What I Learned Over My Winter Vacation

Last week, my kids were on winter vacation. A whole week of mommy-Aaron-Camryn time. More time than I've ever been alone with them in their entire lives. It was interesting, I have to say. But I did learn a lot. Here's my list.

• Full week school vacations are long.
• There is ALOT of together-time when one parent is working and the other is home with both kids all day.
• If I make plans too far in advance with certain friends, they will most definitely flake out on me at the last minute.
• I need to mentally be on vacation when my kids are on vacation and have low expectations of getting work done, and prepare for that during the week before.

It's not a lot, but I will hopefully be prepared next vacation.

See what everyone else has learned in this great weekly carnival from Musings of a Housewife.

The Nighttime Stall

When Aaron turned 2 years old, he decided he didn't want to go to sleep anymore. For about a week, we had to let him cry it out at night until he finally fell alseep. As he cried in his crib the first night, I cried with him on my kitchen floor. It was heartbreaking and torturous but every night, eventually he stopped. And every night the crying time got shorter until, after about a week, he would just go to sleep without crying. We thought we were the masters and this crying it out thing ruled. Until the next year when he started doing the same thing at 3 years old. But we did the same thing, stuck to our guns and eventually the crying stopped again.

Because of Aaron's ridiculously long bedtime routine, since birth, we have always put Camryn in her crib, awake, and she would fall asleep. She has been an amazing sleeper with random nighttime waking up, but nothing too bad and nothing on a regular basis.

Until now. The kids does not want to go to sleep. Ever. When she goes in her crib, we tell her a story and turn off the light, say good night, and as soon as we're one step out the door, we get "but mommy?" or "but daddy?" which are followed by "can I have a drink of water/a book/different music/elmo socks/my pillow/my other baby?" You get the idea. It's the nighttime stall.

Tonight the nighttime stall was followed by a nighttime cry followed by a nighttime puke. Yes, my daugher cried so hard and worked herself up so much that she threw up. And then she was petrified to go back into her crib and crying because she thought she was sick and couldn't go to school tomorrow. After about another half hour, she went to sleep, I think more though that she was so tired from not napping.

We'll see how it goes tomorrow....

Our February Vacation

Being home with my kids after 6 years of working full time and having full time help is much harder than I thought it would be. Of course it's fun being able to be here with them and be at their schools, we are just coming off of a whole week of school vacation which meant lots of together time while my husband was working. Lots. And lots. The week was a little rough because Camryn naps in the afternoon which left me and Aaron unable to leave the house. At the beginning of the week I was really worried. What would I do without the distraction of school and homework and the regular rush of the school day?

Monday was President's Day and while almost everyone and their mother's offices were closed for the holiday, my husband's office was open. And everyone was working. So off he went to work at 730am and immediately Camryn starts wailing. Why? Because although we thought she was sleeping, she wasn't, and she saw Daddy get into his car and drive away without saying goodbye to her. Not a great start to a very long week! She got over it and Camryn, Aaron and myself went on a playdate with a boy that Aaron goes to camp with who has a younger brother the same age as Camryn. They all played nicely, although the little boy was constipated and didn't feel well. But they had a great playdate and when we got home around 2pm, Camryn napped and Aaron and I baked cupcakes. End of day thought: This week won't be so bad after all!

Tuesday was the one day that we didn't have any premade plans. We hung around the house in the morning, kids watched TV and I tried to get some work done. Keyword = tried. Didn't get, um, anything done. The kids and I decided that we would go to Bertucci's for some pizza lunch and then head over to Barnes & Noble where they were both allowed to get one book. We ate a great lunch and they each wound up with 2 books from Barnes & Noble, and after I paid I realized that Aaron has about $75 in gift cards to Borders that he got for his birthday. We got home, Camryn took a nap, Aaron watched TV and I, once again, tried to get some work done. My mom came over to babysite while I got ready and went into the city for the exclusive Yanni Voices preview concert and left for NYC. End of day thought: Two days down, three to go.

Wednesday was playdate day. Camryn went over to her friend's house while her friend's brother came here to play with Aaron. The boys played their games and Nintendo DS downstairs and I was upstairs getting work done. Everything was great until about lunchtime when Aaron's friend declared everything we had for lunch "disgusting". Hmm. Don't all kids eat macaroni and cheese, pizza and chicken nuggets? Now, I have had my share of my own kids being disagreeable and I can handle it just as well as the next mom. But when the whining starts, I just want to shrivel up and die. I really just can't deal with whining. When my kids whine, they know that it's not tolerated here. But how do you deal with someone else's kid whining? Clearly I can't send him to his room or tell him he's acting like a baby. So it was about 30 minutes of time that I would have rather spent watching paint dry than listening to this child whine about not wanting to eat any of the things I offered him. Finally he agreed to eat chicken nuggets and was fine the rest of the time. Around 2pm he went home and both my kids were exhausted, as was I, so we spent the rest of the day recuperating. End of day thought: I hope that my kids don't whine when they're on playdates.

On Thursday, my very best friend and her two kids were set to come over for yet another playdate, which we wound up canceling because Camryn didn't fell well. My friend has a 6 month old and both of her kids had just gotten over various sicknesses so she wasn't entering the house of germs. The kids and I spent the whole day doing pretty much nothing outside of the two kids fighting and me threatining to send them to their rooms about 700 times during the day. End of day thought: Is it Friday yet?

