Sippycup

Trick or Treat

Once again my sweet daughter Emma has found a way to humble me.  While discussing what we should be for Halloween, I found out what she really thinks of me.  The conversation went something like this:

Me: "So, what do you think you want to be for Halloween this year?"

Emma: "Oh, I don't know maybe some chopsticks and Rita (my  niece) can be soy sauce, since she loves it so much.  Or maybe I can be spaghetti and Sean (her little brother) can be a meatball.  OH, I KNOW!  I CAN BE A TRASH CAN AND YOU (her very own mother) CAN BE THE TRASH!!!"

Needless to say Steve thought this was hilarious. 

But don't worry, I got the last laugh.

When we asked Sean what he wanted to be he answered "I wanna be a puty pincess (pretty princess)".   

Kid Quotes: My First Love

Emma was quietly (very rare) entertaining herself with a puzzle of the world (won't put the damn thing down). She suddenly jumped up and said:

(All in one breathe) "Hey mom, look WALRUSES!  They live in Greenland right next to the puffins.  I JUST LOVE WALRUSES. I have since I was little.  What was my first word?  IT WAS WALRUS. Wasn't it? "

Tricks of the Trade

As a mom I come across annoying little problems everyday.  On some days, I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing (o.k. pretty much everyday). I'm constantly winging it. It's such a relief to know that other moms out there sometimes feel the same way.  Better yet, someone might already have an answer to a problem that has been keeping me up at night.

They say that necessity is the mother of all inventions.  It's so true.  There are moms out there that have invented (or stumbled across) certain tricks that can make all of our lives easier.  Think about the guy that invented Post-Its he was trying to invent a strong adhesive and instead invented a really weak one.  Post-Its were a total mistake. 

While you may not have invented the next Post-Its, you must have invented a couple Tricks of the Trade. 

Recently, our Sippycup mom, Sandra, asked: "How do you get the yellow stains from spit up out of baby clothes?  That stuff is harder to get off than bird poop on your car after a hot L.A. day...."

Come on moms out there...help the poor woman out.  Share your wisdom on Tricks of the Trade. 

Stumping for Dubya

So last night at dinner, Kyle and I were discussing birthdays with Owen and Stewart. We talked about how Stewart will be three on his birthday, and Owen will be five, because five comes after four.

Then we starting quizzing Owen about his NEXT birthday, trying to get him to understand the concept that he gets a year older on each one. "What comes after five?" Kyle prompted.

"Ummm, six," he said.

"And what comes after six?"

Owen paused, leaving just enough time for Stewart to throw his hands in the air and scream "W!!!!!"

I was a bit torn at this point because I wanted to be truthful but not dampen his enthusiasm.

"Actually, it's seven," I said, but I agreed that "W" does indeed come after twelve (the highest number he's counted to thus far). I figured 13 is so far out of his understanding at this point it might as well be "W." Why the hell not, after all?

September 11th

I think that we can all remember exactly where we were as we watched in horror as the world around went completely crazy.  Remembering that exact moment we saw the two buildings fall.  Then instant shock.  Remembering can still make our skin crawl and send our stomaches into gut wrenching knots. 

Our lives would never be the same from that say on. 

What's harder to think is that our children will never know what it was like before 9/11.  There's no going back.  It's so scary and sad to think that all of our children will grow up having to take their shoes off at airports, get their bags checked at Disneyland, and learn about levels of terror alerts. 

While I think about how it will change Emma and Sean's life in the future, I can't help but think about how it has already changed the lives of so many kids.   I think about how, on most days, Steve doesn't get to kiss me or the kids goodbye in the morning.  He leaves to work before we're up.  He doesn't want to wake us.  We just assume that, at the end of the day, he'll come home and kiss us then.  I think about all the kids that lost a mommy or daddy on that day. Did they even get a chance to say goodbye? Or did their parents leave without waking them assuming they'd be back at the end of the day.

I often remind myself of what a friend once asked me during her father's funeral: "Look at all these beautiful flowers.  Why do we wait until people are dead to give them? Shouldn't we be giving them before, while they can still enjoy them? "

On the anniversary of this day, I would like to suggest we let our family and friends know just how much they mean to us. Let's not wait until they're gone.

Kid Quotes: Another Ego Boost

Submitted by Sippycup Mom Bertie Molinaro.

