freak out

Two times in the last week, I felt like I was "that mom." You know, the one who doesn't know how to calm, discipline, or otherwise control their child.  So embarrassing.

Epic Public Meltdown #1:
When: Friday, September 16, 2011
Where: Polaris Mall parking lot and play place (plus the entire distance between)
What: Screaming, crying & flopping on the floor until the majority of the kids in the play place could no longer play out of fear of whatever was tormenting this little girl.  A handful of parents (including a few of those lazy ones that don't even budge when their kid is screaming) had to come over to redirect their little ones.
Why: Ellie wanted to be in Emery's stroller
How it was resolved: Ignored her protests (but did take a video to send to sis and hubs), proceeded to play place while attempting to redirect her attention.  She eventually calmed down enough to ask for her paci and played happily.  I continued to get sympathetic looks and comments from the other parents for the rest of our visit. That's right. All kids can be irrational freaks from time to time.  Especially when their parents completely miss a nap. My girl was passed out before we got out of the parking lot. 

Epic Public Meltdown #2:
When: Thursday, September 22, 2011 (all day)
Where: Panera dining room
What: SCREAMING, crying & flailing
Why: Ellie wanted to drink my pop
How it was resolved: Ignored her protests, tried to give her her own water with and without a straw, D and I looked at each other helplessly.  I eventually walked with her around the restaurant while talking about the mac and cheese and yogurt that was on its way. Despite the fact that the employees packed our "for here" order "to go" (a not so subtle hint?) we stayed to eat and she calmed down and ate more than she ever has before. 

Have her terrible-two tantrums just started early? Are we terrible at discipline? Or is this just life with a "spirited" (to quote my mom) toddler?  Any embarrassing Ihavenoideawhatishappeningorhowtofixit parenting moments you care to share?

participation challenge 1: family traditions

When we were growing up we had a lot of silly traditions. A few that I think of often: Saturday morning chores (complete with personalized task lists by kid), a kid-of-the-week award, being allowed to pick out whatever candy we wanted from the hospital gift-shop after a doctor appointment, "blowing out" the red light on the video camera to turn it off, and our parents singing "who's got the power?!" after we finished watching TV shows and it was time to go to bed. Other traditions related to our birthdays: being able to pick the dinner we wanted and the style of cake that Nanny would make, singing an extra verse on the end of the happy birthday song, and everyone in the family having a tootsie pop (on your real birthday) or a dum-dum lollipop (on your half birthday).

Miss Ellise is a few days shy of the biggest day of her life so far... she's about to celebrate her first half birthday. It has me thinking about what kinds of traditions we should start so when she's out on her own, she can think back fondly of the quirky things that only happened in our family. I can't figure out if these things happen on their own (over time, because it's not like Ellie will remember this one anyways), or if parents decide to plan special things. We've already decided on a few special things that we'll do on all of our birthdays (you'll have to wait til April to hear about those), but I really think celebrating a half-birthday, even with something as small as dum-dum lollipops held up by a wooden bear is super awesome.

So, if you're out there (and I know a few of you are), you can help our family get creative by clicking on the Post a Comment link and explaining some of your favorite childhood traditions. For parents--how did your family traditions start? Did they just sort of happen or did you make a decision to do something silly/special/awesome? In a few days I'll let you know how we marked this spectacular day in baby girl's life.

this is how ellie and i entertained ourselves while waiting for grandpa and daddy to finish their triathlon.