I'm Going On An Adventure!!

[MadamMeow]

Congrats for One & Done!

 

[JCU]

Healing vibes for your family

Congrats on the challenge!

Happy New Year!

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[Saffity]

Congrats

BTW Fremen, I love your dwarf avatar, he's awesome!

 

[Syrius]

Congrats on Fit December!!

 

[Haleth]

Congratulations!

 

[Saffity]

Ok totally going to admit I hall passed the last number of days, but hey, that's what the hall passes are for



Fit December!

Now to figure out what I'm going to starting tomorrow.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

That's exactly what the hall passes are for, so CONGRATS

 

[Anek]

Double congrats!!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Congratulations on completing Fit December!

 

[JCU]

Congratulations!

 

[Saffity]

Happy New Year everyone! We rang it in with the kids just before bedtime, we all got dressed up and found a kids count down on YouTube.

The angle is a little weird, but Biggie is between Nose/Eye height on Munchie and Hubby is 6’1”. My kids are tall!!

 

[JCU]

Happy New Year!

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[Mamatigerj]

Cheers for double badges and Happy 2025!

 

[NancyTree]

Congrats on Fit December and One&Done!

 

[Saffity]

Checking in a bit late today, but still here.

After our New Years dance party with the kids, hubby and I chilled on the couch catching up on WWE till real midnight, then crashed. (I know I know, but it's a soap opera and I'm a Mom... at least this soap opera has Rhea Ripley in it...)

Yesterday was another "Everybody chill and for the love of everything get healthy!" Munchie's fever broke over New Years night and we eventually had to change her and blow dry her hair because she was so sweat soaked from it. She was up every half hour between 2-5, so Hubby was quite tired and slept most of the morning. The kids and I chilled, watched some tv, ate some breakfast, played a bit, read some books. Poor Biggie desperately wanted his sister to play with him but she still wasn't quite feeling it.

For lunch we brought out the waffle makers again, but this time Mommy put on the oil and Munchie's hands stayed far away. She wanted to use the Snowman mold and was very excited to see we could do just a snowman, like a waffle cookie, rather than a full circle. Biggie... fell asleep in his high chair. So I took him up to bed while we cooked, and he had waffles later.

Then during Biggie's nap, Munchie played on my phone, Hubby chilled with his phone, and I absconded to the basement to catch up on some Librivox stuff. Got one recording edited and submitted (20 minutes of recording takes easily 2.5 hours between recording and editing), and another quick poem submission done.

Then I made teriyaki meatballs, Munchie wasn't interested in squishing the meat today so it only took me 20 minutes instead of an hour. Popped that in the slow cooker and played a bit more with the kids while Hubby started moving our now 3 dining sets around to try and get the 2 we no longer need rehomed. While I was glad I didn't need to move furniture, the kids wanted to do their Ninja Now and Floor is Lava exercize videos, which, as I keep saying, are no flipping joke. Even though I didn't do a Darebee workout, I still put my time in.

This morning we woke up to 10 cm or 2.5 inches of snow that I had the privilege of shoveling, winter has officially hit in Ontario. We're supposed to get another 10-15 cm of lake effect snow before the end of tomorrow. Maybe I'll let Hubby shovel while I enjoy my coffee.

Munchie's doing much better health wise, just a couple of coughs overnight and her fever hasn't returned. Biggie's still got a bit of a runny nose, but it's nowhere what it was last week. I... well, I can finally breathe and say all of my consonants correctly. I'm not jinxing it, so I'll just say I'm happy with the progress being made.

And now to looking ahead.

2025 Goals and Plans

I have decided that I need to get some of the "accomplishment" check marks done, so I'm going to attempt to do the 5 minute plank challenge this month. I used to be real good at planking, but it's been a while since I did it regularly.

I'm not sure about a program at the moment, so I'm going to just kind of do workouts for a bit, mainly just to get myself settled into the gym and figure out my routine. They have a 30 minute circuit there that I might try for a bit. I'm getting the Fancy membership so I'll definitely be checking all the features out.

I was going to put a goal of consecutive days, but with sicko kids making sicko Mommy, I just can't guarantee anything.

So my plan right now is to get my check for 5 minute plank, maybe try for 50 pushups but that's a super stretch goal, and see if I can't get myself to do 1 unassisted pull up by the end of the year.

I'd love to do the "in 1 go" distance challenges, but they'd be walking not running, due to my knee, and for me that doesn't quite count.

 

[FlowersandPetals]

Congrats on your badges and I’m so glad your little ones are doing better!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Munchie wasn't interested in squishing the meat today so it only took me 20 minutes instead of an hour.

I'm glad she's doing better!

 

[Saffity]

Not much to say for the last day.

I was Munchie's pony for a bit, and danced around with the kids while waiting for supper to finish. Played a bit more after, then ran through bath time and bed.

Munchie was good with no meds until she had a nightmare and was crying in her sleep. This caused tears and guck to go down her throat and start a coughing reaction that continued through the night even after medication and Vicks were given.

She was so done that I had to give her a hug and kiss to wake her up as I was leaving to work, which of course brought forth more tears. Luckily, once she realized I was taking her brother with me to daycare and she had Daddy, and therefore video games, all to herself, things were much resolved.

We've been having mother-in-law stress again. Not something I really go into on here, but it's a significant mental strain. Both hubby and I are stressed by things going on there. I'm hoping with the gym membership (which I'm getting tonight!!!) I'll be able to get endorphins enough to push away the bad feelings. There's nothing I can do to change things or make anything better there, all I can do is support Hubby.

Physically I'm a bit sore from shoveling yesterday. I can really feel it in my arms and back, but luckily it just feels like worked muscles and not injury. We have another 5-15 cm coming tonight, Hubby and I can flip a coin for who has to shovel tomorrow.

