I have begun to not wash my clothes until they are really dirty.  I mean, either visibly dirty or offensively smelly.  And I’m not doing this as some tree-hugging type of thing… it’s out of sheer laziness.  That, and the fact that I need to figure out how to cut down on laundry some how.  With my wife, tossing pretty much everything that she touches in the hamper.  The kids going through 2,3, or 4, outfits in a day, some covered in poop!,.  A bunch of towels and cleaning towels, burp rags, hooter hiders, swim stuff, and blankets and pissy sheets to cap it all off.

The laundry dosent stop… ever.  And if you dont do it, like everyday… the stuff really gets out of hand.

I know that this is nothing new to all you moms and dads out there.  But I just felt the need to point it out.

I put everything into piles like this… its crazy

1. Boys socks
2. Girls socks
3. boys pants
4. boys shirts
5. boys pajamas
6. boys shorts
7. boys onesies
8. boys jackets
9. bibs
10. burp rags
11. girls pants
12. girls shirts
13. girls dress that get hung up
14. girls shirts that get hung up
15. swimsuits
16. moms undies and stuff
17. moms shirts
18. moms pants
19. moms shirts to hang
20. moms pants to hang
21. moms pjs
22. moms socks
23. dish towels
24. bath towels
25. hand towels
26. hoodie towels
27. and my stuff gets tossed into a drawer

And that’s it…

happy bottle times

Now that we got the little girl going to bed at a decent time… in a big girl bed, and sleeping all night long… the next thing is getting that damn bottle away form her.  For some reason, she has to have it at night and in the  morning.  I still haven’t gotten the balls to just take it away and let her cry… I am just super happy that she is going to bed without a fight.  We looked online for some super nanny 911 tricks, but so far have found no real winners.  There was one, that looked promising – give her a bottle with something that she hates in it…. and milk in her sippy cup.  I might try that tomorrow.

What do you do?  Any special tricks?

So a few days ago the kid started to get this really nasty cough, runny nose, and just overall uncomfort. I just didn’t know what to do,  this cough just broke my heart every time she did it.  She sounded like a barking seal.  And the coughing just wouldn’t stop.  For a while I was convinced that she had whooping cough of something, so I took her in to see the doctor. It only took the doc about five seconds to diagnose my little girl.  She said that she had croup.  I had never even herd of it but apparently it’s fairly common among kids 11mths to three years, she said.

Its kind of like having asthma, but its a viral sickness in the windpipe or larynx.  It can make their voice sound weird, affect their appetite, make it difficult to breathe right, have a super nasty sounding cough, a low fever, runny nose, and worst of all for us parents… a really, really rough time sleeping.  Croup gets really bad at night.  the kid will just toss and turn all over the place, and cough constantly.  Its really upsetting as a parent to see you kid so uncomfortable.

Symptoms of Croup in Kids

• harsh, high-pitched respiratory sound called a stridor
• a brassy, barking seal like cough
• a hoarse cry
• difficulty breathing
• low-grade fever
• rattling sounds while exhaling
• scattered crackles in the chest
• runny nose

There are a few things that you can do make it better for them.

These are the best techniques for dealing with croup that have helped my kid…

• If they are coughing lots and having some breathing trouble, try to get them into a steamy shower for as long as you can.  The steam is key. (I don’t know why, the doctor told me…works great)
• Have a humidifier running 24hrs a day in their bedroom.
• If you can get a hold of some age appropriate cough syrup, that will ease their cough.

What the experts say to do

• Administer mist therapy which involves sitting in a steam-filled bathroom, with the window open and the door closed. Turn on the hot water in the shower or tub and let the room fill up with steam. Sit with the child in the room, with the water still running, for 10 minutes.
• Bundle the child up in warm clothes and take them outside in the cool night air for 10-15 minutes.
• Use a cool mist vaporizer or humidifier in the child’s room
• Give the child plenty of clear fluids such as apple juice, water or popsicles to suck on
• Treat the fever with acetaminophen (Tylenol or Tempra)
• Avoid smoke or smoke-filled rooms.

The humidifier really helps… I think.  At least she seems to sleep way better with it on.  So I would have to say that if you kid gets croup, or is coughing lots, get a humidifier.

There are some homeopathic remedies that lots of people swear by like Aconite or Spongia.  I don’t know what this stuff is… but people say it really works.

