It’s been a while since I updated about Elyana’s potty training, since the last couple of posts, “The Potty Training Challenge” and “The Potty Training Challenge 2″. Basically, we didn’t have much progress since then.

It seemed like she developed a phobia of going into the potty. She’s been perfectly ready for the potty for at least 6 months. She’s been able to go without a diaper without an accident for a while. As she needed to go, she would request a diaper. And if we tried to make her go into the potty instead of a diaper, she would put up the biggest stink. It involved lots of screaming, crying, resenting sitting on the potty, until she had no choice but to go on the floor!

Finally a few days ago I decided to enforce the “no diaper” policy. Basically, I wasn’t willing to give up no matter how much stink she puts up. The goal was to make her go into the potty versus the diaper or the floor. I even sweetened up the deal by promising ice cream if she goes into the potty.

First couple of times we had to force her to sit on the potty while she was peeing. It came to the point where she would cry, scream and shake from trying to hold it in. But eventually, she just had to let it loose. There was quite a bit of spillage, but some of it made into the potty. After much praising she got her ice cream.

Now she seems to enjoy peeing into the potty. She gets really excited when she does, she runs around clapping and proudly showing everybody her full potty.

But our work is far from over. Our next step is to make her go #2 into the potty. The ice cream deal didn’t seem to work tonight. We’ll see what happens tomorrow!

Seems like I’ve been moving a mile a minute since Nathan was born seven weeks ago. Now the randomity of dealing with our new family member is wearing off, and the well-desired routine is settling in.  A quick update is long overdue after taking a 7-week break from blogging.

Baby Nathan is now 7 weeks old and is doing well.  Alas, last couple of nights I went to bed before midnight for the first time since he was born. Usually he needs attendance until 1-2 in the morning before going down for the night. I’m hoping that the pattern of him falling asleep at a normal time continues, since I have to be up for my oldest at 7:30.

He’s been smiling for couple of weeks already. Best time to catch him greening is in the mornings or while changing his diaper. He loves attention. His fussy time is at night, starting around dinner and ending with his last feeding for the day, at around 10. Often we have to move him to his crib during dinner for the sake of our sanity. Though having two-year old around kind of defeats the purpose.

Elyana is still going to daycare twice a week and seems to enjoy it. I enjoy a little break from her as well. She learns a lot there and constantly shows off new words and skills she learned there! Her language skills and awareness of her surroundings are improving a mile a minute. Just yesterday I missed a turn to the library and as soon as I did that, she yelled: “Mommy go where? Mommy go where?”. That caught my attention and I made a U-turn before I drove too far. Elyana is quite a dancer and a singer. She’s more likely going to be artistic and I can’t wait to get her into something that involves dancing or music of some sort.

I’m fully recovered from delivery and working at establishing a realistic exercise routine for myself. Breastfeeding is taking up a good chunk of my day, though it’s getting easier as the time passes by. Lack of sleep and possibly other things are starting to affect my ability to remember things. Sometimes I feel like a complete cluts! I’ve given up at keeping my house “perfect” and my face made-up, as I simply don’t have the time! As long as I manage to clean the kitchen, pick up loose toys around the house, brush my teeth, wash my face and conceal the dark circles under my eyes, I feel pretty good! At the end of the day, I’m not going to remember how clean my carpet was or whether I made up my bed.

On a different note, I’ve been accepted back into graduate school at USF for Masters in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering. I took a break after my daughter was born in December of ‘07. Not sure if I will be attending this summer, since only couple of courses are offered by a different engineering department. Though it would be nice, since they are being offered online!

My other posts from this series:

Furnishing a Nursery

Choosing a Stroller and a Car Seat

Choosing a Jogging Stroller

In this post I am going to focus on other baby gear that I personally found important to have and why. If you’re about to have a baby shower for your first child, walking through the baby store’s isles can be overwhelming. So many articles, they all seem important and possibly necessary. Monitors, crib mobiles, swings, playpens, bath tubs, changing table pads, diaper disposals etc, etc… I think it’s important to separate these items into three categories, “not needed”, “I could possibly use that” and “I definitely need it”! From that point you can make a decision for what you need to purchase based on the necessity level and the budget.

