Terrible 2's?...Yeah Right!

Whoever said it was Terrible 2's is a liar...I am convinced daily, it's the Terrible 3's...My husband and I joked through the 2's about our Sour-Patch Kid...You know Sour one second, Sweet the next

Before I start my rant about my mornings this week...I'd like to make it clear to whoever is reading this that I love my son more than life itself...But, I can't wait for this phase to be OVER...I really don't remember the circumstances of my frustration Monday morning...but in my defense, I wasn't feeling well...Yesterday morning I got Brodie up after I finished getting ready for work...This is typically how our school/work mornings go...I like to be dressed and everything before I get him out of bed...9 times out of 10 we are running late...Brodie is a sleeper...So am I...He could sleep for 12 hours, wake up and just hang out in his bed and be content....So, what's the problem right??...The problem is that he's so hard headed strong-willed...and 3...that if he's not down for getting dressed, or sitting on the potty, or having his hair brushed, or brushing his teeth, or walking to the car, or watching Pinky Dinky Do, there is a MAJOR melt-down brewing...


Yesterday, the feul for the fire was the potty...Yes, my son is 3 and is not completely potty trained...He normally does a great job with the whole potty thing...he loves putting stickers on the chart...and having Mom clap and sing ridiculous songs...Oh, but not yesterday...When I got him out of bed, I noticed he was still dry....YAY!!!...(Maybe I should have made a bigger deal about that with him...hmmmm)...Anyway, my mind says...he's definitely gotta pee...


So I say...
Me        Come on Buddy, let go sit on the potty
Him       NOOOOOO POTTTYYYY
Me        Really?!
Him       No Potty!  No Potty!  Nooooo Potttyyyy!!
Me        Don't you need to pee pee??
Him       NO Pee Pee!!
Me        Brodie, I know you need to pee pee...If you don't sit on the potty,  you'll end up pee peeing in your pants, and you'll be all wet..Let's just go try...Real Quick!
Him       NO Potty!!

Now, not only is his refusual to use the potty frustrating me...But, throughout the ENTIRE course of the morning, he's whining...There are no letters to describe that most annoying sound...Now, normally, when he tells me he doesn't need to potty...I do listen...But, I just KNEW he had to!!...I'm so afraid of making the potty a bad experience...because I just envision my 16 year old son in his Pull-Up...I knew for sure once he settled down he would wet himself...Just a side note here...Not only is Brodie hard headed strong-willed...he is extremely tender-hearted...It hurts his feelings if he thinks you're mad at him...He get's this honestly though, I'm the exact same way...So, after I manage to get him dressed and in the car...I'm buckling his seatbelt and looks at me and says, "Hug." He wants to make up...He doesn't want me to be mad at him...Of course I give a hug...well, a couple...When we were about halfway to daycare, he said, "Momma, I happy :)"  I have no words for that...lol


My husband & I talked about the incident last night...I told him I take responsibility for the most part...Don't get me wrong...He shouldn't act like that...Ever...Again....But I think the whole problem is because I get him out of bed and immediately am trying to get him dressed and out the door...I told my husband last night, I have to start getting up earlier and I'm gonna have to get him up earlier, so if he wants to sit down and drink some juice he can...So, I set my alarm clock for 6am...We're going to have a nice smooth morning...Right?


WRONG....Well, let me start by saying I did not get out of bed at 6am...Bad Momma...Which means, as usual, I'm rushing him along and he is fighting me tooth and nail...By the way...his meltdown started so immediately this morning...I didn't even attempt the potty...Instead of the No Potty screaming...this morning it was No Get Dressed!  No Shoes On!  No School!  No Pictures!  (He had Spring Pictures Today)  Unlike yesterday, we were on better terms before we left the house...I really don't mind having a hard headed strong-willed child...I just wish it was possible to reason with him as a 3 year old...


PS....I WILL be OUT OF BED at 6am tomorrow!
PPS..I need to get my eyebrows waxed....

Recognition Goes A Long Way

On my way home from work this evening my cell phone rang...It was my husband...Nothing unusual...Granted, I had just talked to him about 15 minutes before...but that happens all the time...When I answered, he said "I just wanted to call you back because I wanted to tell you that you are an awesome Mother and a wonderful Wife and I'm so lucky to have.  I know you do a lot for our family, and I know I should help out more than I do...I'm just really lucky to have you."

Sweet right?  Absolutely...But I have to admit, If I didn't know my husband as well as I do...I would have thought something's up...What's he buttering me up for??...lol...I thanked him and told him it was really nice to hear those things...

Sometimes in the day to day of our lives we take for granted the people we love the most...I know he takes me for granted...He's told me...So there are definitely days that I  feel spread thin and unappreciated...I'm really not the type of person that needs a constant pat on the back, but I absolutely need to feel appreciated...It really makes all the work involved in keeping a family on track so much easier...I always try to tell him how much I appreciate him...or thank him for going out of his way to do something to make things easier on us all...I do this because my mom always told us to treat people the way we wanted to be treated...maybe it's finally starting to sink in...lol

Moving Up In The Blogging World

So, this evening I logged in to see if by ANY chance I had more than one follower...and was SO surprised to see that I now have 2...yes 2 followers!!!  The pressure is on now...to my 2 followers...please don't un-follow me...it'll be like be un-friended on Facebook...

I Should Be Working...

Well...Technically it's still lunch time...I used to think that lunch was from 12-1...but sometime in the last 2 years or so...it was decided lunch was until 1:30...I think we get the Doctor's Office lunch time by association...which is fine with me...I'm not complaining...

