Be A Good Mom

I thought I would update you on a few open items I have discussed on my blog.

1.  The tent is still the best gift ever.  Now they watch movies and eat popcorn inside it.   Sometimes Pookie refuses to let me and BAGD out, even when the internal temperature reaches 100 degrees.

2.  We are sure Pookie can count higher than 4.  Tonite he was playing with a piggy bank and misplaced one of his pennies.  He turned to BAGD and asked “Where is the 5 penny?”  Five being the fifth penny.  So, while its just one higher than the teacher says he can count, we believe its just one example of how he understands quantities.

3.  Pookie and I are attending another Sign Language chat next week.  I am trying to find a book written in sign language so that we can practice a common story.  I would like something like “Good night Moon” or a fairy tale in sign language.  I want him to be able to learn the story all the way through.  Any suggestions?  I can’t seem to find one that gives the signs for a whole story.

4.  I still love that razor, but will admit that it is a bad idea to shave in the shower without your glasses on.  I have a strip of hair on my leg about 1 inch wide that I totally missed last time.   I noticed on Gyne appt day.  Oh well, I guess they’;ve seen worse.

5.  I guess Pookie is officially potty trained now, given the fact that BAGD and I have not even thought about it for almost a month.  He had been doing great with pee for months, but still had poop accidents.  Then things got better and now we never even think about it.  He doesn’t really tell us when he poops in the potty.  We try to keep an eye on it, because he does not wipe well, but we no longer follow him around.   We were just saying the other day that we haven;t thought about it for weeks.

6.  Giggles still sleeps thru the night.  In fact, she is going like 12 hours a night.  She goes to bed at 7ish with the big kids and wakes up between 6 and 7 the next morning.  Not bad!

7.  We threw out all the Baby Einstein DVDs.  We could not take it any more.  We had tried letting him watch it once a day,  right after breakfast.   But he would still whine all day for more.  And he was using it as his “Screw you!” comment.  It went something like this :  BAGD “Pookie, don’t stand on the Sit and Spin.”  Pookie “I want to watch Baby Mo!”

8.  We finally started using all that free formula.  I told BAGD I would mix it 50-50 with the Walmart stuff Giggles is used to.  I mix it more like 70-30, but she still does fine.  No upset stomach.  No problems.

9.  BAGD still piles his crap on my desk.

10.  My kids have been remarkably healthy this winter, luckily.

11.   Final Count:  23 hats, 6 rag quilts and one nearly finished real quilt, from a kit.   I also just bought a book on quilt making, so I am ready to try a real quilt, not from a kit.

12.  I did get one of these.   Told you I would.

13.  This works great to keep the hats and coats organized.  The only problem is that the over-zealous children sometimes push too hard on the hat/mitten bag and we have broken 2 hangers already.

14.  No longer Pookie’s favorite book.  He has moved on to the “David” series by David Shannon.

15.  This is still the best stroller, carseat, boogie board combo ever.  I love it.  No complaints at all.

16.  We still never received any more books from this chain letter.  And it made me very sad.

17.  We had a girl, not a boy.

18.  I did let BAGD name the baby, and he did great.

19.  She looks like Geetle.

20.  We have no current Winnie.  We lost Winnie #4 about 6 weeks ago and made a group decision to go hamster-less for a while.  Geetle has hardly noticed, since she has a new pet…Giggles.

21.  I still have 8 boxes of salt in my laundry room.

22.  Pookie no longer climbs into bed with me every morning at 5:45.  I sort of miss it.

23.  We threw this out a few weeks ago.  Pookie moved past it.  It was sort of sad to throw it away.   After all, it was his first urinal.

24.  After years of not pointing, Pookie is now a pro.  He has also learned to say “right there” to add emphasis to his pointing.  Such a small thing, but so important.

25.  We never did find Aunt Shel’s hamster.

If you Google “Be a good mom” I show up on the front page, way at the bottom. I am OK with the bottom. But I am not OK with the site ranked one higher than me!  www.beagooddad.com!  Yep, that’s right…be a good DAD!  My old nemesis…and current husband.

I know from all the yakety-yak he does at the dinner table about blog politics, that he is ranked higher than me because more people link to him than me. Please, internet-users. Link to me, so that I can bump him. My blog is called “Beagoodmom”! I write about how I try to be a good mom! That spot is mine!

By the way, he does not need your help. He is already ranked #1 for “Be a good Dad.”

Now, he is ranked 9th for “Be a good Mom.” He can be 9th, as long as I am 8th or better.

I know, why should you link to me, I don’t link to you. I am lousy about linking to others. I do read other blogs, but I am not that good at the behind the scenes stuff (*HE* does all that for me…heehee) so I don’t have a blog roll. But I will have him make me one, I promise. Luckily, he is a competitive type guy and he LOVES that I like to blog now, so he will not be mad at me for trying to bump him.

I like to look at Statcounter and see what searches led people to my blog.  Sometimes I like to answer the questions people were asking, just for fun….

On November 11 someone searched for “echolalia risk factors” and arrived at my blog.  All I can tell you is that if you have echolalia, you most are most likely dealing with the big A.  It can be seen with other conditions, but rarely.  We hoped the same thing you did, but usually echolalia= autism.

