Chalk One Up for the Parents!

I feel like my mom and dad do a pretty good job of keeping their parental peanut gallery comments to a minimum. Though I'm sure they've left my house on more than one occasion with bleeding tongues from biting them so hard, they don't really offer advice unless I've asked for it, and believe you me - I have asked for it plenty of times. This is a quality I really appreciate about my parents because I know it's probably a difficult discipline. I mean, who doesn't like to put their two cents in when it comes to parenting advice? I know I do! (Sorry about that friends). So for the most part, unless someone is in grave danger, if they think I'm doing something wrong they just let me do it and figure I'll figure it out sooner or later, just like they did, and they don't talk about it with me. How many other people they talk to about it miiiiiight be another story, but I'm ok with that.

This is not to say I don't want their advice, on the contrary I love it and ask for their thoughts frequently. They are a great resource and have really novel ideas. Like THIS one; did you know that back in the day parents put their kids in pack-n-plays not to sleep but to actually PLAY? Oh yes they did! They were called Play-Pens back then, and they didn't think it was a mini-jail or that it would inhibit exploration or stunt growth or cuff curiosity or anything! In fact, according to my dad, it saved my life! My mom would put me in one, with some toys of course, to keep my dear brother from killing me (with love and affection I'm sure). What a fantastic idea!

Baby boy Troy is one fast cookie and the kid puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. Ben and Addison were not this way. I think they did the obligatory mouthing thing for a brief period, but nothing like dear Tman. It may have something to do with the fact that he has twice the amount of goodies sprinkled along the ground for his snacking delight. So, thanks to his siblings and my lack in vacuuming skills, he's a lot like a puppy. And as cute as that sounds I pretty much have to save his life on a daily basis, which is not so cute and has involved puking more than once. And we all know how I feel about puking.

So today, after pulling him off of the African Violet for the 96th time I had the brilliant idea to go a little old school and throw him in the pack-n-play.



This worked beautifully for about 7.5 minutes which just the amount of time I needed to quickly straighten up my bedroom and put away 18 piles of laundry.

So thanks, mom and dad, for not holding that one in. You played a part in getting Troy through one more day of life without me having to call the paramedics, and for that I thank you.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Better safe than sorry! You can't possibly watch him every minute...I know I couldn't -- so the play-pen was a safer place for you when I couldn't take you to the garage with me & bring back a load of clothes from the dryer. And look how creative and smart YOU turned out to be :) Mom
9:32 PM
Wendy said…
Not only that... their advise ended up giving us a super cute picture of a "caged" Tman... I love it!
8:38 AM
Anonymous said…
Oh i KNOW. I use the P & P a LOT simply to keep the baby from getting into things. I had never used it as a play pen before baby #3 and I have no idea why?!! Its been VERY helpful in making dinner. :)
3:10 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Quick Update

Image
We have been in Idaho just a few days shy of 7 months. That's over HALF a YEAR, people. MUCH has changed. Our daily routine? Changed. Weekend plans? Changed. People we call when we're in a jam? Changed. How we're being fed spiritually? Changed. (But not TOTALLY, because we are still being fed hearty meals from the truth of God's Word, only our "server" has changed, essentially). How we function as a family? Changed. Everything has changed.  Half a year in a new land, with new people, and a new EVERYTHING will change you. And we are okay with that. Matter of fact, we're better than okay! We scorched our way through a brutal, smoke filled August, and we are GOOD! We tip-toed into the school year in new schools, with new teachers, and new everything , and we are good! A couple kids even won awards! (She's one ...  the oldest was another, but conveniently ducked the camera >insert eye roll<). We mercifully made new frien...
Read more

My New Language

Image
My teen challenged me to a game of ping pong. Easy enough, one might think, but this particular teen has been playing for YEARS against GOOD players (my mother-in-law is a champ!). Not to mention his muscles are twice the size of mine and he's a least - dare I admit this - a solid three inches taller than I, probably four. He was so sweet when he asked, and I couldn't remember the last time he had, so of course I said yes. From the beginning he knew he could beat me. He is stronger, faster,  *sigh*  taller , and more skilled. So he, sweet thang that he is, played with his weaker hand, which honestly isn't saying much because the boy is straight up ambidextrous . He was still beating me. So he got on his knees. I kid you not. He put one hand behind his back and he. played. on. his. knees . Aaaaaaaaaand he still beat me. It probably didn't help that I was laugh/crying the entire time. He thinks it was because I was having the time of my life, and I WAS! But r...
Read more

The Post About School

Image
Our family has partially or full time homeschooled for eight years. And, getting really technical, if you think of the years per kid, that's 22 years of homeschooling ! I think it's safe to say we are homeschool fans. Our decision to homeschool, initially, came from three factors: 1. Mark is a big proponent of using time wisely, and neither of us were thrilled with the use of time in our local schools. 2. We don't vaccinate, which wasn't a big deal in the beginning because BACK THEN we could just sign a waiver and it was no biggie. Then CA went all - well, Californiaish- and basically it became impossible for us to legally enroll our kids in a public school. 3. What brought homeschooling to our attention was when a family brought us a meal after Mia was born, and in walked this 8 year old boy who was kind, polite, helpful, genuine, respectful, patient, and more. I asked the mom, "Where does this kid go to school? He is incredible! What are you doing??...
Read more