The body fluid we don't talk about

Most people having babies realize that there will be bodily fluids involved in little humans, generally of the variety coming out of the diaper area. No one LOVES changing diapers (especially the particularly foul and noxious overflowing feces filled ones that these adorable creatures create,) but I knew there would be pee and poop as a parent. I prepared myself for at least 3 years of incontinence when I birthed each child but what I never really thought about was the snot.

Happy even with a light spray of dripping snot

Unlike the bodily fluids exiting the lower half of the body, there is no protective covering to attempt to neatly collect what comes out of the nose. When your child has the snots, you have no choice but to chase them around incessantly trying to keep the slime off their hands, clothes, furniture, walls and whatever else their germ ridden hands touch.

Even though I'm a nurse, I am NOT a fan of snot or snotty noses. I don't want my kids to be those ones that walk around with a trail of dried snot on their face or be that kid at daycare that always seems to have an upper lip covered in yellow slime when you visit. I'm so thankful that Gremlin has long been old enough to take care of his own nose hygiene. As a kid with allergies and allergy induced asthma, he does occasionally have explosive and disgusting sneezes but as a parent all I really have to do is help him find a tissue and remind him to wash his hands when he's cleaned up.

Little Bit is firmly in disgusting toddler territory and right now we are dealing with an outbreak of gross yellow nose slime. The one positive aspect is that she is aware of when her nose is leaking and she generally comes up to me and says "yuck" and points to her nose then either waits for me to take care of it or simply uses my clothing to just wipe the snot off (yeah, thanks kid).  She is quite compliant with letting me go to town on her face with Boogie Wipes* and will even offer a half-hearted attempt at a blow though she needs a lot more practice to get the force needed to make it effective.

"I do Mommy! I do!"

 Though I appreciate that I don't have to hold her down like a wild animal to wipe her nose as I know some parents are forced to do, I will really be happy when we outgrow this stage and I can go back to not having anyone else's snot on my mind or my clothes.

Gratuitous adorable Little Bit picture

* I have to admit that discovering Boogie Wipes was a game changer as a parent. These seemingly overpriced tissues are soaked in a saline solution and are very gentle even when wiping the most tenacious of boogers. I remember poor Gremlin having a raw, reddened nose and upper lip from frequent wiping, even with lotion infused tissues until we discovered these. For the days of endless snot, they are worth every cent. Jenn approved!!

Surviving Summer Break

Nothing makes a school aged child happier than the thought of summer break, that wonderful 3 month hiatus from all things related to school.

As the person responsible for driving said child back and forth to school every day which takes 45-50 minutes daily or a total of almost 4 hours a week simply transporting, I should be thankful as well. Instead, I am now forced to find things to occupy the time of the soon to be second grader and to play referee to keep him and his 2 year old sister from fighting and yelling at each other all day long.

Sidenote, I thought the sibling crap wouldn't start til much later but they each seem to enjoy making the other one as aggravated as possible.

One of those lovely peaceful sibling moments ... fleeting just like the sunlight behind them

We had our summer vacation immediately after school let out and spent a week on the beach in Pensacola. The timing was perfect as it wasn't so hot as to be miserable AND the children hadn't spent so much time together as to be completely on each other's nerves ... yet. Had we waited til later in the summer, I don't think anyone would have enjoyed it as much as we are now firmly stuck in the desperation of "when will school start again??

Apparently it is frowned on to leave one's children buried in the sand to their waists so we HAD to pull them out

I wish I was one of those really creative mommies, like my next door neighbor who invited Gremlin over the other day to do science experiments with her kids. I really need to be more like that but let's be honest - that's just not me.

I have attempted to plan at least one adventure a week even if that adventure is something as simple as using our season passes to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. I also enrolled Gremlin in a piano camp for the week after vacation which led him to declare that he wants to start piano. Now we have a fine digital instrument upstairs and a task that I can send him off to do every day when I am nearing my wit's end of Power Rangers, PlayStation and iPad.

Now most are likely thinking, why stay inside? Go out and enjoy the beauty of nature! That sounds all good and well but we now live in the Republic of Insanely Hot Summer (a.k.a. Texas).  I would love to get out and enjoy the outdoors, but there is nothing I want to do less when it's 95+ degrees and humid than stand outside and sweat. With hardly a tree or shade to be found, one can't even go down a slide without fear of ending up with 2nd degree burns. I know I'm not the only child who once learned that lesson on a metal slide while growing up

This will be a lesson to me for next summer when I can only assume that the sibling "let's drive each other crazy" issues will be even worse.  I need a gameplan for activities and perhaps some inexpensive camps to keep everyone sane. Of course as Gremlin doesn't return to school until September, there is still time to become a better summer mom and plan better. I'll add that to my list of things like exercising and dieting that I really need to get to. :)

In the mean time, there is plenty of coffee to be had and lots of space in the home for separating the warring children and most important of all - a two year old who still takes a long nap each afternoon and gives us all a rest from the constants yells of "No! That's MINE!" and "Stop it! It's MINE!"

Momma and her "little" Gremlin

Time for a plan

At the moment I am sitting on the couch watching Gremlin play a Star Wars game on playstation (sidenote, it is hysterical how physical he is when playing -jumping, lunging, kicking, holding his controller above his head as if that will make his character do better) while Lil Bit is still singing over the monitor in her crib as she avoids sleeping while the husband is reading.

Life really has changed since getting married and now being a family of four.

We are smack dab in the middle of the Gremlin's summer vacation which means I am doing all I can to remain sane. I'm already rethinking not signing him up for the 4 week summer school session at his wonderful Montessori school which we absolutely LOVE! I'm sure it makes me a crappy parent but he is absolutely happy to spend endless hours watching YouTube or playing games on his ipad or of course playing Lego Avengers or Disney Infinity on PlayStation. I know I should encourage more worthy pursuits but it's Texas and it's freaking hot out and let's face it, at my core I'm fairly lazy. It's something I need to work on, I know.

The two year old is generally the one I have to keep a close eye on. That one is tricksy and prone to finding trouble if she can. Thankfully she goes to daycare two days a week which helps my sanity greatly. I love that girl but she is non-stop and stubborn.

So right now I work two overnights a week at a local NICU and occasionally pick up an extra half or full shift here and there. I also volunteer as an advisor at the local chapter of my college sorority which is often a part-time job in and of itself. I'm also in the process of applying to graduate school as with 20 years of work ahead of me before retirement, I realized that I don't want to spend it doing 12 and 1/2 hour shifts at the hospital.

All that said, there is still plenty of time in the day to waste. Whether it's with binge watching Outlander or The West Wing (yes, I have varied tastes) or simply wasting time on social media and random internet searches, I really could be more productive.

That leads us to my current thought - I need to find the time to exercise again. I've put off "getting back into shape" for too many years. It's just about the way I look but about the way I feel. It's hard enough dealing with aging (shit! I'm in my 40s which means I'm officially middle aged!!!!!) without getting out of breath just running around with the kiddos.

I haven't figured out my game plan because let's face it, a game plan is needed. Obviously it's going to include exercising somewhere, somehow and probably focusing more than a little bit on a healthier diet. I like the idea of doing triathlon again, but it isn't easy to do the swimming and cycling training with a 2 year old. Not to mention it's Texas and it's hotter than . So I'm going to muse on that for a few more days and come back with a game plan. 

Until then, I might need to start blogging more to get back into the habit of writing as I hear grad school involves papers.... ugh.