what’s the best age to take your kids to Disney?

Posted on November 9, 2011 by mommyinthemidwest

Disney is on the horizon. It’s far, far, far away on the horizon but if I squint real hard, I can almost kinda not really see it.

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Disney is super special to me and my hubs because that’s where we met. You can read all about it here. I’ve been looking forward to the day we could take our kids there for the longest time, like before I even had kids. The last time we went was in 2007 and I’m anxious and excited to be sorta kinda thinking about our next visit.

But see, here’s the thing. Big Boo isn’t that excited because it costs a lot of money. What doesn’t, right? He wants to go when the kids remember it because otherwise, it’s a waste, you know? I disagree. I think toddlers are only toddlers once. Little kids are the only ones that fall for the “magic,” in that characters-are-real sense, anyway. And I say that the memories are as much for myself as they are for my kids. Sure, they won’t remember it when they are 2 and 3, but I will. I will remember the looks on their faces and them falling asleep with their heads on my shoulder at the end of the day. I’ll remember how happy they were when I finally gave in and bought them that ridiculously overpriced souvenir. When they see Sorcerer Mickey shoot fireworks out of his fingers. I’ll snuggle up with them at the end of the long, long, long day and kiss their little heads as they fall asleep…drifting off to dream of a fantastic world they never knew existed.

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How can you put a price on that?

I kind of gave him that spiel and he changed his tune. He agrees with me, so we’re going in two years. 23 months, actually. (Squeeeeee!!!!). I. CAN’T. freakin’. WAIT. Is there such a thing as the “right” age to take your kids to Disney World? If I thought we would only go once in their lives, I might wait until they were 8 and 9, but I hope we’ll get to go 3-4 times by the time they’re 12 or so.

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So I get kinda lost in the shiny, glittery visions I have of myself at Disney World with the boys. Then reality hits and I think…ages 2 and 3. Hmm. Is that going to be a nightmare? How will they do on a plane? Or should we drive? Should I take the stroller? Etc. Etc. Etc.

We’ll figure all that out as it gets closer, but this trip is going to be epic. It better be, or else it will take me 23 months to get over the disappointment. Any pointers? Anyone have an opinion about the “best” age to take a kid to Disney?

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it’s a hot dog day,
~C~

i don’t think i could be a stay-at-home-mom

Posted on November 8, 2011 by mommyinthemidwest

I’ve been back to work now for over three months – just a little longer than my maternity leave lasted. And here my little Dexter is almost six months old. I was reading through some old blog posts – specifically the one to Theo on his half birthday – and I can’t believe how time has flown. I sure didn’t know then that a little over a year later, I’d be looking back at the first six months of my second child’s life.

Working is okay, I guess. It’s a balancing act. I don’t know how well I would do as a full time stay at home mom. I think I would get bored at times. I think the kids would definitely get bored at times. I love our babysitter. She’s awesome. We were lucky enough to find her via care.com and she has been unbelievably reliable. She’s exceeded all of our expectations. She does crafty crafts with my 5 (almost 6, sad face sad face sad face) month old, for pete’s sake. I would never have the creativity nor the patience to do half of what she does. With all that being said, I really miss my kids during the week. I leave for work after they go to bed at night, their dad takes them to the babysitter before I get home in the morning, and I pick them up around 5pm in the evening. So I basically get to spend 2.5 or 3 hours with my boys on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.

On Thursday mornings after work, I’ve been sending them to the babysitter so I can rest and/or catch up on chores and errands. It’s Thursdays I have the most trouble with. Technically, I could take a two or three hour nap and go get them. But by the time I could go get them, Theo would be taking a nap. And what’s the point of going to get Dexter if I’m just going to have to turn around and go back for Theo a couple of hours later? The thing is though, that I have horrible guilt about sending them to the babysitter on Thursdays. I always feel like I need to explain what I am doing every Thursday so it’s justified that I am not going to be spending every waking second with my kids.

Hey, I have to go to the grocery and the bank today.

Hey, I have company coming this weekend so I need to clean the whole house.

Hey, it’s our anniversary so I’m going to get a haircut and try to find a last minute gift.

