Goodbye Pullups & My Hatred for Gaming

Today is a big day in our house.  T woke up...dry...with big boy undies on!  Whoot!  After 10 dry mornings with pull-ups, we decided to try big boy undies.  Unbelievably, he was dry.  Mommy was relieved there wouldn't be a bed strip and wash.  ::phew::  We are still getting him up to try to pee before we head to bed.  I'm not sure when we'll stop doing that.  One step at a time.  Until then, I'm planning my break-up speech to those pesky pull-ups, and hoping I've bought my last box at Sams Club.  ::fingers crossed::

Here's an oldie but goodie of T (circa 2010)

On a completely unrelated note, I have decided that over-my-dead-body will my 5 year old son be receiving a gaming system this year, or any year in the near future, for that matter.  My hubs and I have begun discussing the option this year.  I am going to take that one back, and quickly.  I have a growing hatred for gaming lately.  To be honest, I hate it all the time.  But, that's beside the point I guess. 

Lately, T is very into playing our "pads", as he calls them.  My hubby is an android supporter, I have an ipad, and T can literally sit of hours playing them.  Of course I DO NOT allow that, unless we are on a long car trip.  I do offer my pad as an option for his "quiet time" 1-2 days a week.  Honestly though, I would prefer he rot his brain in front of the TV for an hour.  At least I can provide a program that might have some learning benefits, or a cute classic Disney flick.  The Where's Perry or Monkey Blast app...ummm...not so much.  I get so incredibly frustrated when quiet time is over, B is up, and we want to go outside to play or run some errands, but my 5 year old refuses to get off the pad.  I want to throw it across the room and have it smash into a million pieces (if it wasn't mine of course).  Now don't judge, he does have a great learning game from leapster that we bought him.  He plays that occasionally, mostly on car rides.  I don't completely HATE those games.  But, I still get so frustrated when he won't stop playing. 

Is it bad that I'm trying to drill into his head that little boys that watch too much TV or play video games all day are making themselves fat and stupid?! I know...sounds harsh, huh?!  But isn't it partially true?!  As a teacher of teens, I see the residual side effects of our society on the computer, in front of an Xbox or watching mindless TV all day long.  I don't like what I see.  I certainly see how it can affect the ability for a student to concentrate, communicate and time-manage, when so many ways to procrastinate are hanging out in their room every night.  I can see some positive aspects of learning to use a pad at age 4 or 5, following directions, hand-eye coordination, developing strategy, etc.  But for now...I don't think the kid needs a system.  Do you? 

So I will keep my word to myself, for now.  1.  no gaming system 2. absolutely no TV or computer in his room...now or ever  3. emphasis on being active  4.  a maximum amount of TV or video game time per day/week. 

If you don't agree with me...here are a few articles that examine both sides of the coin.  You can decide for yourself:
The Negative Effects of Video Game Addiction
The Positive & Negative Effects of Video Games
Negative Potential of Video Games

T minus, 3 days till our beach vacation!  I'm pumped!  I just wish preparing to relax wasn't so darn stressful.  ::sigh::




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SOOO MANY QUESTIONS!

I don't know how many of you have a LO that has the gift of gab, but I do.  I am not talking about vocabulary, talking earlier than others, or babbling, I'm talking full-on continuous conversation, a barrage of questions with no stop, no pause and no end in sight.  Yes folks, I have a 5 year old with no off button.  I know, I know, he's learning.  I've heard it before.  Countless times.  But, can't momma get a moment of silence every once in a while?  Pretty please?!  At the beginning of 20% SAHM-ness (aka summer vacation) I thought it was cute, entertaining even.  Now...not so much.  It's like nails on a chalkboard, slowly driving me insane.  Some days I handle it well, fielding question after question calmly and with some level of humor.  Other days, my patience wears thin and I find myself not listening to him, saying that I don't know or deferring to another adult in his life (guilty).  Sometimes, after the thousandth "but why" I want to scream "Mommy has no fricking clue, okay?!"  or a less classy "shut the hell up".  Kidding.  Kind of.  My little man is a great kid.  He is a kind little boy who is friendly and fun to be around.  I'm not complaining about his personality.  But the questions...oh....THE.QUESTIONS.  Lord have mercy.  If anyone has some sanity-saving tips on how to get through this stage (hopefully) please leave a comment.  Otherwise, if your LO isn't at this lovely milestone yet...consider this your formal warning.  Gather your patience, take a deep breath and be ready.  It's quite a ride. 

Mr. Personality himself :)  Can you believe this adorable little boy tests my patience like no other?! 

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Lake & Other Randomness

I've clearly been busy as my blog is suffering yet again.  I swear I have an excuse and it's called AP biology.  ::gulp::  I'm taking over the program this year and whoa am I overwhelmed.  To rub in the amount of work I have to accomplish in 3 short weeks, I attended a 4-day summer institute put on by the college board.  Lets just sum it up by saying that I broke into honest-to-goodness tears 2 of the 4 days out of frustration and enormous stress.  Needless to say, I've got my work cut out for me, and I've come to the conclusion that teachers are vastly underpaid, not like I didn't know that before...but now...holy crap!  So every free second I have when the kids are asleep or watching a cartoon, I'm prepping for my school year.  Oh yeah, and training for a marathon.  No biggie.  ugh.  There's also this whole family wedding thingy that's coming up that we are prepping for.  It's gone from a little beach wedding to quite a production, and a week-long vacay.  So we have lots to do.  So I'll work on getting caught up on life (and my lack of enthusiasm for summer) in the next few posts.

Lake time when we weren't triathlon'ing :)

T and Granddad on the pontoon

 Pontoon time with momma (and a very uncomfortable B...lol)

 Tubing on the super Mabel (thanks Uncle Brian for the ridiculous new ride!)

w/ Daddy

 w/ me (we bounced a lot since we were lighter than the boys and I was sore!)

 w/ Uncle Brian (who had to teach him how to ride backwards and stand up with no hands)

 Sand time (thanks to our neighbors for letting us hang on their sand)

 skipping rocks

 with my two loves at the best place on Earth

 my little fishy:)

 "cheese"

 a relaxing day after the tri

 with her buddy, Granddad (my mom never lets me take pictures of her...shame, shame)

More updating later...
How is every one's summer?!  Things winding down?  Big trips planned?  Ready to send the kiddos back to school (like I am?! :) )What's the word?  Leave a comment! :)




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