Was able to get another small section I need to get recorded for Librivox. Now to hope I can find a half hour to edit it. I'm already intending that some of my "gym time" will probably be going to a coffee shop or something to do a bit of computer work, or just pulling out my laptop while I use the massage chairs.

I'm really trying to get my book review blog going and once I have that caught up and I feel comfortable keeping it updated, I'd like to start cross posting to other social medias. Most likely Bluesky, tumblr, and TikTok because I'm not good at pretty pictures for Instagram and I don't want to make longform videos for YouTube. Depending on how my schedule goes with the LibriVox podcast I might start up a book review one and post on Substack. I used to blog all the time, and had very active tumblr's and such, I just need to try and etch out some time for me to do my stuff again. Stuff that got put on the back burner after I had kids.

 

[Tranquil_warrior]

Seems like you had a harsh day today. We are proud of you to get through it )
Know that seeing you optimistic after everything you have been through inspires the rest of us to be optimistic in whatever situation we are in.

I hope things turns out well for you in the future. Peace

 

[Saffity]

Seems like you had a harsh day today. We are proud of you to get through it )
Know that seeing you optimistic after everything you have been through inspires the rest of us to be optimistic in whatever situation we are in.

I hope things turns out well for you in the future. Peace

Thank you! My kids have been on and off again sick since September so it's been a rather tough time in our household.

I try very hard to keep things positive, it's one of the reason I use an emoticon for every paragraph!

The kids have been doing toddler exercize videos all day, and after getting (and using) my gym membership yesterday I'm a bit sore, but still good.

 

[Tranquil_warrior]

Thank you! My kids have been on and off again sick since September so it's been a rather tough time in our household.

I try very hard to keep things positive, it's one of the reason I use an emoticon for every paragraph!

The kids have been doing toddler exercize videos all day, and after getting (and using) my gym membership yesterday I'm a bit sore, but still good.

Aww :< I hope they get better soon and that you get less stressed.
And aww >w< I didn't know toddler exericse was a thing. Do they train to become cuter?

 

[Saffity]

And aww >w< I didn't know toddler exericse was a thing. Do they train to become cuter?

When Covid locked us all down, a bunch of YouTube channels started up with various exercize videos. Miss Linky, PE Bowman, Be Well Played for example. DannyGO is another one but he was more in response to Blippi than Covid.

Some of the videos are songs or 'adventure' videos, where you're helping a sick unicorn get ingredients for some medicine, or following directions from a Disney princess. Others are more like freeze dances, or pretend dodgeball. A lot of getting up and down, running in place, jumping back and forth. We mainly use them to get the kids moving if we're stuck inside due to weather or illness. PE Bowman is a really good one for us because they have the family's 3 kids doing the exercizes, and Munchie and Biggie love copying them.

Be Well Played is more like, Freeze dance, copy the character dancing on screen, floor is lava type videos. The favourite of Biggie is their "Going on a something hunt", because you have to "RUNDAWAY! RUNDAWAY!" as he runs in circles around the living room.

Watching a 2 year old attempting to do jumping jacks or the running man is the absolute cutest. Though Biggie sometimes requests a higher viewpoint and wants to be held by an adult while we do the moves. I take it as added weight training, but boy is this kid starting to get too heavy. When did my babies get so big.

 

[Saffity]

Morning update!

I am now officially a gym member! On Saturday I took Biggie's naptime to go get it. Friday I was not feeling going out, especially with the weather taking a turn. Luckily we only got 1-2 cm of snow rather than the 10 they were calling for. We're just on the edge of the snowbelt, so it's totally a matter of 1-2 km of the storm shifting whether we get a dumping or not. Quite often, I leave my house in the morning to barely any snow, and get to work (which is 7 km away as the crow flies) and it's ankle deep or more. Gotta love lake effect snow.

So Saturday (after a morning of toddler exercize videos because Biggie is All. About. Those.) I went to the gym during Biggie's nap and did a short workout, then tried all the relaxation beds. Very nice, and each with a different use I will rotate through as needed.

Got home and played with the kids more, then we took them out for a snack and Christmas money spending. Munchie got a Mario board game (she is currently obsessed with Mario since Daddy pulled out the N64 and Wii and showed her Mario Kart). Biggie got a new Hot Wheels truck that doubles as a garage and a ramp, this, of course, became a source of contention for the kids over the weekend, but we are slowly working with them to keep things on an even keel. Last year Munchie got a Hot Wheels 'city' which is a little pack and play with a couple garage spots and a swirly road the cars can go down. We split the cars between them and separate the kids when things get tense. Biggie is learning to share, though "No Chie! No Chie!" (he can only say the end of her name, so I'm supplementing with her nickname here) Is heard regularly when Munchie does something he doesn't like. Munchie is better at sharing, being 5, but Biggie is starting to learn which is nice to see.

Yesterday I was feeling everything. From the gym stuff that worked muscles I haven't used in a while, to the toddler exercizes with Biggie weight assist. So I took it easy, but still danced with the kids. Their current favourite video is the New Year's Eve countdown dance party. We rang in the new year about a dozen times yesterday. Munchie had an electronics day, where she was allowed to use the chromebook, iphone, and laptop at will, and I was very proud that she stopped a number of times to come play with me and Biggie. She's learning self regulation, though there were a couple of times where we told her to stop because she needed to do something (clean up, lunch, etc) that resulted in tears. The explanation that if this was how she would behave when she needed a break then we wouldn't give it to her at all improved her behaviour immediately.

