A Thanksgiving Feast

I was so happy that I was able to attend the Thanksgiving Feast A’s preschool class held this past week.  Being a working mom with such a demanding job, it’s very important to me that I be there for these types of events.  I was very impressed with everything the class put together for the party.  They made turkey hats, turkey cookies and prepared thanksgiving songs to sing for all the parents.  Afterwards each student got a certificate of appreciation for all of their hard work.  A was so thrilled with his first “award”.

Posted on the wall of his classroom was a turkey he had made by cutting out his handprint.  Written on each of the feathers were what he was thankful for this year.  My 3 year old is thankful for:  my mom & dad, Layla (our dog), and my food.   Although he wasn’t a huge fan of the turkey hat he made, I got some quick pictures out of him, ate some cupcakes and then we went home early for some extra mommy & son time. 

These are the type of days that I am thankful for.  I’m thankful that I have a job that allows me to have this family time and I’m thankful for having a happy and healthy family.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Showing off his turkey hat

His turkey cookie

Do you Hear That??

Neither do I.  That’s the sound of silence at 8:30 pm.  Bedtime had been a battle with my son over the last few months but this past week we finally got back into our groove.  It wasn’t so much the getting into bed part, but more of the staying in bed part.  Every night was something straight out of Adam Mansbach’s book “Go the F**k to Sleep”.  It went a little something like this:

A:  Mom, will you lay here with me?
Me:  Sure.  I will stay for 5 minutes.

A:  Ok.

(after 5-10 minutes I get up kiss A good night & go downstairs)

Me:  Good night, sleep tight.

A:  Good night Mommy

….30 seconds later

A:  Maaaaaa!!!!! 

Me:  (running up 2 flights of stairs)  yes?

A:  (Insert any number of excuses phrases here)  I need you/ I’m scared/ I’m thirsty/ I have to go potty

I would start all over again - sit with him for 5-10 minutes until he calmed down, let him know that I can see him on the monitor and will check on him in a little while & then proceed to go back downstairs.

….1-2 minutes later

A:  Maaaaaa!!!!!   Can you hear me????

Me:  Yes A, what is it?

A:  I need you/ I’m scared/ I’m thirsty/ I have to go potty

You get the point.  This would repeat for about 2 hours until A would fall asleep from exhaustion and I would be stressed beyond my limit. 

So, what’s changed?  I finally figured out that A’s biggest concern when going to sleep was me being 2 floors away in the downstairs living room.  He didn’t care that I could hear and see him on the monitor – he wanted the physical proximity of me while he was falling asleep.  I didn’t have to be IN his room, but he wanted me nearby.  So instead of sitting with my laptop on the couch downstairs after putting A to bed, I relocated myself across the hall to my bedroom until he’s asleep.  Since making the change he not only falls asleep faster but is sleeping more soundly – no more wake ups during the night.

It’s amazing how much better you feel when you get uninterrupted sleep.

Stationery card

Snowflakes Ribbon Christmas Card

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Wordless Wednesday - Fuzzy Lightyear

Summer Goals Update

Considering it is officially fall now and it's currently snowing outside (yikes for October snow!) I figured I owe an update on the Summer Goals I set for myself back in June.

1. Clean out/organize the built in shelving area in our downstairs. 

Cleaning is not my favorite thing in the world.  I did look at it quite a few times (if that counts) and came to the conclusion that almost everything in there is stuff to keep (picture albums, our wedding china & crystal still in the boxes, extra paper towels, toilet paper, our recycling bins, and baby items from A that we’re saving for the next baby).  I did manage to clean out a shelf of old books and throw out a handful of other items.  So much for a big clean out.  Whoops :(

 I don’t have any before & after pictures because I forgot to take pictures before I started throwing things away - plus you really can’t see much of a difference…..

2. Finish transforming A’s room to a ‘big boy’ room. 

This was my best project of the summer.  While I really enjoyed redecorating A’s room, it made me a bit sad to take out all of his baby things.  No more changing station; no more diaper pail; no more glider; no more toddler bed.  They have been replaced with a dresser, a book area, train table and of course his big boy bed.  I just need to find a bed skirt to match the bedding and the transformation will be officially complete.

3. Utilize the pool at our complex more. 

This was an easy one.  Who wouldn’t want to go to the pool more, right?!  We used the pool more than last year and as much as we had free time for.  Between my work and our active weekend schedule it didn’t leave a ton of extra time, but we managed the best we could to fit in as much pool time as we could.  Anthony loved it and by the end of the summer was swimming by himself around the pool(with his life jacket of course).  A huge change from last year when he wouldn't go past sitting on the stairs.

4. Loose these last 10 stubborn pounds!! 

Stubborn was a good word to describe this one.  It was a lofty goal indeed.  Summer time is a difficult time to diet with all of the BBQ’s and vacations going on.  I tried my best and what I ultimately ended up with was maintenance.  So while I didn’t get rid of the weight I wanted to, I still consider it a win that I didn’t gain back anything that I had lost.

5. Take more walks 

On weekends and weeknights when I got home on time, I would take A out to play as much as possible.  He loves riding on his plasma car so I would take him around our complex on his car.  I would have liked to have gone on more walks by myself so that I could have done some speed walking, but some is better than none, right?!  Plus it’s much more fun when you have this face looking back at you.

Wordless Wednesday - Pumpkin Picking

Celebrating Working Mothers!

This past week I spent 2 days at the Working Mother 2011 Work Life Congress that was held in NYC.  The theme for the two days was:  

How to Succeed in Business -- with Work Life! 

Leaders from corporate, government & education spoke about the many issues busy working moms face and how we (the collective we) need to do more than “talk the talk”.   The conference offered workshops on topics such as the best ways to implement successful flexible work programs, dependent care needs and innovative strategies for engaging men in the dialogue for work life support and effectiveness.  There was also a silent auction, from which all proceeds benefited the Museum Of Motherhood and on the second day, Working Mother held their annual Gala Dinner honoring the 100 Best Companies and the Working Mothers of the Year.  One day soon I hope to see my company not only be an attendee at this dinner, but also honored as one of the top 100 Companies.

The best speaker at the conference, in my opinion, was the keynote speaker on day 1 - Amy Hilbrich Davis, Founder & CEO of FamilyLife Success.  The majority of her talk focused around her 5 Key Ingredients to Family Success:

1.       Personal Wellness

2.       Partner Relationship

3.       Parenting Skills

4.       Support Network

5.       Home & Family Management

In her talk, she mentioned an interesting fact from her research that surprised me - 2 out of 3 parents do not feel successful with their parenting life, regardless if they work or not.   I guess managing the work conflict is not a complete solution.  Amy spoke at last year’s conference as well, which I very much enjoyed.  She presented a workshop on her inspiring mom balance map - a personalized document that helps you focus on and prioritize the things that matter most to you.

Another interesting (and quite shocking) fact that was brought up during the conference is that The United States remains one out of three countries that don’t mandate paid maternity leave (link to article is here).  To try and do something about it, Working Mother Magazine has partnered with the National Partnership for Women & Families to start an online petition to Congress.  They are asking for paid parental leave to be universally available to U.S. workers by 2015.

Join the fight by signing the petition & passing the link around.  America's Working Parents Deserve Paid Family Leave! 

Overall, I’m glad I attended the conference as there was a lot of interesting conversations though the workshops and it was also a great networking opportunity to meet other working moms.