B-day Party

Oh. My. Gosh!

My BABY is FIVE years old!!

As of St. Paddy's Day.

I feel so OLD!!!!!!!!!

I am ALMOST...

...the mother of a school-age child.

OH MY GOD!

Where did the time go? When did my little boy get so big????

He will officially be FIVE on Tuesday. Yes. He's a St. Paddy's Day baby.

My little BIG boy on his first birthday. *Sigh* How time flies.

Sunday at the park

These were taken last weekend. I've just been a bit too lazy to post them. lol As you can see, we had a FUN day at the park....even if it was just a bit cold and windy!

Go me!

What the heck are you putting me on, daddy?

Can we please go inside now?? It's too cold out here!

Think I should lick it?

Wee-Wee All the way home!

I was cooking dinner the other night, halfway paying attention to Dalton as he chattered away on the floor next to me.

Generally, I use that time to find out how his day was, if he was having any trouble with the bully at school, if he did anything fun that day, etc.

So, on this particular night, my child decided to shock the hell out of me. Not just once, but twice. Oh yeah. Twice.

You know how it is when you're talking to anyone and cooking at the same time. You're half hearing what they're saying, and half thinking about what you're measuring or chopping, what setting the oven needs to go to, and how long to cook it for, etc.

Well, that's what I was doing, and a little phrase wiggles it's way into my ear..."I have a wee-wee." Well, he does, so I really didn't think about what he was saying, other than the general thought, hmm...he's never called it THAT before....

So, I go on with my cooking, and then that little phrase is followed by another that grabs my brain and puts it into a chokehold.."See? Look!"

And of COURSE, being the obliging mom, I turn and look down to see my child with his pants hiked up his leg, his underwear pulled to the side, and his wee-wee hanging out!

I can't believe I managed to utter a half-way sensible response, "Put that away, baby. That's your private place."

"My private place?"

"Yes, only YOU get to see your private place, ok?"

And that was that. It was put away, and I went back to my cooking with a completely numb brain and most likely a dumb expression on my face.

A couple of minutes later, I hear, "My friend Shane's wee-wee is bigger than mine."

I dropped my spatula.

I didn't even bother responding to that other than, "Uh-huh."

So, now they're comparing wee-wee's at school. Boys. I don't get them.

To Hit Or Not To Hit...That is the question

The past couple of weeks, I've started to notice a difference in Dalton. His attitude, his demeanor...everything was....off. He's had more melt-downs and temper tantrums in the last couple of weeks than he's had in his entire 4, almost 5, years of life!

I would take him to daycare in the morning, and notice that all of a sudden he wants to take the baby to his room first. Then he would need to go potty. Then he would just stand there at the door to his classroom without going in. I'd practically have to push him in. When he would go in, he would pick a table or a seat that didn't have anyone at it, and sit down all by himself. He was ignoring the kids that were normally his friends.

I thought it was definitely odd, but I figured he was just going through a phase. Turns out, that a kid at school is bullying him. Which upsets me, of course. I can't overreact though. It's just time to teach him conflict resolution. Then I come to find out that this same kid is not only calling him names and pushing him, but he's also slapping, kicking, hitting, throwing toys, and ROCKS at my child!! At this point, I am absolutely furious!

It is the daycare's job to watch the children in their care. If they had been paying attention, this never would have happened, and it certainly wouldn't have happened more than a couple of times! My child has bruises all over his body from being pelted with rocks. He has a cut on his face from it as well. Now I know it is difficult for one or two people to keep an eye on 15 children on a playground. However, it is their JOB to guarantee the safety of the children in their care.

So now, it is WAY past the point of just teaching Dalton how to deal with a bully. Both his father and I are teaching him to defend himself. We are also telling him that it is ok to hit back if he is being hurt. I don't like it. I've never believed in teaching a child something like that. It is a fine line between teaching a child defense and teaching him to turn into a bully himself. How do you balance it? How do you tell him it's ok to hit back, but turn around and tell him it's not ok to hit people? It seems confusing. He's almost 5, but at that age, they don't grasp the concept of different situations.

He knows right from wrong. But when you've been teaching them their whole life that it's not ok to hit, kick, or bite people, it's confusing to turn around and tell them it's ok to hit back! I am comfortable with my decision to teach him to defend himself, but I am also nervous about the future. What if I'm creating a monster, so to speak?

