There's God!

At church my 2 year old son asks me, "Where's God, Mama?"
I answered, "God's everywhere, honey. He's invisible."
A few moments later as we sit in the pew on the aisle. He leans out, looks up the aisle to the preacher, points at him and shouts, "There's God, Mama!"
I saw shoulders shaking with laughter in the seats in front of us.
We like to add a little humor to our church services.

Savings Alert: Entertrainment Junction $60 for $30!

If you are going to Entertrainment Junction this weekend, you will want to check out Half Price Cincy's Deal where you can buy $60 worth of tickets for only $30! Half off is a great deal!

These half off offers are limited so get your today before they're gone!

Does Your Toddler Have a Meltdown When It’s Time to Leave?

Mine does and did so today as we left the library after story time. Our exit resembled more of a riot between protestors and Police. Actually I was expecting the police to show up and haul me away at anytime under the suspicion of kidnapping.

I get to the library early so we can play and read books, which helps them release some energy before heading into a room full of 30 other toddlers. This is met with great enthusiasm by the kids. However, story time ends right before our scheduled lunch time and since I like to stay on schedule (for my sanity’s sake) we usually have to leave right after story time ends. But leaving can be a nightmare.

I understand that when you are having fun, no one likes to leave and a toddler has no concept of time. He simply cannot understand why it’s time to go.

I’m sure the other people in the library and parking lot were thinking he was being kidnapped, as all my reasoning with him fell short. So I was forced to just sweep him up and put him in his car seat, kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs.

You really get a feel for how strong little toddlers are when you have to muscle them into a car seat against their will! Who needs strength training when you have to try and put a 30 pound fighting, screaming Banshee in a seat. It becomes quite a comical scene with all the flailing arms and legs as you try to block blows and buckle straps at the same time.

My threats of never coming back to story time and see how well So & So (the little girl I watch) is behaving isn’t the best approach, but when you’ve exhausted all your tactics and you are feeling the warmth of embarrassment on your face, you sometimes resort to the old phrases your own mom used on you.

After I got the kids to bed for naptime I was greeted by an email in my inbox that so poignantly had an article on how to make graceful exit’s with little ones. Sure, now you tell me.

I laughed when it described our exit and then felt bad as the article mentioned about not saying exactly what I had said.

Great. Where was this article before I left for story time? The timing was off. Right day, wrong hour.

Oh well, at least I know what to stick in my arsenal bag for the next time I have to deal with a screaming toddler who fights like a Ninja when it’s time to leave – candy.

Just kidding.

The candy is for me later during nap time.

Actually the article has some great advice if you would like to read it > Exit Time When It’s Time to Go Home

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A Laid Off Paramedic Saves Life While Delivering Pizza

Read full story here: Colorado Man Delivers Pizza, Saves Heart Attack Victim

Talk about God’s divine intervention!

A laid off paramedic had to take a job as a pizza delivery driver. While making a delivery he heard a woman screaming. Her husband had gone into cardiac arrest just as the pizza was being delivered to his door.

The pizza delivery driver told the woman he was trained and he was able to revive the man as paramedics arrived.

God has many ways he helps us, even ways disguised as hardship such as losing a job. That young man was meant to be there at that exact time and I’m sure he will be rewarded for doing the job he was placed there to do.

Trust God even when it’s hard to do.

Read full story here: Colorado Man Delivers Pizza, Saves Heart Attack Victim

Be the Change...

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."
~Gandhi

15 Minutes More Sleep

This morning my husband naively let me stay in bed as he got up with our early rising 2 year old.
I laughed sleepily as I pulled the covers up over my head when I heard the screaming meltdown unfolding in the kitchen.
My poor husband realized he doesn't know the procedures performed every morning and how a 2 year old resists any change in routine at 6:00 AM.
I felt a little guilty, but that soon left me as I snuggled down deeper in bed and drifted off to 15 minutes of more sleep.
Awwww, nothing like a little role reversal to make you feel more needed.

Guess I Should Do the Laundry

I guess I should not wait till my husband is down to his bathrobe and my son is down to his Halloween costume to do the laundry.

