.  The other girl kept saying “Hi Hannah!!” all excitedly but was met with a downward head and eyes staring at the floor.  I’m not sure how I can help her, but I really hope she can overcome her shyness.

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

Fun and easy meals for the whole family

As I’m sure most of you are aware, getting Hannah to eat (a healthy variety of stuff that is) has been a huge battle. It’s hard enough getting fussy kids to eat, but thinking of things to cook just adds to the stress. Today’s guest post can help with meal ideas:
It can sometimes be a challenge to make meals that everyone in the family will love; one child may prefer vegetarian while another may think vegetables are the worst thing ever. Your partner may be fussy and you may be short on time. Luckily there are plenty of options to make meal times easy, fun and delicious experiences for everyone involved. Sites such as Ziegler and Brown can provide you with recipes AND the equipment to cook on – check out these tips to take the pain out of cooking.

Breakfast

Eggs, bacon, mushrooms, sausages, tomatoes. Add or subtract ingredients as required. Vegetarian? Drop the meat or replace with vegetarian alternatives. Mega carnivore? Throw some quick cooking BBQ steak into the mix or go mad and have some chops. There are endless varieties to be had with the mix and match approach to the first and most important meal of the day.

Lunch

Whether it’s a long lazy lunch with some friends and a bottle of wine, or an indigestion inducing grab, eat and dash speed lunch, regardless of the time that’s available, you’ll want something tasty. If you’re time poor then perhaps opt for some pre-prepared salads, crusty bread and a variety of meats from the local deli but if you’ve got hours to spend, why not prepare a slow-cooked Osso Bucco? If you get it in the oven at the start of the day, by lunch time you’ll be feasting on a delicious meal of tender cooked meats – and once it’s in the oven, you’re free for the rest of the morning.

Dinner

Dinner is quite possibly one of the most traumatic meal-times because everyone’s tired from their busy days. Ease the pain with something simple: pizza. Everyone loves pizza and once the dough has been made and importantly, proofed, it’s the same basic process with only the toppings to vary according to taste. The variations are limitless and the cooking time is short so make your life easy- have a separate bowl for each topping and knock ‘em out.

Snacks

A little bit of deep-fried food never hurt anyone; as the saying goes, after all, everything in moderation. Some deliciously light crumbed calamari drizzled with lemon juice will certainly fill that empty stomach until the next meal comes around. Or maybe some churros are more to your liking? These delicious fried long doughnut-like delights are sure to satisfy cravings for sugary goodness. Remember to exercise restraint though.

Morning/Afternoon Tea

One could easily refer back to our snacks tip for an easy solution but perhaps a simple fruit platter or selection of vegetable crudities would be more up your alley? Get your fruit and/or vegetables, slice them up and serve. Easy. Simple. Healthy.

Are you tempted by any of these suggestions? Or are you outraged that saturated fats have made it on the tips list? What are your go-to meals when you’re short on time and energy? Comment below to share your opinions, ideas and personal experiences.

*This post was in cooperation with Ziegler and Brown.

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

The first poop

2 weeks ago:

Daniel and I are eating dinner together by ourselves.  Hannah is at Grandma and YaYa’s house for her weekly sleepover and Aaron is out with work friends because he is moving offices for a couple of months on Monday.

Daniel isn’t very hungry because Grandma filled him up when dropped Hannah off.  He is picking brown rice slowly, but mostly he’s just playing with it, and he’s not touching his Indian butter chicken.  I am about halfway through mine when Daniel suddenly stops twirling his food around his plate.  He forgets about everything else as a look of concentration crosses his face.

“QUICK DANIEL, LET’S GET TO THE POTTY!!” I tell him, trying, but failing to contain the urgency in my voice.  I don’t exactly want to be attempting to remove poop that’s been amalgamated with undies in the middle of dinner.

“I DON’T WANT TO!!!!” He screams.  But I don’t listen.  By the time he’s finished with his sentence, we’re already half way to the bathroom, despite his flailing arms and legs.

I pull down his pants and undies and put him straight onto his little potty.  The concentration fills his face again, this time laced with a look of excitement. His protests cease and the room is silent.

Plop.

“I DID IT!!! I DID A POO ON THE POTTY!!!!”  He stands up excitedly and looks at in the toilet bowl. “THERE’S A POOP IN THERE! I DID A POOP!”

