Is there such a thing as toddler delinquents?

I picked up David from preschool yesterday, and he mentioned in the car that his preschool friend, Sam (not his real name), was kicked out of school (his words).

"What do you mean, kicked out of school?" I said.

"Sam is a bad kid. His Mommy came to get him because he is always in trouble. And he's not allowed to come back to play with us."

So, this conversation is intriguing to me. One, because I have been in the company of Sam. To me he always seemed like a kid just wanting attention. But as I witnessed over the course of the last couple months, his behavior was pretty bad every time I've been in the same room (which is like 1/20th of the school day... imagine what its like the other 98% of the day).

He often would push David down in my presence, with no reason. My husband said that 9 times out of 10 when he picks up David, Sam would knock David's lunchbox out of my husband's hand for sport. If David reached for his coat hanging up under his cubby, Sam would body slam him.

Once I corrected Sam (a week or so ago), saying, "That's not nice Sam, there is no reason to do that to David". I've never done that before, but I felt like my son was Sam's favorite punching bag... until I started talking to other parents and finding out that Sam's target isn't just us, it's everyone and anyone.

I assume that the school picked up on this and the result is Sam is gone... for now. I don't know the specifics.

It feels very odd to think that a 4 year old can be expelled from a preschool. I wonder how that conversation ensues...

...well, your kid is a blight on this classroom, so you are outta here.....?

Where do you go as a parent if you are told your child is out of hand? Does anyone follow up to ensure he gets assistance (if he needs it)?

It just seems so crazy to me.

And for my son, well, he has just been introduced to the ugly side of preschool. And, it won't be the last time I fear.

Would you be having Dove or Irish Spring this evening?

Last night David was brushing his teeth (S. was in there with him) and he came out of the bathroom and said...

"Mommy, Daddy said he's f*&king done." "I think we need to wash his mouth out with soap!"

You know, it's bad enough that David knows the bad words, thankfully, I have gotten it into his head that he should not speak them. Especially in school or to Grandmas and Grandpas.

However, he has deemed himself the potty mouth police and is now ratting out his own father.

I love it.

The source of the potty words come primarily from S. He works in the auto business where a sentence isn't a sentence without a four-letter word in it. He tries to keep it in check when he gets home, but he just has a habit of slipping up every once in awhile.

Unfortunately, he always manages to slip up in front of his son.

I know S. feels bad about it.

What's that old saying, "Do as I say but not as I do"?

S. is such a good role model and dad to David. I just wish he could put the brakes on the language.

After all, I manage to think about what I say (before I say it) in front of David... of course, I am perfect you know. lol.

And I never tasted a bar of soap! :)

The best of: David TV

What is a three year old toddler watching these days on TV?

My son is the conoisseur of the PBS Kids Sprout channel. He's a cartoon snob, can't get him to watch Nick Jr or Disney anymore, it's all about PBS.

Here is a list of his favorites he likes to watch as he sits back with this "2007 Reserve" cup of Apple Juice:

Kipper: He's a dog with friends, and an annoyingly cute theme song.

Fireman Sam: What's life without firetrucks? David has been watching this show the longest. Interesting viewing for parents who always wondered what's going on in Wales. Apparently, the world revolves around Sam and an Italian restaurant (go figure). Let's not forget Norman's Mom who looks AND sounds suspiciously like Dana Carvey's Church Lady (from SNL)... or a cross-dressing George Bush.

Caillou: ah yes, the ever-present Caillou. I think I know all 50 episodes by heart. Poor sister Rosie is always pushed off to the side while Caillou whines to his parents on each episode. What is with this family? At least the cat, Gilbert, Rexy the Dinosaur, and Teddy (the bear) offer mild entertainment between sketches.

Yeah! Arts and Crafts

I'm off work today, and home with the little man. He is having a ball with his new Playdough Activity Center. Only problem for me is supervising to ensure my new carpet remains undamaged and that the dog doesn't eat the giant blue snake David just made.