Couponing Too Hard?

I had a lady stop me in the grocery store the other day and make a remark to me about my coupons.

She told me that she saw me with my binder full of coupons and just wanted to say I was remarkable. I thanked her and said that were others who are much more efficient than I am. Where I may save close to 40% off my grocery bill, there were other people who save over 50%!

She said she could never do that. I told her for us it was a necessity to find ways to save money and it wasn’t that hard to learn. She smiled and walked away and said maybe someday.

Maybe she doesn’t need the money that bad, maybe she doesn’t see the potential of the savings or maybe she thinks it will take too much time, I’m not sure what her reasoning was.

I just know that if I told you I was going to give you cash back of 30, 40 or even 50% of your grocery bill if you spent just a couple of hours a week working, I bet you would do it.

That’s what couponing is, but instead you keep the money in your pocket. Why wouldn’t anyone even do this on a small scale? I just don’t understand why others refuse to try and save money.

If you think it’s going to take too much time, I and many others can show you ways to cut your grocery bill without taking all your time. I bet you spend more than two hours a week watching TV. You can even do it while you watch TV!

There are many websites that can give you all the details and I can share with you what I do. It’s so simple and it really is just a process.

Are you ready to save money?

Where Am I losing This Weight?

I have a secret to share.

I have been trying to get fit and get healthy for awhile now. There I said it. It’s been a secret I have been keeping from everyone except my husband who daily has to listen to my endless comments and daily weight reports.

I could stand to lose about 30 pounds and I started to pursue that goal more strongly before Christmas.

Funny thing is I lost all the baby weight in a matter of 6-8 weeks. I’m just left with the fat I started with before I became pregnant.

In fact, this fat has been with me so long, it is mentioned as a beneficiary in my will. What can I say, we’ve become like family.

But now, it’s time to go. Time to cut these family ties and get rid of what I don’t need. So my goal is more than just losing pounds, what I want more than anything is to take up less space. That and be able to run farther than 60 feet without needing supplemental oxygen.

Though I know the holidays are the worse time to start a diet, I didn’t want to wait any longer. I used to be very fit and trim, but that was too long ago. I am so determined to get back there.

Starting at the top, I would describe myself as having a chin like Winston Churchill, triceps that with the right tail wind could cause me to take flight, a stomach that hasn’t allowed me to tuck in my shirt since before I became pregnant, a butt that should have a Caution “Wide Load” sign on it, and saddle bags that are so large, they rival any found on a Shriner’s motorcycle.

I try and exercise at least 4-5 times a week alternating strength training with cardio, though time to do the cardio often gets cut short due to me letting other things eat away at my exercise time like time does in the Steven King movie the Langoliers.

On a positive note, over the holidays I didn’t gain any weight! I didn’t lose any either, but more importantly I didn’t gain like most people do. I was so proud of myself and it gave me the motivation to keep moving. Though I did threaten to turn the scale into a bottle cap if it showed a higher number than last time.

Gee, I hope my scale hasn’t been lying to me out of fear all this time.

At this time I have lost 14 pounds. Not a speed record, but I know since you put weight on a pound at a time, the best way to lose it is a pound at a time. Though I do believe I can gain twice as fast as I can lose it and with a lot less effort.

The problem is my pants aren’t really feeling as loose as I think they should with that amount of weight loss. So where is the weight that’s coming off coming from?

It can’t be all from my chest can it? I know women tend to lose it there first, but was there that much sitting up there? I don’t buy it. If that was the case I think I would be an “A” cup now!

I have lost a little around my waist and had to take an ice pick to punch another hole in my belt. I’m too cheap to buy another one at this point in my weight loss. Same with my pants. I don’t want to buy any smaller clothes till I start getting clown pants comments from my husband.

My shoes feel a little looser, but I doubt my feet were considered fat. My shirt sleeves are a little looser as well, but I could still take flight if I could keep a good rhythm.

My husband swears my butt & thighs look smaller, but my pants tell me otherwise. My pants aren’t as wise as my husband.

My chin? Nope, still two of them.

So where did all that weight fall off from? I just don’t know.

Two truths remain evident.