Even with my first one, I used careful judgment at picking baby items (yep, I’m a minimalista!).  I evaluated how long I would be using the item, how much it costs and what is its necessity level. And since I knew ahead of time that we were planning on two kids, I picked the colors to cover either gender.

This is a list of items that I’m glad I got, since they were well worth getting.

Playpen/bassinet combination with changing pad is a definite necessity and will serve your child from birth until 2 or 3 years old. I decided not to purchase changing table, see why in my previous article and started using playpen from the time my daughter was born. I didn’t use it as a bassinet, since it’s bulky and not easily movable. When my daughter grew up a little, I got rid of the changing pad and started using it as an actual playpen. It’s definitely a lifesaver when you need to leave the room to take a shower or if you’re cleaning the house or when they simply misbehave! Since it can be folded into a compact bag, it served as a bed for her when we went to visit relatives overnight. She outgrew its bed purpose at around two, when she got too tall for it.

Bassinet is a very convenient item to have, but not worth buying brand new. It’s only great for the first 3 months of your baby’s life. It’s small and portable. I used to wheel it around the house everywhere I went. At night the bassinet was next to my bed for the convenience of breastfeeding. During the day it sat next to me in the family room. When I went on the porch, I brought it along as well. Since its use is limited to only first three months, I saw no point of getting a brand new bassinet. I borrowed it from a friend. If it’s not an option, look for a used one. Just make sure it’s stable, the base is not missing any screws and the wheels are in working condition.

Baby swing is a definite necessity. I used it from almost time she was born until about a year from then. The motion kept her quiet while I was able to get other things done.  She would often dose off in it.

Shopping cart cover got its use for the ten bucs I spent on it. I used it from the time my daughter was about 6 months until she was a little over a year. You can definitely use it longer than that, I just didn’t seem to have a necessity for it.

Baby carrier/sling (0-3 months) for newborns. We used it quite a bit to walk around the neighborhood for the first 3+ months of her life. I left it up to my husband to carry her around in it. The weight was a little too much for my back for the whole stretch of the walk.

Baby gym is a little on the pricey side for a brand new, but it had a good run with my first one and will be with my 2nd as well. She started to interact with it at about 2-3 months of age until we decided to pack it up around the time she started walking. She enjoyed the lights going on and off with the sound of the music. She didn’t start grabbing the toys until few months later, but it kept her entertained overall. Even now, at two years old, she sneaks into her closet (that’s where we store it), closes the door from the inside and turns on the music with blinking lights. It’s like she’s having her own little party in there, no parents invited .

Baby intercom is a definite necessity if your baby is sleeping in a separate room. I would recommend purchasing the one that is running on high frequency, the kind that the cordless phones use, rather than the low radio frequency. At first we got the low frequency one, and it drove us nuts at night. It was making all kinds of static noises, and we were just having a hard time sleeping. Also, if your neighbors happen to come across the radio frequency you’re using, they can listen in on your conversation in the nursery. After a few days I bought the high frequency intercom and had no problems with it. No static noises, just the baby! Some people complain that they’re having a hard time hearing the baby, but I didn’t find it to be a problem at all.

Crib Mobile/Crib Aquarium are not the “can’t live without” type items, but they are nice to have. My daughter was enjoying them since infant until we moved her to the big girl’s room at 2. Even then she couldn’t part with her musical aquarium.

Infant bath tub (0-6 mo) I found to be very useful. You could definitely use other means to wash the baby, like the sink or a regular bathtub, but it can be a bit tricky in the early months, having to support his head and washing him at the same time. So with my first one I played it safe by getting a special bathtub, and it worked out very well.

There is no way to cover absolutely every baby item. This is just my take on the things that I consider important and  personally use to make my life easier. If you have something to add, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I love to learn from others how they do things.

In my next post I’ll focus on the items that I consider unnecessary based on my personal experience and judgment.

