Parenting packing tips

Packing our house has been going pretty well. I'm so happy to leave our condo that I don't mind the chaos. However, trying to get anything done with young children, although not impossible, is very challenging. Like today, for instance, I was packing a box, the baby was with me, and Noah decided to poop on his little potty chair. This is actually really great because we are still working on potty training. The bad part was when he decided to dump the pot in the toilet by himself and spilled his pee and poop on the bathroom floor. I think I packed two boxes over a two hour period. Thankfully, my sister took the kids and watched them so we could get more done. The picture below is another great use for plastic wrap.....

The Sitter is Down for the Count

There are many different forms of child care. We chose a baby sitter because she was very affordable and we have grown to love and trust her. She has been watching my children for almost 3 years. Last week she came down with pneumonia and we (I) realized how important she is to my sanity. She was unable to watch them for a whole week and I work full time as a kindergarten teacher. My husband travels just about every other week and, of course, the week he is gone, the sitter is also M.I.A. Normally my mother is my back up but she has a new job and has been working. So what do you do when your sitter is out and your back ups to your back ups are all not available? Well, I had to call off work and plan for a substitute and take a sick day! That is very hard for me to do, because unless my children or myself have the plague, I never miss work, ever. Well, I had to miss today. It was nice to be home with them and I leave thorough plans so I know my room is going to be fine when I get back, but just being left without any options and having no choice but to call off work really bothered me. 

It is very difficult to be a working mom with a traveling husband. Especially when you can't afford a nanny or Au pair or cleaning lady and you do it all yourself. Sigh...and I only have two children. How people do this with more is really beyond me. 

Mommy Woes

Life moves by so fast that when the weekends come I need time to catch my breath. Here we are on Saturday night, it's 9:30 and my 2 1/2 year old is still up talking to himself in bed. (I gave him a bath, he had some milk, played with my phone, threw a tantrum, and then let me rock him for a bit.) My 4 month old had her bath and is drinking her bottle now with my husband. If all goes according to plan, she will fall asleep too. Now, pre-children, 9:30 would mean hours and hours of fun, a few drinks, maybe a movie or some "cuddling". Post children.... 9:30 looks like I have about a half hour before I am going to crash.  The good news is tomorrow is Sunday, the bad news is tomorrow is Sunday. 

As a working mother, Sunday means writing up lesson plans and organizing myself for the week. Grocery shopping and pre-packing the diaper bag. We may fit in a trip to the pumpkin patch but that's about it. Oh, I forgot taking the children to church by myself because my husband will be going into work (yes, into work on a Sunday). So, in reference to my post title, mommy woes means that the stars in the show (the kids) get all the love and attention and applause, while the people behind the scenes (mom) gets zero recognition. I mean most of the time I can go on and on and not think about it, but sometimes it just hits you. I really wanted to paint my nails, get a haircut, and start working out again but none of that happened. 

Here's to an eventful Sunday and then the start of another hectic, crazy week. To those of you who read my little blog....we still have not sold our condo (dying inside every day this place does not sell)

But here's what makes the mommy woes all worth it....

Finding the time, with two little ones, to make a blog post is getting harder and harder. I am finding that I need to always have things pre-packed, or pre-ready, or pre-planned because spur of the moment just does not work out for us. For example, trying to leave for church, is nearly impossible if I don't plan ahead. The last two Sundays we have arrived with about 10 minutes left in the service- totally infuriating, especially since we live 40 minutes away from church so we have to drive all the way there just to miss most of it- drives me nuts. So, I realize that the diaper bag needs to be packed the night before and outfits for the kids (an most importantly myself) need to be decided on and laid out the night before as well. The number one thing I have to remind myself...my husband is little to no help, so I must do everything myself or delegate to the"t". And when in the most hurried flurry to leave the house always remember,  " Can I feed em and change em" and that will about cover your most important items. 

Noah is getting a little more friendly with his little sister so that is an upside. I still have to watch him like a hawk, but he isn't trying to hurt her on purpose as much. Hopefully in a couple more months he will start to be more helpful than hurtful. 

Stella is 2 months old today!! Wow! time goes so fast. I have to remind myself that I have about 6 months to keep saying, "I just had a baby" before I can't really use that as my weight loss excuse. I'm working at it, but it is a slooooooowww process. 

Parent of the Year

First let me start by saying, I am so excited to be having a girl. My aunt just bought us our first little girl outfit- love! I actually can't believe I haven't bought anything yet, but part of me has this worry that they are going to tell me it's a mistake and we are actually having a boy. I really don't know if they even make this mistake anymore.

So, referring to the title of the post... It's about -4 degrees in Cleveland, Ohio right now. I get home from a birthday party tonight around 9:30pm and walk around the SUV to get the baby out of the car. It's then that I realize I have locked my child( sleeping at least) in the car, with the keys, and my cell phone.

Thank God, my husband just got home from his business trip and was actually in the house- b.t.w. no spare key, so we had to call the police.

Everything is fine, the officer was able to get Noah out and the whole experience was about 20 minutes, if that. These are the moments, before you have children, where I would say, " how do you lock your kid in the car, come on!?" Well, now that I'm a parent, I still think it's idiotic, but it's just a horrible feeling and it happens so fast.

I just wanted to share because even though I try to be organized and on top of things... Stupid crap still happens. I'm thankful Noah is safe and literally slept through the whole thing, but it makes me feel like a bad mom.