First truth, if you want to know if you’re fat, then remove all your clothes and stand in front of a full length mirror. Jump up and down a few times and when you stop, whatever is still moving is fat.

Second truth, you know you were really overweight when you lose 14 pounds and no one else notices.

Ouch! That hurts.

~What I'm using to Help Me Lose Weight - Yummy Milkshakes

Winter – Enough Already!

It isn’t rain, rain, go away. It’s Winter, Winter go away!

I say enough already! Enough of the cold, enough of the gray skies and enough of the snow.

If I wanted this much snow to stay around this long I would have moved further North, like Canada!

I live close to the Mason Dixon Line, isn’t that far South enough to entitle us to warmer weather? OK maybe being in the South right now is not a good comparison since Atlanta is dealing with inches of ice right now. Those poor people, they have no experience with the stuff.

Would it be too much to ask for above freezing temperatures? I mean, since the beginning of February we have been 10-20 degrees below normal. How do they come up with the “normal” temperatures anyway? If they take the averages for the area for the year wouldn’t that change every year like when we have long cold snaps like this year? The science of weather escapes me sometimes.

Being cooped up indoors with toddlers is just a never ending joy. (That’s sarcasm in case you missed it)

I wonder how pioneer women did it in a small house full of children?

They had no malls to take the kids to, to run around like screaming banshees. They had wild animals outside as well as inside to contend with. I’m sure they pondered at times which of these were the most dangerous.

They didn’t have the Internet to vent their daily struggles to their girlfriends on Facebook or to strangers on blogs and message boards. Heck, they were probably lucky to see another woman once or twice a year.

And they didn’t have “Date Night” with their husbands like we are supposed to be having now. One positive to that is they wouldn’t have to wait in a crowded front lobby with 50 other couples for 45 minutes waiting on a table.

Maybe that’s why their life expectancy wasn’t as long and maybe more of them went insane than history admits too.

I think it’s because they had so much work to do just to survive that they just didn’t have time to go crazy. They were so busy doing everything by hand that the thought of going crazy must have sounded like a sweet dream to them.

So in honor of the pioneer woman, I am off to the laundry room. Grateful I have washer and dryer that works (well sort of works). It sure beats tromping through the snow to do it by hand in the creek, right?

Well, a post that started off with complaining has now turned into a guilt trip to stop complaining and be grateful for all the blessings in my life.

Just like a typical mom, I’m ending my speech with a guilt message. Oh well.

I’ll end with one great blessing….the sun just came out.

*Stuck inside? You may not be getting enough Vitamin D. Click to take the Vitamin D Quiz

Racing Junk Giving Away FREE Snap On Tool Box

Racing Junk is giving away another Snap On Tool Box.
This would look pretty cool in your garage.
Click on the picture of it below to enter!

Amazon’s New & Used Textbooks Sale

Amazon sells both new and used textbooks for up to a 90% savings.

The price of textbooks can drive up a student’s expenses beyond imagine. So saving money on books is a great idea.

If you or someone you know is starting college this year, check out Amazon’s book store for their new and used textbooks.

And Amazon Student offers FREE 2 day shipping!

You may just find what you’re looking for!

New Coupons Reloaded!

There are coupons from Land O Lakes, Reach, Pillsbury Toaster Strudel, Greenies and more!

Here just a few of the ones recently listed. Check out Coupons.com for even more and print before you head out to the grocery!