All told yesterday was a good down day, though we are having some issues with Munchie overnight. We're not sure if it's because she still fighting this edition of her rotating cold, or if she's started to have nightmares, but she cries out in her sleep and wakes up a lot. It's never the same dream either. She's screaming out about not sharing, or her losing her lip cream, or various other things going on in her life. Sometimes I have to wake her up fully to get her out of the dream, because if you just try and calm her down, 30 seconds later she's back into it. I think she might take after me, being a lucid dream and a sleepwalker. When I'm sleepwalking it's very hard to tell that I'm sleeping. I've had full conversations with Hubby (there's a friend story that he and his two buddies love to tell about the time I came down freaking on them about their voices sounding like buzzing bees and I have no recollection of this event), the main way he can tell I'm not really awake is because I'm angrier and snarkier than I'd normally be (because my filter is turned off because I'm asleep). Munchie has made comments about making different decisions in her dreams, which makes me think she is a lucid dreamer and can control them to some effect, which is something I've been able to do since I was a kid, but it also means your dreams are very vivid and real feeling. I'm hoping that I can help her through it and she can get better sleep, and then we can get better sleep.

Other than that, I'm going to kind of take it easy today, stretch out my newly stiff muscles, and maybe just get some movement in at my desk. We'll see what tonight brings for heading to the gym, depends on how the kiddos are.

 

[Saffity]

Did a short treadmill walk at the gym last night and not much out. It felt good to get moving, though I have to be careful about the settings because when I increased the incline, my knee didn't like that.

We think Biggie is getting his 2 year molars in. His cheeks are bright red and look swollen, but don't bother him to the touch. (He thought it was funny when I was touching the outside and inside seeing his reaction). Unfortunately, he was up a bunch last night, including one point shortly after midnight where he screamed to high heaven until I cuddled him like he was nursing and he had his bottle. Every time he started to drop off he'd shake himself awake with a desperate "No no mommy all done! All done!" Then if I could get him wrapped back up and cuddled he'd settle down with his bottle again. We got him into bed at about 1:30, and I went to sleep, but Hubby said he didn't fully settle back down till 3.

Munchie was up a couple of times with nightmares, but had a decent night compared to Biggie. If it's not one it's the other.

I have discovered that I have fully come into my Mommy voice, as Hubby called me on my way to work as Munchie was misbehaving. She was screaming and crying about something silly and clearly running around by the volume difference on speaker phone. Eventually, Hubby was clearly in the weeds with her and Biggie carrying on, so I called out "Munchie you come over here to the phone RIGHT NOW" and she did, and she stopped howling, and we had a chat. I couldn't help but internally giggle at the new milestone of Mommy voice that I have achieved.

Otherwise, I'm finishing up the veggie tray that we had from our last gathering, and chilling for the most part today. Not sure if I'll hit the gym tonight, but knowing the kids there's at least one exercize video in my future.

 

[Saffity]

I just read through the first couple of pages of this thread, oh to look at the poor girl complaining about the weight of her 18 lb baby and to tell her the pain hasn't even begun! I love going back through and seeing how far I've come, not just physically but in other aspects of life. The fact that Munchie was "Tiny Toddler Dictator" for a page and a half and Biggie had a rotating nickname till basically this summer makes me giggle too.

 

[Saffity]

Last night was awful! We're pretty sure Biggie's getting his 2 year molars. He screamed to high heaven and only wanted me, and only wanted me to walk around the room with him on my shoulder. 45-60 minutes of walking around with a nearly 35+lb struggling, then dead weight toddler is enough of a workout.

So I stayed home and decided to read my book.

Went to bed and slept ok, though apparently Munchie was up and screaming again. We're trying to find reasons and think she might be getting too hot. It almost always at the same times. She goes to be shortly after 8, screams around 10, screams around 12, screams around 2, then sleeps in till 6:30. It's weird that it's about every 2 hours, we figure if it was just nightmares it would be more random. We're hoping making changes to her sleep environment will help.

Biggie woke up at 4, and Hubby had to tap out, so I've been up since 4. Bring on the coffee.

He hollered at me, whined and fussed. For the first time ever we kind of had to force him to take his meds (he's usually amazing at it, but this time he was just so out of sorts nothing was consoling him). He fussed more for about 15-20 minutes until the meds kicked in, and then decided he was hungry. He ate at 5, was back and forth fussy and playing, I was able to keep him quiet for nearly half an hour by allowing him to give his Bluey figures a 'bath' in the sink, which meant everything everywhere got wet. He finally crashed at 6:30, just in time for Munchie to wake up.

Managed to get Munchie ready for school, tossed my breakfast and lunch in my bag, kissed Munchie and Hubby good bye and dashed out the door.

Tonight is Hubby's night out with his buddies (He plays D&D) so I'll be chilling at home. I'm hoping by letting Munchie chill in the guest bed she'll be ok, and making sure Biggie has the right amount of painkillers will help his bedtime. Then I can get more computer stuff done. I have to get the LibriVox podcast compiled and edited as it releases on Friday. Then I'd like to try and get things really setup for my reviewing stuff. I've been keeping up with my blog schedule so far, and I've setup an Instagram and Bluesky. I have a tumblr ready to go but still needs some setting up. I'd like to get a posting schedule figured out, something reasonable, and also get my review posts drafted for my blog. I have a backlog to get out, I just need that bit of time to get the work done.

Tomorrow evening I have plans to meet up with a friend after the kids are in bed (and if they go to bed early enough I may be able to get a workout done before hand). Very much looking forward to that as I haven't been able to hang out with her in ages.

 

[Mamatigerj]

When I'm sleepwalking it's very hard to tell that I'm sleeping. I've had full conversations

I am the same. When i was a young teen i did a paper route with a friend; i had to walk about a mile up the hill to my friend's house in the predawn two mornings a week. I would frequently get up, get dressed, get my dog, and not actually wake up until i was halfway up the hill to her house!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I hope Hypnos, Willie Winkie, the Sleep Fairy, someone, will start being nicer to your family!

 

[Saffity]

Boy am I glad I didn't choose a program to do. I would have done nothing on it this week, and even though I know this is personal timing and such, I would still be feeling guilty about falling behind. Last night was another tough night. Luckily, Biggie didn't scream near as much, but he still fought sleep and refused to snuggle on the couch or lay in his bed. I timed it this time and it was 52 minutes of pacing around the playroom/living room with him cuddled on my shoulder before I was able to get him to bed.