Before I even start talking about choosing a jogging stroller, here are some questions I think you should ask yourself:

• How often are you planning to use the stroller? Once or more per week, once a month, when the opportunity comes up? This could decide the quality of the stroller you want, besides just the features. You know the saying, you get what you pay for! The more you use it, the higher quality stroller you would want. (always check reviews!) If you’re not planning on using it much at all, maybe going with a used one is a better option!
• Are you planning on having a second child and when? This can decide whether to invest your money in a new or used, top of the line or a less expensive version. If you’re planning on the second one pretty soon, then buying the top of the line single jogging stroller may not be the best option financially. With the second child, you would probably want to upgrade to the double stroller.
• What activities are you planning on doing with the stroller? Are you mostly a walker or runner, what type of surfaces are you planning on covering with it? Again, this decides the durability you would want to expect from the stroller. Many people use their jogging stroller to walk on the paved path in their neighborhood or at the mall. Well, then you don’t need a top of the line, highest quality stroller. If you’re planning on running on the beach or over uneven surfaces, like the wooded paths, grass, rocks…, then you would want something sturdier, with quality wheels that won’t twist or pop and would deliver according to your expectations.

Like I was saying in my previous post, before purchasing I would strongly recommend to physically check out the item at the store, if available. You will get to try it out, see how it works and get a good idea of what it would be like to own it.

If this option is not available or even if it is, second best thing is to look at the product’s reviews. This will give you a good estimate of stroller’s durability and expected problems that might come down the road. Amazon.com and Babies’r'us are couple of popular sites to check out. I usually go with a product that has at least 15 reviews. This way I know that the product is not brand new, it’s been tried by others, and I get to find out how well it works from real people. Even if a product has a good rating, still browse through some poor reviews. If you see that a certain complaint repeats itself, you know what to expect, and whether that particular feature is important enough to you to make a “move on” or “no big deal” decision.

So with this in mind, here is my take on it. I actually bought a used running stroller with my first for the cost reasons, I wasn’t sure how often I would actually use it, and I also knew that we were planning on a second one in a near future. It’s made by Expedition and has a fixed front wheel rather than the swivel type. It was already pretty beat up, the back wheels were a little twisted, making it wobbly. I also was not excited about the fixed front wheel. Fixed wheel will only go straight. If you have any sort of a turn or a curve in your path, you have to lift the front of the stroller to elevate the front wheel, while making the turn, so the stroller can stay on the path. Not very convenient! Because of such poor maneuverability, I can’t take it for shopping or a casual walk in smaller spaces. One of the benefits of the locked wheel is it does go well over rough or uneven surfaces, like grass or sand.

Now that we’re expecting a second one, I am looking into a double stroller with a swivel wheel that can also be locked in place. I actually purchased one from Baby Jogger, but was disappointed and returned it. I wrote a blog post about it if you’re interested.  My next choice is either Schwinn Free Wheeler 2 Double Swivel Wheel Jogging Stroller or InStep Safari Swivel Double Jogging Stroller. Both stroller are similarly priced and both have some issues. Now I’m trying to negotiate with myself which flows I’m okay to put up with, and which I would rather walk away from. By reading some average reviews, 3 out of 5 stars, I found that Schwinn stroller has seats that are too deep and too reclined. In the InStep Stroller, the seats are apparently too close together and the older kid ends up occasionally wacking the younger one. Apparently there is also not enough support between the seats, making kids slide toward the middle.

With this in mind, I still can’t justify spending nearly $600 on a BOB stroller that appears to have a perfect 5 out of 5 rating.

If you do choose to get a jugging stroller as an every day stroller, I would recommend following:

• Going with a swivel wheel stroller that locks in the place for jogging or rough terrain.
• Look into a stroller that is car seat compatible.
• If above is not an option, make sure you can use this stroller for a newborn without the car seat.

This is it for now. In my next post I’m planning on talking about the rest of the baby gear and its usability. So stay tuned!

