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We are deep into it here at Princess Tater Tot’s house. Deep into the learning that you don’t always get everything you want exactly when you want it, if at all. And it’s causing a little havoc for The Mommy. Of course I don’t want to give in when she starts throwing a fit. Okay, I want to give in just a little. But I don’t. Because she’s a smart cookie and would immediately get THAT connection. But it is excrutiating sometimes to see and hear her cry and carry on.

Mommy Tip: If you’re headed to a new place for a playdate, mapquest the address and/or print out the directions to take with you. See below.

Yesterday we were headed home from a failed attempt to attend a group play date (directions were a little off and I hadn’t bothered to mapquest the address…Duh, Mommy) and we stopped to get a Jamba Juice for me. Tater Tot was fine in the store, dancing to the music and generally being cute. Once I got the drink, however, all hell broke loose! I tried to put her in her car seat but she arched and squirmed until I figured out she wanted my drink. I thought “Okay, let’s try drinking out of a straw for the first time.” So, I held the straw to her mouth and she refused. She put her little hand on the cup and drew it in to her like it was a prized possession. Aw, crap. I took it away and the wailing started up again. Put it back and the wailing stopped. Oh, no no no no no. Mommy is not going to let my 19 month old hang onto my brightly colored juice drink that is only protected from flowing out all over The Tot and my back seat by a flimsy plastic lid while driving. Call me Mean Mommy but that just ain’t gonna happen. So I calmly explained to her that Mommy needed to drink her juice and took the cup away. She cried for 10 minutes straight. And I’m not just talking about crying. There was wailing and flailing and general inconsolability. As a side note, I have noticed in other tantrums that she’s got the foot-stomping down pretty well already, too. It’s hard not to laugh. But I digress.

Finally, as we neared home, Mr. Duckie saved the day. Don’t ask me how I was able to do this while driving (and don’t tell The Daddy) but, I was able to play “Peeky” with The Tot over the back of the seat with Mr. Duckie whilst navigating the traffic and general mayhem that goes with driving. Do not try this at home. She started to giggle and the spell was broken. We got home and there were a few more whimpers and a wail or two as we were getting lunch ready but the tantrum was basically over. She was so tired. Poor thing.

I know that this is only the beginning and it’s likely to get worse before it gets better but I am resolved to be reasonable about what to refuse her and to be consistent with not giving in. This is where my years working in a group home with emotionally disturbed teens and as a social worker for teenaged boys on probation really will serve me well. If there’s anything that I learned at those two jobs, it was to be CON-SIS-TENT. Not that I’m comparing The Tot to emotionally disturbed girls or boys on probation. She’s my sweet little angel but a typical toddler. Both The Mommy and The Daddy have a bit of a stubborn streak, too. So she comes by it honestly…

Observation #1: I woke up too flippin’ early. I did NOT sleep enough. What’s new?
Observation #2: Sex and blow drying my hair happened in the same day! Who knew I HAD that much time and energy? Most of the time I refrain from blogging about the Sex Life but the chances of both of these events happening on the same day are astounding due to the respective energy and stress levels of The Mommy and The Daddy as well as the freak-outs Tater Tot tends to have at the sound of the hair dryer…
Observation #3: Tater Tot took an almost two hour nap!
Observation #4: I weighed less today than I did yesterday. Imagine that.
Observation #5: I’m not sore today after a particularly strenuous Pilates class last night. I am going to pay tomorrow, I just know it.
Observation #6: I actually got a call from the doctor’s office. Guess what? The biopsy came back NORMAL! Who knew that was possible?! They’re still recommending the LEEP procedure due to the discrepancy between the PAP and biopsy but it’s still great news!
Observation #7: Tater Tot went to bed on time and easily as usual (yes, I do realize how lucky I am) and I am bushed. I’m going to bed.

I think that God is trying to teach me patience. Somebody sure is trying to! Between the TV repair going on three months and the cervical biopsy results going on a month now, I’m kinda wondering what the H-E-double hockey sticks is going on here!

I lost the battle with “not calling my OB/GYNs office” that I talked about here . A fat lot of good it did me. I got the office manager’s voicemail and no phone call back. Last time it took a month to get my results back they said it was atypical. Somebody had been on vacation, they were waiting for the doctor to review the results, the dog ate them, whatever. Obviously, it is typical that it takes that long. Patience. I’m learning patience. Or trying to. If they hadn’t told me last time that it takes two weeks, I don’t think I’d be expecting to have my results by now.

When I get impatient like this I kind of feel like I’m acting like the world revolves around me. I mean, what do I gain by finding out the results now versus a week from now? My impatience also flies in the face of my belief that everything in this life happens for a reason and that, ultimately, I will be okay. If they’re not calling me back right now, there is probably a reason for it that has abso-flippin’-lutely nothing to do with them and everything to do with what I am supposed to learn in this situation. That’s just the way it has worked in my life. But, I’m human and sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me, no matter what my core beliefs are. And I do need to practice patience. I’m kind of a control freak and I’d rather just do it myself than wait for you to do it. Unfortunately, I can’t really help them in this situation.

