what's cooking?

Flip Over From Potty Training to Smoking Pot: Great Review of Big Book of Parenting Solutions by Carine Nadel

Posted using ShareThis

Believe it or not-being a 24/7 grandparent is all of the following: fun, rewarding, fascinating and exhausting, oh and heart-tugging.


The little guys have been with us a couple of weeks now and we’ve gone to 4 different parks, Costco, Von’s, Henry’s, Fuddruckers and Pete’s burgers, Bed, Bath and Beyond and to the mall for trick-or-treating. We’ve helped welcome our son and future daughter-in-law’s new sheltie to the family, walked Sunshine (that was a site-a 13 year old lab on a leash and two toddlers grabbing onto my legs for about ½ mile) and made chocolate chip cookies.


With the help of my sister-I also had the “pleasure” of taking them for both flu shots and boosters.


That was fun. Aidan cried and held on for dear life during the first two and Dylan said “grandma this is very, very terrible-very terrible. I want to go for a walk now.”


So we did-right upstairs to the pediatrician’s office for the boosters. They were having a blast in the play area UNTIL they were called in. Aidan collapsed on the floor and Dylan just kept saying “this is very, very terrible”.


My sister and I felt like the worst Grandma and Aunt on the planet. If it wouldn’t have broken some kind of unwritten protocol we would have joined in the tears.



Total needles: Dylan 4, Aidan 3


Sigh.



Got home and fed them whatever their brave little hearts desired for lunch and then gave them some of those aforementioned chocolate chip cookies. Held them and watched ‘CARS’ until the proverbial cows came home (it was until Grandpa came in the door-same thing).


After dinner they told grandpa all that happened to them and showed off their various band aids. Grandpa added his kisses to the pile already started by Auntie Felicia, grandma and Sunshine.


I know intellectually that this all had to get done, but it sure didn’t feel very good for the entire day.



Thankfully, they were angrier at their parents for not being with them during this “terrible” event-wouldn’t even talk to them on the phone, let alone the webcam.


Next morning all was well-until the younger one caught his brother’s finger in a cabinet door.




Life is usually pretty good, but unfortunately sometimes, in the words of a very wise little man, it really is “very, very terrible”.



Sigh.

Happy Halloween to all those who give me the honor of visiting here!

This is quite a holiday for us this year. My grandsons are staying with us while our daughter and son-in-law are training for a new job and moving into new digs. Because the boys are but wee ones my husband and I are taking them trick-or-treating.
We haven’t done this in about 12 years or so (my guess is it’s a lot longer than that). When we did, we took the kids to one or more of the local malls.
Why, you ask? Easy-I am just not a lover of walking around in the dark and cold. That’s right, we usually get a cold snap with bitter winds about 3 days a year-one of them is Halloween.
When our kids were Dylan and Aidan’s ages we decided rather than freeze our patooties off (yes, that is a real medical term for a body part) and then spend the rest of the week warding off the flu (another assured thing that happens to me when I am in climate weather) we’d just go to the mall.

It’s well lit, the candy’s safe and most of the neighborhood kids and their parents were there as well. In fact, we’d make arrangements with the other parents to meet at whatever fast food place we liked in the food court and make the evening really special and pop for hamburgers and fries for the occasion! The kids didn’t have to wear a heavy coat over their costumes, pictures didn’t come out with the dreaded red-eye syndrome and everyone had a great time.
Plus, our neighborhood doesn’t seem to “do” trick-or-treating. Seriously. In 20 years we haven’t even hit the double digits of times our doorbell rang.

As the kids got older-we continued the tradition, but we somehow wound up taking our kids best friends and treating them to the fast food. We also found ourselves finding and saving the tables and giving the kids a meet up time. Let’s face it-at 10 and 12 kids do not like the idea of mommy and daddy trailing 2 steps behind them anymore. Another reason to love doing this activity at the mall-lots of parents, lots of security guards and with the threat of “be here by Xtime or I’ll be hunting you down” the kids are sure to have their fun and be ready for MickeyD’s early!