Related Articles:

Preparing for a New Baby Minimalista Way, Stroller and Car Seat Selection

Preparing for a New Baby Minimalista Way, Furnishing Nursery

How I Decorated My Nursery Cheaply

In my earlier post I talked about saving money on furnishing and decorating the nursery. In this post I’ll be talking about picking the right stroller.

In my opinion, an every day stroller is not a thing to buy at the garage sale. Since it has a few nuts and bolts, moving parts, folding mechanism, you want these things to be sturdy, last a while and work well. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be using your stroller a lot. I use it to go on the walks in the neighborhood, shopping, play dates, adventure parks, etc.

Before purchasing I would strongly recommend to physically check out the item at the store, if available. You will get to try it out, see how it works and get a good idea of what it would be like to own it.

If this option or is not available or even if it is, second best thing is to look at the product’s reviews. This will give you an overview of its durability and expected problems down the road. Amazon.com and Babies’r'us are couple of popular sites to check out. I usually go with a product that has at least 15 reviews. This way I know that the product is not brand new, it’s been tried by others, and I get to find out how well it works from real people. Even if a product has a good rating, still browse through some poor reviews. If you see a certain complaint repeats itself, you know what to expect, and whether that particular feature is important enough to you to make a “move on” or “no big deal” decision.

If you’re planning on more than one child, going with neutral colors is one of the way to economize.

We chose to go with Graco Passage Travel System that included the car seat and the stroller together. This type of set up can be used from the time they’re newborn and up to about 5 years of age or 50 pounds in weight. Even though this stroller is on the less expensive side, under $200, it’s surprisingly sturdy. My kid is over 2 years old now, but the stroller barely has a scratch on it. I am not exactly the most smooth operator either, I do tend to bump it into things at times and it seems to take the “abuse” fairly well. Here are some other features that I like:

• The folding mechanism, I can do with one hand.
• The fabric is spill proof. Spills can be wiped off easily without having to throw the whole thing into the wash. I actually haven’t washed anything yet (besides the car seat cover) and it looks just like new!
• It has a generous size canopy, perfect for Florida’s glaring sun.
• It’s fairly easy to maneuver.
• Big storage basket underneath. It easily fits a diaper bag, my purse and the jackets for me, husband and baby.
• The price is under $200.
• 4.5 out 5 stars rating on Amazon.com, which is not bad compared to other strollers.

Here are couple of cons for me:

• I wish the stroller were a little lighter (it’s about 27 pounds). Even though I don’t ever think about it when I’m actually using it, I do feel it when I have to get it in and out of the car.
• The car seat is heavy as well. Not sure how much it weighs, but I do feel it when I get it in and out of the car.

Overall though, it’s a good stroller for the money.

In the travel system, car seat usually comes with the base for the car and also fits comfortably on top of the stroller. Another advantage of the travel system is the portability of the car seat. You can take it with you anywhere without disturbing your baby, if he happens to be napping at the time. And babies nap a lot! This way you don’t have to worry about how you’re planning on carrying your baby around without the car seat. For example, if you’re going shopping, you can place the car seat over the front part of most shopping carts, leaving you hands-free from carrying your baby.

One of the disadvantages of buying travel system is that you can only use the car seat for up for to about 12-14 months of age or 20 pounds. Then you have to invest in a new car seat. Usually they will accommodate a child starting from the newborn to up to 40-50 pounds. They are also bulky and non-portable. Even though I call myself a minimalista, I decided to invest in a more expensive (for me) Evenflo Symphony 65 with Surelatch All In One Car Seat.

Here are some of the positives of this car seat that I care about:

• It reclines into four different positions. If we happen to travel during her nap time, I recline the seat into the least steep angle position ahead of time. This way her head doesn’t drop on her chest and she doesn’t look like she’s getting a big pain in the neck, LOL!
• This seat comes with additional head support and protection on the sides. So in case of an accident, the head doesn’t jerk too much to either side.
• The straps are very easy to adjust from up front. I use this feature all the time, because of what she’s wearing or when I get her in and out of the car.
• The head support adjusts easily, without having to unbuckle the seat. I don’t use this feature much, but it’s still convenient.
• It comes with an optional cup holder for the child.
• The seat seems to be extremely comfortable, lots of padding!
• It’s rating is 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon.com.

