Familia

"A Better Son / Daughter"
-Rilo Kiley

Sometimes in the morning i am petrified and can't move
Awake but cannot open my eyes
And the weight is crushing down on my lungs i know i can't breath
And hope someone will help me this time
Your mother's still calling you insane and high
Swearing it's different this time
And you tell her to give in to the demons that possess her
And that godnever blessed her insides
Then you hang up the phone and feel badly for upsetting things
And crawl back into bed to dream of a time
When your heart was open wide and you loved things just because
Like the sick and the dying

And sometimes when you're on you're really fucking on
And your friends they sing along and they love you
But the lows are so extreme that the good seems fucking cheap
And it teases you for weeks in its absense
But you'll fight and you'll make it through
You'll fake it if you have to
And you'll show up for work with a smile
And you'll be be better you'll be smarter
More grown up and a better daughter
Or son and a real good friend
And you'll be awake and you'll be alert
You'll be positive though it hurts
And you'll laugh and embrace all your friends
And you'll be a real good listener
You'll be honest you'll be brave
You'll be handsome you'll be beautiful
You'll be happy

Your ship may be coming in
You're weak but not giving in
To the cries and the wails of the valley below
Your ship may be coming in
You're weak but not giving in
And you'll fight it you'll go out fighting all of them...

Potty Mouth

Abigail was a dream during potty training. One day she just decided to go to the bathroom, clean herself up, and only use big-girl underwear. That was almost 3 years ago and she has been going strong ever since.
Charlotte, on the other hand, has been a completely different story. A beautiful story, but not at all like her big sister! She is 2 1/2 and doing really well in the bathroom department, only using pull-ups at night when(I can imagine) it would be hard to remind your body to hold it for 10 hours straight! (I, on the other hand, wake up at least once a night to pee, waaaay more when I was preggers!)

A few highlights of the potty-saga for Miss Char:
This past weekend we went to the park. Charlotte was doing really well until up to the very end. Then she started hopping around and looking a bit desperate. I asked her if she needed to go potty and she kept telling me no. The next thing I know, we're beginning to walk back to the house, still in the park, though, and she does a little squat maneuver and pees all over the bark chips. She looks up at me, totally bewildered and I'm sure embarrassed, and says "Mommy, I peed on a stick." I looked down and said, "You sure did, but look at how clean you kept your legs!" We then walked back(well, waddled)home and promptly took a bath!
The other two delightful instances happened at home. The 1st one I had jumped in the shower while hubby was at Mass, leaving the girls to play for 10 minutes in their bedroom. Not usually a big deal. But apparently when the bathroom door is closed halfway, Charlotte took that as a No Vacancy sign, and peed all over her bedroom/hallway floor. I was alerted to this fact mid-rinse by Abigail yelling her head off into the door "Charlotte peed on the floor!!!!". This child has a future on the stock market floors...good lungs and always to the point.
2nd time the girls had just gone to bed when Charlotte started whining she had to go potty. So Zakk and I asked Abigail if she would take her in the bathroom. The helpful big sis obliged and we assumed all was well. Until Abigail started yelling something down the stairs I couldn't quite hear. But then it became very, VERY clear. Charlotte had not managed to put the lid up before going potty. Not only was there pee on the floor and in the potty, there was pee all over the seat, on the little potty chair she used as a stool, and all over her. All I could manage between grunting and sweating, crouched on the floor cleaning was "Charlotte, Rule #1 of going potty is to have the lid up, okay, honey?"

The saga continues...

Motherhood

Sometimes raising two children under the age of 5 can feel like you are participating in the calf-roping event at the rodeo. Specifically when it comes to getting them dressed in the morning!

Other days you just feel like doing a little light cleaning...at least with the vacuum you can't hear their whining and protests!

And at the end of the day, they will sit in their little seats in a perfectly cleaned up play room, pose for a picture with the uttermost civility and decorum. Well, a girl can dream, can't she?