Back tomorrow, and I promise something more comedic and less Lifetime movie'ish! I swear my life is not this depressing!

Cheers,
Shelli

Mom tip of the day

Do not ever ask your 3 year old to hold onto a half gallon sized bottle of apple juice while you move things around in the fridge to accomodate said bottle.

Trust me, it's a sticky mess!

If only weekends were longer

It's so old to say "I hate Mondays", but I really do.

I hate Sunday evenings too, because the threat of the looming Monday just kind of ruins my evening. S. and I were wtaching the Eagles (YEAH!) kick the Giants to the curb last night, and after we jumped for joy at the final Akers field goal with 3 seconds to go on the clock... (damn, that was a good game) we don't even care that we win against New Orleans next week, cause we made it to the playoffs without McNabb!

wait, where was I?

Oh yeah, after we jumped up and yelled at the end of the game, we turned to each other and said...

"Eeeew, tomorrow is Monday".

And, from that point, I started my Sunday night ritual. Get David's clothes together for school, prepare his lunch for the morning, finish folding the wash, clean up the kitchen, take out the trash.... 9pm, bedtime.

5:30am came too soon this morning.

Blech....

Last night

Well, since I talked so much about the non-holiday show at David's preschool, I am sharing pictures.

Yep, he was a snowman.

It was a cute show, but it was crammed with parents, grandparents, siblings, and video cameras... so the poor kids ended up a little stage-shy.

David, however, was a ham as usual!

What's BagMomma been up to?

Well, I've not had much time to lurk in my usual places or post here because this week has been a busy one.

Hubby is home on vacation, so inbetween my work, we've been taking the little guy on some short trips to get in the festive spirit.

Last evening we went to StoryBook Land. Now, for you Philly/Jersey folks, you probably know it well. It's a mighty cute themepark designed for toddlers- just outside Atlantic City, NJ.

Around the holidays, they light the whole place up.. the landscaping, the rides... and they even have some fake snow machines to dust the park with snow.

We picked to go on a Thursday night thinking the crowds would be a lot less than the weekends, and it was really nice.

The only downside to the night was I couldn't get very good pictures because it was sooooo foggy, the camera couldn't handle it.

If you live in the DE,PA, NJ, NY area- I highly suggest it. Lots of fun and merriment abound.

F stands for...

Admit it, you were thinking of an expletive when you read that title.

Actually, if someone asked me what is the first work to come to mind when you see the letter F I would say Food. I know, pitiful.

In any event, this post is not about dirty words or food.

My son, as you might already know, is in preschool. Lest you think preschool is just another word for supervised babysitting (which it kinda is at times I guess).... I am lucky to have David enrolled in a preschool that has a curriculum (gotta get something useful for the $800 a month ).

They have a "lettter" of the week. And to reinforce the "letter du jour" they have activities around the letter like: show and tell, naming objects that start with the letter, tracing the letter, identifying the letter on paper... etc.

I am from the old school where no one taught anything logical until 1st grade. Kindergarten was pretty much play, coloring/crafts. and pulling hair.

Toddlers in this century are far more advanced.

Sometimes it's scary.

So David comes home after writing his short story.... (just kidding) comes home from school with his firetruck in hand (the one he used for show-and-tell). F stands for Firetruck he tells me. And, then, he goes on to tell me about 8 other words that begin with the letter "F". How did he memorize this?? I can't remember where I left my keys but this child has memorized the lesson plan from his teacher. Amazing...

His teacher has informed me that he will be writing his name by the Spring.... !?! are you kidding me???

It won't be long before my son is more (booksmart) than me. Just a matter of time before all our toddlers are teaching us. I am having a hot flash thinking about elementary school, middle school, high school... homework that I won't be able to comprehend!

I better start cracking the books.

They don't do algebra in kindergarten, do they????

lol.

Sugar hazed

I've never seen such a mass of kids in my life last night. We bought 600 pieces of candy, only to run out early evening. It was a madhouse.

