Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day.  A day to show everyone we love how much they mean to us (although we should be doing this everyday).  Have a great day with your significant other but remember Valentine's Day needs to be special for your kids also.  Sometimes we focus so much on our spouse on Valentines Day that our children feel left out.  

My oldest son gets all upset every time my husband and I have a date - he wants to know why he can't go (and he's 12).  I'm not saying that you should take your kids on  your dates but don't forget to do something special for them.  

My husband and I celebrated Valentine's Day last night and will celebrate with the kids today.  I bought them each a Candy filled heart and wrote special note to each.  We are all going out to lunch today and then swimming in the indoor pool later.


"For God so loV ed the world,
         That He gA ve
                his onL y
              BegottE n
                     SoN
                          T hat whosoever
         Believeth I n Him
             Should N ot perish,
          But have E verlasting life."

John 3:16

Friday, February 13, 2009

Bed Wetting

To follow my blog on Potty Training I thought I would talk today about my battle with bed wetting. My son is now 10 years old and still wets the bed. I've spoken to the doctor and a psychologist as well a done some research on the topic and I discovered 2 interesting facts.

1. Bed wetting usually does not extend beyond 12 years old. This is encouraging because that means we should not have more than 2 years left of this. I pray.

2. Bed wetting can be caused by an emotional trauma around the time of potty training such as a divorce, move, death of a loved one, etc. I believe this is the case for my son (step-son) as he was kidnapped by his real mother when he was 3 and moved every month for about a year until we found him.

Here are a few links that may be helpful: http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/bedwetting
http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/disorders/bedwetting.shtml
http://www.pottymd.com/Bedwetting.asphttp://www.accg.net/bed_wetting.htm
http://www.accg.net/bed_wetting.htm

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Potty Training

I have read two different schools of thought on Potty Training. One says that you should potty train your child as soon as they show an interest in the potty. The other says that you should wait until your child is 2. That before 2 they are not developmentally ready to recognize when they need to use the potty.

My experience with my daughter who will be 3 in May was interesting to say the least. When she was about 10 months old I purchased a portable potty and put it in the living room. At this point she would tell us when she had a wet diaper. When we purchased the potty she was curious and we explained to her what it was. One day she crawled over to the potty and expressed that she needed to go. I put her on it and she went. Every time I would put her on it she would go. I was very excited. Then at 11 months she got sick and had to be hospitalized. When she returned home I didn't push the potty because I thought she had been through enough and needed a break. Maybe this was my mistake. We didn't introduce the potty again for about 3 months because right after her 1st birthday she became quite sick with a stomach bug and had diarrhea for over a month.

When we introduced the potty again she showed limited interest until right before her 2nd birthday - but this time the interest was in the big potty so we purchased on of those seats that goes on top of the toilet. Although at this point she would use the potty several times a day she would also have several accidents a day in her pullups (if she was doing something she was really interested in she would not use the potty.)

A few weeks ago she announced that she was a big girl and wanted to wear big girl undies. She did have a few accidents the first few days but we only put the pull ups on at night. Thank God for the Spot Bot. Well I'm thankful to say that it has been a few weeks and no accidents. She has even begun to get up at night and go to the potty.

Introduction

I created this blog to be a resource for moms. I do not have all the answers but I will give advice where I feel I can and ask for advice when I am in need of it. When I come across information that I think will be helpful to others I will post it - please do the same. Motherhood is tough but rewarding, if we work together we can make our job easier and be able to enjoy our rewards (children) more.

I am a mother of 4 - 2 step sons who although I didn't give birth to them they ARE my sons, and 2 who I gave birth to - a boy and a girl. My situation may not be the most typical step parent arrangement. My step sons have lived with me ever since I married their father 6 years ago. Since we have been married they have seen their mother twice and have not heard a word from her in 4 years. My Step sons are 10 and 12 and my other 2 children are 2 (girl) and 1 (boy). Our life is a little challenging due to the emotional problems my step sons have from being abandoned by their mother.