10 Months!

Kid is 10 months on Sunday, and (like I say with every update) I can hardly believe it!

He is full of personality, and he definitely knows exactly what he wants. And he has no problem letting us know.

Arched back, red face, clenched fists. And the screams!

Frustration at its finest!

So how do you deal with a 10 month old's temper tantrums, you ask?

Well, I'm no expert. But the hubs and I are figuring out what works for us.

1. Distract, distract, distract! Kid is not throwing temper tantrums to get what he wants. Well. He is. But it's not like he is a two year old that understands all that stuff, yet. He's just a frustrated little boy that can't put into words what he is feeling (or thinking). Distracting him with a toy or his sippy cup has been extremely helpful

2. Consistency. As with anything in parenting, consistency is key. If we don't want him to play with the TV remote, don't let him play with it even one time. If he plays with it once, he will think it's a toy and can play with it all the time.

3. Stick to your guns. Don't give in if the tantrum continues. Be strong. Taking the remote away from him, and then giving it back so he'll stop crying is exactly what you don't want to do. It will reinforce the tantrum. And then he'll learn that throwing a tantrum equals getting what he wants. And that is bad news bears.

4. Be observant. Kid's tantrums are because he is frustrated. We mentally keep track of what triggers his tantrums and are mindful of that. He once got a hold of Daddy's iPad and started chewing on it. Of course, he screamed when we took it away. Not because he wanted the iPad, but because his teeth hurt and he needed comfort. We handed him one of his hard plastic toys. Straight to the mouth it went and the tantrum was over.

We're coming to realize that Kid is frustrated with not being able to communicate with us. We started some basic baby signing a few months back, but are realizing the necessity of it. If we work more at those signs, giving Kid a way to communicate with us, I think a lot of the tantrums can be avoided.

::Dinner Plans #2::

Wow, has it been awhile since I've made dinner plans!

We have spent a lot of time with family these last couple of weeks, and a lot of it has been for dinner.

But, we're now getting back into the swing of things. I know that it's a Wednesday today, but I thought I would post the meal plan for the week, anyway. I have cooked every night so far (which is unusual!).

Sunday: Chicken Soup
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Peach-Whiskey BBQ Chicken & Green Beans
Wednesday: Garlic Butter Venison Chops & Mashed "Potatoes"
Thursday: Chicken Fajitas
Friday: Cumin-Spiced Pork Loin & Garlic Veggies
Saturday: Date Night! (out to dinner!)

Admitting Defeat

Well, the time is here to admit defeat to the NaBloPoMo for January of 2014.

I did not post every day. I could not post every day. And, I won't be continuing with the challenge.

It is a really hard challenge!

I've come to realize that I can't put that much pressure on myself (funny that pressure was the theme of this month!).

I may try again with the NaBloPoMo during a summer month, when I'm not hustling my behind to school every day. Except today, when the wind chills are expected to reach 40 below zero. School has been canceled for the safety of our students. This isn't something that happens frequently. I work in the same district from which I graduated. During my life as one of their students, I can count the number of times on one had that schools were closed due to the weather. This year? With these crazy temps...we're on day four of cancellations. It is crazy!

Right now, I'm off to deal with 10 month old temper tantrums. Are those really a thing?!

Acu-what?!

Day Eight

Have you ever tried acupressure to treat a problem?

What was your experience with it?

Nope. I have had zero experience with acupressure to treat problems.

I have had one experience, though, with acupuncture.

I was in college, studying in Cuernavaca, Mexico. My mornings consisted of an upper level Spanish course. My afternoons consisted of a course in hanging out in Mexico. It. Was. Awesome.

My Spanish teacher in Mexico was also certified to perform acupuncture. I walked into the classroom one morning to find Britney, one of the Bostonians, with her head on the table and ten to fifteen needles sticking out of her head and ear. Shocked, I sure was.

Britney had been struggling with migraines and was missing quite a few class sessions. She would stay in bed all day, in a dark room. That's no way to enjoy Mexico! Our teacher convinced her to try acupuncture and, after a few sessions, it's as if she were cured. She never missed another class. She never seemed to have any sort of headache or migraine.

I wonder if acupressure has the same effect?

\\Thankful Thursday Vol. 7//

I'm feeling all sorts of discombobulated with the NaBloPoMo going on, and with the short work week.

That's right. After two weeks off from school, I was granted 2 extra days to stay home with my two main men. The temperatures dipped so long (and the windchills even lower!) that schools across the state of Minnesota were canceled on both Monday and Tuesday.

And so, here I am, marveling in how quickly this week flew by.

I find that it is impossibly easy to get into a rut of negativity. And once you're there, it's hard to climb your way out. Writing down my thankfuls for each week has become a way to stay away from the negative. Feel free to leave your thankfuls in the comments.