Friday. One of my most favorite words, beaten out only by Saturday and maybe 3 others. On Friday we were supposed to have a playdate with a friend of Aaron's from nursery school but it didn't work out. We had talked about staying home, cleaning up, doing some laundry and getting along. Around 11am, I got a phone call from the mom of the kids from Wednesday's playdate asking if she could come and pick up BOTH of my kids and bring them to her house for another playdate because her kids were bored. Um, what? You don't have to ask me twice. Now come over before you change your mind! And she did. She picked up both my kids, who were beyond thrilled to go with her, and brought them to play with her kids. And surprise her kids nonetheless. I did pick up Camryn around 2pm so she could come home and nap, but Aaron stayed there until about 415 when we picked him up to go get a haircut. After that, a quick visit to Grandma and Grandpa and guess what? Week was over! End of day thought: Yay!!

So, this vacation taught me alot. Like what? I think I'll use this on Tuesday for my "What I Learned This Week" carnival, hosted by Musings of A Housewife! Stay tuned....

She's A Repeater

My daughter is a repeater. I should have learned this with Aaron, to be careful what I say around him because you never know when it will resurface. Usually at less than opportune times.

Lately we've been having an issue with Aaron, who at 6 years old, thinks that just because he's bigger than her, he's "the boss" of her. Many times, we'll hear them arguing "I'm the boss of you" and then the other reply, "No, I'M the boss of YOU!" I constantly find myself telling Aaron, "You're not her mommy and you're not her daddy, so you're not the boss of her." Another favorite of mine, apparently is, "Mind your own business," although I didn't realize it. Until....

My almost 3 year old Camryn certainly doesn't stand for any of this crap of people being "the boss" of her and telling her what to do. The other day, we were in the car and Aaron was in her face about something and she just gets right up to him and screams at the top of her lungs "your business Aaron!"

Nice, huh?

See what comes out of the mouths of other kids at this great weekly meme, hosted by Unexpected Art: A Positive Blog.

I'm back. I hope. Life has gotten totally busy lately and I haven't gotten to be able to do the things I want. Like blogging. And reading. And relaxing. Lately it's been all about working. And making sales. And talking about the site. And meeting with clients. And the kids. And cleaning the house. And laundry. Please don't get me started with the laundry.

It's all good because this is what I have wanted all along.

But somewhere I am losing myself because at the end of the day, there's cleaning to be done, things to be put away, a to-do list longer than when the day started and lots and lots of work to do. And I'm exhausted.

I was never confident that I could be a SAHM. I don't think I ever really wanted to. I have always been a better mom when I could spend time with my kids not worrying about cleaning. And laundry. And work.

Now it's all on me. And I'm not complaining at all, I'm just trying to figure out a way to organize it all. And get it all done. And it's really, really hard.

I started this blog as a way for me to connect with my thoughts on a more personal level than on my business website. Somewhere along the line, I decided that every single post needed to be thought provoking. And witty. And meaningful. But I realized, they are all of those things. To me. And that's really all they ever need to be.

So I'm back. I hope. My posts may not say anything at all sometimes, but to me, that's the point. This is somewhere where I can relax. And unwind. And review my day and my kids and make sure that I don't forget the really, really small things that I always want to remember.

Green Works Cleaning Wipes

Our family recently made a decision that I'm going to work from home which was quickly followed by the decision to give up our nanny. With that decision, responsibility for all of our laundry, putting things away and daily clean up now falls to me. So when I was asked to review Green Works Natural Biodegradable Cleaning Wipes, a new product from Clorox, it truly was perfect timing.

Thirty wipes come in the container, which doesn't sound like alot, but it has managed to last us quite awhile. I've been using these wipes mostly to wipe our kitchen counters after preparing any type of food on them and again for the final wipe down of the day. Something I love about these wipes is that they are made with plant-based, biodegradable ingredients, such as coconut-based cleaners and essential oils, which means that my house smells clean withouth smelling like it just bathed in bleach. These wipes can be used to clean pretty much anything in our kitchen and bathrooms including nonwood floors, counters, sinks, stoves, garbage cans and toilets. The directions actually give instructions on how to compost, if that's up your alley, and in keeping with the green-ness, Clorox made the container recyclable .

One thing I wasn't overjoyed with though is the fact that the label says "for surfaces that may come in contact with food, a water rinse is required." It's a little bit confusing because these wipes are touted as made for the kitchen and another wipe down of my counters is just one more step that I'd like to avoid at the end of the night. But the benefits of using these wipes and the fact that they are biodegradable outweigh that extra step to me.

Get them the next time you're in the market for a new cleaning product, you can find them in your local supermarket!

This review is in accordance with Mom Central.

The Best Part of the Superbowl....

No matter how you look at it, the best part of the Superbowl is the food. If you're like me, the best part of any meal is the appetizers, so really, what's not to like about the Superbowl. Um, outside of the actual Superbowl, that is.

I'm not a football fan. Never have been. I'll sit and watch or go to a Yankee game anytime, regardless of seats. I've been to hockey games (both Rangers, Islanders and NJ Devils). I'll watch tennis on tv. But put me in front of a football game and I'll find about 700 other things to do. Why? I don't get it. I have never understood the rules of football, nor do I want to. My husband is a HUGE football fan, although he likes the Dallas Cowboys, which is sort of odd because we live in NY. But anyway, when we were dating, every Sunday he would disappear to watch football. All day. I never understood why football fans are just that - fans of football, instead of fans of one specific team. They will sit and watch football all day (the 1pm, 4pm and 7pm games, and then another one on Monday nights!) regardless of the team that is playing. It's pretty frustrating.

At the end of football season, here comes the Superbowl. This year, my husband had a few friends over (guys only, no wives, no kids) and the biggest question on my mind was What are we going to eat? Well, I have to say we did pretty well. Our menu? Honey bbq wings, mozzerella sticks, chips/salsa/guacamole and then about 7 different appetizer things from Trader Joes. It was so delish that by the time the pizza came, I wasn't hungry. I left the guys to their game and went upstairs and got in bed with my book (which, by the way, is absolutely amazing!!).