He woke up a few times, but unlike the night before, he mostly settled back to sleep. There was just one incident where Hubby wasn't home yet and Munchie needed attention while I was trying to get him back down, and that ended up with him needing another 20 minutes of pacing to get him settled.

Munchie slept in the basement guest room to see if the cooler temperature/change of scenery helped her sleep. She still sweat through everything (I think she's just a hot sleeper), but she coughed more than cried out, which could have been the pillow angle. Not sure if we'll have her downstairs again today or not, but we'll see.

We're starting to wonder if Hubby's mystery cough that won't go away has been spread to the rest of the family. The kids can't seem to shake this cold, and I've had congestion and a cough for nearly a month now. He has a doctor's appointment next week to deal with it and will bring up the fact that his cough has been here since August, and now it looks like the rest of us have it. His current solution is to take a mucus busting cold med, but it's not something you want to be taking for the rest of your life just to be functional.

Today, in general, I'm sore and swollen. Got up at 5 with Biggie, but he crashed again pretty quickly and wanted to sleep by himself on the couch, so I dozed on the other side. I was fighting a migraine due to my shoulders being so tight, but luckily Advil was enough to take care of that. Otherwise, my everything hurts, but my upper arms are looking amazing! Once I get the kids ready for bed tonight I might head out early to go to my event and dip into the gym to use the hydromassage bed before meeting up with my friend.

(That emoticon is being used because the sad for ows, but laying on water like the water bed )

So I'm taking it easy today, because Biggie might need more Mommy walks, because the thing he REALLY wants is to go for a car ride, but it's too cold out for us to do that.

 

[FlowersandPetals]

Praying you all get better soon!

 

[Saffity]

Thank you so much! Yeah it's been rough, Hubby got this cough in August just before the kids started school and daycare. That of course meant new little kid germs that they then pass back and forth. Unfortunately, since the end of November it seems that the kids and I have a similar cough to the one Hubby has and none of us can shake it.

We had one week in the middle of November where the kids and I could all breathe and sleep. We will get back to it, eventually, the hardest part right now is just the fact that Biggie is getting more teeth in and he's always struggled with that. Munchie breezed through teething, so it's an adjustment for us, especially since his comfort thing is being carried and walked around, and he's the weight of a 4-5 year old.

 

[Saffity]

End of the day post, I did end up using my standing desk and doing some slow butt kicks just to move. I've also been trying to stretch my biceps because I'm finding it difficult to fully straighten my arms... at least I'm getting guns to show my work.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

You've probably thought of this already, but is it possible there's mold hiding somewhere making your lovely family so sick?
In any case, I hope the teething troubles soon cease and you all recover soon

 

[Saffity]

You've probably thought of this already, but is it possible there's mold hiding somewhere making your lovely family so sick?
In any case, I hope the teething troubles soon cease and you all recover soon

That's definitely a thought, thank you! I brought it up to Hubby this morning, because at one time we thought it was his cat allergies kicking up (as we have 2 cats). In discussing it the timing and symptoms don't line up for it being environmental.

First, we've lived in this house for 15 years now, we did do a renovation in the basement before (and slightly after as is the way of renovations) Biggie was born, but he just turned 2 so it's weird that it just started at the end of summer.

Second, the timing of this illness starts when the kids started school/daycare. Hubby's cough specifically began just before we took Biggie to the doctor and he came back with 2 ear infections, pneumonia, and bronchitis all at once. We were sure Hubby had the same thing and just needed a course of antibiotics, but the doctor decreed that even though both kids had bacterial infections and required antibiotics, there was now way Hubby had the same thing. His was 'viral' and he just had to wait, oh and here's a couple of puffers they'll totally help.

Eventually said doctor decided that due to the kids rotating their colds (which have changed symptoms, up until school they haven't been ill due to us locking down for actual Covid, then locking down our family when Biggie came because of an RSV spike in the area, so they pick up everything) Hubby may have developed asthma due to back to back viruses and had him go for a breathing test. Which came back completely normal and since it wasn't an emergency, pushed any follow up appointment to January 16, which we're still waiting for.

Hubby went on medical leave back in March and was home full time after that but he didn't get this cough till end of August. Additionally, I was on Mat Leave from November 2022, then got laid off, and didn't start working out of the house again until middle of August. My colds didn't start up until September when the kids started bringing their little germies home. The other thing is that we had that wonderful week and a half in November where the kids and I were all healthy. Nothing changed about our living arrangement, so if it was something in the house I would think we wouldn't have had that break.

It's a mystery, but he's had a number of bouts with pneumonia since he was a kid and is susceptible to it. We think he likely has walking pneumonia or something similar and just needs a course of antibiotics to help him kick it. Especially since he spoke to a pharmacist and has stopped using the puffers (which seemed to be making his coughs worse) and is taking an over the counter mucus breaking medication that appears to be helping. We're just in a waiting pattern until the 16 now.

Definitely thank you for the suggestion though.

 

[Saffity]

And now for my morning update.

Let me just say, me writing novels has actually helped with keeping track of these illnesses and a timeline that hubby can take to the doctor.

Hubby had the car yesterday so he came and picked me up with Biggie. Having my 2 year old race across the parking lot for a hug is the cutest thing. Of course, the fact that he'd been removed from the car seat for a diaper change after being in it for nearly 45 minutes meant that he did NOT wish to go back into it to get home.

And he was DETERMINED! I had to do the: walk a little bit away from the car so he relaxes, prefold the baby, quickly plop him in car seat and clip the hip buckles so he can't straighten out trick. The kid is strong.