Honestly, I haven’t found any negatives about this car sit yet. And I had for over a year now.

You can get a child’s car seat as inexpensively as $40 and the most expensive ones that I’ve seen are almost $300. As a tip, if you’re planning on purchasing from Babies-R-Us, you can usually find a coupon for $20 off travel system ether online or in their flier.

Some of you might want to purchase a stroller, which is a combination between an every day stroller and a jogging stroller. In my next post I’m planning to talk about jogging strollers, so stay tuned!

Baby news can put anyone over the edge considering the upcoming medical bills, acquiring all the baby gear, nursery furnishings, clothing. All this is besides the upcoming every day expenses, like diapers, formula, health insurance, etc.

I am a minimalista and in less than three weeks we are expecting our second child, this time it’s a boy! We already have a 2-year old girl, and by going through her stuff the other day, I realized that we hardly need anything for our new baby boy! I would like to share with you how I managed to spend very little on both of my kids and still have all the necessities.

In this post I will be talking about setting up nursery. You can spend a ton or spend a little, it’s up to you. All I’m going to do is provide the information that could help you make the choices that are right for you!

1. Relieve yourself from extra work. If you’re planning on more than one kid, I would recommend designing the nursery in colors that would be appropriate for either gender. In my case, I knew ahead of time that we were planning on having two, so I chose to paint the nursery light green. I’m glad I did. Our two kids happen to be of opposite gender. To avoid extra work, we moved our “big” girl into her new room, leaving the nursery exactly the way it is. No more painting or moving the furniture (in the nursery that is). We still had to paint and decorate the room for our 2-year old though.

2. Furniture choices. If it’s your first, you’re probably thinking of the type and pieces of furniture you would like to purchase. First, ask yourself, what will you need and for how long? Some of the key pieces for the nursery include crib, dresser, changing table and a rocking chair. So now, lets look at it practically.

Do you have a piece of furniture already that you could possibly use for your new nursery, like a dresser, crib or a rocker? If yes, then you can build upon what you already have. This is what we did. We already had a dresser that my husband used since he was a boy. It’s old, but still in decent shape and adds character to the room. So I decided to purchase a crib that matched the dresser as closely as possible. You don’t have to necessarily get pieces that match, depending on your vision.

Now, evaluate the furniture that you may need piece by piece. What is the length of time it’s going to be used for? How practical is it to have for now and for later? Can you live with the same furniture for a while or do you need to update your furnishings every few years?

For example, if you were going to purchase a dresser, can you see it as a permanent piece that can be used for a long time? In my opinion, definitely. Your child can use it until they move out! Then it could probably be used in a guest bedroom. Is it worth spending the money on? I think it is.

What about the crib? There are tons of styles and types. There are light and portable ones, that can be wheeled from room to room on the regular basis. There are also more bulky ones that are not portable, but they can be converted from a crib to a toddler bed, to a day bed, and finally to a full size bed. What style is more appropriate for your lifestyle? If you choose to go with a small portable crib, consider that in couple of years your child won’t need it anymore. You will have to replace it with an actual bed. In this case, I would go with a less expensive brand or even a used one. For a used crib or other furniture check out garage sales, local newspaper ads, including their online ads, Craigslist.com,  The Flyer, etc.

If you choose to go with a convertible crib, then maybe spending a little more is worth your while. This is what we did. I decided not to go with the cheapest crib and got what I liked. Since it’s convertible, this bed should be good for one of our kids until they are fully grown and then some.

Lets talk about the changing table. You will probably use it for a year or less as an actual changing table. Then you can convert it into a storage shelf or get rid of it completely. In my opinion, it’s not a very practical piece to acquire, so I would not go out of my way for it. Here is a conversation between my friends that I experienced earlier this week. One (Olga) is expecting a baby in a few months. Another (Ira) has a one and a half-year old and planning on the second in a year or so.

