No more toys!

I only have two children, but somebody tell me why my house looks like I'm running a home daycare. The kitchen set is in my living room, potty chairs in both the hallway and the bathroom. I'm tossing wrestling men out my bed when I go to lay down, and I don't even want to think about the storage room that is wall to wall baby furniture, clothes and yes, more toys.

When my son was little I would conveniently send him to his grandmothers house and tow his toys he no longer played with to the basement every couple of months. I did this just before Christmas, but I find that there is still an abundance of toys. I went and bought the biggest storage tub that I could find and dumped all the toys in there, but I'm now afraid that the 3 feet high mountain of toys will avalanche on my children.

Even my kids think it's too much. When they come to me saying that they can't find a particular toy. I'll tell them to go look in their toy box, but merely seconds later they return empty handed, considering it a lost cause. I blame my husband, sweet man as he is. He just can't resit those two sets of puppy dog eyes looking at him singing "daaaddyyy". And I try to remind him that it's not necessary to buy a kids meal every time we get fast food. I have those little cheap plastic toys falling out my car when I open the back door.

Of course I'll take my part of the blame, too. I haven't been the "toy regulator" in quite some time and it has gotten way out of hand. I guess it's time for some spring cleaning. We'll set a date and ask one of our parents to watch the kids for a couple of hours. If they have any love for us at all, they will not send them back home with another toy.  

You know you're somebody's mama when you...

...have an iGo Potty app on your smartphone. Look, don't judge me. My daughter is 2 and a half and I am past tired of buying pull-ups. Me and my husband had a ritual at one point. We would declare in the store every time that this is the last time we are buying pull-ups. After about the fifth declaration, we just stopped saying it.

So, I was on the web reading an article about how to potty train a child in a week, and after I was finished rolling my eyes to the lies I was reading, I clicked on another article that gave the best potty training products. Of course there were books, (which my kids tore up), little pottys (that my kids play with), and a portable pot to keep in the back of the car (I'm good), but the one that I hadn't seen before was an app for my phone. They truly do have an app for just about everything.

It is supposed to be a timer, pretty much that will sing the "I'm a big kid now" jingle when it's time for her to go potty. Then, when she goes, she gets cute little "stickers" that add up to unlock games for her to play. It's a virtual version of the potty chart I had for my son with stickers and a prize at the end. I didn't really keep up with that much, but something miraculous happened. It's called my grandma.

So I have already been through this once with a boy. They are supposed to be harder to train then girls, but she is not a typical girl. I've never seen a little girl grab her baby doll, as she's dressed up as a princess,  jump off the arm of my couch, pin down her baby doll, count to three, then stand up pumping her fists in the air like she just won the wrestling championship.

Anyway, I'm going to give it the old college try with potty training app and see what happens. If this thing works, I'll shout it from the virtual mountain top via Facebook and this blog. If not, than I guess I'll have to go back to square one.

How long did it take you to potty train your child? Any tips?



iGo Potty app- Free



The story of us.

My husband and I met when we were 13, started dating at 14 (if that's what you call it when you don't have a job, a car or any money), and I haven't been able to get rid of him ever since (I tried a couple of times but thankfully he didn't call my bluff). Fast forward 15 years and we are married with two kids, Christopher and Desiree. Chris is just like his dad in looks and calm nature, even at only 5 years old. And 2 year old Desiree is truly her mother's child, from her face to her attitude. We both have our own little "mini me", so we're satisfied.

When I think about my life B.C. (before children), it almost seems like a movie I saw some years back. It truly was another life. Not better, just different. Anybody who tells you that having kids doesn't change anything, is in a serious case of denial. Every decision you make, from groceries to career moves has to be in alignment with the life of being a parent.

Having kids made me less selfish, more patient, full of creativity (it's hard explaining to a two year old why they have to pee pee in the pot) and more optimistic. They make you stay on your toes, and it's hard to be upset with them for more than a minute. Any person that can make you change for the better like that has got to be a good thing.