He is jumping up and down with huge smile on his face as I give him a chocolate Easter egg and promise that we will go to Kmart tomorrow to get a pirate tent.

Daniel

“Good job buddy, let’s go finish our dinner now.”  We walk towards the table, but before we get there, my elation is replaced by annoyance.  Our bowls are empty.

“ROSIE!!!!!!”  She comes bounding in as if nothing happened.  “NO!  You DO NOT get on the table!”  I tell her whilst pointing my finger and furrowing my brow.  “OUTSIDE.”  I tell her sternly.  Little thief.

I was wrong though.  I thought it would take just one poop in the toilet and Daniel would lap up the praise, rewards, and excitement and continue to poop in the toilet, just like he did with pees.  But he didn’t.  He’s only pooped in the toilet once since then, and again only because I recognised poo face and ran him to the toilet at Grandma’s house.

Time is out though.  The cruise is tomorrow.  I had an alternate plan: putting Daniel in kids club with a pull up, and then telling the carers to call me if he needs a nappy change, until Jess pointed out that we won’t have any phone reception.  You know, since we’ll be at sea.  I’m still not giving up.  Daniel is a sweet, charming boy, so he is going to tell them that he really wants to go to kids club with Hannah. Maybe there won’t be that many kids and they’ll like him so much that they will take him despite his lack of toilet skills.  How can anyone say no to a 2 year old that tells you how much he wants to be there all by himself?  He has incredible language skills.  I’m not giving up.  He will have fun there. He really, really, really wants to go to kids club.  Hannah really wants him to go to kids club (she is looking forward to kids club the most out of everything on the entire cruise), and I really want him to go. You know what they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.

Also, there won’t be any posts whilst I’m away, except the guest post on Thursday that is set to auto post for me, since the only internet available is ridiculously expensive.

BON VOYAGE!  I’ll post lots of pictures when I get back 🙂 YAY I’M SO EXCITED!

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

Outwitted by a 4 year old

As I lift my eyes from my own bowl of food that I’m hungrily downing, I can tell Hannah doesn’t want to even try her dinner.  She gets two options on her plate, one of which she has to eat all of.  After an initial screaming session which included sitting at the table until bedtime, since we introduced the choose one and eat it all practice, she’s been eating like a champion.  But I can tell she is struggling with these particular options; a very small amount of mustard chicken, or half of a prawn gyoza.  There is also the optional brown rice.

“You know, I didn’t used to like peas, but Daddy and I decided that I should eat vegetables to be a good example to you guys.”  I tell Hannah as she stares at her dinner in disgust. “So you know what I did?”

“What?” She asks me.

“I used to put some peas in my mouth, then drink something nice straight away to wash down the peas and not taste them much.”

A look of concentration crosses her face as she digests what I’ve just told her.

“And after a while, I didn’t mind eating peas.  I actually like them now.”

“How about you get your chocolate milk out of the fridge, and you can try it too?”

She looks excited and runs to the fridge.  She doesn’t usually get chocolate milk, but I got two single serves in a show bag at the Easter show.

She takes a bite of her dinner and then washes it straight down with chocolate milk.

My bite, drink, swallow trick works and she starts eating her dinner.

“What stuff do you still don’t like?” She asks me.

“Hmm…Well, I still don’t like beef.” I tell her.

“So you could do this with beef.” She says matter of fact whilst looking me straight in the eyes.

Oh snap.

I can’t tell her that I won’t eat it, whilst I’m sitting next to her, making her eat a dinner she really doesn’t like. “Yes, when we have beef, I can take bites and wash it down with something yummy.  We can do it together.”

She looks at me and smiles, happy in the knowledge that I will have to gag down my dinner too.

Remind me not to make beef for a very long time.

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There’s pee on the floor

“Choo Choo!!!!”  I say as excitedly as I can possibly force myself to whilst moving my arms around my sides like that straight thing that goes across old train wheels to make them go all at the same time.  “It’s potty train time.”

“I DON’T WANT TO!”  Daniel yelled.

I try numerous tactics to make going potty (and getting to the potty) fun:  potty train, bug potty (he really likes bugs), bribery, etc. but none of them work.  Instead, Daniel prefers to wear no underpants  or nappy and then pees on the floor.  Or the bed, or lounge, wherever he is at the time, really.