Once we picked up Munchie from Gramma's and got home, we made a quick meal for Hubby and Biggie (Munchie ate at Gramma's), and I played with the kids to give them some Mommy time. While I was playing with them, Hubby got my pasta cooking (couldn't eat normal dinner because it was gluten filled, so mine was made a bit later), and also got kiddo laundry ready to go to Grammas. Once Hubby left for the delivery, I put on some Pokemon videos for Munchie and gave Biggie a bath, then went down and played some more until Hubby got home. Lots of rolling around, lifting the kids, tickling, being a pony. Still stiff and sore from Biggie cuddling, but the movement helped loosen things up.

Got Munchie into bed, she crashed halfway through her third song. She had some coughing last night but it wasn't terrible.

Biggie is a JERK! I left to go visit my friend, and he apparently just crashed 10 minutes after and only woke up for a couple of diaper changes all night. If I was there he'd probably have fought sleep for an hour...

My friend visit was great, she made me some gluten free brownies and we chatted way too late. I ended up going home before I fell asleep in the restaurant. Hubby has stated that he has no issues with me going out after the kids are in bed, or are basically done bed time routine. The issue previously was that I would leave right after baths and he couldn't get them down because they were missing me, especially with me having started work recently. It's one of the reasons for the gym membership, it gives me something to do and somewhere to go to give me some 'me time'.

And this morning, I felt the too late night and the continued arm stiffness, but I'm not on any painkillers or cold meds today and I'm feeling pretty good so that's progress. Caffeine is my friend and I am enjoying my hazelnut coffee awaiting the zing.

Will probably do some minor workouts at my standing desk today, and we'll see how the kids do with bedtime for me to take a run to the gym. Still not committing to any programs, but I will be going through the workouts and seeing what I feel like.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Yeah, I thought the blissfully coughing-free week was an outlier there, but couldn't remember if you'd gone away om holiday or not. Glad it's likely not an environmental! And I really hope the doctors can figure out what is going on.

But daycares and schools are perfect little germ-factories, so apparently the perma-sniffles are common in parents.

In any case, all of the healing and happy vibes!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

And he was DETERMINED! I had to do the: walk a little bit away from the car so he relaxes, prefold the baby, quickly plop him in car seat and clip the hip buckles so he can't straighten out trick.

(I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't laugh. But that was a brilliant move. Mom nefarious creativity for the win!)

 

[Saffity]

So an up and down kind of weekend, I have not been to the gym at all, but with the kiddos I have definitely got my work in. I had all intentions of going to the gym all three days, but due to the weather, my energy thanks to my monthly friend, and my mood in general, I took a weekend for self care.

Friday, Hubby did some small house repairs and once he got all that done, it was a take out kind of night. He had to run out to grab part of a Christmas present that apparently was forgotten, luckily, we'd had to delay that celebration due to both families having small children and colds. The kids and I ran around and played, and then it was bedtime. By the time everyone was down, I was just not in the mood to change, go to the gym, work out, and come home. I did some LibriVox work on the computer, and then played some card games for a bit to wind down.

I say this with all the knocking on wood I can muster, the kids and I seem to be on the upswing healthwise. There are still coughs at night, and mildly runny noses, but it's manageable. Saturday, Hubby was off to his Aunt's with his Mother again. His Aunt is 96 and still lives in her own condo. She's decently mobile, but she recently had a health scare and it became apparent that she really didn't have anyone checking up on her. We are her nearest family and we're an hour and a half drive away. MIL is looking into programs that can help her, caretakers that come in to clean, people who will go grab her groceries, but Aunt is INCREDIBLY independent and is kind of digging her heels in. I'm glad I stay home with the kids because they're Portuguese, strong headed, and loud, and I'm very happy to let them be that together while I keep out of it.

So it was Mommy and Kids day with no car, and a cold temperature, so we stuck inside. There was much crawling, climbing, cuddling etc, as Mommy is the BEST jungle gym of all. We had fun, and I made the kids Grilled Cheese sandwiches which were actually eaten entirely with no complaint for once. Biggie went for his nap (after much carrying and pacing) and Munchie had some phone time. I decided to open my computer and do a bit of LV work, when Munchie remembered my MMORPG game Palia and asked to play. It's more of a farming, building, exploring game, so I turned it on and let her run around in the world a bit. Once Biggie got up, we were expecting Hubby to be home, but he got delayed a bunch, not least by MIL demanding they go to a restaurant for her to have a martini and dinner. Munchie was not impressed as she wanted her Daddy to come home so he could watch Biggie and she could get more Mommy time.

Once he did get home, I had to rush making something for Munchie to eat as she was going for a Gramma Sleepover (which she didn't really want to do at first, but when she found out she could play her new Mario board game that she got for Christmas, she sat on her 'get ready' bench at the door, holding her game, waiting for Daddy. When we told her she had to eat her supper first she ate it faster than she has in ages. )

I decided it was a bath and Palia night (now that Munchie had me update it, I figured I may as well get some quests done).

I took the Biggie nightshift on Saturday to let Hubby have a rest, and at first everything was fine. At 1 am though, he rolled into the wall, or did something that made a loud thump, and I made the mistake of being a caring mother and going in to check on him. He was ENRAGED that I showed up and just screamed and wailed for a bit. When I turned on a light to check him, he had a fat, slightly bleeding lip. No clue what he did, but apparently I was no help as it was a chorus of "NO MOMMY NO MOMMY ALL DONE!!!" (all done is how he says stop). Eventually he did crash again and we blissfully slept in.

Sunday was a flurry of cleaning and getting ready as we had friends coming over (the family spoken of above) and dinner to make. I had intended on going to the gym during Biggie's nap, but prioritized a relaxing bath with my book instead. Then just as I was getting out, Munchie was back and told me all about how she watched Mary Poppins and liked the Cleaning Magic best but was sad it wasn't real. You and me both kiddo.

