January 2012 - Page 2 of 2 - Forever In Mom Genes

Dexter Who?

Jan 17 2012

We don’t have cable t.v.. You can read about why we’re such losers here. We DO have Netflix however and have been devouring the HBO show, Dexter. So disgusting and disturbing, and completely excellent. Of course, we only watch when the kids are asleep. God knows we don’t need to burden them with a life-long phobia of serial killers. I grew up out west when a very famous child murderer was on the loose….in our neighbourhood. Creeeeeeeeeepy. Yesterday my son said, “Doesn’t Avery remind you of Dexter?” Granted, she DID have blood red jam on her sweater but….!? “Uh, what do you mean?” I asked, horrified (was he only pretending to be asleep, but secretly listening in on our adult show??! Should I book his therapy sessions now?) “I mean, how she’s sneaky and doesn’t listen and is always getting into mischief? Remember? Like in Night At The Museum?” he explained. Oh, THAT Dexter! Yes. Yes she does. 🙂

Jan 16 2012

There are several very talented artists in my family. I am not one of them. As an elementary school teacher, I drew often on the white board. One day, I attempted to draw a horse. My Grade Twos, who have absolutely no tact by the way, were in hysterics. One student felt sorry for me and said, “Mrs. T., that is a really nice cat.” My brother clearly got the ‘artist gene,’ passed down to him from my grandmother; who used to create the most beautiful pastel drawings. My bro is a phenomenal artist and his horses, look like horses. My father-in-law is also an incredible sketch artist. The other day he drew a life-like picture of me sitting at my computer, from behind. Granted, there is no way my butt looks that big in real life!? I’m going to chalk that up to artistic license and waning vision. He passed along his artistic ability to my husband (who I have asked NEVER to sketch me from behind). This summer, my son and his drawing daddy began began sketching outdoor scenes together. I have a great photo* of them sitting on a bench on a hill, overlooking the lake and[…]

Jan 15 2012

“What would you like to do tomorrow?” I asked my daughter as we snuggled at bedtime. “Go to farm?” she asked. In this weather? Not a chance. But instead of stating this disappointing fact I asked, “What would you see at a farm?” “Sheep, cowboys, annnnnnnnd, Seahawks!” was her reply. Hmm, it seems our family ritual of making football picks has had an affect on this child. Every Sunday during football season, our family gathers ’round the table for a little friendly wagering. My husband reads out the competing NFL teams and we each predict the winners. Daddy has his own Proline card, there’s one for Grandpa, and the kids and I employ the majority rules method to compile our choices. My husband and my dad actually consider stats and other footbally factors. But the kids and I have our own surprisingly effective method for picking teams. Our selections are based on gut instinct, aka the “Kismet and Karma Method.” Here’s how it works (teams and rational for predicted winners): Carolina Panthers vs. New York Jets Predicted Winner: Jets — There was a jet flying over head at that particular moment (as seen out the window). New England Patriots[…]

Jan 11 2012

My girl likes to potty all the time, potty all the time, potty all the tah-hime! Well, NOW she does anyway. For the first 51/2 years of her life she wasn’t on board with the whole toilet sitch. Potty training ANY child takes time and patience and patience. Did I mention patience? Potty training a child with developmental delays is even more “special.” I wrote about past Herculean efforts to get this girl out of diapers and into some stylin’ Dora underpants here (tricks like these generally work wonders for most kids). Alas we tried, we failed, and we did a sh*t load of laundry. She just wasn’t ready. Over the Christmas holidays we tried again. This time instead of sinking into the bowels of hell, we were triumphant. It’s slightly ridiculous, but here’s what worked: We choose a quiet week where we would be at home most of the time. I told Avery there were lots of babies who needed diapers and asked if it would be okay to give them hers? Of course, she said NO! This girl has a serious Pull-Up addiction. When I hid her diapers anyway, she tore the house apart looking for them.[…]

Archive - January 2012

Dexter Who?

Drawing Out Your Kids’ Artistic Talent

Cowboys and Seahawks

Use These Potty Training Incentives To Achieve Toiletting Triumph