Question of the Week - That's Not a Kids' Song

I've always loved to sing. I was in chorus in high school, and I even made the chambers singers group. I took voice lessons through high school and college. And over the years, I was asked many times if I wanted to be a professional singer. Not only was I honest with myself about not being at that level, but I knew that even if I was good enough (which again, I wasn't) I wouldn't want the life of a professional singer. But when I said no, then people would want to know why I kept up with taking lessons. Aside from the joy of singing learning new songs and techniques, my answer was always that I just want to be able to sing pretty lullabies to my future children.

Now that I am a mother, I do indeed sing my babies to sleep. I spent years singing the Pumpkin to sleep, and occasionally still do. I sing the Pookie to sleep every time I put him to bed or down for a nap. If you think about it, that's a LOT of songs. A LOT of the same songs. Over and over and over again.

I have to admit, I get tired of the same old songs again and again. Don't get me wrong, I love the lullabies and even kids' songs. I sing a lot of Rockabye Baby and Twinkle Twinkle and Frere Jacque. But I've got to stay sane, so I also sing some of my favorite jazz and blues standards and some rock songs too.

I remember reading in Jenny McCarthy's book Baby Laughs that she didn't really know any lullabies or kids songs, so she would sing Brittany Spears (I think it was Baby One More Time). And when The Office had that episode with Jan bringing in her baby and she sang Son of a Preacher Man, I didn't think it was really inappropriate of her to sing that to the newborn. After all, at a certain point you've got to sing what you like or you're going to hate singing.

So this week's Question of the Week is:

What song have you sung/do you sing to your kids that borders on or flat out is inappropriate?

This past summer, right after I weaned, I was craving margaritas. In fact, I was walking my son and bouncing him, trying to get him to sleep for his nap, thinking about a nice, cold margarita with salt on the rim of the glass... and I started singing Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville. And wouldn't you know it? The boy calmed down and fell to sleep. He really liked the tune, and I imagine he will become a Parrothead like his daddy was.

And Margaritaville isn't that bad, right? I mean, it's not like it's Let's Get Drunk and Screw!

What about you? Do you sing to your kids? What adult songs to you sing, knowing they don't understand the words? What do you sing or listen to to keep you sane at bedtime?

Oh, The Drama!

A few weeks ago, the Pumpkin's school sent home a flier for the after-school classes they were going to offer. I'd just been thinking about signing her up for some classes, but timing is such an issue with Londo and I working full time outside the house. So classes right there at her school while she is there for after-hours care anyway? Sign us up!

There were two classes available for her age, Art Class and Drama Class. At the moment, we are (still) totally strapped for moolah, so we could only sign her up for one class at her school (I had already told her I would sign her up for dance classes, and that's outside of her school). I believe both Londo and I were ready to just sign her up for the Art Class, knowing how much she always has loved art. But I had the thought that we should offer her both and let her pick.

I told her that her school was offering Art Class or Drama Class, and she could pick one. She asked what drama was, and when I explained that it was pretend play where you could pretend to be other people and dress up and sometimes sign and dance... well it was like rainbows and unicorns and roses were falling into her lap!

With a voice full of excitment and wonder, she immediately said, "Drama!"

I responded, "Really? You want to take Drama and not Art?"

"Yes," she said, emphatically. "Drama!"

Even though it seems like an obvious fit for her now, at the time Londo and I both had really assumed she'd want to do art. So we were surprised. Not just at her answer, but her assuredness in her answer about this new thing. And she was sure. Londo doubled checked next, and she held strong with her answer of "Drama!" I asked one more time before we filled in the paperwork and wrote the check. "Drama!"

Once we thought about it, it made so much sense. The Pumpkin is highly energetic, loves to be the center of attention, and is very dramatic in pretty much everything she does. The girl is a Drama Girl. She enjoys dressing up, and she especially loves playing pretend. She has an incredible imagination, and she is really good at making up scenarios with imaginary friends from TV shows (we've had Dora, Boots and Benny over for tea many times, and lately the Animal Mechanicals Rex and Sasquatch have been playing with us). She loves to sing and dance. And watch out if you give that girl a microphone!

