The Queen's Rambles

It’s been so long since we’ve had a nice, sunny day that I forgot one of the sunny day essentials–sunscreen!

With beautiful weather calling, we made an impromptu three hour trip to the playground and I now have a Rudolph nose and a slit of red chest skin. I was wearing this Chinese inspired Mandarin collar type thing so it is a small slit, sure to look funny when I wear my normal v-necks. I’m so glamorous. I think my sunburn is the least of my glamour problems.

It was glorious, oh so glorious, to be outside and have Erik running around playing with other people. I was not the jungle gym. I barely existed. May this be the end of cabin fever grouchiness.

As usual, I can’t go to playground without knowing half the other moms at the park. I was thinking the other day that we’ve lived here almost five years. That’s the longest I’ve lived anywhere in my adult life. Those of you who have been long established in your home or who live around family probably don’t quite understand how thrilling it is to have a social network. There are people I can call if I need help! It would have to be an emergency, but there are several people that could help me out. I don’t feel stuck like I did three years ago. If I need a babysitter I can just send out an e-mail and get a trusted recommendation or an offer of a playdate. Having real life friends is sort of amazing. I know I am dorky to feel so in awe of it, but I haven’t had a social network that I could depend on since college.

Of course, the flip side is that you often run into people you’d just as soon never see again.

One of the people I knew at the park is one of the most obnoxious people I’ve ever met. Ever.

She spent the whole time yelling, very loudly, “Johnny, if I have to tell you one more time, we’re going home! Did you hear me? If I have to tell you one more time we’re going home!” Over and over and over for two hours. At one point she grabbed the kid and started whaling on his butt, which made everyone in the park uncomfortable. I was just glad the kid was wearing a diaper. It must be a pretty common occurrence in their household because he didn’t even cry. Nor did his behavior improve.

I know all kids have their challenges. Lordy how I know. Still, I bet I could have improved that kid’s behavior in about twenty minutes. Mean what you say and say what you mean. Mean it and say it consistently. That’s all you’ve got to do to knock out the more obnoxious behaviors in a normal kid.

There. Someone pay me thousands of dollars. I just wrote a parenting book.

I’m just as qualified as that BabyWise dude. They were talking about the Babywise books on one of my forums the other day and it baffles me. For those that don’t know, this guy wrote a series of baby books based on Christian values. I haven’t read them, but they are very controversial because they are “parent centered” and say the child has to adapt to the parent, including the eating schedule. The books have been linked with failure to thrive in infants and I believe even a couple of infant deaths (though I could be wrong on that point). Doctors take a pretty strong stand against his methods.

The ironic part is that the man LIED about his credentials. His own congregation has called him out on his lies and condemned him. Yet there are certain Christians who feel that since he’s a Christian he must be right and he’s above reproach. We’ve got to raise our baby’s the Christian way, by gum! Because if I was a Christian I would really want to take advice from a proven liar. I don’t understand! That’s just the Christian way, eh? Sorta like Sarah Palin.

Please note, I know that not all (or even most) Christians fall into the trap of believing things that someone says just because some random guy claims it is the “Christian way.”

That was quite the tangent.

Shall we talk about child development?

I’m so proud of Erik. We had our six month dental check-ups today and he did a fabulous job of holding still and following directions. The last visit was pretty dicey because he couldn’t hold still and was really nervous about the whole thing. I always plan our visits in six month intervals so I know it’s been exactly since months. I was sort of shocked to realize how much he’s matured in the past six months. He may be driving me crazy at times, but overall he has really grown.

He got a scooter for his birthday six months ago. The past couple of days we’ve gone out and I’ve sat on the sidewalk with my lawn chair positioned where I can see him. I’ve told him the limits of where he is allowed to go and he has pretty much followed the limits. I never could have trusted him to do that six months ago.

I still remember crying in the hospital when they handed me Erik for the first time. I was so upset because I knew he wouldn’t be a baby forever–he would soon be a big boy and I wouldn’t have my baby any more. Hormones are funny things. It has been so much fun watching him grow and progress. I like each stage better than the last, except when he gets into his lunatic phases, and am really glad he is no longer an infant. The infant stage was killer! Four year olds are much more fun.

And we’re really going to start all over in five weeks? Hoo-boy. I hope she’s not a constant screamer like her brother.