Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't

My co-workers and I were discussing pregnancy, babies and parenthood issues this afternoon and were lamenting that it seems like no matter what you choose to do with your child, it's always the wrong decision in someone's book.


Don't breastfeed? You're a home-grown terrorist!


You work outside of the home? You're letting someone else raise your child? Oh, the gall!

What? Disposable diapers? You're such a self-centered, Earth-hater contributing to the demise of our planet. 

There are so many hot-button issues that as a parent you're either damned if you don't, damned if you do. And everybody has an opinion and they make that opinion known!

So, I found this article called "The 10 Most Irritating, Least Helpful Parenting Tips Ever." I thought I'd share because I could relate to most of these tips and thought my parent friends might relate to.

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/the-10-most-irritating-least-helpful-parenting-tips-ever-2448391/

Oh, and if you want a really good chuckle, go ahead and read this one, too. It's called the 11 Step Program for People Thinking About Having Children. Thanks, Liz, for sending! I can so related to number 5!

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a25844665/11_step_program_for_people_thinking_of_having_children.


Happy parenting, my friends! Rest assured that I won't judge you for bribing your kid with a cookie if you don't judge me for the dog hair on my daughter's clothes. Deal?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Treats

Ellie's first Valentine's Day party at school is tomorrow, so I was busy this afternoon preparing her treats. I signed up to bring fruit, but of course I wanted to put my own cute little spin on it.

Here's what I started with.

• individually packaged diced peaches
• multi-colored thin foam
• scissors 
• a sharpie
• ribbon or raffia (not pictured)
• a hole punch (not pictured)
• heart shaped cookie cutter
• clear wrapping paper (not pictured)

I needed two other ingredients, too.

A sleeping baby. 

Thank you, nap time!

And, a sleeping husband and doggy. No naps for me today!

I love this picture!

With all that quite time, here's what I ended up with.

Cute little "You're Peachy" snacks for her classmates to take home and enjoy. I love Valentine's Day!

Oh, and I didn't leave my co-workers out of the mix. But, shhh! Don't tell; it's a secret!

These were a practice run for something similar I'm making for E's first birthday next month.

Enjoy this special day with the ones you love!

 

Bitten By What? A Kid?

That was my naive response to being told this afternoon that my daughter had been bitten not only once, but twice today at daycare. It never even dawned on me that I'd have to worry about my child being chomped on. Oh, sure, I know that biting is somewhat normal in children and that the majority of parents deal with a biting victim or a perpetrator, but at 10 months? Really?

As much as I didn't see some kid treating Ellie like a Pink Lady apple coming, I certainly didn't expect that she'd be bullied before she could even walk. You see, apparently there's a pattern with this little girl and she's taken aim on Ellie, even kicking her in addition to the bites. It's like hazing. Initiation to a new classroom and I don't like it one bit!

The reason why I bring this up is not just to vent, but to figure out, how do you handle your child being bitten? I tried not to over react and extend some grace to this kid and her family, but I don't want my child being afraid to go to daycare. If you're a parent, how have you dealt with your child being bitten? If you're a teacher, what's happening at school to keep her away from this other child?

It's not like I can teach her to punch--or if I'd want to even go there-- and she can't tell me if things get out of hand. She's a baby. My baby. And this situation makes me want to give every kid in her class laffy taffy then compare the bite marks to the ones on her forehead to find the perp. Detective work at its finest.

In the Kitchen: Cherry Pie!

Okay, warning. Every time, I mean EVERY TIME, I make, think or talk about cherry pie, I sing a line from Warrant. "She's my cherry pie!" Be prepared to have these lyrics stuck in your head for a while. You're welcome!

So, I got bitten by the baking bug this afternoon. There's just something about being inside for hours on end that makes me feel all domestic-like. So, with Ellie down for a nap, I went back to a blog post I'd seen a week or so ago with individual heart-shaped cherry pies.

http://meetthedubiens.blogspot.com/2011/01/heart-shaped-cherry-pies.html

Um, my end result looked nothing like hers, by the way! Nevertheless, I'm happy with the way these turned out and they were very simple and yummy--and I'm not a huge cherry fan. I ran out of flour so I had to use some Bisquick, and ended up liking that added texture and flavor. Though I have a million and one Christmas cookie cutters, I didn't have a heart, so I had to fashion one by hand. Not a cookie cutter; I made a heart by hand. I'm no MacGruber!

These were the perfect size!

The judges on Chopped would be impressed with my plating skills for Ellie's serving, which of course wasn't really for her consumption, but my enjoyment of preparing it.

I added some pizzaz to Ellie's plate

If you have kiddos, do check out Jill's blog. She does such cool things with healthy food; your kids will so want to eat what she comes up with! If you try the cherry pies, let me know how yours turn out! 

My Funny Valentine

I have some special plans in mind for these pictures and hated to ruin the surprise, but I just couldn't wait to debut them. 

Last week I took some Valentine's pictures of my sweet little princess. She was a little sleepy and suffering from double ear infections--I didn't know at the time--but she was a trooper and let me play dress up with her. Being a mom to a girl is so much fun! 

I made the tutu and the baby leg warmers, which you can't really see. They were super easy. Just take women's knee-high socks, cut above the heel and sew. Voila! Baby leg warmers!

My fav!

Sweet girl!

She loves to dance and clap

A side note: I'm new to photography and trying to practice. I'd love to do children and family portraits as a side business someday, so if you know of anyone who'd be willing to let me practice on their family, let me know!