This will be our first time taking on the role of grandparents. My parents went with us once. They didn’t accept the invitation after that. We’re looking forward to it. Dylan is going as Capt. Hook and Aidan as Peter Pan. (I did NOT pick out that one) We’re going at the start of the fun about 3-4 in the afternoon. Then we’ll go upstairs to the Burger King. Afterwards-I’ll go home with the boys and my husband will join our son and fiancée for a Clippers basketball game.

That was actually the original plan for our Halloween celebration this year. I’m thinking-I’m getting the better end of the party.

Interviewed Michele Borba from the today show on her latest book:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/parenting-book-need-2621645-parent-parents#

Hi all, I have two new ones for you all!
The first is my monthly city column here in OC, CA. This month's spotlight is on the Shea Therapeutic Equestrian Center's Volunteer of the Year:

http://www.ocregister.com/share/profiles/?slid=bf3d273e-aaca-d8a4-f59d-4f0c97d2eb69&plckPersonaPage=BlogViewPost&plckUserId=bf3d273e-aaca-d8a4-f59d-4f0c97d2eb69&plckPostId=Blog%3abf3d273e-aaca-d8a4-f59d-4f0c97d2eb69Post%3a8579de15-cc72-41ff-b7c4-7f222d1f422c&plckController=PersonaBlog&plckScript=personaScript&plckElementId=personaDest


The other is my latest on MORE online, on the lost art of Thank You notes:

http://www.more.com/4879/8519-the-art-of-thank-you

Enjoy!

Moving is my least favorite thing to do. When we bought this house 20 plus years ago it was a “new build”. Literally-we saw the model and then my hubby and I stood on the foundation (that’s all there was of it) and I said “Mister, tell me now if you can stand living on this lot, cuz this is the LAST move I intend to make. “

I said this because our home, while at the end of a cul-de-sac was butting up against a major parkway. We are up on a hill, of sorts, but the traffic could and can be heard loud and clear. Are kids were 4-1/2 and 6-1/2. We had moved 5 times during the first 7 years of our marriage. The packing always seemed to be my job.

Obviously we bought the house and we’ve been here much longer than just about all our neighbors. Only we and 2 others are original owners within a 5 block radius.

I was darn serious.

The reason I’m talking about moving is because of our son and daughter-in-law’s recent move. They’re enjoying their new digs and the place looks really quite warm and homey. Toby, the Maine Coon, isn’t as overjoyed, but the soon to be married couple are happy.
Then there’s our daughter and son-in-law. They’re moving to Phoenix for some pretty nice and well-paying temp-to-hopefully-permanent jobs. They didn’t realize how much “stuff” they had that they really didn’t need. Plus they still need to transport it via U-Haul to their new city and find a place to live.

Nerves abound.

What did I suggest to both-pretend you’re going to the market: make a list and check it twice and do it once.
I’m into lists. I make them not only to make sure the proper groceries are purchased, but for lots of things-errands, doctor appointments, needed personal appointments of other kinds, things to bug the project supervisor of our bath remodels, etc…

To help our daughter, the boys (our grandsons ages 2-3/4 and 1-3/4) are moving in here with us until their parents are through training, finding a place to live and settling in-then we’ll drive the boys out for their reunion. I started writing a list of things to “not forget” to ask for: clothes, sweatshirts (in case our temps decide to dip into the 60’s or something), favorite toys, what foods to buy and the most important-a note from their parents giving us permission to take them to the doctor’s (if the need should arise) and their medical cards!

Let me tell you-I was being kidded on so many levels as I was checking off all of these things. But when our daughter started complaining about not being able to get everything done and needing help, I calmly suggested that my idea of making a list, checking it twice and doing what was on it “one step at a time” seemed very apropos.

Like finding out parents are wise, acknowledging how right I am might be years in the making, but I’m putting it on my list of things to remember. I’ll have it ready and check it off when I hear it and it’s done.

An Ode to Shopping with Coupons - MORE Magazine

Shared via AddThis

http://fabulously40.com/blog/id/kids-12635?ref=twitter KID FRIENDLY MEAL IDEAS