Olga: “Do you think I should get a changing table?”

Ira: “I’ll let you borrow mine, make some extra room in my attic.”

Olga: “I can buy it from you if you like.”

Ira: “No, I’ll need it back, but I’ll be glad to lend it to you!”

Looks like it’s win-win for both parties. Olga will get her changing table and Ira will have extra room in her attic for the time being. Lesson learned: borrow from friends things that you’ll only use for a few months.

I actually chose not to get a changing table. I decided to get it as part of the playpen. If you check out the link, a removable changing pad attaches to one side of the playpen and can be used for a few months as well, just like the changing table. If you’re worried about storage, it also comes with a removable pocket on the side to place diapers and wipes into. It’s easy to remove once your child grows out of it. You get to save some bucks on the furniture and you don’t have to worry about what to do with it once your child grows out of it!

What about a rocking chair? Again, you will probably use it for only a few months, as far as your baby is concerned. Then you got to ask yourself, can I fit it into my home decor as a permanent furniture piece, once my baby grows up? If so, get the one you like and keep it for a while. If not, then it’s probably easier to borrow or buy a used one that you can easily get rid of later.

In my case, we already had a hand-me-down mini recliner that is a rocker as well. The fabric on it was a bit old-fashioned, so I updated it with the fabric of my choice.

So this is my input on the furnishings and for more decorating tips, visit my earlier post, How I Decorated My Nursery Cheaply. Stay tuned for my next post about choosing a stroller and a car seat.

Today my 2-year old daughter gave me about 1 hour of extra work that I didn’t ask for! It all started with me changing an old litter box to a new automatic litter box.

As I was pouring the litter into the new litter box, I realized I didn’t have enough. So I dug into the old litter box for extra litter. While I was cleaning out the old litter box in the laundry room, cat decided to pee into the new box that was sitting in the living room. She doesn’t waste any time!

Then I started hearing exciting laughing from my 2-year old. Something was making her very happy. As I picked into the living room to see what she was up to, I found her throwing wet litter into the animals. Pieces of litter ended up all over the carpet and the tiled hallway.

I was madder than mad! While I was screaming about what a bad girl she’s been, I dragged her into the bathroom to wash her hands. There I realized that her hair was full of litter to. So she got a bath. As we came out, I threw her into the playpen, so I could finish what I started.

I ended up vacuuming the living room along with the tiled hallway. On top of it, I washed the floors, since the litter was wet and stuck to it. Then I had to get the dog outside and brush a bunch of litter off her fur.

When I got back to the playpen, baby innocently fell asleep. Awww, this innocent little face gave me all this work in as little as two minutes! That’s terrible twos for you! And we thought that our little angel will be better than the rest of the “other terrible kids” out there. Ha, I guess you live you learn!

I probably am one of the worst home organizers you will ever meet. Why? Before I met my husband, I didn’t have much stuff, didn’t care for having lots of it, and I seemed to always have enough space for what I had. So home organization was one of the last things that ever popped into my mind. When I bought my first house, and it’s the house that we’re currently in, I thought to myself, there is no way I will ever fill this space. It’s a four bedroom house with a large kitchen, decent family room and a good size living room/dining room combination. At the time it seemed to have unlimited amount of closet space.

Well, was I wrong. Five years down the road, and two additional occupants with the third on the way, the house is officially packed to its max. These days I look in the closets thinking to myself, how could they go from completely empty to being stuffed like this? The three-car garage is now a two-car with tons of crap in place of third. Now I have no choice, but to start getting creative and get organized!

My first project was to tackle baby room closet. With the second kid coming in about three weeks, I just need to create additional room. Since we already have a 2-year old, we’re pretty well equipped with all the baby gear. Even though the closet is fairly large, it looked extremely cluttered. The corners were packed with bunch of baby stuff and some of our stuff too. Too bad I didn’t think to snap a picture. Elyana’s old clothes that are too small for her were stuck in the corners in the bags, mixed in with the shopping cart cover, baby swing gear, baby gym, breastfeeding pillow, etc.