Hey, we have an appointment with our financial advisor today.

What I really should say is this:

Hey, I’m freaking tired, I haven’t slept in 2 days, there are cat furballs under my coffee table the size of your head and they’re driving me crazy. I don’t have the energy or the patience to chase Theo around or make cotton ball snowmen with Dexter today. Additionally, I just wanna lay on the couch and watch DVR for two hours because I never, ever get a chance to do so otherwise.

I guess I just wonder if the babysitter or the other moms think I’m a crap mom because I choose to send my kids when, yeah, technically…they could be home with me for that half a day.

I realize now that I have virtually no me-time. Aside from Thursdays, I have no me-time. I’m busy with the kids from the time I wake up in the afternoon until I leave for work through the week. On the weekends, by the time they go to bed, I’m exhausted and I fall asleep on the couch before I can make it through one 30 minute sitcom.

So I’ve been taking advantage of the fact that we pay for Thursdays whether they go or not, and I’ve been sending them to the babysitter while I do something else (or nothing at all). That right there makes me wonder if I’m the opposite of stay-at-home-mom material. Even pondering that out loud makes me feel like crap.

I know I need the time to myself, so why do I feel so guilty? While I was on maternity leave with Dexter, I continued sending Theo to the babysitter 3 days a week because it was just too much trying to take care of my newly toddling toddler and my newborn baby. There were so many times I thought to myself I was glad to be a working mom who had a babysitter to send my older kid to, because if I was a SAHM, that wouldn’t even be an option. How do SAHMs ever get time to themselves? I guess after the babies go to bed….?? Or maybe there actually comes a time when kids play by themselves long enough for a mom to relax for a few? Nah, that doesn’t seem possible.

feeling guilty,
~C~

beauty everywhere

Posted on November 7, 2011 by mommyinthemidwest

You know, I always complain about the onset of fall. Nothing personal, Autumn, but you mean the end of warm weather and the beginning of coats and icy roads and static in my hair. This weekend I took a little time to look at my little world and I decided that I actually do like fall (a little). There are certainly some beautiful colors to admire and without a doubt, some mild weather to enjoy.

chalkboard plate, birthday gift from my sister (artwork courtesy of me)

Colors, like the oranges, reds, and yellows on the trees. Colors, like the blue of my baby boy’s eyes. I think they are going to stay blue, guys, and I’m so excited! After hearing how much Theo looks like his daddy from day 1, it’s nice to know I have something in common with Dexter.

hanging out with mama on Friday, while Theo took a nap

Then there are the rich browns – like that Hershey bar we let Theo go to town on Friday night.

I love the kelly greens – like the balloon the waitress at Red Robin gave Theo to keep him occupied until our food came. Oh, and Dexter’s paci.

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Okay, so those aren’t all fall colors. Whatever. Switching gears for a second – my sweet cousin, Kara, came to spend the weekend with us. We had fun going out to eat, doing a little shopping, and just relaxing at Barnes & Noble while Theo played with trains and looked at some books.

Kara and Dex

Thanks, Kara, for snapping this sweet pic!

Sunday, we didn’t have any plans. I watched most of Crazy, Stupid, Love. since I fell asleep 30 minutes into it Saturday night. I’m a fan of both Steve Carell and romantic comedies, so I thought it was really cute. Kara had to go, but we were glad to have gotten some extra time with her. The boys loved her. The weather was perfect so I took Theo for a wagon ride around our neighborhood. After we got back, I carried him inside and he instantly dissolved into tears in a pile on the floor. I agreed with him – it was way too pretty to stay inside. So we went out to the backyard and watched the neighbor clean up his leaves.

Alright, so … truth be told, it’s time to clean up our leaves, too. But not before raking a big pile for Theo to jump in…

By the way, 1 1/2 year olds aren’t that good at raking leaves, but they look cute trying. I guess we’ll have to wait a little longer to put this one on the chore list.

Let me just tell you how much he loved the leaf pile. Uh, he ran past it and poked it with a stick and kept going. He was not impressed. Yeah – I got all out of breath raking up that awesome pile for a poke with a stick. Dexter actually loved it, so it wasn’t a complete waste.