Kryptonite

I do believe that the little kid germs from school just may be my kryptonite!  I.  GOT.  SICK.  I never get sick with what the girls have but this time I got hit and hit hard.  The good news is that we are ALL back on the road to recovery after 3 weeks of crud. 

IT'S NOT EVEN WINTER

Last week I had to bring the girls to the doctor.  They were all sick.  This week - THEY ARE ALL STILL SICK.  Today they all had appts at the dentist.  We kept those appts (since Hailey busted her face and chipped a tooth - we needed to be seen).  And I made appts for them to see the pediatrician this afternoon because they are all still coughing so bad. 

We left the house at 9:30 this morning.  They were all seen at the dentist and had their teeth clean.  NO CAVITIES YAY!  Hailey's tooth may/may not change color but it's not going to affect her since it's her baby tooth.  We left the dentist around 11:30 and went to have lunch at McD's (with a playscape).  After lunch we headed to the doctor.  They ALL have bronchitis.  (Yup...all those moms at the playscape can certainly thank me now...ooops).  Off to the pharmacy we went to fill prescriptions.  Then finally home at 4:00.  IT WAS A LONG DAY.  I'm tired.  The kids are tired.  But they were very good all day long.  I couldn't have asked for better behaved children under the circumstances. 

With that said - they will be home from school again tomorrow.  They haven't been to school since last Wednesday (Emily hasn't been since last Tuesday).  So this is going to be a loooong winter...I can tell already. 

Stranger Danger

WTH is with society today?  What part of "talk to my 3 year old" sounds "acceptable"?   I get it.  There are 3 of them.  I know this because EVERY DAY I WAKE UP AND THEY'RE CALLING ME MOMMY!  But that doesn't mean it's ok for YOU to talk to them as if you're friends.  It's been a fine line to walk between 'stranger danger' and 'being rude'.  I tell them not to talk to strangers yet I'm telling them to say 'hi' when people talk to us.  No more.  Our new phrase is "I'm sorry but Mommy told me I can't talk to strangers."  That's it.  I'm not longer willing to be nice because I can't afford to be.  I can't risk them getting comfortable enough to make me worry when we're out in public. 

Every single day we practice (I drill) the following:

"What happens if someone asks you to pet their puppy?"
     "We say No Thank you - we can pet Marla at home.  And then we run away fast and scream!"
"What happens if someone asks you to see their kitten?"
     "We say No Thank you - and run away fast and scream!"
"What happens if someone tries to take you?"
     "We throw ourselves all around the place and scream and yell and bite until we get away!"

I also tell them:
"Who's allowed to touch your boobies or vagina?"
    "Only me and no one else."
"What happens if someone does touch you there?"
     "I'm gonna tell Mommy or Daddy RIGHT AWAY!"
"What can you tell Mommy?"
     "Everything!"
"Who loves you more than Mommy?" (hehehehe I love being mom)
     "NO ONE!"  Unless they're feeling giddy and then they'll say any name under the sun except mine!  LOL but they get the point. 

I don't want to teach them these things.  I want to teach them that the world is a safe place and full of love.  But that wouldn't be fair.  I have to teach them that home is safe and home is love...but when we're out we need to be cautious. 

At home - if the doorbell rings - my girls come running to ME...not the door.  If someone walks in - they're very cautious to approach until they know who it is.  And I'm totally fine with this.  I want them to know that the world ISN'T all good.  I need them to be prepared for when they're independent and on their own.  I can't protect them forever so I need to prepare them.  I know how over the top this all sounds but when broken down into bits and pieces - it's really not.  It's simply making sure they have the knowledge to carry with them when I'm not around. 

New Day

Yesterday SUCKED.  I'm thankful for a new day.  All of the girls are sick - 2 with croup, one with asthma and Hailey fell and busted her face yesterday.  She chipped her front tooth also.  What a mess of a day..................

But today is new.  So we're just going to move forward.  Nothing we can do to fix yesterday so we can only hope today is better. 

Blog?

Who has a blog?  Me?  I do?  OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  My bad......

The girls have been doing wonderful in school.  They don't really give me too much trouble in the morning anymore.  When we get to the classroom Emily still holds on to my leg as if I can't see or feel her and I may just leave with her attached to me.  But the tears are far and few between and they are enjoying the new activities, new friends and new environment.  All in all it's going well. 

We've been spending our afternoons going places and having fun.  When I pick the girls up from school I ask them to 'give me their naps' and I 'put them in my pocket'.  If they start to act cranky - I can take their nap out and give it back to them which means stopping what we're doing and going home to take naps.  But I'm also smart enough to know that everyone has to have their moment so I don't jump on them the second they act up.  I give them time to 'calm themselves down' and usually this is enough to get through the day.  They've been doing well without naps so we'll see how it goes.

I'll work on another post about stranger danger.  It's so hard to walk that line!!!!!!!!!!!!!