Finally I am able to coax him into wearing undies after I buy a pack of way overly priced Thomas the Tank Engine underwear. They do nothing to get him to sit on the potty though.  He still pees where he stands and then walks around with wet undies without a care in the world.

I can see that he knows exactly when he needs to pee.  He stood in the bath one day, looked at his penis, and then watched as he soiled the bathwater.  After that, I notice the he often stops and looks at his crotch region, even though it is now covered in Thomas underpants, before peeing all over the floor quickly followed by walking away as if nothing happened.  He is just being stubborn and won’t sit on the potty.

Time is running out, so I lay down my nice-y nice-y tactics and go for something I know he will respond to: threats and bribery.

“Potty time,” I tell him cheerfully.

“NO, I DON’T WANT TO, ” he yells stubbornly.

“Well, you can either sit on the potty, or go in time out, your choice.”

He stands there for a couple seconds deciding his best course of action, before happily stating that he’ll sit on the the potty like it was his idea in the first place.  He runs to the bathroom with a smile on his face and sits on his little potty with glee.  Why didn’t I think of this before?

He sits there while I read him an entire Thomas book, but nothing happens.  We repeat the process every hour.  I know that as soon as he pees in the potty once, he will get it, so I wait patiently, reading the same 10 or so Thomas books over and over again for days. He’s finally happy about sitting on the potty, and I’m happy because that is progress.

One day, Daniel runs to the bathroom, opens the door by himself, and then stays in there for a while.  At first, I think he’s going potty, but he comes out saying nothing, so I say nothing too.  He must have been playing with his bath toys.

“Come on buddy, time to sit on the potty.” I tell him a few minutes  later.  We get in the bathroom and I open the lid on his little potty.  “There’s pee in there!” I exclaim.  “You did a pee in there all by yourself!”  That’s when I notice that his dark blue undies are wet at the front.  The wet patch blends in so well with the dry that it’s hardly noticeable.

“Yeah, I did.” He said, as if it were nothing.

So what that he forgot to pull his undies down, he actually peed on the potty!

I make a big fuss and give him a lollipop which he is delighted about. Plus, I’m right, it only takes one pee in the potty and from then on, he consistently pees in there.

It’s so nice not having to clean pee off everything all day.

Poo is another story.  He has no problems pooping in his undies and then walking around in it as if it’s not sticking to his butt and smelling disgusting.

He still likes running around with no undies on sometimes, which sometimes equates to pooping on the floor.  Usually he waits until we go out to poop because he is wearing a nappy.  It’s kind of a running joke with the creche ladies at church.  Every time he is in there he poops.  They only have to come out and look at me and I know they want me to come change his nappy.

We only have 18 days left.  18 days to somehow get Daniel to poop in the potty.  18 more days, other wise he can’t go in the kids club on the cruise the kids and I are going on with a pregnant Aunty Jess.  18 more days or he’ll either have to tag along  with Jess and I all the time on the boat (which means Hannah probably would too), or I’ll have to pay for a baby sitter, which wouldn’t be nearly as fun as kids club.  They won’t be in kids club all day everyday, just for a few hours each day.  It’s fun for them, they love stuff like that, plus Jess and I can relax without worrying about kids falling overboard, in the pool, or running off with strangers.

18 days.  Fingers are crossed.  Bribes are being upped.

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

How to chose the right stoller for your child

I remember the first time I went stroller/pram shopping.  I had an idea knew the exact pram I wanted, but when I entered the giant baby superstore, a plethora of choices distracted me.  I had no idea what made this one better than that one, or the other one more suitable for me and my kids.  After trying it out, I didn’t like the one I went there for at all.  It would have been very helpful to read a guide before hand.  I had bought a double pram off ebay, but when I went to pick it up, it wouldn’t fit in the boot/trunk of our car, and I ended up having to remove some of the wheels.  Needless to say, that pram was not going to work for us.  So, for your help, here is a post that the team at Dorel have provided:

How to choose the right stroller for your child

Strollers are a major convenience for parents because they make taking your child outdoors a lot easier! However, most parents find it overwhelming to choose the right stroller for their child, as there are so many choices on the market today. Here are some of the important factors you can take into consideration to help you whittle down your list:

1. Safety features

According to Product Safety Australia, 200 children under the age of five are injured every year in incidents that involve strollers. To minimise the risk, mandatory safety requirements for strollers were implemented in July 2008; and cover the design and construction, safety warnings and informative labels of the product.

