sleep training ... the saga continues

My boys are early risers.  Normally this is fine with me as when I work I get up at about zero 5 hundred.  However, now that I am off for the summer and Michael does not get up until about 6:30am, my early morning boys are driving me a little nuts.  An extra half hour let alone an hour would be amazing.

I want to try this ...

http://www.goodnitelite.com/

Does anyone have any thoughts on this or something of the like?  A few friends have said they have worked like magic, yet my concern is that I have waited to long.

Also, we're moving.  CAN I SAY IT LOUD AND EXCITED ... we're finally moving.  Just bought a lovely home in the borough of Hershey, PA.  How "sweet" is that!  Anyhoo, the boy's rooms will be upstairs from us, so besides gating the top of the steps, I need a way to keep Max in his bed.

Please give me some thoughts!

Thanks,
sleep deprived Natasha

June 29th, 2013

dumpster diving

I am not talking about McDonald's at the end of a night when you were broke ass in college and hungry.  Come on, admit it, you atleast considered it ...

Max, Charlie, and I were walking Annie - our four-legged little lady, before a morning full of errands until she decided to make a deposit around the neighborhood.  So I dutifully bagged it up to dispose of in the proper receptacle.  Let me rephrase myself.  I first of all fended off two little boys who wanted to pick up the poop themselves.  THIS IS NOT HAPPENING.  Then it was a fight over who would carry it, throw it away, try to untie the bag, etc. etc. etc.  Seriously, this is what they fight over.  DOG SHIT.  Max won after a bird distracted Charlie and off he went to the dumpster to throw it away.  Now our apartment dumpsters are encased by lovely wooden sheds to hide the unsightliness of them with doors that can be opened and shut by the rubbish men.  Max goes around and launches the bag into the dumpster while holding my keys - do I need to tell you what happened next?!  Poor little guy - he IMMEDIATELY knew something was not right.  His face was so scared.  Threw clenched teeth I told him all was fine.  After biting my tongue, I had to figure out how to get out my keys.  I am only 5"3" - there was no launching myself into the dumpster, especially with Max, Charlie, and a freaking out Annie at this point - she is scared of the dumpsters.  So ... I took the tall rusty pole that the doors of the shed open and close with and fish out my keys.  Thank goodness the dumpsters had been emptied out that morning, or I could have been fishing through coffee grounds, dirty diapers, and yesterday's mail.  I came out a little sweaty, hands covered in rusty grease, and with keys.  And we went on with our day.

Now I did do some actual dumpster rummaging a few hours later while trying to find boxes to accommodate packing - liquor stores are great for this.  Unfortunately, the boxes had been broken down and placed in the dumpsters already.  Don't mind the girl with her SUV back door open nonchalantly parked behind a strip mall fishing through a dumpster for boxes with emblems of Cupcake Vineyards, Captain Morgan, and Yellowtail.

I have no shame.

It's a good thing I did get some boxes yesterday.  Quiet time, my ass.



















Note to self - do not let child carry keys on walk and quiet time is very rarely going to happen.

June 25th, 2013

Goodbye Room 203

Last Monday, I closed the door to my middle school classroom one last time.  My boxes and file cabinet sat neatly taped, labeled, and stacked by the door.  They were labeled with my name, my school's initials, and my new room assignment; room 214.

Now this room 214 is not simply down the hallway.  Oh no, this room is in the high school.  That's right folks.  This teacher is moving on up!

I am excited for the new challenge of teaching high school French and very excited to have my same students, yet it is so bittersweet to leave my middle school family.  These are the people that helped me through two pregnancies, numerous ups and downs in my teaching career, I have laughed with them and cried with them.  We've exchanged educational theories and nasty jokes.  Some have left.  Some remain.

As two of the funniest guys I know would say, "stay classy STMS."

June 22nd, 2013

Toddler Antics ... part?

As I tried to get a few more minutes of blessed sleep this morning since he was awake before 5AM. 

That was a brand new roll ...  

 

"Charlie, what are the animals doing?"

"Poop."

All strapped in and ready to go; Dory, Squirt, Nemo, and .... Jingle.

No, they are not twins ... one didn't grow and one did.  I swear.

Max is too big for naps.  Did you know this?  I was not made aware.  Yet, his animals needed to sleep. All the little bumps underneath all the blankets are animals.  When I wanted to vacuum he said they had to sleep.  I told him we would be very quiet, move them to his bed, and then Mummy could vacuum.  He was fine with that.

Yep, he's too big for naps.

This is what happens when you put stickers all over the door.  You have to unstick them. 

Is it bedtime yet?

June 8th, 2013

The intervention, when and when?

So ..........

Let's dish.

No, seriously, for reals.  My question is this:

When is it right to stand over your children and make sure they are playing nicely and calmly and not hurting each other?  It is all I ever feel like I do.  When can I trust that they are calmly playing with trucks or reading books or building blocks and I can actually sit and have a HOT cup of coffee?

Today at a school picnic held at the school due to threatening rain, majority of the other mothers or fathers could sit, enjoy a meal, listen to the retirees speak ... while I chased my children up and down the hallways and tried to shove food down their throats.

When do you know if your children are ready to play on their own?  I know it is much easier shut in our apartment than at a school picnic, but I want to able to say I have let them be, let them build their imaginations, let them share ... without pummeling each other!

June 2nd, 2013