Being a cheapscate on top of being a minimalist, I did not want to spend much money on the project. I purchased couple of 18-gallon storage totes, since they were buy one, get one free. I made sure that the totes’ dimensions matched the closet width before I got them. And I packed them up pretty fast. In order to remember what’s where for easy find, I made labels and taped them to the side of each tote.

I also reorganized the way I store clothes for our new baby boy. We have a lot of used clothes left over from Elyana, that can be reused for a boy. I tried to get as much gender neutral stuff as possible when she was under 12 months (another perk of being a minimalist). On top of it, we got pretty good amount of boy clothes from my neighbor. So I decided to sort the clothes according to age. I labeled them as well using painter’s tape and permanent marker for easy find.

Why did I do it this way? With my first, I had her new clothes mixed in together as far as size is concerned. Many times I would forget about them completely. So by the time I would think of getting them out, they would already be too small! (Poor move for a minimalist, what a waste!)

Now the closet seems to have double the space it did with things tucked away into totes. We still have to get rid of some stuff on the top shelf, but the improvement is obvious!

Project Overview:

Complexity: easy

Expense: $6

Time spent: 3 hours for third trimester prego / 2 hours otherwise

Leaving my 2-year old at the daycare this morning, left a very bad taste in my mouth. Since I am almost 37 weeks pregnant and having a harder time keeping up with my daughter’s social and everyday activities, we decided to put her in the daycare for couple of days a week. It should give me a chance to reorganize the house, make room for the little one, move Elyana into her new “big girl’s room”, and to simply catch my breath from constant demands for attention and unlimited energy outbursts of the 2-yr old.

This is her first week at the daycare. Even though she’s not new to it, she went there for a brief period when she was 18 months, few months have passed in between. And today is her 2nd day there without mommy, so she probably knew that my intention was to drop her off and leave. As we got there, she started making her sad face as I was holding onto her. As soon as I started to let go and making moves towards the door, she grabbed onto my leg and started screaming and crying. The teacher had to grab a hold of her, so she doesn’t run outside after me. As I was walking away, I kept hearing screaming and crying and sounds of pounding on the door.

And that brings me to my topic, am I a bad mother? Before I got too deep into my pregnancy, we used to go on the playdates with other toddlers and their mommies. Most mommies are stay-at-home and their kids are pretty much with them all day. I keep thinking to myself, do they enjoy spending every minute of the day with their kids more than me? Or are they just being patient and don’t let it get to them? I love my kid, it’s just sometimes I feel like she is too much and I need a break! Maybe it’s worse now because I’m pregnant, huge and hormonal.

So that’s what I do sometimes, I think, how do stay-at-home moms handle it? When I see them, they all look happy, satisfied and pleasant. Are they ready to rip their hair out behind the closed doors sometimes? Do they snap at their kids? Do they ever feel helpless and stuck? Now I have a much greater respect to stay-at-home parents than I ever did before.

Before I thought to myself, it must be easy to be home all day, all you got to do is watch the kids and clean up the house. I bet they sit in front of TV for half a day, because they don’t have much to do. Now I realize, that working and dealing with logical adults is easier than putting up with unreasonable demands of a toddler, their wild energy outbursts and erratic tantrums. And then I ask myself, if some people can put up with it all day, why am I having a hard time?

Well, for now I am hoping that she will get used to daycare again and I will start to feel better about dropping her off and myself as a mother. I know that she really loves it over there. When I pick her up, she keeps bubbling and when we get home she is singing and dancing and begging for sweets. She is a happy kid and I intend to keep it this way.

I know that eventually I would like to get back out into the working world, probably when Elyana starts VPK and the little one is over two. I guess right now I just have to be patient and get as much education behind my belt as possible to be marketable again in the working world. I’m planning on starting back at school part time in May in order to continue my master’s degree. Hubby is supportive of my decision and is willing to help out with the kids as needed. I think getting my attention on other things besides the household will do me good.