To ensure the safety of your child, always check if the stroller has an Australian standards label. It also should have a five-point adjustable harness for the crotch, legs, shoulders and waist. The wheels should be durable and easy to steer. It should also have a tether strap for your wrist to prevent the stroller from rolling away as well as a parking brake to limit the movement of the stroller. Safety 1^st’s Shuttle Stroller has a centralised brake control on the rear wheels for extra protection. It also has a fully reversible seat (forward or rear-facing) with three reclining positions to ensure your child’s comfort. This product from Dorel was awarded by the Child Restraint Evaluation Program with a 5-star protection rating in 2011.

2. Age of the child

Your stroller needs are going to vary, depending on the age of your child. For instance, when your baby is less than six months old, your main concern is stability so choose a stroller that will keep the baby stable and comfortable. When your baby is six to 12 months, you should get a stroller with plenty of cushioning on the seat with five-point harnesses. A reversible seat would be very convenient for this age as well. For children who are around 18-24 months, a lightweight stroller that can be easily folded is recommended, since your child will most likely to hop on and off the stroller.

3. Purpose

Knowing what you will mainly be using the stroller for will help you decide what type of stroller you should purchase. If you are an outdoorsy type and you want to take your child out for a run, you should get an all-terrain stroller. They are designed for all types of terrain with a sturdier and more solid in built and handling. Some of the models have adjusting and locking wheels options that make it easier to go over different terrains. If you are a mum who is always on the go, you should get an umbrella stroller. This type of stroller is portable, lightweight and can be easily stashed in your car’s trunk.

Always remember that purchasing a stroller for your child is not an easy task. Ensure you read up on the stroller model you wish to buy and check the manufacturer’s safety record. Make sure that you also do an in-store test to ensure that the stroller you are purchase is the right one for your child.

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson

The suicidal cockroach

Hannah selflessly decided that she wants her whole class to see the caterpillar in her little bug cage turn into a moth, so we gave the cage and all of it’s inhabitants to her teachers and got ourselves an upgrade.  The new cage is about twice the size of the old one.  We’ll call it bug cage 2.0.

The new bug cage, with a standard 600mL water bottle for size reference

We immediately filled the bottom of the cage with crappy clay soil from the backyard and then found some sticks to prop up for makeshift trees as well.

Since Hannah loves watching caterpillars make cocoons and then emerge as moths, I was really hoping to find another caterpillar, despite the fact that finding one means my beans and leaves are being nibbled on.  I don’t know how I spotted it, but we found a looper caterpillar just like the last one, but way smaller. We are excited that we will be able to watch it grow a lot before metamorphosis.

We also found a weird black and yellow bug.  A few minutes later, we found another one.

The black and yellow (it’s whole underside is yellow. Some of them are more orange, some are more yellow) bug eating an apple next to a beetle. One of the sexes abdomens sticks out past it’s wings, and the other does not.  I don’t know which is which though.

We then found two brownish beetles and a small jumping spider to add to bug cage 2.0. A katydid was hiding in some long grass in our yard, so it too has been sentenced to captivity.  The next day we found another one at the park. It’s like an insect Noah’s ark in our bug cage!

Both the black and yellow bugs, and the beetles were seen engaging in coitus, so I’m not quite sure if the ball of eggs that appeared in the cage are beetle eggs, or weird bug eggs.  I guess we’ll find out later.

The ball of eggs, hidden under a dirt ledge

That night, Rosie (our beaglier x mini foxy puppy) cornered something in the kitchen, alternately trapping it with her paws and putting it in her mouth to throw around in amusement. Uncaged bugs never last long in our house.  Rosie doesn’t eat them, she just likes to torture them until death.

I disregarded my squeamish, want-to scream-like-a-girl reaction to cockroaches and stole it from Rosie for the bug cage.  A cockroach would make an interesting spectacle in there.  Or not.  It just hid under a lettuce leaf.

I also found a big ugly moth on my beans (either laying eggs or eating them, neither of which I condone), so he too went in the bug cage.

