Works For Me Wednesday - Diffusing A Child’s Meltdowns May 13, 2008

Every child has their meltdowns.  Although The Bean has an easy-going personality, she definitely has her fits.  I think that the “NO” to everything stage that usually hits in the terrible twos has waited until her recent 3rd birthday to arrive.  She is certainly more tempermental and vocal in her preferences than in the past. 

When she starts getting herself worked up about anything from not wanting to taste her bite of chicken at supper, to not wanting to go to bed, to whatever, I try to get her attention before she’s too far gone.  When she’s looking at me, I tell her to do what I do.  While she’s watching, I take a deep breath in through my nose and out through my mouth.  She generally will stop her escalating fit to imitate me!  Then she wants me to do it again.  Then she does it again until, and we take turns until she’s in a better place emotionally speaking. 

Doing a little deep breathing is enough of a pause that, if I can get her to do it before she’s past the point of no return, it resets her mood.  She ends up smiling and more willing to take that bite of chicken!  In addition to actually diffusing a meltdown, I love that it’s teaching her to take control of her moods and emotions before they get out of control.  It definitely Works For Me!

Head over to Rocks In My Dryer for more great Works For Me Wednesday tips!

A Long Week Already May 13, 2008

After my long day yesterday, I was already feeling like this week would be a doozy.  Little did I know how much was in store for me! 

We had surveyors walk in this morning for our annual full-book survey.  It will be a LOOOOOOOOONG week.

To make today even longer, I pulled out of the parking lot at 8pm tonight to discover that I had a flat tire.  With the help of one of our wonderful floor techs, I got some fix a flat and enough air to make it home.  I’ll have to air it up in the morning in order to first get to work, and later drive half a block to the tire store to get a replacement tire once it opens. 

Oh yes, I’ll be at work quite a while before normal working hours and will be there late into the evenings as well.  I’ll be lucky if I even see The Bean before the weekend.  T will be a single parent this week.

At least it will all be over until next year.  Not that this will be the last time we have surveyors in the building.  But full-book survey is the only time it is such an extended visit. 

In case anyone was wondering, I did finally manage to get my resident to a hospital today.  Hooray for small victories! 

Would You Believe… May 12, 2008

….that in a city as large as Houston with the medical resources located here, it’s nearly impossible to get in-patient psychiatric hospitalization for a nursing home resident. 

I think I’ve talked to every single mental health organization in town today trying to find placement for my resident who needs in-patient stabilization. 

I’m home after 11 hours of trying to get this person some help. 

Tomorrow will be more of the same. 

Something is seriously wrong with this picture. 

Sorry.

I’m done ranting now.

Thanks for listening.

Happy Mother’s Day May 11, 2008

Here’s the sweet Mother’s Day card The Bean made for me at daycare. 

The flowers are actually made from a tracing of her hands.  So cute!  I am so blessed to be her mother. 

Thank you to my mom and my mother-in-law for the blessings that they bring to my life.  There isn’t space enough here or time enough to say how much I appreciate the women and the mothers that they are.  Thank you for helping me be a good mother to The Bean.  I love you both.

Menu Plan Monday May 11, 2008

I did have one change from last week’s menu, and moved the Chicken with Porcini Sauce to Sunday instead of cooking it Saturday.  It was my first time making this recipe, and let me just say YUM!  It’s definitely a keeper.  It took me longer than I like to spend on a weeknight, but I should be able to significantly decrease the time I spend making it after I’ve whipped it up a few more times. 

Here’s this week’s menu plan!

Sunday: Pan-Seared Chicken in Porcini Mushroom Sauce with Orzo

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Chicken Chaquilles - If this recipe is good, I’ll probably post it this coming Saturday for Saturday Stirrings.

Wednesday: Chicken Fried Rice - The recipe calls for pork, but I have leftover chicken so that’s what I’m using.

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Pork Chops and Orzo

Saturday: Spaghetti Carbonara

Head over to I’m an Organzing Junkie for more great menus and recipes!

Works For Me Wednesday - What Doesn’t Work For Me - Early Mornings May 6, 2008

I know Mom after Mom who get up at the crack of dawn or even earlier every day in order to get their households up and running and hopefully have a moment when they are not taking care of someone else.  I know many a woman who says it’s the key to keeping their sanity and getting things done.  I also know those who just couldn’t shake their early morning wake up schedule after their newborn wasn’t waking them at all hours anymore. 

I’m not one of them. 