So, I am going to let it go (again) and wait. I’m not really good at that but I’m trying to get better. I want to be more….oh, what’s the word I’m looking for. I guess I’d like to learn to go with the flow better and stress/worry less. Just take things as they come. So *inhales deeply* I am going to go relax now before I go to bed *exhales*. Nitey nite!

Last week I tried Tater Tot’s ladybug Halloween costume on her. Or, should I say, I tried to try Tater Tot’s ladybug Halloween costume on her. She was not a big fan of the hood and didn’t want to put the thing over her head. She really loved touching it because it’s super-soft but there was no way I was getting that thing over her head. So it’s back to the drawing board. If you’re undecided about what your tot will be for Halloween, check out the ideas and cute costumes at the A Mommy’s Life Halloween Shop . I’m headed over there myself just now to figure out a Plan B…

Today we went “shaaahping”. The Grandma, Tater Tot and I went to several stores throughout the day and only kept our sanity by switching off running after The Tot. We’d “tag out” and go look for stuff on sale and then “tag back in” to let the other look for a while. I swear this little girl was sweaty and tired by the time we had our shopping done.

You might wonder why this post is titled “Shaaahping” instead of just plain old “Shopping”. At our last stop, Target, I came up with the idea of letting Tater Tot stand in front of me and push the shopping cart. After I got over being completely grossed out by what was living on the shopping cart at the level of The Tot, it worked wonderfully. Until I wanted to stop to look at something. So instead of teaching The Tot everything I know about shopping today, she taught me how to “drive-by shop”. If you can’t make up your mind in the time it takes Tater Tot to drive by it, you don’t need it. She had to turn to every person that we passed and say “Shaaahping! Shaaahping!” with an enormous grin on her face. It was unreasonably cute and even the growly-faced patrons of the store had to laugh.

It was a good shopping day. We got a couple of outfits for The Tot, a few things for The Mommy, we tired her out in the process and she is asleep as I type! What a bonus! It’s actually a pretty good idea…take her to go “running, running” (as she says) at a store and, as long as I can make quick decisions, I can do all the shopping I want with little risk of a meltdown! Until we need to check out and pay. That gets a little hairy. But that’s what I bring my “Bag Of Tricks” for…

Tater Tot and I are on the road again to “Gammaw and Gampaw’s” this weekend. The carpet-cleaning that happened this morning was a convenient excuse to go visit again so off we went. I was hoping that I could surf again this weekend after we get back Saturday bit it rained last night and is supposed to rain tomorrow and Saturday. After a long, hot summer and the first rain of the season, there’s gonna be all kinds of stuff floating out there. Stuff I don’t wanna be anywhere near so no surfing for this Mommy this weekend. I guess I’ll have to shop with Tater Tot and The Grandma instead. What a pity!

So instead of napping yesterday while Tater Tot napped, even though I seriously needed to, I took on the frustrating task of reconnecting the Tivo to our crappy old (OLD) one coaxial cable input TV so that I could record season premieres next week. I figured, if we aren’t going to have our good TV back, I’m at least going to be able to record shows so I don’t have to stay up too late and so I can pause, rewind, and fast forward through the commercials! It’s a little thing but it’s nice to have all of our TV functions on one remote again, too. Before I figured out how to reconnect the Tivo so we could just use the Tivo remote, we had to use one remote to turn it on and another one to change channels and the volume. For a while there until we figured out which remotes controlled what, we had to manually change the channels (gasp!). And, no, The Daddy is of no help in the electronic arena. Pretty much useless (sorry, Honey…).

The thing is, if you look in the Tivo user’s manual, it doesn’t look hard to set up the Tivo. Except that it doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to with our TV. We need an RF modulator, apparently, so I had to translate what the user’s manual said to figure out how to run it through the RF modulator. I finally got it to work and I did a little happy dance…just as I heard Tater Tot on the monitor. Luckily I had eaten lunch before I started on the Tivo or I would have been Cranky Mommy.

Friday it will be three weeks since I had the cervical biopsy. I’m trying to be patient but it seems like my OB/GYNs office in particular takes an awfully long time to notify me of my results. Last time it was a month and I called them. Apparently someone had been on vacation or something so they were backlogged. While I understand that people vacate, it’s still annoying to have to wait that long. And, yes, I am the Center of the Universe. But really, I am trying to NOT call them and to be patient enough for them to call me but it’s hard. I mean, I know I’m going to have to have the LEEP procedure at least but it would be nice to know… I was about to type “…it would be nice to know if I have cancer.” Huh. That doesn’t sound quite right. I mean more that I’d like to know what’s going on with my body. To be prepared for what’s next. To not have “test results” hanging over my head.