We found 3 more weird black and yellow bugs in the garden, so they went in too, brining their number up to 5.  Those little brats can be hard to catch because of their ability to fly.  Or at least glide.  I’m not exactly sure which, but they do have wings.  They just don’t use them much.

Rosie found some more of the same kind of little brown beetles at our front door.  Turns out they  made some sort of nest in a crack between the bricks and the door frame.  I don’t really want a million beetles at my front door, especially since I think this particular kind eats plants, not pests of plants, so about 10 more were added to the bug cage.

Sounds pretty good, right?  I the kids enjoy watching the bugs and drawing them in their science journals (yes, they have science journals, at their request).  The bug cage makes learning about bugs fun.  Every day, we look for new egg piles, holes in leaves, bug hiding places, etc.

a page from Hannah’s science journal. She drew the picture and we talked about snail facts which I then wrote down for her.  The old bug cage had a snail.

But then there’s the cockroach.  After hiding under the lettuce all day, it seems to have decided that escape is impossible, therefore suicide is the best option.  It dug it’s way to the bottom of the cage and wedged itself between the dirt and the wall.  It’s been like that for days, stuck there, it’s only movement an occasional twitching leg.  I could free it, but that means touching it, and I’d really rather not.

Suicide, or accident?

One of the katydids is missing a leg.  Not one of the little legs, but one of the big, long, bent, jumping hind legs.  There is no sign of it in the cage.  I’m pretty sure all the things in there are herbivores, except the spider, but surely the tiny garden spider couldn’t consume an entire katydid leg in one night?  Plus how did it come off?  How does a katydid lose a whole leg?  I’m thinking it’s either a case of mating gone wrong, or the leg got stuck in one of the slits at the top of the cage.  Neither scenario explains where the leg went though.

The one hind legged katydid

The black and yellow bugs are constantly trying to escape.  They can fit their creepy little heads through the slits in the top of the cage, but their bodies are slightly too big. We often see them with their heads sticking out desperately trying to get to the other side.  Three of them did though.  One of the escapees I found in the dining room and killed, the other two remain missing.  One died in the cage and is still in there, stiff and unmoving.  I left him there in case any of the other bugs are actually carnivores or omnivores.  I’m thinking not, since it’s still there.

The spider finally figured out it was small enough to fit through the slits and lived on the outside of the lid for a while before disappearing all together.

The moth also kicked the bucket after only a few days of captivity.  It’s still in there too, standing at the bottom of the cage with it’s wings up, like it’s had an unfortunate appointment with a taxidermist.

There is nothing alive about this moth

Rosie found a cricket in the house (an alarmingly frequent event), so I stole it before she commenced torture.  After a couple of days though, it too went the way of the cockroach.

suicidal cricket, or accidentally stuck?

And the caterpillar?  After one day, it climbed a little branch, and looked like it was slipping out of it’s green skin in favour of white skin.  The green skin clumped together on it’s back which looked like little tiny grapes, revealing white underneath.  Shortly after, a silk like web appeared around the now white, still tiny caterpillar, and then what looks like a layer of black armour appeared over the white skin.  It’s been like that for days, unmoving.  Surely it’s too early for the caterpillar to turn into a moth?  It’s still so tiny!

It’s so small, you can hardly see it, but it’s there on the little stick

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do when the eggs hatch, since the resulting bugs or larvae or whatever emerges will be small enough to fit through the slits.  I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.  In the mean time, we’re still enjoying bug cage 2.0.  It’s better then TV.

See, it really is better then tv

UPDATE:

Today I found out that the black and yellow bugs are soldier beetles.  They are beneficial insects, so I let all of them go in my bean patch.  The brown striped bugs are actually whitefringed weevils.  As larvae, they eat taproots of legumes as well as underground peanut pods, causing much damage and or plant death.  As adults, they chew on leaves.  At least I caught them all (near my peanut plant), but I certainly hope they don’t procreate.  Hopefully all those eggs are soldier beetle eggs…..

If you enjoyed reading this, please vote for my blog. All you have to do is click the link below. That’s it… Clicking the link brings you to the Top Mommy Blogs home page. You don’t have to do anything else. Any clicks from my site to theirs is a vote.  THANKS!

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Copyright 2014 Sheri Thomson