A Purpose

Every time we get out of bed in the morning - there is a reason... our children. But what happens when the children are grown and gone? Why do you get out of bed?

I was watching The Golden Girls yesterday and something that Sophia said really struck home. It was an episode from Season 3 that dealt with Alzheimer's disease. Sophia befriends an old black man who turns out to have the disease and is being sent to a home for treatment. She finds out the news and tells Dorothy, her daughter, that even when you're old, you still need a reason to get out of bed in the morning (referring to her friendship with the old man).

What are you going to do when your kids are all grown up? As stay-at-home moms with no actual careers, we, in particular, need to think of things like this. We devote our whole young lives to our children and experience the empty nest syndrome when they move out on their own and leave us wondering, "What do I do now?"

Now, if you are really lucky, you've saved enough for you and your husband to retire comfortably with perhaps enough to do a little travelling, too. But then what? What happens when you come home and back to that empty nest? TV and the porch swing?

Start thinking now about who you are and what makes you happy, aside from your kids. I know that for me, up until recently, I have made most of my life about my kids... which is as it should be as my children are only 2 and 3 years old. However, as a woman and an individual who has worked all of her teen and adult life up until pregnancy number one, I feel that I need to do something more to contribute to the family and the world in general. Call it pride if you will, but each of us has something special to give. Find out what it is that you have and make sure that you are ready when the time is right!

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*SIGH*

I think one of the things parents dread most is the first time their teenage son or daughter gives them the big sigh with eyeroll. You know the one....often accompanied by the "Mo-ther!" sound effect.

Little did I know that this scene gets played out a lot sooner than I ever expected.

Picure it... my 2 year old son standing in the middle of the kitchen looking up at me with his big, innocent, heather gray eyes. He is pounding his fists together rapidly in his version of the sign for "more" as he pleads, "Mo min! Mo min! Mo min! Mo min!"

It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about, but then it dawned on me: More vitamin!

I shook my head and said, "No, honey. You already had your vitamin today."

And then, as if in slow motion, to my utter shock and dismay my teenage nightmare materialized: he rolled his eyes and gave me the biggest sigh I've ever heard come out of a little kid.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry - but of course, I laughed. And so it begins....

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Dibbadaba!!! (That's "abracadabra" in toddler)

Sometimes the most wonderful times happen when you aren’t even expecting it. Today my little three year old, Xan, decided that he wanted to be like “Little Bear” and be a magician.

He came running into the kitchen saying something about Little Bear doing magic and he wanted a cape. I proceeded to tie a bath towel around his shoulders with some string and then of course, this led to a hat and wand – both made hastily out of construction paper and a few staples.

We had hours of fun. Kids have amazing imaginations – If only we’d stop doing the dishes long enough to listen.

What a wonderful day we had. :) How was your day?!

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Water, Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

...a rant....

How yellow is your toddler's pee? I'm serious! Do you know? Does it smell? Think hard.

Then think, how much water does your little one drink? Does he/she drink any at all? How many times a day do you offer a drink to your toddler and it’s not water? ***

I always see toddlers in the mall drinking cool aid, fruit punch and (believe it or not!) diet or regular soda!! Now, I’m talking little ones – 4 and under. How crazy is that? It is absolutely no wonder to me that so many American kids are diagnosed with ADHD or ADD. There is no way they can sit still and concentrate with the amount of sugar and additives floating around in their systems!

It is the one thing that our bodies can’t live without and we don’t even think to offer it to our kids. My mom thought I was crazy when I told her that I don’t let my kids have juice. But, I figure that the best way to keep my kids as healthy as I can is to break the sugar cycle now before the influence of school cafeterias and constant commercials get into their brains. I offer milk at meals and water with snacks. Most toddlers should get about 8 oz. of water a day and no more than 4-8 oz of 100% fruit juice.

When they are thirsty, I want the first thing that comes to mind to be water! Now, I’m no angel. Sure, my kids can have a juicebox once in a while and once in a blue moon I’ll even buy a bottle of juice for them to have with meals. However, I water it down by about half. Yeah, it tastes crappy to me, but to them, it’s a big treat! They love it and I’m okay with the amount of sugar they are getting (not to mention how much longer a bottle lasts!). (Also, even though the sugar in 100% juice is natural - it's still sugar!)

Of course, if your little one doesn’t eat/drink dairy, then juice is a great alternative for the calcium, but of course consult your doctor. Your kids need that calcium! But that’s not a problem for my boys – they are huge fans of cheese and milk. (They get that from their mommy!)

If you are unsure of how much fluid your young one is getting. Check their pee. If they are urinating frequently and the urine is pale yellow and with little smell, they are getting enough fluid, but if their urine is bright yellow and acrid smelling, it's a good indication that the urine is very concentrated and more fluid is needed.

So, next time you offer a snack – don’t forget the water!



*** I want to add a little note here about infants. Babies under the age of 6 months should not have water at all as they can fill up on it and not get enough nutrients or it can lead to a very serious condition called water intoxication. Children under a year should also avoid water as most of their nutrition comes from milk or formula and too much water can be dangerous for them.

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