toddlers

Sleepless in the Suburbs

August 15, 2012 By Lena

At first, it was kind of cute.

After tucking Ryder into his toddler bed, he would fall asleep for an obligatory three hours… then lightly pad across the hallway, enter our room and crawl into our bed. At the time I was pregnant with Reid, and knew that my alone time with my little buddy was drawing to a close. Hence, I turned a blind eye (literally, I didn’t even bother to get up) and let him stay the night.

Then Reid came along, and I soon discovered that breastfeeding in the middle of the night was vastly easier when I could just roll over and relinquish a boob. So, he too found a home for the night on our bed – but only after we kicked Ryder to the curb (I wasn’t willing to chance Reid being crushed by a toddler who has a penchant for sleeping sideways). And with a brand new big boy’s bed and bedroom, for at least 6 months Ryder stayed away, reveling in the novelty of his new room (actually I think he just cottoned onto the fact that Reid woke up crying exactly every three hours – and couldn’t deal with those sleep conditions).

For a while, there was balance in the force.

Reid slept between hubby and I, letting us know when he wanted a midnight snack. Ryder bounced on our bed at 6:00am, willing us all awake as only 2-year-olds can.

But then, Ryder decided that perhaps he didn’t love his new room after all, and he wanted to sleep with mommy and daddy. After all, why should only Reid have access to the prime real estate? Reid was now over a year old, and having never been introduced to alternate sleeping arrangements, literally thought our bed was HIS own.

One night, late last June, I came to bed after a late night of blogging to find this:

“Past 1:00am, finally done blogging, drag myself to bed… only to find the real estate occupied by the 3 stooges.”

I sighed in defeat and made my way to Ryder’s room, where he has a big, comfy, EMPTY double bed.

But my slumberous ways were short-lived; realizing that his drink ticket didn’t come to bed, Reid lightly padded across the hallway, entered Ryder’s room and crawled into his bed. And lifted my top for some boobage.

GAH! Was it so unrealistic to want a solid 6 hours of sleep? Hell-o!…

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I’ve Decided to Re-Name My Son “Don’t”

July 26, 2012 By Lena

So it occurred to me this morning that actually say “Don’t” to Ryder more often than I actually say his name.

Don’t jump.
Don’t touch that.
Don’t hit your brother.
Don’t eat that.
Don’t crawl behind there.
Don’t pull on that.
Don’t kick the back of my seat.
Don’t you dare give me that look.
Don’t say that.
Don’t scream like that.
Don’t stand there.
Don’t make a mess.
Don’t make that face.

Don’t DO that. (10x per hour, at least.)

Hence, I’ve decided to cease calling him Ryder, because he obviously responds more effectively to Don’t.

(Or maybe he doesn’t. But do I care at this moment? DON’ T think so!)

Friends, let’s all bow our heads and pray that I don’t decide to sell him for two Bon Jovi concert tickets.

Tots and Their Toys: How Much is too Much?

May 3, 2012 By Lena

Before I became a parent, I often wrinkled my nose in distaste at the messy, crowded, toy-infested living spaces of friends with children. “Surely their little brats don’t need SO MANY toys”, I’d think disdainfully. And just think about how spoiled they must be! Wanting for nothing and begging for everything.

And for the first few months after I had Ryder, for the most part, I kept my promise to keep him grateful and humble. We purchased only a few toys; a mixture of educational and silly, large and small, in a variety of textures. Ryder truly began to appreciate the intricate makings of each toy, which can only come from playing with it over and over. I held my head high and felt slightly superior to other parents who lavished products at will – which I deemed as vulgar and even detrimental.

Of course, then I started my little ol’ blog, and toys – just begging to be reviewed – were dropped off on my doorstep. And before I knew it, my house was overtaken with products. Big toys. Small toys. Cars, blocks and playsets. Toys as far as the eye could see!

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