One Size Fits All

Tick…Tick….Tick – Ah, the magic of a timer. What a wonderful little device.

Damian has been so short tempered lately and while I used a timer to help him get his room cleaned up, I have never used it for time-outs. I am now though, and I must say, this is grrrreeat! I turn that timer on and Damian instantly gets it! I love it so much, I have a timer on a rope! It goes everywhere with me and serves as an instant behavior modification tool and attitude adjuster.

I set it for 5 minutes everyday and Damian cleans his room. We call it “5 minute clean-up”. We use it to time brushing our teeth, video game usage, and even eating dinner sometimes. This thing must have a million uses! I even use it on occasion to soothe Brandon when nothing else will. I guess the ticking sound is soothing to him. I wonder if that will make it less effective when he is older?

I really thought using a timer like this was too rigid, and it probably only works for some children (like everything else), but Damian is one of those kids who would talk until he starved and argue until I gave in, so the timer really helps him feel a sense of urgency to get on with things. Of course I do use it reasonably, giving him more than enough time to finish the task at hand. In fact, I don’t even set the timer until I have reminded him several times to do something.

I think I will put “The Magic Timer” in my kids hope chest. It may be a valuable tool for them when they have children! It has certainly made my “Parenting Hall of Fame”.

OMG, what a week – what a year!

Damian finished Kindergarten on the 12th and he is home for the summer! I really was looking forward to it but two weeks into it I am already wishing I had looked into summer camp. I love having him home but he never stops talking. It can be extremely distracting! Not to mention any schedule I had going when he was in school has been blown to all hell! Somehow the days seem much longer now! And on the rare occasion that i do get a moment without him, I am still reminded of him by the remnants of crap laying on the floors around my house.

Brandon has started crawling. he has also started throwing tantrums, eating toys, and generally causing chaos. I had forgotten what kind of damage such a small person can cause and this child is a crawling hurricane. He went from 0 to 60 in 2 days and can now wreak havoc in my living room in a record time of 3 minutes. It is definitely un-nerving. Especially considering that he is only 8 months old right now!

So it looks like the quiet days with baby are over and summer vacation is going to be a battle for my sanity. My step-daughter is on her way to visit from PA. She hasn’t seen Brandon since he was 2 weeks old so it is exciting for both of the boys. I will come back and tell everyone how it is going.

Mom- the only title in the world that any woman can have without any degrees! We don’t go to school to learn how to be a mommy, the children don’t come with manuals, and we are on call 24 hours a day with no pay. Talk about over-worked and under-paid!?

We are teachers, nurses, step-parents, doctors, do-it-yourself specialists, analysts, friends, organizers, chauffeurs, chefs, bouncers, maids, wives (a job in itself), keepers of the peace and so much more- all rolled into one name- Mom.

We are “One Size Fits All” and we fit the bill easily, almost naturally. Some of us are home all the time with our kids, and others work while caring for their children. Some of us play Dad too! All of us are under-estimated and under-appreciated. And while, every now and again, the benefits of all our hard work are realized, we are still desperately under-compensated. We don’t get days off, and we don’t punch out at 5 o’clock.

Our parents tell us “little Susy was out of diapers at 6 months old, and washing laundry at 4 years old.” , failing to mention that in their day, family ties were strong and the village raised the child. Our husbands cannot understand why we cannot keep the house spotless at any given moment of the day, while doctors want us to devote all our time to immunizations and mental health. Meanwhile, your third grader has science homework on a lesson which hasn’t yet been taught in the classroom, your one year old wants a sippy “right now”, and your 16 year old wants to know why she can’t get her nose pierced and is vowing to move far away as soon as she is 18 because you are “being so unfair!”. The dog is barking, the phone is ringing, someone is at the door and it’s only Monday. In the back of our minds we are wondering how we are going to get through the week, but by Friday, all will be well.

Everything will be done, but we won’t get a promotion, or a over-achiever certificate. The newspaper headlines will read “Eighty-Nine Year old saves stray puppy” instead of “Mom makes it through the week with sanity intact”. No fame, fortune or glory for us. Just the promise of repeating the same impossible feats next week and the week after that!

And, it is with all this in mind, that I have decided to change the title of my blog to “One Size Fits All”. Because we as moms, fit every job description. We do more than any one profession does, and we obviously don’t do it for the money! Plus I feel like complaining today! Hey, we all have our days, right?