I am SO not a morning person.  I will stay up 3 hours later at night to get things done if it means 30 more minutes of sleep in the morning.  I know that doesn’t make sense, but it works for me.  I sleep as late as I possibly can in the morning. 

When I went back to school for my master’s degree, my only focus on the days I had classes was going to class and working on my papers and projects.  Since all of my classes were either at lunchtime or in the afternoon, I consistently would stay up until 3 or 4 am every morning reading research and writing papers.  I’d get up about 11am to shower and head to class.  It was the perfect schedule for my natural body clock. 

Sigh.

The working world and my three-year-old have other ideas. 

However, my sweet husband knows that mornings and I do not get along.  Because of this, he wakes me up in the mornings so I can hop into the shower.  While I’m showering and getting dressed, he feeds The Bean her breakfast and gets her dressed.  This allows me to sleep later in the mornings than I would if I had to get up early enough to shower and get dressed before attending to her in the mornings. 

He is truly a treasure of which I am not worthy.

While early mornings do NOT work for me, having a wonderful husband who knows his wife’s little quirks DEFINITELY works for me. 

Head over to Rocks In My Dryer to (this week) learn what doesn’t work!

Mother’s Day Giveaways! May 5, 2008

Janice and Susan at Five Minutes for Mom are having another great series of giveaways!  Click here to read all about their Mother’s Day Giveaways!  There are lots of great prizes up for grabs.  Janice and Susan always have something great going on. 

Sweet Bean May 5, 2008

Aunt Betty has been making some of these adorable little dresses for all of her granddaughters (our cousins) and was so sweet to make one for The Bean as well!  It arrived in the mail last week.  So I snapped a few photos of The Bean wearing her beautiful new dress to send to Aunt Betty.  Of course, I had to share them with you too!

Here’s her “I’m trying to avoid the Momparazzi” pose.

If you’re interested in a gorgeous dress like this for your little one. You can go to my aunt’s website, Grandma’s Little Angels, to get in touch with her. 

Menu Plan Monday May 4, 2008

Well, after things being crazy at work (which actually is the norm!) and my being REALLY sick the past week, I think I’m set to get back to my weekly menu posting.  It will actually be a relief since I’ve felt a bit lost having to wing it so much lately.  Of course when I was sick, I felt like actually getting something edible in front of The Bean was a triumph in itself!

This week’s menu is heavy on chicken.  But we like it, and these are dishes that will help me use up some ingredients in the fridge before they’re stored too long. 

Sunday: Crockpot Chicken - After the crockpot fiasco, my mom was kind enough to get me a new one for my birthday last week.  Thanks, Mom!

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Sweet and Tangy Sloppy Joes - The last of my deep freeze stash.  I’ll have to make some more soon to have on hand.

Wednesday: Chicken with Sun-dried Tomato Basil Sauce and Orzo pasta

Thursday: Leftovers 

Friday: Chicken and Pepper Jack Taquitos

Saturday: Pan Seared Chicken with Porcini Sauce - This will be a new recipe for me.  I know already that I’ll be leaving the chestnuts out since I don’t cook with nuts.  Also, I’ll be substituting regular onion for the shallots.  I’ll let you know next week how it turned out, and more importantly, if we liked it!

Head over to I’m An Organizing Junkie for more great menus and recipes!

The Bean Is Sprouting Away! May 3, 2008

We took The Bean for her 3 year check up a couple of weeks ago, and I was really happy with how she’s grown.  I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing me talk about how her weight and small size have been a source of worry for me since her premature arrival. 

But actually, this was the first time I wasn’t concerned that she hadn’t gained enough weight.  Not that I wasn’t interested, but I finally felt that it just didn’t really matter.  Only took me three years to let go of that one.  For those of you who are interested, The Bean is 37 inches tall, which is the 50th percentile.  She weighs 26 pounds, which is the 3rd percentile. 

As you can imagine, finding pants that stay up and underwear that doesn’t float around her is a challenge.  We always get adjustable waist pants, usually from Target or The Children’s Place.  I cinch those suckers up as far as you can.  That usually is enough to keep them from continually falling around her ankles, but I still find myself telling her to “pull up your pants” several times a day. 

Tiny waist aside, she really seems to be sprouting fast lately.  I’ve actually bought a few 3T size shirts.  I’m fairly certain that that’s the first time I’ve ever bought her clothes in a size that corresponded with her age.  We’ll see what size pants she needs when the fall gets here.  I’ve already gotten her everything she should need for the summer and won’t be buying anything else unless we just have to. 

We’ll just see how much further she sprouts over the summer!