$1.00 OFF Jell-O Pudding

$3.00 OFF 1 WONKA Exceptionals Assorted Chocolate Tin Heart

$2.00 OFF 1 WONKA Exceptionals Assorted Chocolate Heart Box

$1.50 OFF 1 Wanchai Ferry Frozen Entree

$1.00 OFF any 1lb of LAND O LAKES Deli Cheese

$1.00 OFF 1 POLLY-O Mozzarella or Ricotta Cheese

$1.00 OFF 2 Refrigerated JELL-O Gelatin, Pudding or Mousse

$1.00 OFF 2 Penn Maid Cottage Cheese

$0.75 OFF 1 Loaf Of Roman Meal Bread

$0.55 OFF 1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal

$0.50 OFF 2 Pillsbury Toaster Strudel

$2.00 OFF 1 RID Product

$2.00 OFF 2 Reach Toothbrushes

$1.00 OFF 1 REACH Dental Floss

$1.00 OFF 24 cans of Fancy Feast

Buy Two Get One FREE Cesar Bistro

Buy One Get One FREE Greenies Dental Chew

$10 Off ProStart Batteries at Pep Boys

Need a new battery?
If the cold weather has claimed the life of your car’s battery, Pep Boys has a coupon off of their ProStart Batteries.
You can also sign up for more additional coupons too. To get your ProStart battery coupon click on the link below.

Get coupons and discounts at Pepboys. Click Here

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Quick & Easy Pasta Bake

*See at end of recipe on how to save money with ingredients.

This easy casserole takes no time and very little effort to make and everyone loves it.

You can easily make it more nutritious by using lean, organic meat, low sodium sauce, whole grain pasta and low fat cheese.

Pre-heat oven to 350°

You will need:

1 pound cooked ground beef, drained and rinsed
1 package of pasta, cooked and drained
1 large jar of “doctored” spaghetti sauce (see below how I “doctor” my sauce)
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese

Combine meat, sauce and pasta in a 13 x 9” baking dish.

Bake for 15 minutes

Remove and sprinkle cheese on top and bake for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve with a salad and garlic bread. Freeze remaining, if any, for leftovers another night or make a double batch at the same time and you will have another meal ready for someone else to defrost and heat when you’re too tired to cook.

*Doctored Sauce – I always add to any pre-made sauce. Even if they say, “It’s In there” I always improve it.

It’s simple and add the amount you want. Here’s all I do:

Just add garlic powder; dried, minced onions; oregano and McCormick Italian Herb blend to your sauce in a pan. Heat for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Mix in meat before adding to pasta.

*Here’s how I save time & money with this recipe:

I bought several one pound packages of organic ground beef ( I cannot stress enough the importance of service beef that is without chemicals and hormones in it) when it was marked down due to expiring in a couple of days. I cooked it up and put one pound portions into individual plastic containers, labeled and dated and then put in freezer.

When you want some cooked ground beef, turn upside down, run under warm water for a few seconds till it “releases”. Then put in a glass bowl to defrost in microwave for a few minutes, break up with fork. Plastic is not safe to heat in microwaves due to chemicals being released into food, that’s why I just put it in a bowl to re-heat.

I bought name brand sauce when it was on sale combined with coupons. I am able to stock up on a few jars for less than half the normal price.

Pasta – buy fun shapes for your family. Bow tie shapes are our favorite for casseroles. Bought on sale combined with coupons got large boxes for less than .50¢ a box! I stocked up.

Cheese – Again bought on sale when the sale hit to almost 50% off regular price. This type of sale comes around about once a month at most stores. Check for coupons both in newspapers and online for the name brand.

Always try to only use your coupons when the item goes on sale. This maximizes your savings making it possible to buy your items for a lot, lot less.

In addition to coupons you get from the Sunday paper, here are some links to free online coupons you can print:

New Coupons Reloaded

If you haven’t printed your coupons yet, now’s the time.
New ones have just been added including Mars, Yoplait, Weight Watchers, Pillsbury and more!
Click here to get your free coupons > Free Local Grocery Store Coupons Click Here

Two Free Kids Admission to Newport Aquarium

The Newport Aquarium is featuring their Winter Family Days now through February 28th. During this promotion, two children (ages 12 and under) will receive free admission with every paying adult admission.
This sounds like something fun to do during the cold winter weather.

Thanks Cincinnati Cents!

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2010’s Funny Facebook Postings Part 2 of 2

I forgot about Part 2!

I never thought about all the little sayings I posted on Facebook about my son and how someday he might enjoy reading them. So I went back through them and copied them all down. Whew! That was a job and I don’t even post that much! So here is the first six months. When December is done, I will post them, too.You might want to do something similar for your children. They may enjoy hearing what was happening when they were little at the time it was happening.