Playing with the 18 lb 9 month old was fun. She very much likes bouncing, so I got my bicep curls in. Last night Munchie did a fantastic job of eating! She's touch and go, and I'm worried she's too thin, having Celiac in the family I'm hyper aware of things like that. Last night though, she ate all of the prime rib the grown ups were having for dinner that she was given, 90% of her Shepherd's Pie, and then a bit after had 3 bowls of cereal for 'snack'. We didn't have to push her or anything she just ate, so that was wonderful! Hubby then took Biggie bedtime so I lucked out and gave my shoulders a rest as I cleaned the kitchen instead.

The snow kicked up in the evening so I decided once again to play a bit of Palia and head to bed. This morning I'm feeling a bit better, my mood was very much affected all weekend by some shenanigans that happened on LV. I currently host the podcast over there and this month's theme apparently was not a fav for a couple of people. One contacted me directly which was ok, but she basically mentioned she'd been sent by a mod, who, I guess doesn't like confrontation or something and so sent her lackey to tell me to change it? I don't know, the whole thing seemed off, but I changed the theme and it's hopefully one that won't cause issues. I just wish the mod had talked to me about it rather than to others who she then sent to talk to me. I'm not going to let this stop me from hosting the podcast, I just got it going again and I've been getting great feed back from members who are happy it's back again. I took the weekend to regroup my emotions, couldn't delete the post because of how the forum works, so I edited it to be a place holder once things got figured out. Just got the new theme up this morning after I took my time. I think it wouldn't be so hard if I had more help from the mods or the community with thinking up themes and stuff, but right now I'm kind of going it alone, so the way things were handled just didn't feel great.

This morning is still snowy and it was a bit hairy driving into work, but I made it. Enjoying some coffee, and I'm pretty sure I figured out my Secret Santa.

 

[Saffity]

Short one this morning.

I made it to the gym last night!

Since Friday my left glute has been basically seized. I'm not sure what I did to it, but it's been unhappy. So I went to the gym, walked on the treadmill to warm up. Did some stretching with the roller, and some mat stretching. Then decided to see where my base level, without pushing too hard, for my elbow plank was.

I did 1.5 minutes, and could have probably pushed further but decided to just go to where I'm comfortable. Then I enjoyed the massage bed to try and loosen up my glute a bit more.

Went home to bed and now I am at work get things done.

 

[Saffity]

Yesterday was a day. I was fighting my brain through most of it and everything was too much. I made it through though.

Munchie is having some behaviour problems at school, punching, throwing things, generally not being regulated. Her worst days are Mondays apparently. I'm trying to talk to her about it and get her to think about better ways to deal with things. For example, yesterday she wanted to line up beside the line leader, who happens to be one of her best buddies, but another classmate got there first, so her solution was to punch said classmate. She herself told me this story, not the teacher, so she knows it's something she needs to talk about and work through, so I mentioned that she could have asked her classmate if she could stand beside her friend in the line, and that the classmate was fully allowed to say no. Also, that if neither kid was line leader, they could just move to a different part of the line where they could stand together.

Munchie is FULLY smart enough for SK, and quite frankly kind of ahead in what they're learning, so we think some of the issues are that she's bored. However, due to her being homeschooled last year by Gramma, and me not being listened to when I said she needed to be taken to kids clubs and stuff during the day, she doesn't know how to interact in groups of kids. One on one or in a very small group she's ok, but when there's a big group she gets overwhelmed and over stimulated. There's no going back now and all we can do is help her find her way in the future. I've started chatting to her in the mornings about what type of girl she's going to be today. She's decided the last couple of days to be a "funny girl" who is nice and kind and good. She understands people being mean to her and she also understands not wanting to be a 'mean girl' herself, so we're trying to keep her thinking about being a not-mean kind of girl.

She just spent the first 4.5 years of her life either by herself, or with just her brother for kids around. She understands (mostly) how to interact with adults, especially those close to her, but kids is foreign territory.

For me, I was just in a bad brain space with everything going on. Hubby had a chat with Munchie's VP, and then lots of stuff didn't come home from daycare and school, and in so many ways I felt like it was reflecting on me and how I was failing as a mom. It wouldn't matter if I was home all the time though, between the way the school is suggesting things (and not in a malicious way, just trying to figure out things to change to hopefully get Munchie ready for Grade 1), and the way MIL comes at me because we don't follow her orders, even though our house follows 'Grammas Rules' a lot, I just feel like any negative behaviour or happenings are deemed my fault.

Munchie asked why I was so frustrated and angry, and I explained to her that my brain sometimes doesn't work right, and gave her a kids level explanation of mental illness. That my brain tells me not nice things, and that it makes me tired and grumpy when I have to try and work through that. She understood a little, but it's hard. Hubby and I don't try and sugar coat or hide things, if the kids ask us about something like that we work very hard to explain it on their level. Much like we don't use nicknames for body parts, and answer any questions there as honestly and developmentally appropriately as possible.

So once we got the kids to bed, I just crashed. I watched some TikTok, I played some Solitaire, Hubby and I had a cuddle chat about things, and then I went to bed. Biggie was cranky, but we're 90% sure it's his teeth, he ate frozen waffles for his bedtime snack last night, and by frozen, I mean straight out of the freezer, do not dare toast it, or even suggest it. The cold probably felt good on his gums. Munchie kept kicking her blanket off and then getting upset it wasn't 6:00 yet (because that's when she's allowed to get up), but all told, they both did well comparatively.

My brain feels a bit better today, and I'm hoping the world leaves Hubby alone and he can get a nap because he's been run ragged between getting the house further setup from our new dining set, and helping his Great Aunt with her stuff. We'll see how I'm feeling for the gym, I may just do some Standing Desk workouts and play with the kids when I get home.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

I am so sorry if people are dumping on you for Munchie's behavioural challenges.
The pandemic hurt us all socially. But especially children. I know high school teachers who reckoned that when school returned to fully in-person learning after pandemic restrictions, pretty much all of the kids were a full two years behind in social skills. So it's not just your kid. And it's definitely not you.