Maybe it’s not so bad that they haven’t called me. Maybe I really don’t want to know right now. Maybe I just need to let it go and enjoy my life until I find out what the heck comes next. Enjoy my little slice of the universe and resolve myself to think positively no matter what the outcome is. And, on that note, I’m off to work on my “Office Project”! I’ve finished the shelving on the other side of the closet and now I’m working on figuring out what goes where in what container. I’ll post pics when I’m done! I have before, during AND after from this side of the closet! (Exciting, I know…)

Toddlerhood is a trip, huh? From zero to sixty in 2 seconds flat. For no apparent reason. But there is one. Always. It’s just my job to figure out what the reason is and handle it. Yesterday the reasons mostly had to do with transitions. Transitions between activities at “pre-school”. Transitions between activities at home. In short, stopping what she wants to do in order to do what she needs to do. Like diaper changing. Or washing for meals. Or getting in the car so we can go to the grocery store. I try to figure in a few extra minutes for her to get used to the idea but sometimes it takes a little longer than expected.

She has started to balk at getting into the car seat so sometimes we’ll just sit with her on my lap facing me in the car next to her car seat. A little shnuggle here, a little joke there and, most times, in a few minutes she’s ready to get in the car seat. BOY I’m glad we don’t have much of a schedule around here. I cannot imagine actually having to get up, get both of us ready for me to go to work, and getting her to day care every day. A kazillion mommies do it every day. I’m just glad I’m not one of ‘em. Mad props to you ladies….

I am acutely aware these days that she is an only child and is likely to remain that way. I know several mommies with kids her age that are pregnant, trying to get pregnant or thinking about trying to get pregnant. Again, I am not one of them. The fact that she is most likely going to remain an only child means that there is not that propping her up on her own two little feet because I have another teeny tiny one to take care of. Not that I don’t encourage her independence but, let’s just say that I have been a bit lax in the “teaching her how to clean up” category as well as in the “suck-it-up-because-we’ve-got-to-go” category. I’m a bit indulgent. I like to think I’m not over-indulgent simply because I’m aware of the fact that I’m a bit indulgent. But that remains to be seen. I don’t want her to be a spoiled only child. With two or more, I can imagine that you would want to teach your child the aforementioned skills as soon as humanly possible so that you do not lose your mind amid the dishes, laundry, toys and general messiness of family life. But with one, I think it’s easier to assume you can do all of the picking up and dealing with of messes by yourself. The melt-downs that I have seen the past two weeks at pre-school during “clean up time”, however, have forced me to consider the possibility that I should be teaching The Tot how to put her things away. Yes, this is a “Duh Mommy” moment, in case you were wondering.

So today I am going to try to remember to show Tater Tot how to help me put her things away. Wish me luck! I’ll need as much luck to remember to do it as to get her to do it, I think…

One good, one not so good. Yesterday Tater Tot said her first two-word phrase: “Daddy shleeeping.” *giggle, giggle* as The Daddy was zonked out napping on the couch. That was the good one, if you couldn’t guess. The other “first” was tonight. The first bed time battle. We spent 10 minutes going back and forth about brushing her teeth. “Milko, milko, milko, milko. Mommy, milko, milko, milko.” “First teeth, then milk.” “Milko, milko, milko.” “First teeth, then milk.” I tried tickling her and joking about how we have to “get those teethies clean before we have milk.” And, yes, I know that it should be the other way around but, for right now, this is the only way that works. I tried joking about what the toothbrush is for. “Is it to brush your nose? Noooo. It’s to brush your teeth!” “Is it to brush your chin? Nooooo. It’s to brush your teeth.” “Is it to brush your belly button? Nooooo. It’s to brush your teeth!” Problem was, she didn’t want to brush her teeth with it. I even let her pick it out in the store the other day thinking that she’d be less likely to resist brushing because of that. To her credit, she had grabbed it while we were putting her night time diaper on and moved it around in her mouth. She probably thought “But, Mommy, I DID brush my teeth!” When I realized this, I explained that she did a great job brushing her teeth but I just needed to make sure we got all the “sugar bugs” off of her teeth so that her teeth wouldn’t get sick. How much of this she really understood, I don’t know. Finally, I was able to get her to open her mouth the teeny-tiniest bit and brush around in there. I took what I could get and called it a night. It’s unusual for her to be so adamant about not brushing her teeth. She never likes it and she does sometimes resist but never like this. I really hope that this isn’t the start of nightly teeth-brushing battles. I was really, really, really liking our super-smooth bed time routine…

Right now drugstore.com is having 30% off natural beauty care products from brands like Burt’s Bees, Jason, Giovanni, Kiss My Face, and others! They’ve also got a big 40% off Fall Sale going until 9/30. Here are some of the other specials they’re running right now:

Free Shipping with your $25 order at drugstore.com. Offer ends 09.30.07. Shop Now!

New Customers: Receive $5 off $30 or $10 off $50 on your first non-prescription order!

Get 30% off 7th Generation household products at drugstore.com. Offer ends 09-28-07.

They’re also having 40% off of makeup, 50% off of hair care, and 50% off of skin care!

And, if you’re not of the cloth diapering variety of Mommy, check out this one: Get up to 25% off Pampers products at drugstore.com. Offer ends 10-01-07.