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Feb 6, 2012

Early To Bed, Early To Rise

February 6, 2012 By

When Cordelia was a toddler, our friends and family marveled that we had her on such a great sleep schedule. Around 6:30 or 7:00pm each night, she would actually crawl (or later walk) to the stairs and point up to her room, letting us know that it was time for bed. We’d change her into her PJs, read her a book, and take her up to her crib. Then we’d place her in her crib and walk away. She’d often babble and talk to herself, but rarely did she cry or protest.

Comments like, “Wow, you’ve sleep trained her SO well!” were not uncommon, often followed by stories of how their child would fight bedtime, get up repeatedly, or cry at being imprisoned in the crib. It would be easy to pat ourselves on the back and take full credit for the amazingly peaceful nights we had with Cordy, but the truth is we had very little to do with it: Cordy was the one who determined her own bedtime.

At this point, you may still consider us the winners of the bedtime lottery. A toddler who goes to bed by 7pm every night, leaving you free to spend time with your spouse without interruption? We even had a period of several months where Cordy would sleep until 6am each morning. Yes, I’ll admit we were spoiled. (If you consider spoiled to also include a child who refused to nap during the day at all and had violent tantrums that we would later find out were symptoms of autism. But that’s not today’s topic.)

It did have its benefits, but there were downsides. First, she was always awake by 6am, meaning someone had to get up early with her. Second, her sleep schedule made it hard to do anything with her in the evenings, because no matter where we were, she was asleep by 7pm, and grumpy if moved. If we had a family gathering in the evening, we could count on finding her asleep on the floor long before 8pm.

Or asleep mid-cookie at Christmas (2007)

And then there’s one other problem.

While being asleep that early in the night is great for a toddler or preschooler, it isn’t as useful for a seven year old. To this day, Cordy still goes to bed early. It’s not a strict 7pm anymore, but she still has trouble staying awake any later than 8pm.

 Visiting friends 2 weeks ago, 7pm

The problem with this situation is that going to sleep so early makes it impossible to get her involved in many after-school activities, or even have a lot of time to spend with her family in the evening. She’s home from school by 5pm, does her homework, dinner by 6pm, and then it’s time to get ready for bed. We pushed bedtime back to 7:30pm (from 7pm), although there are still many nights when the clock has barely crossed into seven o’clock and Cordy is complaining that she is tired and wants to go to bed.

Occasionally we ask her to stay up late, and sometimes she can keep herself up until 9pm, but it takes a lot of effort. For New Year’s Eve this year, she was awake (although very groggy) until 11:30pm, but only because she slept for 40 minutes on our way home from the zoo that night.

New Year’s Eve

All of the advice books say to gradually step back the bedtime and in return the child will gradually start waking up later as well. Ha. Not this girl. No matter how late she’s up, her bedroom door still opens promptly at 6am and Little Miss Sunshine strolls down the stairs for the day. Only if we force her to stay up too late, Little Miss Sunshine turns into Little Miss Crabbypants quickly during the day, and keeping her up late again still does nothing to change her wake-up time. (But does make her progressively more grumpy.)

At this point, I don’t know what to do. I have the opposite problem of most parents: I want my child to stay up later! I’d like to give her the chance to take a class or be in a Girl Scout troop, but unless it’s offered on a Saturday it isn’t possible at the moment.

Anyone have any advice on how to convince a Sleeping Beauty to stay up later and enjoy the night?

Filed Under: Cordy, daily life Tagged With:


Feb 2, 2012

Dog Person. Sort Of.

February 2, 2012 By

When I was six years old, my mom adopted our first cat. From that moment on, we always had cats in our house. Sometimes it was just one or two, other times a pregnant cat would find her way to our doorstep and suddenly we’d have a house full of whiskers and fur. My mom has a soft spot in her heart for a sad kitty, and even if we had no room, she’d still take the cat in and then work to find it a good home somewhere else. (She still does this today. But now she lives on a farm and can let them be barn cats if needed.)

It’s only natural, then, that I’d be a cat person, too. While I didn’t always like some of our cats, I still enjoyed sitting on the couch in the evening with a cat curled up next to me, purring loudly. As I settled in to my first apartment after college, one of the first must-have things I needed to make it feel like home was a cat.

Dogs? Dogs were cute, but I wasn’t as attached to them. I’d never pass up the chance to pet a cute puppy, but I’ve always been a little more cautious of dogs than I am with cats. This is probably due to a bad experience with a dog owned by one of my mom’s friends when I was younger. She was a large doberman that we had to pass by in order to get into the house.

I understand now that she was just a happy, excited dog that liked to bark and jump on people, but that same exuberance, in the mind of a four-year-old, translated to dog-wants-to-kill-me-and-eat-me. I was terrified. And we lived with that friend for part of a year,which meant I had to get past that killer dog in the backyard on a daily basis.

Since then, I’ve lost any fear of dogs, but I’ve still preferred my cats. Even when we decided to adopt a dog last month, my first concerns were to how my sweet kitties would handle the stress of a dog in the house. Loving the dog wouldn’t be a problem, but my cats would always come first.