I think the issue is my neighbor does such a HUGE display, word is traveling fast and we are now getting neighborhood kids + truckloads of other kids.

David basically had candy and sweets all day. He came home from preschool all fired up to go trick-or-treating. , so we put on the Pirate costume (excuse me, Johnny Depp) and he RAN to about 10 houses and then announced he was done with Halloween. He started taking the costume OFF as he ran home, me chasing him.

By the time we got home, the grandparents, Aunts and Uncles stopped by to see David, but of course his costume was now a memory. Face painted in chocolate, peanut butter, and sugar. He was a sticky mess.

At about 8pm, he fell asleep on the steps going up to his room, apparently a victim of his sugar-induced coma.

At which case I sat down and opened up the white chocolate reese's peanut butter cups I found at the bottom of his bag.

aaaaah, heaven.....

Art by David

Every so often, David brings home artwork from preschool. He is always so excited to say, "Mommy I MADE this!"

Thought I'd share some of his masterpieces once in awhile. If anything, this will serve as a record of his talent long after the garbage can eats them, or after they are crumpled and stuck at the bottom of his toy box.

Daniel Cook makes me look like a bad Mom

Do you know this little boy? If you are not a Mom, probably not....

Background: the Disney Channel has this little mini-show, titled, "This is Daniel Cook", and it basically shows a little boy doing all kinds of cool things... Daniel Cook goes to the Fire Station, Daniel Cook milks a Cow, Daniel Cook writes Poetry...., etc.


I thought this show was neat, at first. I especially liked that the show initally had a theme of "conservation" in mind, such as when Daniel visited a woman who recycled paper and made her own paper for greeting cards and stuff.


David is obsessed with this show. The premise was great, so we started talking about doing some of the things Daniel does. David would watch the show, and we would make plans to do something similar.


But the newer episodes are getting a little out there. Recently, Daniel Cook had a show in which he was captain of a boat (a la Pirates of the Carribean), and I'm thinking.... when would I ever have the opportunity to take David on a tall ship like that, much less let him take the wheel? And then there was Daniel Cook Dogsledding, and Daniel Cook creating stop motion animation.... uh huh. I kid you not.


What happened to Daniel Cook makes Pizza??


Seems like Daniel Cook is running out of things to do.


The problem with my son, is he is an explorer. Well, that's not a problem per se, I love that about him... but he wants to live the life of Daniel Cook. So, sometimes I have to improvise, and David is too keen for that. He wants to experience the real thing. I am running out of imagination!!


We had bought hubby a couple balloons for his birthday this week, and David was looking at them very intently. Then he said, "Mommy, I want a BIG balloon like Daniel Cook ", and I want to fly into the sun with it".


!?!?!


I'm feeling like I have the next Richard Branson on my hands.

I am in charge, sure I am!

I love him to death, but this little man of mine LOVES to push my buttons. S. and I have been battling with David on the potty front, but lately he has started to defy us every chance he gets. We can handle the fact that "no!" is sometimes a foreign word to him. We understand that the main objective for a toddler is to push, push, PUSH... as far as he can, just waiting to test our parental foritude. My goal lately has been sort of a mantra to myself...
"don't back down... don't back down.... I am the parent... I am in charge"
But this little bugger finds amusement and now pushes me for sport. He laughs sometimes, and boy does that get me going. Somehow, I find the ability to keep myself on an even keel. It's harder for Steve, and now I see why... they are so alike it's not funny.

After the 6th trip to the naughty chair last night (David sits there, not crying or anything), I end up thinking all night about what I am doing wrong. Are we too hard on him, not enough?? Will he grow up and blame me for not having raised him well?

This morning, I found myself having a conversation with David while driving him to preschool today. It takes 20 minutes door to door to get there, and the whole 20 minutes I lectured. When I asked him a question, he sounded like he was following, but who knows. Highlights went like this...

