Dinnertime drama

My kids normally aren't picky eaters.  In fact, sometimes I worry that if they eat this much as toddlers, what in the world is my grocery bill going to be like when they're teenagers.  Recently, though, several of them (the 4 year old in particular) have been going through a stage of "I hate that".  As in, "I hate this food.  I'm never going to eat it.  If you make me eat it, I'm never going to do what you want again."

I'm not going to cater to them and make them a separate meal.  In fact, frequently, when they say they hate a dish, it's one I've never made before but full of things they like, or something I know they've eaten before and liked.  I'm pretty confident in my ability to cook well, but it can be a little discouraging when every time you make a meal for your family, the first thing you hear is "Gross.  I hate this.  I'm not going to eat it."  I've told my 4 year old that if he continues to do that, he's going to be in charge of making dinner for the family all by himself.  I guess this is one of those areas where you just have to be consistent and continue to not give in and be bullied by your child into giving them what they want, but man, coming at the end of the day, it's not enjoyable.

Pregnancy and body issues

I had no idea I had body issues until I was pregnant with my first child. I've never been one to be really obsessed with my weight.  To me, it's always been more about just being healthy and taking care of myself.  My weight would fluctuate 5 pounds one way or the other, but it was no big deal. As long as I was trying to eat healthy and I was exercising, I wasn't too worried about it.

Enter pregnancy. When you see pictures of pregnant women, it's always women who have these cute little round bellies.  In fact, usually there's not any body fat on these women. Why else would they be willing to uncover their bare bellies and show them to the world? Oh, and they usually look like they are about 7 months pregnant.

Being 8 weeks pregnant doesn't look so cute. I remember seeing the weight on my bathroom scale gradually increase and getting a little nervous.  That 5 pounds wasn't fluctuating.  It was just steadily increasing.  And I didn't have a cute little belly.  I just felt fat.  I had to keep telling myself "You're not fat, you're pregnant". This mantra only helps so much when you stop fitting into pants that zip and button.  Pregnancy clothes are made for cute bellies.  They aren't made for those first few months when you feel sick and fat and try on 4 different outfits before you find something that fits and looks halfway decent and is comfortable.

This eventually passed so I could fit into pregnancy clothes and see a real belly, not just an expanding waistline.  But seeing the pounds add on every week for 9 months can still be a little disconcerting.  Having a new body can be a little strange.  Inching closer to your husband's weight can feel a little depressing. Was I alone in feeling this way about the weight gain?

Sleep-peeing

My almost 5 year old son is completely potty-trained except at night.  He's such a sound sleeper that he'll wake up in the morning with a completely soaked bed that he has slept on that way for half the night. My husband and I have started waking him up about 10:30pm and having him use the toilet then having him go back to sleep.  I say "my husband and I", but really my husband does it.  And when I say "waking him up", really it means carrying him to the dark bathroom, helping him do his business, and carrying him right back to his bed.  I'm pretty sure he's not really awake, especially because usually he has no idea the next morning that he did this.

Last night I took a turn taking my son to the bathroom.  I carried him into the dark bathroom, stood him next to the toilet, and helped him get his pants down. But apparently peeing in your sleep does not equate to aiming in your sleep.  Needless to say, there was some cleanup required after I had carried him back to his bed. Perhaps I should continue to leave this job up to his dad.

Glamour girl

I have a glamour girl and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to deal with it.  My little 3 year old is a beauty queen.  She has play lipstick, perfume and nail polish. I used to own some lipstick. She has a princess curling iron and flat iron. I own a brush. She likes to wear "play dresses". I wore shorts under my dresses when my mom made me wear them to school so I could still climb on the monkey bars. I think I may need to turn her over to her aunts/friends when she turns 14 because there's no way she's going to learn about hair and makeup from her mom.  Any takers?