July

• I have officially become THAT mom whose kid has a screaming meltdown in the grocery store. Luckily I was able to diffuse it quick, but I could feel that look of death stares from the other non-moms. They should have an express lane for those with little kids.
• Had to laugh at my 2 year old the other day. We were all at the bookstore, he proceeded to pull up a stool, sit down, pull out a book off the shelf and start reading it. He was turning the pages one by one so seriously. The book was titled, "How To Make Step Families Work" We all had a good laugh.

August

• My 2 year old thinks the rungs on the back of the rocking chair are wheelie bars. He has a one track mind. lol
• One little man here has found where the dog cookies are at. Caught him feeding the dog handfuls at a time. His partner in crime (the dog) was eagerly following him around. No wonder they are such great buds!
• Ever since Jake saw my car doing wheelstands, he has been obsessed with doing "wheelie poppers" as he calls them on everything.
• It's hard to see your child inherit some of your behaviors. Makes you say, "Uh oh"
• You know you are serving too much not-so-good-for-you food when your oven timer goes off and your 2 year old yells, "Pizza done!"
• Nothing like sharing some homemade strawberry-banana smoothies with a cute (little) guy in the morning, then watch him color with chalk on the sidewalk in the morning. I have deadlines to meet, laundry to do, house to clean, grass to mow and I don't care!
• I learned not to tell a 2 year old to hold it. While in the chiropractor's office, he kept telling me he had to go and I said, hold on we're almost done....he didn't make it. Peed all over the floor. Poor little guy was so upset and I was so embarrassed. I kept saying, It's not your fault honey, it's mama's fault.” All the while apologizing to the doc. I am sure they will lock the door the next time they see us coming!

September

• Just got home from Indy – Our son’s first Indy trip and he loved it! We were close to the starting line with the fuel cars and he was grinning big. During warmups, he wiped the nitro from his eyes and grinned. That's my little "hotrod".
• My son has a splinter in the bottom of his foot that I didn't notice. Now it's swollen and red and the splinter is buried under the skin. No way to get it out w/o digging it out. Tried to this evening and I coudn't bear his screaming. That and he is way too strong. Not sure how I'm going to get it out. May try epsom salts tomorrow. Dad ended up doing it. He was able to hold him down and pull it out quick! Yea!!
• My son found out that if he colors on my kitchen floor that he's the one that's going to clean it up. I gave him a scrubby pad with some Basic-H and told him scrub all the color marks off. He did a good job. Yes, I make my kid clean up and do chores. :)
• 2 year old: Mom, Mom, Mom, Mama, Mama, Mama, Mommy, Mommy, MOM! MOM! MMMOOOMMM!!! Me: WHAT?!!!! Jake: Hi. It doesn't just happen in cartoons....
• I love how cute a little child singing the A B C's is, especially when they have their own ways of pronouncing some of the letters. The sweetest sound is the voice of your own child. Unless they are screaming in the middle of a store!
• Went to Entertrainment Junction yesterday. Thanks to my niece for the free tickets! Pretty cool, worth seeing. We all loved it. All was fun till we had to leave...meltdown bigtime.
• So far this morning, I've fed a hungry, screaming Banshee, cleaned up after a tornado, fixed two dragsters and replaced the wheels on a hot rod. For now I'm the hero. I will relish in that till he learns that I'm really just a mere mortal.

October

• My 2 year old wants something. I told him if he was good and helped Mama out today, he could. I hear the buzzer telling me the clothes washer was done. I walk into the laundry room and find him already taking the clothes out and putting them in the dryer. He finishes, looks up and says, "Me help Mama!" Wow!
• Came home to roses and the most beautiful card ever written in crayon. It warmed my heart after a cold, long night. I am truly blessed.
• At my age White Castles (or as my son calls them - "Toot Burgers") really isn't a wise choice.
  

November

• I love the grocery store's parking lot. It runs downhill and you can really build up some speed to ride on the back of the cart. My 2 year old loves it when we do that. He thinks it's funny that mommy acts like a kid and when we reach the van he yells, "Finish Line!"
• My son got his first heartbreak today. The grocery store's one race car cart was already taken when we got there. He had a meltdown, then he saw the cart later with another little boy in it. He looked so sad as he watched him go by. I knelt down and put my arm around him and tried to comfort him, but his little sad face expressed it all. :'(
• So last night my son looks out the window and sees the neighbors with their tree up already. He asks while holding up his little hands and with a pout on his face, "Where's our tree?" Guess I know what we're doing today.