She had the first Drama Class last Friday, and she said it was lots of fun. They apparently ran around in a circle a lot doing different movements. She said they galloped, and I'm guessing they pretended to be a horse or something like that. One class in, and she's loving it.

Coincidentally, my sister's daughter's 5th birthday party last Saturday was at the local theater watching a children's play. It was an hour long musical called Click Clack Moo, based on the children's book of the same name. Although the Pumpkin was a bit upset when I explained that we would just be sitting in the audience, not actually doing the drama, she was still excited to go.

She sat through the whole thing fascinated. I was quite impressed that through the show she didn't fidget much, didn't get up at all, didn't really talk, laughed at the funny parts, and really followed what was going on. It was a lot of fun to be able to go to the theater with her and watch a play together. I feel like a whole new world is opening up to us for fun things to do together.

And in the spring? She will be part of the play that her Drama Class is going to put on! I keep imagining the fun we will have going to plays with our Drama Girl!

And Least Poop Wasn't All Over the Crib

This morning, the Pookie woke up and played in his crib for a while, like he does the majority of his mornings. (This is such an unbelievable phenomena in our house, since the Pumpkin NEVER did that.)

The Pumpkin was already awake, so she and I went to the nursery door to go get him up and out of the crib. Not only does the Pumpkin love to go get him (and has before gone in without me before I was ready to get him), but she knows the routine. On our way down the hall, she said, "I'll open the door, and you get Pookie out and change his diaper and then he and I can go play!"

So she opened the door... and...

That baby was in the middle of getting naked! For the first time ever, he had unzipped his sleeper and was pulling his arms out of it. For a second, I thought, how cute! But then I realized that his boy parts were hanging out of the front, unzipped part.

Um, where was his diaper?

That's went I realized the normal routine, which the Pumpkin had outlined so nicely, was going to change. Instead of the normal pick-up, hug and squeeze, and cheek kisses I usually give him first thing in the morning, I had to carry him awkwardly to the changing table to better assess the daiperless situation.

I was especially worried about his peeing outside the diaper, in his sleeper, in the crib and possibly on me while I carried him. At least, I was worried about that... until... I smelled the poop.

Once I smelled the poop and realized his diaper was pushed down one leg of his sleeper, I hurriedly carried him even more awkwardly straight into the bath tub. When I stripped the sleeper off of him, I found the poop. I big ball of it at the bottom of a leg of the sleeper.

Seriously gross.

Oh, I also found poop smeered all over the inside of the sleeper, all over his (adorable little baby) bottom and all down one of his legs. Surprisingly, none was on his hands--and I worked hard to keep it that way.

I had to wipe him down with multiple wipes, then spray him off with the shower nozzle, soap him all up and wash him off again. He was not thrilled about the shower nozzle, even though it's hand-held so I was able to direct it below his head while he stood there. Actually, he was not happy about the whole thing.

But once he was cleaned up, toweled off, diapered, dressed and snuggled, he was in a great mood and ready to play with his sister!

So what the heck happened? I just don't know. Was a diaper mishap that caused the poop to get outside of the diaper, so he started taking his sleeper off because it was uncomfortable? Was it because he was taking his sleeper off that the poop fell out of the diaper? Did he unzip his sleeper, push his diaper around and off, then the poop fell out so he tried to get out of his sleeper?

The boy does love putting his hands down his pants and inside his diaper. Unfortunately, he still puts his hands in his mouth a lot, and that's why he wears a sleeper to bed! (And onsies to school under his clothes!)

You know what? I'm going to stop trying to analyze it, unless it happens again. If it happens again, I'll have to evaluate the sleepers--maybe find ones that zip in the back or something. Let's call it a freak diaper incident. It's just another poop story to add to the list.

It wasn't so bad, as poop stories go. But did I mention that I hadn't even had my coffee yet?

Question of the Week - Next Level of Shows

Before I talk about the Pumpkin's developmental growth more, I want to clarify that reasoning doesn't always work. But I would say that over 50% of the time it does, and those are winning odds in my book!