I am going to have a LONG talk with the daycare director in the morning. She will absolutely need to guarantee his safety, or I will pull him out immediately and file a complaint with the state. I hate to be "that mother" who never lets the child work out situations on his own. But I draw the line at letting my child come home with numerous bruises and cuts.

Sure, I understand that in school he will have to eventually deal with bullies. However, he is FOUR years old! And in daycare...not school. This should not be happening.

Wow. It's been quite a while since I've blogged. I decided to put myself through blogger-detox which led to blogger-withdrawal. Strangely though, I haven't had any blogger-cravings in a few days.



Don't think I've forgotten everyone though! I haven't. I still read everyone's blog...I guess just lurking around, but for a while I just didn't have anything to say.



Strange, I know. No need to check my forehead for fever. No need to make me stick out my tongue and say "Ahhh." I'm not sick! lol



It's been a crazy-busy place around here for a while. Between work and physical therapy, I usually don't even get home until after 7:00pm. Sometimes later. I'm soooooooooooo tired! lol



Speaking of which, I have noticed that the standard physical therapists office is starting to look a lot more like a medieval torture chamber these days than what it looked like just a few years ago.



It starts out innocently enough...nice, clean waiting room. No interesting magazines...just yawn-inducing medical booklets on various health topics. Standard issue half -wall with the cutout window separating the patients from the receptionist, or whomever happens to be sitting at the window.

Then you're called back onto the "floor." I really don't think the term "floor" can accurately describe a space that is packed with padded tables, machines, exercise equipment, etc. Hell, you can barely SEE the floor! lol

In the middle of this floor is a GIGANTIC bed. A padded rubber bed....that is probably 2 times bigger than a king size bed. It even has pillows. Sounds nice and comfy, huh?

Then they whip out this hard foam roller. It's about 7-8 inches thick and about 3-4 feet tall. They lay it on the bed....and tell you to climb on. Oookkkkaaaaaaayyyyy. So, you sit on the end of this foam roller. Just so you know, I may not have the..ahem...sensitive equipment down below that a man does, but sitting on this thing feels like you're sitting on a tree trunk. It's HARD. I have no clue how they can get away with calling it "foam."

Then, they have you LAY on the foam roller, with your butt at one end and your head at the other. Remember, I said it's only about 7-8 inches thick. Yeah...figure out the mechanics of that. It hurts like a BITCH. The roller directly comes into contact with your spine.

So, now you're balanced on this stupid roller, trying to keep it from rolling out from under you or from falling off. Then they tell you to reach both arms up and then back down at the same time, like you're punching the sky. Torture, I tell ya.

After more various tortures exercises involving the foam roller, you move on to a regular padded table, like they have at most doctor's offices. Except they're longer, and..surprisingly, pretty damn comfortable.

Until they tell you to lay on your stomach scooted all the way to one side of the table. Now your left (or right, depending on what arm you're using) arm and part of your side is hanging into space. And you find yourself desperately holding on with dear life with your other arm. If that's not enough, you have to do various exercises with that arm that's hanging off...with weights. Like you're not already having balance issues.

After a few repetitions of that, now you're onto cervical traction. WHOA HOLD UP! What the hell did you just say??? Cervical what?? Who?? WTF!

Exactly. WTF is right. If you have claustrophobia, it's not for you. If you have issues with being tied down, it's not for you. However, if you're game, they strap your neck into this machine with a strap across your forehead holding you in. Then they slowly increase the pounds of pressure, and your neck is pulled. Yeeeaaaaahhhhhhh. As in feels like it's getting pulled off.

So, at this point, you're gauging the distance between you and the exit, trying to figure if you can run fast enough with this thing attached to your neck and head.

When that's over, you move to yet ANOTHER padded table. And they bring you electrodes. Yep. Electrodes. "What are those?", you may ask. Electrodes...as in electricity. As in things they stick on your back to conduct electricity into your body. Yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

Now, I may surprise you here. Even though it resembles a torture chamber, and for the most part, the exercises are painful and difficult, I enjoy the HELL out of the TENS Unit. I actually do have a miniature one at home that I use from time to time. And I can stand the cervical traction, if I HAVE to. Barely. Sort of.

Even though physical therapy in general is uncomfortable, it does seem to be helping. I have another round of it tonight, so I'm definitely going to cut this short. Otherwise, I'll ramble all night!