Parenting

Even with the nieces and nephews, I still find things I say to my kid that I never thought I would say. Like the invention of the potty wash. That’s where the training potty goes when we hide it from him. He’s perfectly comfortable going on a regular toilet but prefers to go on his training potty due to its height. We are nearing the end of use but I don’t think he’s ready for them to go.

That’s Funny

Well, that’s funny. I do this whole internet thing for a living but can’t manage my own home on it. Go figure.

Things that have happened. Kiddo has grown. A lot. He started to show a need to be around more kids so in September he started preschool and I went back to work! He’s thriving and loving it there. I was offered an awesome opportunity to work full time with the organization I had been contracting with. I already knew the team and hit the ground running while there. The thing I love best though is that kiddo’s school is a whopping .9 miles away from my office.

 

Signs You’re An Adult

Last week I anxiously awaited word that the IRS had received my payment. It hit me then that I was truly an adult. Not owning a home and paying a mortgage. Not having a child. Not voting. But rather, waiting for the federal government to take a crap load of my money. That’s what signified adulthood to me. 

Well That Stinks

I’ve been a busy little bee. Both with work and home. I’m still freelancing or contracting or whatever you want to call it, it’s all the same in the end. Things were supposed to slow down for a bit but the only break I managed to get was when I got a serious case of the flu and was out for two weeks. Of course I wasn’t off the hook being a mom, but I won’t ever be. I digress. I managed to take on some extra work to help someone out. I have to stop doing that. I’m going to run myself ragged!

I’ve been working with the kiddo and a while back I found I like a lot of the Montessori approaches to things. I’ve been using it as a basis for teaching the little man. I’m not limiting him to what he learns on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Right now we’re on a science kick and I’m teaching him about space. He’s got three planets down. We’re keeping Pluto on the list. It’s status as a “dwarf” planet will give me something to discuss with him when he gets older. Plus he sounds really cute when he tries to say it and ends up with puttle.

Since my last post I have realized how much I despise hospital’s billing departments. Their impatience ended up costing my mom money she doesn’t really have and of course there is no recourse for her to recoup said money!

Eff corporations!

JingleVox

So I was given a Jingle VoxBox to review by Influenster. Some of the things I made the “kids” my testers, others, I may have devoured immediately. Like the Biscoff cookies. I’m sorry but I didn’t share a single one (there were three packs). They are the best tea biscuits ever! If you’ve never had one, shame! You really should try one.

Then yesterday I attempted to make something I normally wouldn’t have. I made… Totchos. Why was this never explained to me? Totchos are Tater tot Nachos. It’s grown up tater tot fun! I have a kid, so maybe I should eat more tater tots? I received a coupon in the VoxBox to try Ore-ida Tater Tots and figured I would save it for the (not so) Super Bowl. I only used a portion of the bag, so I’m going to try their “Veggie Totchos” next. Maybe this will help the kiddo actually eat veggies. He’s at that age where it is a struggle, so I’m getting desperate. 

Note: This is a “sponsored” blog post. I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

You Don’t Have a Clue

This is a long overdue rant that I just need to write out.

Not only do I care for my child every day, all day where most people pay someone else to do it for at least eight hours of the day, I also work between 20 and 40 hours a week. Let’s add on to this that I have a husband that I do like and enjoy spending time with. And then let’s add on that my father passed away less than three weeks ago. On top of dealing with the emotions that come from losing him, I am working on the financial and legal affairs associated with his death.

So please, tell me again how easy things must be for me because I am “home with the baby.” I’m sure you have a fucking clue.

Sadness

My father passed away recently. The first few days were difficult, but I knew I had to buck up and get things moving for my mom’s sake. We are still going through his things and having to sort paperwork for their business.

I took today off from doing anything other than vegging with my little guy. I definitely needed it!

Kids and Food and Allergies

I recently joined Influenster and oddly enough, I had a bottle of Hellmann’s Mayonnaise sent to me to try out. We normally don’t go through enough mayo or spread of any kind to make us go through an entire jar before the expiration date. Of course that was before the kiddo.

IMG_9850When we first started feeding him solid foods, we noticed that he would develop a rash on some occasions. There wasn’t ever a rhyme or reason to it either. Then we started making foods for him using the Hellman’s mayonnaise bottle I received.

We made egg salad, cheese sandwich roll-ups (pictured to the right) and various other items. That mayonnaise became the control in my little experiments. It was one of the things that would keep him eating what was on his plate.

Well, eventually with the help of that awesome squeeze bottle (seriously, no more messy butter knives) of Hellmann’s, we have discovered that there is a 99% chance that he has a yeast allergy!  He has a doctor appointment next week, so cross your fingers and expect to see yeast free recipes here soon.

Hellmann’s totally wins props for tagging their social media campaign, #SqueezeMoreOut! I really do like the no mess bottle, especially now when kiddo is clinging to my leg acting like he has never eaten before. I haven’t reached the bottom of the bottle yet but so far it’s been nice to not deal with a mess. I wonder if the bottles will transfer over well to the other condiments. I can’t stand when they splatter on my food or worse, me.

Note: This is a sponsored blog post. I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

Experiments

i have started experimenting with the various social media sites. I noticed the only real reach I had on Facebook was when I posted pics of my son or my cats. On Twitter, it is my random nonsense that gets the most interest.

So, I have decided to try posting only links to Facebook, most of them political/social in nature. Twitter gets retweets and a few random thoughts. Instagram is getting food pics.

In the past three days I have had one single comment on Facebook. That’s okay though. I also removed the Facebook app from my phone. That has made the experiment easier. I keep Twitter because I get news and traffic through there. 

I am giving myself a week but may increase it if I see interesting results.

Just No Good At This

Well, it appears I’m just no good at this anymore. I’m posting once every six months it feels like. I blame facebook for this. I tend to post my random thoughts there. I’m trying to not do it as much, but sometimes it’s easier to understand the context if we’re friends.

Things are going well on the not working anymore front. I’ve got enough freelance to keep me busy and current while still being able to stay home with the little man.

Speaking of my little man. He is one now. He’s walking and talking and climbing all over the place. We used to be able to confine him to the living room area but once he figured out how to climb over the couch, we figured confinement was a moot point. Now we just try to keep him out of the toilets and trash cans and hope for the best!

In other news, there isn’t much. Instead, here are a few links from the past week that I felt were worthy of sharing.