This week, I am thankful for...

...two extra days off from school. It was so delightful to stay home with my boys and lay low. It was so cold here that we didn't even leave the house on Monday. On Tuesday, we made the trip to our local community center to play in the pool. Little mister LOVES splashing in the water during bath time. While it took him a good 20 minutes to observe the community center pool, he was splashing and playing and laughing and talking up a storm.

...my observant little boy. We have noticed that, while Kid is an outgoing character, it takes him a little while to warm up. When walking into a room/building/house full of new people, he is a quiet and mellow little boy. Once he warms up, though. Oh man, there is no stopping him! It is so fun to see the characteristics that he has from both his dad and I. I am excited to see what other characteristics and personality traits we start to notice.

...time away from school, period. Don't get me wrong. I love my job. To pieces. It is such a wonderful thing that I get to walk into that room each morning and greet 20 smiling faces. 20 little people that are so excited to learn. 20 munchkins that think I am the coolest thing since sliced bread (can you tell I teach kindergarten?). But time away makes me appreciate it so much more. I teach those 20 buddies all day long. Reading. Writing. Math. Coat zipping. Shoe tying. Working nicely with friends. Playing nicely with everyone. Respect. Responsibility. It's a big job. And it takes a lot of energy. So when I am granted those two weeks for winter break, oh, how wonderful it is. And I know, I know. Parents can get stressed with all of their munchkins at home. It always works both ways.

What are you thankful for this week?

Tender Spot

Aaaaand, I'm back with another installment of NaBloPoMo, where the theme is pressure.

Day Seven

In Japanese, pressure translates to "tender spot." What are your pressure points?

Am I missing something? Doesn't everyone have the same pressure points? The points on your body that stop bleeding, or can eliminate a headache? The point between your pointer finger and thumb? The place by your nose, at the corner of your eyes?

But let me tell you about two of the things that make me tick (they're silly).

1. Elbows on the table, and other poor manners/eating habits. I grew up in a family that had dinner together every night. And every other Sunday, we made the trek (all of ten minutes) to my grandparents' house for dinner. My mom has always called my grandma (don't worry, it's her mom) a snob, and we were expected to be using our best manners. The threat was that, if we didn't, we'd have to go to Grammy's for dinner weekly by ourselves! Elbows do not belong on the table during dinner. Hats do not belong on the head at the dinner table. Or in my grandma's house. Or in church. Mouths should be closed while chewing. Speaking should not happen while food is in the mouth.

And hold your utensils properly!

2. Toilet paper on the roll incorrectly. The toilet paper should come from the back. And there are two reasons.

Reason Number One: it's easier to tear the paper off the roll with one hand when the toilet paper comes from the back of the roll. It is also easier to tear the toilet paper cleanly, and close to the roll. When it comes from the other side of the roll, you get a lot of extra paper hanging down (to the floor!?!?) when all is said and done.

Reason Number Two: when the toilet paper comes from the back of the roll, kiddos (mostly the little ones) cannot unroll the entire roll of paper. When the toilet paper comes from the top/front of the roll, it only takes a few spins of the roll for all the paper to be on the floor.

Which is no good.

These are a few of my *least* favorite things...

Positive Pressure

Day Six

Can peer pressure be positive? Why or why not?

To this I respond with a resounding YES!

Peer pressure has always carried such a negative connotation, but when used in the right way, it can have a positive result. Don't get me wrong. Peer pressure can be horrible. It can be very hurtful, and can cause quite a few problems.

But, there is a time and a place for just about everything. Peer pressure is one of those things.

Say you found 20 bucks in the parking lot at Target while hanging out with your girlfriends. You think it's a good idea to keep it. You could use 20 bucks to buy groceries, anyway. It's the holidays. Money is tight. 20 bucks would really help. Maybe the money was dropped so that you would find it because someone, somewhere knew you needed it.

"You should really turn that in to the customer service desk," says one of your friends. The others agree. Your head tells you that maybe you should pretend to return it. Keep it for yourself, but make them think you returned it. Who would know anyway? The person missing it probably has no clue it's gone. Besides, would you expect someone to turn in the cash you lost, or would you consider it gone?

"Turn it it," the girls keep saying. Well. You don't want to look like a thief in front of your friends.

They follow you in to Target.

You turn it in.

Peer pressure wins.

You may not know just who that money belonged to, or if they come back to claim it. But it could be someone's last twenty dollars. That may be the money they had to buy their kid a birthday present, or to help pay for the week's groceries.

You were pressured into doing the right thing. Even though you didn't want to.

Now. In all honesty, I would hope that peer pressure wouldn't be needed to turn in someone's lost money. Hopefully, the world is still full of good people that would do the right thing, regardless of who's watching.