December

• It has begun....my 2 year old just stuck a crayon up his nose. Goodbye sweet little innocent boy. Hello future Emergency Room visits!
• We were watching Pass Time. My 2 year old got in trouble and had to go to time out. When he came back they were showing the previous car that ran. He said, "Huh, I missed one! Mama, I missed one?" I said, "Yes, it ran when you were in time out." He was not happy. lol
• My son has a new car passion to add to his many others. Tonight as he ran around the track tower as he calls it, made out of legos he keeps repeating, "Mama, I'm drifting! I'm drifting!"

Stop Asking Him That Question!

Ladies, please stop asking the man in your life the question, “Does this make me look fat?”

That is a terrible thing to do to the guy who loves you by putting him in a spot like that.

Ever notice that men never ask that question?

Think about it. You are giving him a no win situation to work out of, which is very unfair.

If he answers too quickly, then he doesn’t care.

If he takes too long to answer and actually is taking the time to assess your size, he’s being insensitive.

If he says, “No honey, you look great.” Then he’s lying, even if it is to protect your feelings.

This just confirms his feeling that he can never win.

I knew of a guy who told the truth to his wife when she asked him the same question. She asked him, “Does this dress make me look fat?” as she turned around in front of him. He said, “No. It’s your fat that makes you look fat.”

Though his answer was harsh and I’m sure hurt her feelings, he told the truth to a question in which there is no right answer to give. Did she deserve the harshness, no. Did she deserve a more sensitive answer worded a little differently, yes. But I’m sure whatever other answer he could have gave her, it would have not been the truth and she wouldn’t have believed him anyway.

By the way, he was no bean pole himself, so I’m hoping she had a good comeback for him like, “You’re right honey, but at least it doesn’t make me look as fat as your pants do you!” and wore the dress anyway.

So give your man a break. Stop asking him that very unfair question unless you are prepared to hear the harsh truth or a sweet lie.

~Losing weight & getting healthy this year? Then say hello to Cinch!

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New! Fiber Advantage Bar Chewy Apple Cinnamon Bar

Getting enough fiber in our diet can be such a struggle. It is essential to healthy digestive health and can help us in our quest to meet our weight loss goals.

Shaklee has come out with a new fiber bar that gives you 8 grams of fiber that packs in fruits, vegetables and whole grains and is Gluten free!

Fiber Advantage Bar Chewy Apple Cinnamon Bar is a tasty way to add more fiber to your diet and help you attain your weight loss goals. Fiber helps you feel fuller longer, keeping you from midday snacking.

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Typical Start to the New Year

Days off for the holidays are work filled days full of catch up cleaning, laundry and organizing. I also use this time to go through and get rid of things we don’t use or need anymore. This weekend I was definitely on a seek and destroy mission. I am determined to get rid of even more clutter and enjoy more by having less, if you know what I mean. Having a 2 ½ year old “helping” me though makes this mission all the more challenging and takes so much longer.

As most moms know, little interruptions are just part of life with kids and are to be expected. This day however, and to be getting more than the normal set of interruptions and I seemed to be getting nothing done. In the midst of taking down all the Christmas decorations, scrubbing floors and cleaning out closets I was being summoned constantly.

Sometimes it was a request to observe my son playing with a new toy or to read a thousand books. Other times it was to fix something to eat for the hundredth time. How can one little body eat so much? I really do not know where he puts it! And of course, my personal favorite interruption is the “Uh oh! Mama!” The Uh oh, Mama’s make me cringe as they usually mean something has fallen, spilled or broke.

This particular one was, “Uh Oh! Mama! Cup fall!” Upon entering the kitchen, I was met with a beautiful cascading waterfall of juice pouring majestically from an overturned cup. It was falling down onto the chair then pouring over onto the floor.

