Angus is a potty training machine. He even accidentally pooped in his little potty. He was very surprised to see it there. He's pretty much peed everywhere downstairs but that's easy enough to clean up. I have a few stations where I keep paper towels and baby wipes. We had a minor set back one day when I went to the store and came back to a little pile of poop in the playroom and a dining room covered in pee. Not really sure what happened there. It looked like he peed in his potty then dumped it all over the floor. BUT all in all, he's doing very well! Our potty training method is simply letting them run around naked (with a sweatshirt when needed) and have them drink lots of juice. This would be a nightmare with carpet. SUPER thankful for hardwood floors.
The two differences I've noticed between girls and boys so far is that when Angus leans back in the potty chair and relaxes the way males like to do, he pees all over the bathroom so I gotta tell him to lean forward.
And he doesn't care where he goes #2. The girls were pretty scared to poop anywhere but their beloved pullup. Angus does not care where it ends up.
I am amazed at the number of things that constantly need fixing around here. And we have a newish house. I'm not sure what people do with older homes. Quite frequently I have a small list of things for Dan to fix when he gets home from work. The kids have a lot to do with it of course. Angus likes to stand on the dishwasher door. It broke.
Sunday picture before church. I've been using Jelly Bellies to reward Angus when he goes peepee in the potty. They also work for smiling when Mommy wants to take a picture and not running away crying nooooooo. This is pretty much as cold as it ever gets in Azusa (low 60's). And Winter is still in flip flops. And that's why I still live in SoCal. The weather is something you just cannot get anywhere else. I never yell Get your coat! to my kids. Never. We actually do not own any coats. It's true. I don't even know if they know what a coat is.
If Angus were a fly...
I bought the big girls sugar cookie mix and frosting with sprinkles for Christmas. It was one of the amazing gifts that totally made them squeal and tell me how much they love me. I didn't really think it through though. It's not like they could bake and decorate the cookies all by themselves. And it's not like I don't have two littles running around requiring every spare second of my day. And not to mention my two enemies laundry and dishes. (I have learned that I can't take my eyes off of them for a second or they will start reproducing) When would be a good time to bake cookies with Mya and Winter? The answer is never. And they pretty much have asked me about it daily since December 25th. And the time of day has been totally irrelevant. Before breakfast, perfect time for baking cookies. While I am spanking Angus and he is screaming, even better.
I actually suggested it to a babysitter two weeks ago as a "fun activity" she could do with the kids.
Didn't happen.
Soooo, I finally gave in and stupidly promised that if they were good for the babysitter Monday night, we could bake cookies Tuesday. They remembered of course and I had no choice. It actually wasn't horrible. Angus was entertained by my BFF YouTube and Addie insisted on helping which we knew would happen. I only yelled a little bit, frequently taking deep breaths and counting to 4 like Daniel Tiger recommends, and they actually commented several times how fun it was to make cookies. They asked me if I was having fun and I said no because I like to keep it real with them and they were confused. But, I'm glad they enjoyed themselves, even though I forgot about the second batch and kinda burned it. Good times.
I couldn't love Mya's face more in this picture. She's a lot like her mom. We don't do well with all the touching.
There's my "well done" batch on the right. It looks okay in the picture but they are very hard to bite. I tested them to make sure.
I've probably posted on this subject before but it's something that I enjoy doing and talking about so why not mention it again.
I love to organize stuff. I hate cleaning and rarely have the time but when things are clean-ish around here, it gives me great pleasure to organize in order to make it easier to keep things clean in the future. Dan is way better at getting the house cleaned up and ready to be organized. He's like a cleaning tornado without the destruction. Or like if Mary Poppins was a drill sergeant, that would be Dan. So, we work well together. I thought I'd mention a few things that I've learned that have been really helpful. And it's nothing you haven't heard before.
The first phase is the biggest and most important.
Getting rid of EVERYTHING I don't need
I'm going through this process right now. I love it. I look forward to it each day. I give you permission to get rid of anything you want to get rid of. No guilt.
Why have three sets of dishes? Why have backup cups that no one uses? Why have crazy kitchen contraptions you only use once a year? I have to admit that it helps that I'm a minimalist. I don't like clutter. I don't like knickknacks and I love to get rid of stuff. It makes me feel amazing to load up the back of the minivan with bags and boxes to donate.
This process always takes a while. But it's so worth it. I just go through one room at a time. Drawer by drawer, cabinet by cabinet until it's done so it's not so overwhelming. I can do one drawer per day and I'm happy. And there's no hurry. Unless you're moving or something.
The second phase is:
Everything needs an easy home to go to.
Use boxes, baskets, or any container you already have in the house to create a space for small stuff in cupboards and drawers. Larger baskets for papers, bills and toys. Ikea has wonderful solutions for toys for affordable prices.
I have little bins to keep our snacks organized in the cabinet. And more bins in the downstairs closet for hair accessories, diaper stuff and art supplies. I asked Dan to put hooks in many places around the house to organize backpacks, sweatshirts, belts, hats, scarves and pretty much anything that can hang up.
I use a big laundry hamper for all my purses and large bags. For the most part, everything has a home in our house. I'll be working on better homes for everything though.
Go through your tupperware and ditch anything with missing lids. Use them to store stuff in drawers. An organized drawer is a beautiful thing.
(Don't feel bad. You should see the rest of my house)
And the 3rd phase:
Develop a minimalist attitude.
Do I need this? Will I use it? I can't tell you how many times I've wanted some cool gadget and Dan has talked me out of it saying, "Can't you just use a knife and a cutting board?" He's right. Most of that stuff really is just a fancy way to cut something or cook something we already are able to cut or cook using what we have.
And how many times have I kept a pair of pants that were one size too small hoping that one day I would lose 8 pounds and they would be perfect. That has literally never happened. So if it doesn't fit right now, as I am, I'm not keeping it.
My sister has a rule that she has to get rid of the same number of things she brings into the house. So if she buys 4 new shirts, she gets rid of four shirts. Such a smart rule.
And the less stuff you have, the less you have to take care of, clean, organize and sort. And after all, it's all just stuff.
Happy Hump Day!
No comments:
Post a Comment