Something else that has come along with her development spurt are new shows. My girl has always liked certain shows, but gets bored with the same episodes and even same shows after a while. She likes new, different and varieties.

So when she was home sick for two weeks and we watched a lot of TV (because she was too sick to do much else for a lot of that time), she got very bored with the same old shows. She had seen the Dora and Diego episodes that were On Demand way too many times. She was feverish and listless and BORED.

One afternoon, I realized that I had to find her some new shows to spark her interest and keep her entertained while she couldn't run around. It occurred to me that her recent development meant that she was probably ready for some shows at the next level. Remembering that I'd heard good things about the PBS shows, I checked what was playing on that channel.

And welcome to our world, Word Girl!

It's got language and vocabulary! It's got a female a superhero! It's got bad guys and a monkey sidekick! It's got fights (that aren't too violent) and witty humor! It's a win for everyone who has to gets to watch it!

This week's question of the week is:

What shows are your kids watching these days? Or what shows to plan to move to when they are ready for the next level?

We've just traded our nightly routine of Dora and Diego for Super Why and Word Girl. Instead of WonderPets, we watch Animal Mechanicals (on The Hub). Rarely do we watch a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when we could watch Sid the Science Kid.

What about in your house? Do your children become bored with the same old shows? Do they watch shows that you enjoy too? And any good recommendations for my daughter?

See How They Grow

It's really amazing to me to watch these children of mine grow. Seeing the Pookie go through phases that his sister went through before him, reminds me of how far she's come. Which in turn, reminds me of how far the Pookie's come and where he still will go.

At 19 months old, the Pookie is really learning his words and how to tell us exactly what he wants. But when we don't understand or he can't have what he wants, he has a big meltdown. Just like the Pumpkin used to.

At almost 4, however, the Pumpkin starts to get SO upset when we tell her she can't have something, but then I hold up a finger and say, "Hey, hey, hey! Don't you want to hear why you can't do it?" And she stops freaking out, asks to hear why, and then usually understands the reason and is either okay with it or comes up with a compromise or something that works for us all.

Just yesterday morning, the Pumpkin said she wanted a juice box for her lunch. Fine. She's can have one cup of juice a day. I put one in her lunch bag. Then she got one out herself, and she was getting the straw out of it's plastic when I saw what she was doing. I was in the middle of washing some dishes and my hands were all soapy, so I was telling her no, but she was doing it anyway. As she put the straw to her lips, I went towards her, drippy soapy hands and all, saying, "I told you no!"

She said that she wanted a juice now. I said that we already put a juice in her lunch bag, and she was only allowed one juice a day. So she said, "Well, I just want the juice now, not for lunch." So I made sure she understood that meant she'd have water for lunch, and she said fine.

This thinking ahead, understanding limitations, working through the rules and how to get what she wants within the limitations of the rules... It's just amazing to me to watch. Instead of freaking out about wanting to watch a show in the family room, she now understands that if it's not on TV or On Demand, we have to watch it up in my room where it's recorded. Or maybe it's not recorded and she simply has to wait until it comes on later. She GETS it. She understands and doesn't freak out.

And it's really making life easier around here!

Even the Pookie is at an easier stage. He does still freak out when thwarted, but because he's able to say more and indicate more, it's much easier to get him what he is asking for, instead of him just screaming NO until we guess correctly.

The Pookie is also able to understand more complex directions. Instead of just "Give that toy to your sister," I can tell him, "That's your sister's toy, and this one is yours. Give your sister her toy, and you can play with yours." Of course, he doesn't always want to do it, but he does understand and he usually does it.

I'm just really amazed by my kids. I really enjoy watching them learn, grow, develop. I love that my daughter uses the bathroom all by herself in the early morning hours so I don't have to get out of bed. I love that my son gets his own bowl and spoon and box of cereal every morning (and randomly throughout the day, which is a little frustrating when it's almost dinner time and Londo's cooked a delicious meal, but that's a different post!). I especially love to watch them play together and work out their differences and start to understand each other on a new level.

This parenthood thing is definitely worth it.