To add to this lovely scene, was my son, in an effort to help, was standing in the middle of the juice puddle in his socks with a dish towel trying to clean it up. Not wanting to squelch his desire to help, but cringing at the scene that lay before me, I rushed towards him and smiled through gritted teeth pretending to be so happy for his help.

As I saw his white socks turning pink and sticky little footprints being made all over my freshly mopped floor, my husband came in and asked his little buddy if he wanted to go out and help him work in the garage. Before my son could even answer I was putting his coat and a clean pair of socks on. After all, boys should get to spend some special one-on-one time with their dads, right? And now seemed to me to be the perfect time.

My friendly warning to my husband about watching his little helper closely was met with an edgy and irritated, “I know!” Oh well, he can’t say I didn’t try to warn him about a toddler’s natural curiosity. I shrugged and went back to my red Niagara Falls as they happily skipped out the door.

It wasn’t more than 10-15 minutes later, I hear the back door slam open and screams coming from both my son and my husband. My terrified dash up the stairs from the basement I’m sure broke some land speed record.

Expecting to see some horrific scene, I was met with tears and curse words. As I am frantically checking over my precious little boy looking for the mortal wound, I keep repeating the mantra, “What happened?!” It took me asking 3 times before my husband learned to wait between gasps of air my son took between wails to tell me.

“He’s covered in transmission fluid!” Then he proceeded to yell at our son more. This causes the wailing to go to the next level. I then start feeling for lumps on the head as I ask if he slipped and fell in it or get it in his eyes or even swallow any of it. I was thinking the worst.

I was met with a disgusted, “NO!” and an answer that made me turn my head so as to not show my “told you so” chuckle.

“He dipped his hands into the transmission pan full of fluid. I went from the frantic to the “Oh” state in a second and proceeded to do the, “Calm down honey. It’s alright.” routine with my son. Apparently my son had decided to dip his hands into the pretty red oil like a lady would dip her hands in a paraffin wax beauty treatment.

My husband continues his rant, “He then lifts his hands up and it runs down his sleeves.” “Then when I started to yell at him he wipes his hands on his pants!” “Why would he do that?!” he continues breathlessly. I answer, “He’s two Harry. You have to watch him constantly.” My husband then answers, “But he did it right in front of me!” He was so upset that it happened and my son was upset for being yelled at and abruptly taken away from the playland known as “The Garage.” And I imagine both were scared at what my reaction might be. I couldn’t help but be amused. I love it when others find out the hard way sometimes how hard caring for a young child can be. That may sound a little mean, but I think it’s a lesson that needs to be learned at times.

I mumbled, “You can’t leave fluids exposed” was met with an answer of, “I’m going back out to clean up the mess on the floor.” But I know better. There probably isn’t more than a few drops on the garage floor. He just doesn’t want to hear the “I told you so” he thought was coming. But I wasn’t going to say it. Honest, I wasn’t. I was just going to send it to him telepathically with “the look.” You know, the one all wives and mothers have.

Now, I can peel clothes off my son faster than you can peel a banana. In no time my son’s tears were replaced with laughter at the bubbles tickling his nose in the bathtub. All was quickly forgotten by the time he emerged from his bath. My son’s cheerful greeting of “Hi Daddy!” was met equally as cheerful by my husband with a “Hi Buddy!”

Now don’t think bad of my husband for being hard on our son. He is a good father and yelling isn’t the norm. This scene was an upsetting one to him and a potentially dangerous one. So I understand how it can go sometimes. I’m just grateful that calling 911 wasn’t involved. Experience has taught me that if Mom stays calm, then everyone else calms down faster.

What a start to the New Year. Hope this isn’t a sign of how the rest of the year is going to go.

Julie

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone.
Though this wish is a little belated, I hope you'll forgive a busy mom.
I hope your New Year is going well for you so far.
Mine? Well, let's just say it's going as expected.
That's what this blog is all about. Telling funny things that happen.
Life can be so hilarious.
You know that there is just no way I can make this stuff up!
Read the next post on how our first day of the New Year went and it may make you appreciate yours so much more.
I pray you have a blessed, a healthy and happy New Year.