Natural Cures http://www.hpathy.com/diseases/croup-symptoms-treatment-cure.asp

Good Croup Information  http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/commoninfections/a/croup.htm

By the way… If your you think your something is really bad… call your doctor or take them to the ER.

A few posts ago I was dealing with some serious temper tantrums.  I got some info online on some ways to deal with them.  They seemed to work great.  When the kid freaks out for no reason or for something stupid… ignoring her has seemed to work great.  Then explaining to her that the screaming and yelling was not OK, seemed to calm her down.  I think that she might even be learning from it.

Ignoring a temper tantrum at home is hard to do, even harder on the road or at a store or something.  So when she gets really mad at home, and its for some stupid reason, I just ignore her… don’t even make eye contact, or its all over for me.  If the screaming is just too much for me to handle,  I will put her in her room and shut the door.  After a few minutes, usually she calms  down.  Then I go right in, and have a nice little talk about what happened, and get a nice hug and kiss.

On the road is another story.  If I’m in the car, no problem.  She is trapped, and I have a loud radio.  But when where at a restaurant or in the store… I just have to leave… I’m still working on that one.

Temper Tantrums…suck!

What are we supposed to do?  You know that horrible time I am talking about. Full On Temper Tantrum.   Your at the store, and you want to get a remote control car, so you can chase the little monster around the house.  Then you “unknowingly” pass the to baby doll section.  She grabs all the babies she can carry, and runs.  You know your in for it.  So you ditch the toy car and head out, like a destroyer of fun and dreams as you take the dolls away.

Now you did it.  The limp noodle (your kid) falls to the floor, yelling, kicking, screaming… it not like you can reason with this person (at least I haven’t learned how to yet… if you know, tell me… please) , shes only 18 months old.  Here are your options

1. Let her cry it out on the floor.
2. Apologize and admit your wrong doing and giver her all the babies
3. Just look around and say “its not my kid, and run away”
4. Trick her by giving her one of the dolls back, continuing your shopping trip, and taking the doll away right before you check out, only to cause the monster to erupt in anger, then buy the toy, apologize to her for your stupidity and be on your way?

I choose 4.  Sometimes I just cave in because its easier.  I know that this is not the right thing to do… but I’m working on it.  So I decided ask around.  But the people that i asked are OUR parents and grandparents.   The answers I got… well, they were not the answers i was looking for.  Spanking, strap, abandonment, squirted with water… on and on… not my style.

I found lots of good articles online in forums and parenting sites.  So here is what I am going to try on the next set of tantrums

At Home

1. Calmly take the kid somewhere safe, like their room, or crib… as long as it is somewhere safe, where she can be left alone.
2. If she cant be left alone, stay with her, but ignore her… don’t even make eye contact
3. Don’t come back until she has calmed down, and then have a calm talk with her.  Tell her that her behavior is not acceptable, and go over her actions… ” you were kicking and screaming, and throwing things, and that is not good.  Do this so that she knows what she did that was wrong
4. Apparently kids undertand more than we think, so its ok to talk to them like adults…apparently (that’s what the behavior authorities on line say)

This should help the kids to understand and learn from their behavior.  Getting mad, yelling at them, and giving in will just mess them up in the long run, so I guess I can’t do that.

Out and About

1. Get out of the public area if its possible, head to the car and strap her in the car seat if you can.  Just wait it out until she calms down.
2. Have that nice little talk about her behavior again
3. Go back to whatever we were doing

But what if you cant get out of public?

1. On the buss, train, or worse…airplane.   This is really tough… you cant do jack s@#t.  Just hold on for the ride.  Try as hard to ignore the kid as you can.  Whats going to be even harder, is trying to ignore people looking at you… but don’t give in.  Maybe try locking them in the bathroom, or overhead compartment (kidding)… I don’t know.
2. When the kid calms down, have that little talk again.

I will make a report on my findings soon.  Hopefully this works.

Here is one of the articles that I read… the article on tantrums is really good… but the site is some really weird Pagan site or something crazy… good advice though…I think.  http://www.heptune.com/tantrum.html

What do you do when your kid has tantrums…  this is where you go ahead and leave a response below… scroll down.

You can read this on Minit… like facebook for parents… newdadscliffnotes.minti.com