Being Mom, with Dad, like people do

Perfectly fine weekend. Normal. Ordinary. No major issues.

Yesterday, we didn't do a lot. We had breakfast at home and after hanging around for a bit, we went to CostCo. It's usually a fun trip, where we take our time going up and down the aisles, buying some things for which we have the coupons, and some other stuff that we just think of. We didn't buy an excessive amount this time, which was fortunate. The Boy usually enjoys this trip, alternating between riding in the cart and being carried around, sometimes on Daddy's shoulders which usually leads to big smiles.

I don't think we did much between that and a trip to the mall to return some pants, other than nap and putz around the house.

We are having some issues right now with The Boy wanting to throw stuff. Sometimes down the stairs, but primarily he'll just take something that he is playing with and toss it backwards over his shoulder. No idea why he does that. We'd prefer that he not do it. When he is playing with something like Play-Doh or his easel, and he throws the cans of Play-Doh or throws pieces of chalk, the toy goes away. Same with his letter magnets on the fridge. Most of the time we avoid "behavior problems" by getting involved before they happen. Yesterday, he was a bit more on my nerves than normal, but upon reflection I see that it was really because neither he nor I really wanted to be stuck inside doing nothing all day. Going to indoor playing places isn't much of an option. Museums are iffy but perhaps we could have, with his counts being good. Next time, we might try the library. Point being, I think that a combination of not letting him get too bored and causing toys that are thrown to disappear might be our solution.

I can't even fathom any harsher discipline tactics with him, such as shutting him in his room or spanking him, because it just doesn't make sense in this situation. The child is bored and trying to experiment with objects and you punish him, when he is really too young to remember and learn the lesson anyhow? I think I'm pretty much against the idea of spanking him at all, because it seems like we can get on without doing it. Time-out or shutting him in his room is certainly something that is on the table, but not until he is old enough to understand it, and not unless it is a logical consequence.

So that was yesterday...and then today, Father's Day, was also wonderfully normal. We woke up, and I made breakfast. Then I went out to the supermarket. It is something of a head-clearing experience to go to the supermarket alone. It is a ton of fun to go with The Boy, but it is entirely different alone. Almost peaceful.

The guy at the register had to have been the slowest old bugger I've ever met. Took WAY too long with the other customers and with silly stuff like finding barcodes. And he kept asking me if I needed help and did I want someone to walk me to my car and such. I was polite the first two or three times when I declined. And, when he asked me how I was doing, I said "I'm perfectly healthy, thanks." I did ask him to help me with soda cans, just to make him feel better, which was a mistake. Because then he asked two more times about sending someone out to the car with me. Although he did show some intelligence in placing them in the cart instead of underneath, as I had done originally. I guess I can appreciate that people want to be helpful and polite but frankly, the store was so busy and I didn't want to monopolize anyone's time to do something for me that I can do myself. Pregnancy is not, in and of itself, a disability.

I returned home and fixed The Boy a snack of watermelon, grapes, and blueberries. Watermelon is, of course, a "sometimes" food in terms of potassium content. He ate all the grapes, some of the watermelon, and had no interest in the blueberries. The Boy was also seen web-chatting with Grandma and Aunt L, and then the uncle and cousins out on the other side of the country.

We napped, and then we got up to go to a late lunch with the family.

My intention, several weeks ago, was to secure some time in the afternoon with Musical Daddy's family. Father's Day isn't necessarily a big deal, but I felt like this year, it was really important for Musical Daddy to have his family. No matter where we were. I thought that we'd be in the hospital, or that it was a possibility, so I wanted to secure time with all of the family so that if we were there, we'd have everyone come to us. If not, we'd be somewhere else. And so began the negotiations. Quite a bit of back and forth as to what the plans really were--as is the case with pretty much any group of people trying to do anything. So be it.

We ended up going to a restaurant for a lunch buffet with the family.



We were nervous about it, because we haven't been to a restaurant with The Boy in awhile, and because we didn't know what the food choices would be or how they'd be prepared, or how The Boy would react to people eating things that he couldn't have. We needn't have worried.

The Boy ate pretty much an entire hamburger, half an ear of corn, and watermelon. He was happy as anything and didn't really notice or care about what the rest of us were eating. The hamburgers were just meat cooked on a grill, the corn was plain steamed corn, and it's pretty difficult to screw up watermelon.

I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, although I realized toward the end that I had neglected to try the prime rib. However, I did try several yummy desserts. My favorite is still the little hot fudge sundae that I ate last.

Grandpa got a digital photo frame from us. He will probably have a great time setting it up.

Musical Daddy and his brother were then charged with the task of setting up Grandpa's new TV. Too bad the darned thing was broken.

When we got home, the boys napped again.



The Boy ate a late dinner, as his lunch was normal to large as opposed to...what people normally eat at a buffet. Especially when the desserts are as plentiful as they are. It's just so funny to hear him saying so much of the things that he eats.

Getting him to sleep was a bit of a challenge but not too bad, as he isn't cranky about it. I'd think that he was asleep, and then all of a sudden he'd spring up and say "Dad-DEE!" or just "DEE!" and then we'd have to get settled again.

All in all, it's been nice.