On November 10 someone searched for “potty training how do we leave the house” and arrived at my blog.  The answer is…just leave the house.  Whats the worst thing that could happen?   All you have to remember is to go to the bathroom at the start and at the end of every segment of the trip.  Go when you get to Walmart, go when you leave.  Drive to Library, go when you get there and just before you leave to come home.  Bring a pair of pants, underwear and a few wipes in a ziploc bag.  Also bring a grocery sack to carry home any wet pants.  Leave your diaper bag at home, as a sign of faith.  Just stuff the extra clothes in your purse and go.  If there is an accident, do your best to clean it up, but don’t obsess.  The janitorial staff at Walmart has seen alot worse things, I am sure.

On November 8 someone searched for “what activities can I do after Cesarean section” and arrived at my blog.  After a C-section you can do whatever you want, as long as it does not hurt too bad.  Your doctor might disagree with me, but you have to recover at some point, which means you have to push yourself a bit every day.

On November 10 someone searched for “cheap kids pajamas” and arrived at my blog.  I am an expert on this topic.  Here you go:  First, if your child is between the age of 0 and 4 never pass up a pair of fuzzy footed PJs at a garage sale.  Second,  use plain white T-shirts as PJ tops.  Pair them with boxers in the summer and flannel pants and a sweatshirt in the winter.  Third, don’t get hung up on matching tops and bottoms.  Sometimes it just ain’t gonna happen, and the sooner you deal with it, the better.

Keep those searches coming!

BAGD showed me how to use statcounter to see who is visiting my blog and why. It shows what search engine terms people used when they found my blog. Its a good way to see what people are looking for on the internet. I thought it might be fun to speak directly to some of the search terms that people have used and ended up on my website recently. Now, BAGD tells me that due to the peculiarities of the search engines, someone might search for something like “monkey waterslide” and my blog will pop up, because I once wrote about Pookie’s stuffed monkey and mentioned a waterslide in a totally separate post. So, some of these search terms do not really define my blog, but they are interesting anyway. So, here we go:

• “bikini top water slide pic” : I did wear a bikini to the waterpark, so maybe this search was meant for me. I do have a picture, but I am not showing it to you.
• “how to be a good mom”: I know I get alot of search traffic like this, so I did write a post on this topic a few weeks ago.
• “menards locking bedroom door knob”: I did not buy our door knob locks at Menards, but I am sure they have them.
• “homemade duck costume” : I get this one about once a week. Sorry. My post is not about a real duck costume. People are probably really disappointed when they get here.
• “infant carseat carrier flying falcon”: No way! Someone is going to buy this thing?
• “pee cubs T-shirt”: not sure I can help you. I am not even sure what you mean by this. But Pookie and Geetle have Cubs T-shirts (one of his favorite “blue shirts”) and I do talk about pee alot.
• “Winnie’s Birthday”: I did not know our hamster Winnie had fans outside the immediate family.
• “what do kids eat at kindercare” : I don’t know.
• “why do my feet itch so much”: I think mine was chiggers.
• “autistic wardrobe malfunction” : I mention autism alot. I think the reference to wardrobe malfunctions was in reference to my formal maternity dress at Shel’s wedding. I did not have a malfunction, but I was worried. Not related to autism at all. Most of our life isn’t. The big-A is like our hamster. We have to take care of it every now and then, but it does not really affect what we do on a daily basis.
• “stroller boogie board”: I am not surprised that I get this search term alot. I promise, when I figure out which of the 2 boogie boards I am getting, I will post the answer. I am getting a new stroller that is supposed to be compatible with both, but I want to see the stroller in person before I order the board. I placed my order Sunday, so the stroller should be here soon. When I have the whole system put together, I will post a definitive answer to the question “which boogie board and stroller combo is best for a family with an infant who uses a Graco Snugride carseat and a 45 lb preschooler who wants to ride on the boogie board.”
• “wet shorts poop”: I have already apologized for the sheer number of times I talk about pee and poop on this blog. But its like our religion, I have to preach it. Pookie is doing so well that we can’t help but talk about it.
• “I should have danced all night maternity shirt”: does this exist? If so, I can’t help you find it.

BAGD gets even better ones that I do. Recently, he was found by people searching for:

• “pledge of allegiance in navajo language” : Yeah. He does not speak navajo. He does speak Arabic.
• “how to give injections in the butt”: He does know how to do this. Its an IVF thing. And we had to do it alot. He also gets alot of searches for “jennifer lopez IVF”.
• “autism meal portions”: I was not aware that the big A’s influence was so pervasive that it even affected food portion sizes. I should search for this one and read what he says on the topic. Most likely he was commenting on the fact that he now has to make 2 boxes of Macaroni and Cheese because Pookie and Geetle eat too much and he does not want to share with them anymore.
• “morton high school hammond in school supply list”: if he tells you that he knows the answer to this one, don’t believe him.
• “do twins start their periods at the same time”: not only does he NOT know the answer to this question…he is plugging his ears right now (lalalalalalalala)
• “famly gud you tude”: ah, excuse me?