It sounds to me like Munchie is a smart little cookie who (probably thanks to you and your husband) has a good level of self-awareness. She'll get there. I'm wishing for you all strength until she does.

 

[Saffity]

Thank you! And the biggest thing is, Screen Time is getting the biggest knock (everyone thinks Screen Time is the devil, but just like everything else, you have to teach the kids to moderate/regulate or it becomes a problem later in life). For us, we DON'T use the tv as a babysitter, we use it as background noise, and we curate what's being watched (one of the reasons the kids are somewhat advanced, ie. Biggie can count at least to 10 up and down, and almost to 20, and is recognizing most letters at just a month over 2).

Munchie went into SK as an independent reader who could do simple arithmetic and was starting to learn multiplication. This is due to us watching things like Numberblocks, Blue's Clues, Super Simple, and even DannyGo and the exercize videos we sometimes watch incorporates reading and math. We don't just watch Cocomelon or Bliippi (though the new Blippi, dubbed 'nice Blippi' is allowed once in a while because he actually seems to enjoy being around children).

Most of the games Munchie plays on my phone or the computer are educational in some way or another, and while she may get more time on average than her classmates, she's always supervised, and we know what she's watching or playing. She also quite often puts down the electronic and comes to just play or read with Biggie and me, without anyone telling her to.

Does she get upset if she has to stop watching or playing because she has to do something else, like eat or have a bath, sure, but any kid would even if it was book or toy. She also gets a very quick reality check when I tell her "If this is the way you're going to act when I tell you it's time to finish your level and do something else, then I'm not going to let you have it next time." It's amazing how quickly she stops crying, realizing that not only is it not getting her the phone back right now, but she might lose it for longer.

It's a hard tight rope to walk, finding the balance of keeping your kids from being too into technology, and also helping them navigate it because technology is all around you. I remember when I was a kid and everyone was worried about video game systems, and TV, and yet we all were able to find a balance as we grew up, and that wasn't because it was super restricted on how long you could watch or play.

 

[Saffity]

I come to you from the land of the walking zombies who have yet to have caffeine hit.

Got home and basically had a dance party with the kids. DannyGo did a live tour this past summer and someone went and recorded the whole show, so much dancing, running, ducking, jumping, and Biggie holding occurred. Pretty much a full body work out there.

Definitely two year molars happening over here though. Pretty sure bottom left is the one bothering Biggie the most right now. Twice last night he was up, and Hubby tried to go take care of him but it was a resounding call of "No Daddy! No Daddy! All done!"

So basically:

I was able to get him down in 5 minutes the first time, but the second time at 3 am he got a coughing fit from being so upset and just would not settle. He basically had breakfast at 4, and then I was able to get him to crash around 4:30 on the couch. I took the other half and was asleep barely before 5. Munchie got me at 6:15 and we were up and on our way to get ready for school and work.

No chance for the gym tonight as Hubby has his weekly table top game. I may just use this as a self care day and do stuff at my desk and after the kids are in bed. Depending on where Munchie ends up (sometime on Daddy Game Days, she'll get to go to sleep in the guest room while watching a movie), I won't go to bed until I move her to her room so I know I'll hear her if she wakes up. Maybe I'll just continue my book. It's slow going, but I'm getting through it.

 

[Saffity]

Last night went better than expected!

Hubby had the car, so getting home/dinner was a bit crazy. Biggie got to eat his supper in the parking lot while I finished up. I didn't have to prefold him into the car seat this time, he was looking for stars (that were behind clouds) and when he realized he was in the car and was about to fret, his happy meal toy was in the cup holder of his chair and he was thankfully distracted. Partway home he started to inform us that he was MUCH displeased that he was still in the car.

Munchie had dinner at Gramma's, and had got a haircut. She's a bob and bangs kind of girl. I would love to have her hair grow long and be able to put it up in pretty styles, but I swore up and down that once she was old enough to have an opinion, I would let her choose how she wanted her hair. The biggest thing for her is she hates her wet hair touching her back after a bath and doesn't like having to push her front hair behind her ears. I spent so many years being forced into hair cuts and styles that I didn't want that I was definitely going to let my kid be her own person. Apparently, Anna Wintour is her type of style.

After our 'hello' cuddles and getting back together, we danced and played a bit, then hubby had to run to his D&D. Munchie had received her newest edition of Chirp, and it had a number of links in it to activities in an app, so I let her have a bit of time playing through that while I got Biggie to settle. He kept nearly dropping, but shaking himself awake because his sister was there and he didn't want to miss anything. I got him a bottle, settled him on the couch, and took Munchie down to the guest room. (We have a backsplit and the guest room is basically the basement in entirety, it's one of the reasons I can't sleep when she's down there, because Biggie's upstairs, she's down, and I want to be able to hear both of them if they need me.) She chose to watch a marble race, and I figured she'd be up late but at least she was resting. Biggie took another 20 or so minutes to settle himself down (he fell asleep on the couch, by himself, with out cuddles!) Then I took him up to bed. Realized as I came back down, that I hadn't heard a peep from Munchie, so went to check on her... out like a light. I gave her another half hour or so to make sure she was fully asleep and then carried her up to bed.

The plow went by twice. The first time, Biggie sat up, grumbled a bit, then laid back down and all was fine. The second time, he sat up, grumbled a bit and leaned forward to lay down rather than sideways. Had he still been in his crib, he would have been fine, but he's been upgraded to a toddler bed, and brought his head down on the side guard, which... did nothing for getting him back to sleep. He almost went right back down after I cuddled him in his room, but when I went to pull the covers up, the flipped over his face and that was done. I had about a half hour of Biggie cuddles on the couch and I was good with that. Munchie doesn't sleep on me anymore and I know I have limited Biggie cuddles in my future, so I enjoyed what I had.