I work for a Medical Billing company...I've been here for a little over 6 years...I actually love my job...I started out not knowing a thing about Medical Billing...I was an Assistant Manager at Sonic before I got my job here...I really enjoyed that job too...I really liked the people I worked with...well, for the most part...I started out as a Carhop and working the Fountain inside...When I was promoted to Assistant Manager, I also started making the work  schedule for my boss...Upside for this was an extra $100 a month and I still scheduled myself at least a day to carhop to make some extra cash...The scandal here was that I was still being paid my Assistant Manager hourly rate...plus tips...No one caught on...Or said anything about it anyway...There did come a time that I was sick of going home smelling like french fries...and I wanted a normal job...with normal hours...My friends mom said she would see if she could do anything...First she was trying to get me on at one of the Doctor's Offices...That never worked out...So she got me an interview with her Supervisor to interview to work Collections...And the rest is History...


I did not like doing Collections...I remember one of the first calls I made...I identified myself...notified her of her outstanding balance...and requested we make payment arrangements to clear the balance...This lady broke into tears and explained to me that she just buried her mother...Yep...So I felt like complete dog shit...I couldn't get off the phone fast enough...She promised once things 'settled down' she would send a payment in...That was 6 years ago...Apparently things haven't 'settled down' yet.....

After a few months working collections...The receptionist took another job...so, I was moved to that position...Fine with me!!...I did end up convincing my boss that we shouldn't keep collections in-house...She passed that information to the powers that be...and it was decided we would use an outside Collection Agency...I still worked the delinquent accounts...sending letters that accounts were over-due...but I haven't made a Collection call since :)

My position and responsibilities have changed a lot through the years...It's crazy to think that when I started working here...I was 23...Living alone in my cute little one-bedroom apartment...Only responsible for myself and my cat, Jewels...My, have things changed in 6 years....

What's For Dinner??

I remember before I was a wife and a mother....(did I really just say that??)...anyway...I do remember then...I ate what I wanted...when I wanted...it required zero planning...and quite frankly...I miss that...I miss when cooking was fun...It doesn't feel fun anymore...only because I have to do it...Yes, I'm that type...anything I have to do...I spite :)  So let me set the scene for you...it's 4:25pm...I get off work at 4:30pm...my office phone rings...it's my husband...here's the conversation verbatim:

Me:        Hellooooo
Him:       Hey Baby, What are you doing?
Me:        Just getting my stuff together, ready to get out of here...it's been a long day
Him:       So, what are we grubbin on tonight?
***silence***

There's really no need to transcribe the rest of the conversation because I'm positive my tone becomes snippy...Like I've been sitting at my desk all day planning a delicious meal to prepare after I've worked an 8 hour day...Is he wrong to ask what we're having for dinner?  Absolutely Not...Because if anyone knows my husband they know that if at this point I said I have no idea, help me...he would in a second...Unfortunately...I am not built this way...I feel like I'm not giving 100% to my wife and mother (here we go again with that) duties responsibilities...like I'm failing somehow...So in that situation I stress myself to come up with an idea of a great meal to please everyone...This ALWAYS requires a stop at Kroger because of course I don't have anything I need at home to cook whatever I've decided on...So after the groceries are purchased...and Brodie is picked up from school...we get home and I'm scrambling to entertain a 3 year old...feed him something completely different than I've planned originally because it's already after 6pm at this point...begin cooking the AMAZING meal I decided on...give Brodie a bath...get him ready for bed...After Brodie goes to bed...I finish cooking and we get to sit down to eat...and I am mentally and physically exhausted...And all I can think is....Something has to change...As much as I hate that I'm expected to prepare meals because I am a woman...I don't expect my husband to do it...(it makes no sense, I know)...In reality I know that I cannot have Alice from the Brady Bunch live with our family to take care of the housework and cooking...How awesome would that be though??

So, I had to come up with something more realistic to not only make things easier on me, but to also take the resentment out of cooking...To make it enjoyable again...I've tried this numerous times before...Usually by cooking big meals on the weekend to eat on during the week as well...But let's be honest...How many times in a week can you expect your husband and son to eat black eyed peas and rice before they get sick of it...I noticed a few of my Facebook friends would talk about planning weekly menus...I thought that was an amazing idea...but in the past when I half-assed tried to do this...I got menu planning block because I didn't feel like I had enough recipes...I felt like I was cooking the same things over and over and over again...I guess at this point I should tell you that I am pretty picky...So, even when I browse online for recipes...a lot of them contain ingredients that I don't like...So, immediately they're out....I think the fact that I don't like cheese limits me a lot...Yes you just read that....I don't like cheese...I'm glad we got that out there...I guess I was finally in the right frame of mind to look for new things to cook and compiled a pretty good start to a list of new recipes...From there I printed a template for a weekly menu and shopping list...I planned that first week's menu and I can't even tell you how less stressful that week was! 

Believe me, I know how incredibly stupid that sounds...but to not have to worry about What's for Dinner made evenings so much better for me...Now, instead of making several trips to the grocery store during the week...I've been going once...How awesome is that??

So, the moral to the story is...well there is no moral...but I must end this rambling because it's time for my weekly trip to the grocery store :)

Here goes nothing!

Ok...I guess to begin I should introduce myself...My name is Katie...I am 29...Married with a 3 year old little boy...As you can see...I'm lazy when it comes to using correct punctuation when I type...In my defense...I am educated and could do it if I wanted...but...like I said...I'm lazy...I've never really thought about having my own blog...UNTIL today...lol...For the past few months I have been reading a blog that is written by a friend of mine from high school...she does an amazing job...if I even knew how to link you to her blog I would but...yeah...this is my first time...I swear...I'll get better or I'll stop...one of the two...I kind of thought about having my own blog a little bit...but it wasn't until I was creating a Blogger account to comment on her blog that I gave it serious thought...and now...here I am...babbling away....Like the name of the blog says...I'm not worthy...