Now that Cosmo is here, I’m forced to confess: I’m a sucker for that dog.

Not that Cosmo has made it easy for me, though. He’s chewed thru nearly every toy I’ve bought him – some in as little as an hour – costing us a small fortune in dog toys. When I’m not looking he’ll try to chew Mira’s shoes. Not any shoe he can find – just hers. He likes to lick me, which I generally don’t care for. He drools.

While I expected him to be a decent-sized dog, I didn’t expect him to double his size in a month. He’s stubborn, refuses to give up sitting on the couch (a habit he picked up in his foster home – at least we have compromised to have him only sit on one side of the couch), and even at 55+ pounds still thinks he’s a lap dog. He knows his basic manners, but all that puppy energy means he often forgets his commands when excited.

And he burps in my face. Ewww.

Unlike my cats, however, there is this constant desire for acceptance in his eyes. Each time he wrinkles his forehead and looks to me, I can see his mind furiously working, wondering if I’m pleased with whatever he’s doing, waiting for the next command, hoping I’ll just scratch his belly or give in and let him lick my hand. I know if he’s done something wrong before I even know the details of the actual offense: it’s written all over his face. (The guilty dog look may just be one of the best dog traits ever. I wish my kids had that look.)

Cosmo hangs out with us while watching TV. He can go with us to the park, or walk around our neighborhood, or travel in the car to spend time with friends at their house. As much as I refer to my Siamese cats as being dog-like in nature, they still want nothing to do with the world outside of our house, and generally wander off if the TV is on. All the dog wants in life is some food, a place to sleep, and most importantly, to be with us.

So I’m a dog person now. Sort of, I guess. I still don’t like being licked, and I refuse to budge on letting him on any furniture other than one corner of the couch, but I love when he greets me at the door each day with that wagging tail and I am thrilled at how well the kids respond to him.

I continue spending a fortune on new dog toys to keep him entertained. We even enrolled him in a doggie daycare program to give him more chances to socialize with other dogs and run out some energy one day a week.

Doggie daycare…seriously. The old non-dog-person me is shaking my head in disapproval right now. But he’s a part of the family now, so we’ll take care of his every need, including his need for socialization when we have busy weeks.

And the former non-dog-person me admits it’s hard to say no to that sweet puppy face.
Filed Under: Cosmo, me me me, memories


Jan 30, 2012

Surviving Winter Hair With Head & Shoulders

January 30, 2012 By

January is such an icky time of the year, at least here in Ohio. The winter weather has set in, and with it comes a wrecking ball of dry, cold air aimed at my hair and skin. It seems like no amount of moisturizer is enough to tame the sensitive skin on my face, and my hair has that lovely winter combo of oily on the scalp and filled with static on the ends. The dry weather always seems to irritate my scalp more, too, resulting in dandruff and itching.

Can’t you just picture me on one of my rare date nights with my husband, patchy skin, flaky scalp and hair that looks like I shocked myself? Attractive, right? Sigh…it’s enough to make anyone wish for spring.

I’m no longer afraid to admit I occasionally have dandruff due to my sensitive skin, and I need an arsenal of tough-yet-gentle options to fight it. I need my shampoo to get the job done while still giving me soft, great looking hair that doesn’t smell like a medicine cabinet.

Recently I had the chance to try out the new Head & Shoulders Green Apple shampoo and conditioner. The Head & Shoulders collection of soothing products promises to ease three scalp and dandruff problems: dryness, itchiness, and sensitivity. With 84% of surveyed scalp issue sufferers concerned about these issues, Head & Shoulders has combined the effectiveness of their HydraZinc formula to alleviate these conditions leaving your hair beautifully flake free.

That’s enough of a promise for me to expect some big results. I’ve been using the shampoo and conditioner for two weeks, and so far the results have been great. Despite the recent drop in temperature, my hair has been shiny and virtually flake-free. My scalp isn’t nearly as itchy as it usually is when the weather gets this dry, but the ends are still well conditioned and not standing out from static.

But even better than that? (Yes, even better than having great looking hair!) The smell! This shampoo has the most heavenly green apple scent. It’s like aromatherapy in the shower. I can breathe in deeply and imagine that spring isn’t all that far away.

The shampoo has a more powerful scent than the conditioner, but that doesn’t affect the fragrance left in your hair. The scent remains strong even after applying styling products and drying. While faint, the fresh green apple aroma is still noticeable on day two as well.

Overall I’m pleased with the results of Head & Shoulders Green Apple shampoo and conditioner. These new products make it easy for me to have beautiful, flake-free hair with a fresh scent reminiscent of a relaxing spa-like experience.

It’s OK…spring can wait.

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Filed Under: reviews, shameless promotion


Jan 27, 2012

My Muscle Memory Has Dementia

January 27, 2012 By

This week I decided to go back to the boot camp classes I did last year. I had been going fairly regularly until August, and then let my membership lapse. But a great price on a New Year’s deal along with a strong desire to make this THE year I get it right led me to sign up again. After all, I had great results last year and I already feel comfortable with the routine of that gym.