Hubby came home and helped me get Biggie in his bed. Then I just crashed, after being up the night before with Biggie, I needed the sleep. Munchie came down and got me right at 6 am again. We're pretty sure she's waking up and watching the clock because she knows she's not supposed to get out of bed (other than bathroom) until 6. We've told her teachers that she's a very early riser and that might be affecting her afternoons, especially since SK doesn't have naps. Yesterday Munchie was Room Leader and apparently had a very good day!

This morning I had physio, and for the very first time, he didn't touch my knee. My issues right now are stemming from my back and hip, mostly due to carrying Biggie around for hours. I have stretches I need to do, some of which require Hubby's help so that I have resistance, and my physio goes to the same gym I do and said to definitely continue using the massage bed.

I need to move around more today to keep my hip and back from tightening up again, so I'll probably be doing a bunch of micro workouts, maybe some slow butt kicks and such.

Otherwise, it was a good day, and today feels like we're on the upswing too.

 

[Saffity]

It's January, the sun is shining in a beautiful clear sky, which means the air hurts to breathe and is trying to turn everything into an ice cube.

But we persevere!

So... Munchie update... we may have found something that works with her, and it's something that the school is doing so that will mean we're all on the same page without having to really change things. The school this semester is working on 3 core things of focus: Respect for Adults, Respect for Peers, Respect for Property, and they have a chart that goes with it (and Bible verses and prayers but those are supplementary tools to help). They're using two images to show bad and good "slipping on a banana peel" and "soaring like an eagle". I took the chart they sent and made it into a nice, easy to read printout to take home and read with Munchie, and we read it a couple of times Friday night, but on Saturday, we had a number of big issues. The biggest one being Munchie smacking Biggie in the head while holding a HotWheels car. She lost TV and Phone for the rest of the weekend (but earned TV back with good behaviour more for my sanity than hers, I don't do well with silence). We had a BIG chat about what happened and how it pertained to the chart, read the specific parts where she "slipped" and then followed the tools of Bible verse and prayer, and she seemed to get it. The rest of the weekend she was very helpful, grabbing her little broom to help us clean up, playing nicely with her brother. If she started to misbehave, we just had to inform her that the behaviour was her starting to slip on a banana for which part, and she altered what she was doing. Now this worked over the weekend, when it was just the family, but we had a chat about it this morning before school and we'll see if it helps.

After the kids went to bed on Friday, I went to the gym. Finished my audio book on the treadmill (about 20 ish minutes), then did some pretty intense stretching to try and keep my back and him loosened up. Then the blessed heated water massage bed, the best part of my workout.

Saturday was physio in the morning, which meant 1.5 hours of library time!!! The kids have really missed the library, but our appointments for the last while have been before it was open. They've set up a new craft area in the back corner and Biggie spent most of his time colouring there, and Munchie made a craft with red tissue paper squares to show "the angry emotion" that she's working on. Then it was mostly running around with the kids, exercize videos (the FULL DannyGo live show at an hour and a half that someone put on YouTube and helped burn off so much of the kids energy), and making long HotWheels tracks down the stairs.

We are thrilled that Munchie is well enough to have her appetite back. She's lost a bunch of weight since the beginning of school and we were getting worried. For the last week or so she's easily doubled the amount of food she's eating, both at home and school, which is HUGE. She's still crazy thin, and we're watching her weight, but the eating is a good sign, especially since she's started asking for food and when offered snacks (because that's what she would usually eat) she's requesting 'real food' like a sandwich or cereal.

Sunday, I came to the realization that we have hit the next stage of childhood, as both kids played wonderfully for nearly an hour while I supervised on the couch and just mediated with suggestions for how to change their game so both could play. It was nice, but also a little heart tugging as I realized I'm now the mother of children, not babies or toddlers.

Munchie then decided she was ready for a proper exercize game and asked if we could play the "Imagination world with no fevers on your phone". Took me a second to realize she wanted to do my Secret Santa workout!! So we did one round of that, and bridges while waiting for the kids to crawl under are still no fun for me but a blast for the kids. (Thanks @Anek ) We spent a lot of time on Sunday reading books and being cozy as the temperature started to plummet. Biggie went for his nap, I went for a bath to get my back to loosen up again, and when I came up, Munchie had crashed on her bean bag chair. Got the kids sorted for the afternoon, we did another run through of the DannyGo live show, and after supper the kids begged Daddy to do the "Crab Dance" which is Noisestorm and boy does Biggie get into it, he just flails his arms, jumps around, has an amazing time! Munchie spins and giggles. The workout one gets from pretending to be a dancing crab is surprising.

Then it was time to clean up and both kids helped!!! This growing up thing does have its perks. Biggie is trying SO HARD to say sentences, Hubby came home and Biggie looked at me and informed me "DADDY'S HOME!" full s and everything. He's got the 2-3 words strung together well, he's just so desperate to talk with us. I'm really looking forward to hearing him and his sister having conversations. Soon!

For now, from the frigid land of Southern Ontario, I am going to cuddle under my knitted poncho with my coffee and try to get feeling back into my toes.

 

[FlowersandPetals]

Awesome job! And yes it’s both tearful and wonderful when you see them growing up. I have 2 that are grown, but have autism and other things. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Maegaranthelas]

I am a little envious that you can see the sun but you can keep the deep freeze xD
Although honestly I wouldn't mind trading a fair few degrees if it meant we finally had some sunlight.
Frosty walks can be nice. Feeling like there's actually been some daytime would be amazing.
Yay for good times with the kiddies

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Although honestly I wouldn't mind trading a fair few degrees if it meant we finally had some sunlight.
Frosty walks can be nice.

Sunshine is nice. But I'm not a huge fan of the ice that's formed on my scarf from my own breath gluing the scarf to my face. It's definitely going to be a week of keeping walks short in an effort to prevent frost bite here.