My days with Katie

It never fails. Katie is either driving me crazy by making a huge mess or driving me into fits of laughter with her silly actions and phrases. This week I caught some good examples of her differences on camera to blog about.

In the picture sequence below she is laying on her back on the floor in front of the TV (watching Barbie, I'm sure) and eating peanuts. Normally this wouldn't catch my attention but it was the deliberate process of how she got these peanuts into her mouth that made me grab the camera and ask her to hold still for a few seconds.

The sequence goes like this...

1. Put two peanuts below the nose and above the upper lip
2. Stick toungue out as far as possible to grab the two peanuts
3. Eat the peanuts and repeat...





The next sequence is a little more disgusting and during moments like this I am finding myself saying "Katie! Why did you do that?" almost every time.

I had given Katie a "special glass" (from Chili's I think) that had a lid with a hole for a straw. She still uses her sippys all the time so a straw is special to her. About one minute after I gave her the juice in her "special" glass I saw her drinking through the straw off of the ground where she had dumped the juice! I didn't catch that exact moment on camera and didn't want to ask her to do it again so I grabbed a shot of the puddle where she left the straw...



And finally, I cut Katie's hair for the first time a few weeks ago and forgot to post the pictures so here is the before and after.



It was litterally only about one tiny inch of hair, I want to do ponytails and braids already, grow hair, grow!

Feeling Guilty

I nag because I care. Anyone who has been around me long enough knows that I will argue my point until I feel like I've won, but behind the annoying stubbornness I know my point is because I think it will help.

Last week in the car with some friends I argued the point that seat belts should always be worn no matter what the circumstance. I think it is better to be injured by a seat belt than to die in an accident. After a good twenty minute debate I think we ended on the agreement that we don't agree. :)

So...the reason for my guilty conscience is because yesterday I allowed (no, offered) to break my "seat belts always" rule to a friend who really needed a ride. To make a long story short, she needed a ride but didn't have a car seat for her child and I offered to take her home anyway and the child sat on the floor by her legs. It wasn't a long ride at all, maybe a mile at best, but still my rule was broken and I needed to admit that I can't be right about everything ALL the time.

So to my friends who I am sure I annoyed with my rant...I'm sorry I was such a pain. The reason behind it all is that I really do care about you and I wouldn't want you to ever get hurt, seat belts or not. :)

Obsessions

I have always thought I had strong tendencies to be obsessive. When I worked full time I considered myself organized and efficient at my job. Now that I am staying home and have more time to reflect to myself on activities, it is blindingly obvious that I am more obsessive than organized.

Instead of having my office in perfect order at work, now the bathrooms in my house have to be clean. When I see a smudge on the mirror I can't help but pull out the cleaner and take care of it. The laundry is always put away in the same spot...etc. And all the stuff that never used to bother me when I worked all day (like the spots on the carpet that don't come out, the cobwebs in the corners of walls, the paint that wasn't applied just right) bugs me to no end! I am amazed that I couldn't realize how exhausted I was from working all day that I couldn't obsess about what my surroundings looked like. It just isn't financially possible to fix all the "problems" I see with my house for me to be happy with it.

So I was thinking, what can I do to solve my obsession with my home before I go crazy? It seems the answer should be spiritual somehow...I know I should be grateful for what I have, but I can't find the answer.

And, if I resolve my home obsession...what will be next? Maybe I need medication. :)

Resolutions

The beginning of every year I always get so annoyed with all the propaganda on TV for all the different weight loss programs. (Maybe that also means I watch too much TV?) Shouldn't New Year resolutions be about more than just a new desire to lose weight and get organized? Really, if we were serious about being thinner and having our closets and garages organized, wouldn't we have done it already? Maybe the problem is that we have a harder time maintaining the drive to be healthy and neat throughout the year when it's not a natural part of who we are. So I say NO! to the normal New Year goals of losing weight and organizing!

This year I resolve to be less angry.

Most of you don't know, but I have an insane temper and often lose control with my kids or my husband. Mostly my kids...and all too often I feel the overwhelming remorse after I regain control that makes me so sad that I screamed at my kids again.

My inspiration today came while I was reading the Friend magazine with Katie...

"Others don't make us angry. There is no force involved. Becoming angry is a...choice, a decision; therefore, we can make the choice not to become angry. We chose!" Elder Lynn G. Robbins of the Seventy

This isn't really anything new to me, I have gotten much better with my self control in the last 5 years as my children grew older. I just thought to myself, this is what I need to focus on to make my life better. I want my home to be a place of love and I don't want my children to behave because they fear me, I want them to love themselves and be good because they are happy.

I plan on posting Elder Robbins quote in many places throughout my house and especially in my car (lots of anger in there) to remind myself to stay calm and chose to love them instead. :)