There’s not much that I dislike more than making an doctor’s appointment, sitting in the waiting room, waiting in the exam room and then having the doctor tell you that a) there’s nothing wrong with or b.) there is something wrong with you but there is nothing that can be done for you.  So I avoid the doctor as much as I can…

Well…

I think motherhood makes you crazy.

I can remember being in college, knowing that all I had was a cold, and my mom telling me I should go see the doctor.  "Mo-oom. (rolling eyes)  There is nothing wrong with me."  When sick with "a cold" I will only take myself to the doctor when the pain is so great that I KNOW that something else is amiss.  I admitted myself once when I had such intense ear pain I couldn’t sit still (ear infection–now I know why babies make such a fuss) and I pulled into an urgent care once when I was driving because I could hardly turn my neck to see where I was going (strep throat).

But when it comes to my children, I am all to ready to see the doc as soon as possible.  To a point I guess.  In the past two weeks, I have made two appointments for Sugar to see a doctor, and then cancelled them less than 2 hours later.

Last week, Spider was lying around like a zombie with a fever and I wasn’t going to take her in until she said she had to go potty and then couldn’t.  Thinking possible UTI, I made an appointment, took her in they told me it was a virus, not the flu, and she was better the next day.  Of course, last year she had pink eye for over a week and I didn’t take her in because it started to look better, her brother comes home with a screaming earache, I take him in and am told that Spider has pink eye.  (It looked better, I tell you!)

So NOW, Sugar has the same fever/virus as Spider did last week.  Same comatose behavior, lack of appetite, BUT her eyes are red and her fever seems higher.  (Hence the made and then cancelled appointment yesterday.)  Web MD says it’s the flu, in the which case (perhaps it isn’t) there isn’t anything the doc can do anyway and I don’t need to be spreading it around.  But MAYBE it’s pink eye and somehow she’s the only one that got it?

GAH!

I think I just need my own medical degree.  Yep.  That’s what I need.  

I got home late tonight and found this note on the door:

Dear Steph,

I’m really tired, so I headed off to bed. I have to get up early tomorrow so please let me sleep.  Love you!

P.S. If you are a Robber, I’m actually just waiting inside the door with my shotgun across my lap.

..at least I am hoping so.  The following videos are not for the faint of heart.  I shouldn’t even watch them…

I have no babies to name as of yet (well besides the ones I already named).  But a lot of my friends have newborns right now and baby names are a hot topic, so I thought I would put out some thoughts for those pregnant or future pregnant women.  (And anyone else who will name a baby at some point in their lives.) 

Let’s assume you’ve found the perfect name.  Totally unique.  Easy to pronounce based on the spelling.  Right number of syllables to correspond with your baby’s last name.  This is the one!  You have got the PERFECT name for your little angel.  But before you curse bless junior for the rest of his life, I would ask, have you considered the repeatability of the name?  Is this a name you are going to be comfortable saying over and over every day for the next 18 years or more?

"Carraway!  Don’t hit your sister!  Carraway!  Get your shoes on!  Carraway!  Carraway!  Carraway!"

Is the name sweet enough that you can yell it at the top of your lungs several times a week without making it sound like a curse word?

"What the.. SHAQUAN!  SHAQUAN!  I Can’t believe the… ShaqUAN!  SHAQUAN!  GET DOWN HERE!"

Does it go well with the siblings names when spoken/shouted in rapid succession?  Or is your tongue going to get tied?

"Serendipity, Shawntika, Temperance, Declan!  Who made this mess?"  (Heaven forbid you add anyone’s middle name..).

And lastly, if you plan on having more babies, don’t pick a name that could potentially cause sibling rivalry.

"Suzy, why can’t you be more like Favorite?"  "Jimmy, take heed from Exceptional’s example."

And these are the thoughts of my mind as I got the uncooperative people in my house ready for school this morning.  Happy Naming!

*Pssst!  All these unique names were found at:http://www.babynameworld.com

We ate ghosts for dinner earlier this week:

We tried on wigs:

…and liederhosen:

The best part is that Engineer has been talking for the past couple of days about the wedding slideshow he will have at his wedding.  (My sister just got married and had a slide show of her and her husband as kids.) He said in passing earlier this week, "I’m going to have a slide show when I get married.  It’s going to have pictures of me when I was a kid.  And it’s going to have pictures of Audrey R when she was a kid too…"  When we snapped the shot of the liederhosen, he said, "this one’s going to be in my wedding slide show."

Disclaimer: If you are the super baby proofing mom who keeps her children away from scissors until their teens, please take no offense at this post– none is intended.

We are doing a preschool co-op group this year.  Five moms take turns teaching preschool and for the other four weeks get "free" education for their little one.  I haven’t decided yet if I like it, but I think it’s going well.

Yesterday was my turn to teach.  

The first activity we did involved cutting out little animals along very straight lines.  Two of the children (mine included) cut perfectly without need of any of my help.  Rocked it.  The other three… umm… struggled… as in didn’t even know how to hold the scissors.  It was very frustrating for them.  It was frustrating for me as well (I’m untrained in scissor instruction and not being paid) trying to help each of these kids individually, while praying the other helpless scissor children did not cut themselves during this time of private instruction.  It quickly became clear that these kids never had any opportunity to use scissors at home.  As I glanced at my own rockstar scissor-ess sitting amongst my chaotically unclean home, I pictured these other kids in their super clean, well kept homes and I got a little irritated.  Felt a little judgmental. Thought, how dare these moms clean their houses and never let their child cut paper with little blunt scissors.

Until I called my mom.

Hoping for validation that my way was clearly better– I may not have a tidy house, but my children have experiences– I asked, "Mom, which way were you, I can’t remember, were you the free and easy mom or were you the mom who kept the scissors away until we were in jr. high?"

Her answer: "I was the one who kept the scissors away."

My reply, "Really? But I’m not that kind of mom."

Hers? "Your children cut their own hair."  (You know how everyone says that every little girl cuts her own hair at least once?  I never did.  Now I know why.)

So of course, I felt deflated.  Because at near 30 years old I am expert with the scissors and I pretty much turned out awesome, so clearly the clean scissor free house method of parenting works…ahem… well. So much for my parenting theories.

So to all the scissor free and tidy mom’s out there, I apologize for my judgment and criticism.  I salute you for your baby proofing skills.  It does not make me excited for scissors at preschool, but at least I now know your children stand a chance of turning out as great as me.  And I hope my parenting style yields as great of results in my own children.  I think I’d be okay if my girls turned out to be hairdressers.  They do have mad scissor skills after all.