I expected to be a little out of practice. I knew that having a few months off would mean I couldn’t perform the way I did when I was going to classes regularly. But I also was confident that it couldn’t be all that bad – my weight is still as low as when I stopped going, so there’s no way it could be as hard as when I started at the beginning of last year and was 14 pounds heavier.

Ha.

Ha ha ha.

I had my first boot camp class last night. The results were embarrassing. I started off fine with the rest of the class, staying in time with everyone as the music shook the room and the trainer barked out instructions. Five minutes in, I felt a little winded, but took a few deep breaths and pushed past it. Ten minutes in and I needed my first sip of Gatorade.

I quickly realized I was having trouble. Twenty minutes in, I felt weak, I could barely catch my breath, and my stomach was queasy. I finally sat down on the step for a moment. The trainer (someone I worked with a lot last year), just smiled and said, “You’re fine – you’re just getting back into it!” I didn’t feel fine, particularly when the others in the class weren’t stopping while I was parked on my step.

Finishing one small bottle of Gatorade, I stood up and was determined to still finish the class. I got back into the routine with everyone, but that sick feeling wouldn’t go away. I had to take another short break near the end of class. I don’t think I took a single break during my first class last year.

When it was over, I remained in the room for a few minutes extra, willing myself not to vomit while making deals with my legs to just get me to the lobby and then I’d let them rest again. In the lobby, I sat for another 15 minutes. Anytime I tried to get up, I felt lightheaded and queasy. I eventually got the strength to get up and go home.

So…yeah. Never expected the first class would be such a failure. I expected my body would be a little rusty with the whole boot camp regimen, but had hoped it might soon remember all it had accomplished just a short time ago. So much for that muscle memory theory.

I’m discouraged, but not defeated. Yes, I expected my first class to go better than that, but I still went to class and did as much as I could. Maybe I’ll be able to do a little more the next class. And a little more the next one.

No pain, no gain, right?

Edited to add: And then I realized after writing this that I had a sore throat. Turns out I have strep throat and an ear infection. So maybe I’m not quite as weak as I thought, but just fighting off illness.

Filed Under: ow Tagged With:


Jan 25, 2012

Appreciating Hot Water (Especially When It’s Gone)

January 25, 2012 By

It’s easy to take for granted so many of the conveniences in our lives. Our homes have electric, heating and cooling, indoor plumbing, and so many other little things that make the day-to-day existence more comfortable. I’m so used to all of these things that I never really appreciate them until they’re gone. (Wait…does internet access count as one of those modern conveniences? ‘Cause I’m a panicky, weepy mess when that goes out in the house.)

But lately one first-world comfort has been making our lives a little more…exciting? frustrating? game-show-like? (Take your pick, really.) Hot water. It’s so simple, right? You turn the faucet handle to the left, and magically hot water comes out at your bidding. Except when it doesn’t.

Despite our house being fairly new, we’ve been having problems with our water heater for a few years. Three winters ago, I noticed the hot water ran out in my shower really quickly. A look at the water heater revealed the pilot light had gone out. OK, no big deal, re-light it and go on my way. No other issues cropped up until about a month later when it happened again. Repeat the process, chalk it up to a cold, windy day, and continue on, only slightly perturbed.

That summer the water heater continued to function normally. Then last winter, the pilot light went out again. Another re-light and all seemed well, until it went out again a few days later. And then a week later.

So we gave up and called in the professionals. And they couldn’t reproduce the problem. That water heater performed perfectly the entire time they were there, even during tests to force the pilot light to go out. They thought maybe it just needed a good cleaning, so they polished it up and took $120 for the time to look at a perfectly functional water heater.

And then it went out again the next day.

By spring, it was working fine again, so Aaron and I did what we do best in home improvement situations and ignored it. Not the best solution, I’m aware.

And then a few weeks ago?

C’mon, everyone say it with me: “it went out AGAIN!” 

Only this time the pilot light is going out nearly every day. Sometimes twice a day.

I’m waving the white flag. The water heater has broken me. I don’t know about you, but I strongly dislike like cold showers. And I really hate surprise cold showers when I’m expecting hot. Even worse is when the water heater fools me into thinking everything is fine at first and then runs cold just as I lather up my hair. I can’t abort the shower at that point, right? I’m committed now, and have to suffer through at least rinsing out the shampoo, applying conditioner, and rinsing again while violently shivering and cursing. And curse words don’t sound nearly as dramatic when said through chattering teeth.

I’m not thrilled at spending a lot of money on a new water heater. But I’m tired of playing hot water Russian roulette, too. I never realized how grumpy a lack of hot water can make me.

So the plan is to have a new water heater by the end of the week. Or start buying dry shampoo in bulk. 

(This is also the point where my mother reminds me that when she was a child they had no indoor plumbing and took baths by heating water on the stove to fill the tub once for everyone in the family. Oldest got to bathe first, and the youngest child (her) was the last to be bathed and therefore got the coldest water. OK fine, mom, I’m spoiled by my hot water.)

Filed Under: daily life