After getting dressed in my brand new orange outfit, I strolled down the runway (our hallway). An exclusive fashion show for my daughter Sammi.  She waisted no time in saying: "OH, MOMMY YOU LOOK BEAUTIFUL!!! JUST LIKE A CLOWN".

Thanks to Bertie for sharing and thanks to Sammi for not letting her mom get a big head. 

Update: Listerine Agent Cool Blue

After posting the info on Listerine's Agent Cool Blue Plaque Detecting Rinse several of you have shared your experience with the stuff.

Thanks to Bertie for clarifying that the Bubble Blast flavor also turns your teeth blue (not pink like I thought). 

And thanks to Sandra who wrote: "I just got this a couple weeks ago, the only ones that have used it are my husband and I. I guess I should let my 6 year old use it. It doesn't seem to work too well cause only the spaces in our teeth turned blue, but maybe that's a good thing!"

I think you're right, it is a good thing that your teeth turned only a little blue.  I tried it after a piece of Laffy Taffy and my teeth looked like a bunch of blueberries (they're usually blue only around the gum line on other days).

Please share any other cool products that might be fun AND good for our kids. We'd love to hear from you.  Also, let us know if there's something your looking for, maybe some mom out there already has an answer.  Remember, as moms, we've been there, done that.

The Drop Off

Emma has started preschool this week and as every mother out there I felt my heart get a little squished when she kissed me goodbye and ran off to play with her friends. You know the feeling that someone is standing on your heart. My baby is growing up so fast. She'll spend all day without me (and me without her).  What a weird feeling, so empty.

I totally felt like Marlin (Nemo's dad from Finding Nemo) when Nemo went to the drop off on his first day of school.  I'm so THAT mom.  Constantly worried that something bad is going to happen to my kids.  I worry that the other kids will make fun of whatever weird outfit she picked to wear. Or that Emma will start to talk about her imaginary friend Inkano.  Emma's so different (actually weird), and kids can be so mean.  I hate the thought of somebody crushing her spirit.

Worse than that, I hate the fact that I can't be around to protect her.  I'm leaving my little Nemo alone and as far as I'm concerned she swimming with  a bunch of bull sharks. Fine, they're really just a bunch of 3, 4 and 5-year-olds.  But those kids can create so much peer pressure.  You know they'll triple dog dare her to "touch the butt".   And she is so the kind to touch it. 

Last April, for example, her first day of school happened to fall on Picture Day.  Great, she'll have her first class picture I thought.  To my surprise (and everyone else's), when the class picture arrived there was no Emma!!! What happened?  NO ONE KNOWS!  Her teachers swear she was taken outside with the rest of the class, and yet she's not in the photo.  Leave it to Emma to be the first child to "disappear" during her teachers 18 years of experience.  Did I mention it was her FIRST day.  God knows what she'll do now that she's really comfortable.

I guess that I should look at it as if the glass is half full.  At least she loves going to school and is not sad without me. 

I had prepared myself for a crying, clinging child but on that first day of school it wasn't my child crying. It was a little boy in a red hat.  It wasn't my kid in tears but my heart was still breaking.  I looked up at his mom as the teachers pulled him away and the poor woman was standing there crying just as hard.  She did what every "good" parent is supposed to do, turn around and walk away. 

Meanwhile, everybody was trying to console the kid and all I could think about was that poor mom. Who cared about consoling her?  I couldn't help but want to do something, anything.  So I went over to give her a little pat of encouragement.  I don't know how it happened but before I knew it she was totally hugging me and sobbing on my shoulder.  It didn't matter that I was a complete stranger.

It was so weird and so cool at the same time.  Like we talked in code. Mom code. She knew I was a mom and I understood she had just dropped off her little Nemo.  A hug was all she needed. I bet every mom out there knows exactly what I'm talking about.  I'm sure there's been the day you've either given a hug or gotten one at just the right moment.

Later that day I made sure to check on Tyler, the little guy in the red hat.  He was laughing and playing on the playground with all the other kids.  Then he did something just as unexpected as his mom had done that morning.  He ran up to me, put his arms around my neck and said "I miss my mommy".  Ouch! Just when I was beginning to feel happy for him. 

I consoled myself by thinking it's just a phase and before you know it Tyler will be running off, dry eyed with his friends just like Emma.

But I must admit, it was nice to know that moms have the power to comfort (even when it's not our own little Nemo's).