"David, Mommy gets so upset sometimes when you don't listen... Do you understand that I am always trying to be the best Mommy, but you test me beyond boundaries... I need for you to be a good boy, and not make me lose my mind because I told you to pick up your toys ten times... why did you need to pick up the doggie's poop in the yard when I specifically said NO... Mommy needs to not work , maybe that is the issue... maybe I need to drop out of the corporate world and work at Target as a checker, they get a discount, don't they???" etc. etc., so forth and so on

I knew he wouldn't understand or even remember what I was talking about, but it felt good just to say it.
As we were walking in the door at school, he looked concerned and said, "Mommy, I love yoooooou... are you ok?"

[insert crazed laughter here]

Maybe he does get it. Score one for the little guy for diffusing my ramblings. Score two for being cute.

End score
Mom=0
David=999

Wake me up when September ends

It was a mixed bag of weather around these parts over the Labor Day holiday. It poured Friday and Saturday, sunny on Sunday and Monday, now it's back to the drearies.Can say that I was even mildly productive over the weekend. Mostly we just RESTED! Hey, that's a switch.David has been pressing us to get him a "big boy" bed. So, off we went to about 4 local furniture stores, and I think we found what we are looking for. David has his heart set on bunkbeds, and after thinking about it... why not? That way if his cousins come over in the future we'll have an extra bed. Since his room has baby furniture in it now, I figured I might as well get him a new dresser too.I pray that I will need that baby furniture in the near future, so we will cram it somewhere for now.Meanwhile, in the work realm, I got assigned to a "special project", which basically means that I won't see the light of day for about a month. Hmmmmpfh.....!I am quite tired (maybe it's the rain), so I will leave the philosophical comments for later. :)

Potty challenged

David has been slow to take to the proper usage of a potty. We started way back at his 2nd birthday... He was interested. So, with (a little) encouragement he tried, aaaand he decided it was not for him. By his 3rd birthday in May, Bob the Builder or Thomas the Train underwear was not even mildly enticing to him. He was just fine in his diaper, thank you very much.When my husband and I were about to "take a potty break" with David, he decided that Pull-ups looked fun, and one day he decided "I will pee no more!". We were so happy. He has not made one mistake in the pee-pee department. He even decided to stay dry at night! Hallelujah!But then, there was that other order of business.. poopy. David would hide in the corner and do his business in the Pull-Up, then we thought- ah HA! switch him to underwear. So, we did. And it did not make a difference.Now, he's holding it in.. at home, at school. He cries. He says he wants to be a baby. (whaaaat?)Not pretty. And, I am getting a little bored of potty talk. What's a Mom to do?

Intro: Meet SuperMom (not)

I had been keeping a journal on another site, but it was cumbersome. A cyber friend of mine led me to this place, and viola! here I am. I guess I should start with a little background, and then, reader, you will just have to dive in the life of Shelli- crazy Mom on the move (armed with only the very best handbags.. more on that obsession later...)I work at home, and when I say work at home, I must qualify that it isn't a job where I have tons of free time to clean my house, make weekly hair and nail appointments, and watch daytime TV. No, I WISH.I work FT in a consulting operations role for a major technology company. Which one? If you read along, you'll figure it out. I live in a world consumed by laptops, blackberries, conference calls, and the occasional business trip. I am wired for speed.I have been married to my wonderful husband for 11 years, and we have a very active toddler, David, who just turned 3 in May. He's a handful, but aren't all toddlers? We are trying to conceive #2, and well, it's been awhile that we have been working on that. I had a 2nd trimester loss back in April, but we are still moving forward.In my spare time, I struggle with being everything to everybody. Actually, to be truthful, it's me being hard on myself.... I thank years of women before me for that little prize.So here I am, and instead of laying everying out there at once, hang on. Instead of paying for therapy, the Blog will be all the therapy I will ever need.... Fellow Moms and Superwomen are welcomed to comment, especially if you have any good ideas!