When T was little, he yelled a lot. (Come to think of it, he still yells now that he's bigger.) At the time, I started noticing that my ears, particularly one of my ears, popped all the time. And I mean, all the time. When someone's yelling right near your ear, it pops. And when your ears pop all the time, they hurt. A lot. I finally went to the doctor and he told me I had eustachian tube dysfunction. I asked him if it could be caused by yelling. He said no, but I still have my doubts. He prescribed pseudo-ephedrine to reduce the swelling. It worked to some extent and I just kind of got used to the pain and popping that was left over.
Fast forward to now. I now have two tiny yellers. N's is actually more of a high-pitched shriek than a yell. A just bellows until he gets what he wants. And by the end of the day (or maybe before lunchtime), my ears and my head throb. I thought it would get better as they learned more words and became more verbal, but sadly, that hasn't been the case.
The other day, I quietly asked N to stop screaming. She replied by doing a little whisper scream. Yep. That. Stop doing that.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
All good things
must come to an end.
Christmas break is over. My kids went back to school today. And so, we're back to cranky kids getting ready for school in the morning, Mom and Dad both working full-time, and the general schedule of things. I was off work for over a week and I really, really enjoyed it. Really, really. Sure, I still had to take care of five kids, but it was oh so nice to be a bit lazy.
Another nice thing that came to an end was our brief respite from 1-4 pm church. Our ward split in the beginning of November, and just like we called it, we were bumped to 11 am-2 pm church for a little while. We've been on 1-4 for most of the past three years, and 2011 will be our fourth year. We (and by that I mean my husband and I and probably most parents of young children) hate it with a passion. For the past few months, it was really nice to get home from church, put the twins down for a late nap, and relax for a while before dinner. The kids were even a little better behaved in sacrament meeting and I may have gleaned a few nuggets of spiritual information.
Well, this past Sunday changed all that. The older kids were actually somewhat decent, but the twins were not. At the end of sacrament meeting, as I brushed away a few tears in hopes that no one else saw them, I realized that it was the first time in a few months that I had cried at church. And I felt sad to enter another year of trying to find anything... anything... that will work.
In more uplifting news, I'm actually kind of excited to make goals for the new year. Usually, I scoff at such things because they're often discarded so soon into January, but I realized recently that my life and my home need some work here and there. Wish me luck!
Christmas break is over. My kids went back to school today. And so, we're back to cranky kids getting ready for school in the morning, Mom and Dad both working full-time, and the general schedule of things. I was off work for over a week and I really, really enjoyed it. Really, really. Sure, I still had to take care of five kids, but it was oh so nice to be a bit lazy.
Another nice thing that came to an end was our brief respite from 1-4 pm church. Our ward split in the beginning of November, and just like we called it, we were bumped to 11 am-2 pm church for a little while. We've been on 1-4 for most of the past three years, and 2011 will be our fourth year. We (and by that I mean my husband and I and probably most parents of young children) hate it with a passion. For the past few months, it was really nice to get home from church, put the twins down for a late nap, and relax for a while before dinner. The kids were even a little better behaved in sacrament meeting and I may have gleaned a few nuggets of spiritual information.
Well, this past Sunday changed all that. The older kids were actually somewhat decent, but the twins were not. At the end of sacrament meeting, as I brushed away a few tears in hopes that no one else saw them, I realized that it was the first time in a few months that I had cried at church. And I felt sad to enter another year of trying to find anything... anything... that will work.
In more uplifting news, I'm actually kind of excited to make goals for the new year. Usually, I scoff at such things because they're often discarded so soon into January, but I realized recently that my life and my home need some work here and there. Wish me luck!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Christmas wishes
May you find...
peace in the hope of the Savior
childlike wonder at the magic of the season
renewed love for life and cherished family members
Merry Christmas from our home to yours.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Better than expected
I love when things go better than I think they will. I'm not talking about big life things, but about adventures with my children—specifically the twins. So often, I hope and hope that outings with my kids will go well, and so much of the time, it goes horribly, horribly wrong. (See all my posts about sacrament meeting for reference.)
So... it's pleasantly surprising when an outing goes much better than expected. Yesterday was the Christmas Sing program at my kids' school. After taking the twins to the Halloween parade was a bonafide disaster (complete with my hyperventilating on the way home), I decided to make preparations to hopefully ensure a less stress-inducing event.
With the program right when the twins would go down for a nap, I was concerned that they might be crankypants toddlers. I packed tons of nifty snacks, coloring books, and magna doodles. I planned to sit in the back, in case A2 began yelling and whining, as is often the case in any kind of event we attend.
Well, color me surprised, but it went so well! We got there with only a few minutes to spare, but the benches in the back proved to be perfect, because it gave the twins a little room to run around. T's grade sang first, and H and S weren't far behind. (For once, the principal didn't mess up the grade order so that my kids sang last. That always seems to happen.) The twins played, ate their snacks, danced to the singing, and waved to their siblings. And even more surprising, I was relaxed and happy. Then I shuttled them home and put them in bed.
I'm sure that by writing this, the next outing with involve A2 throwing a major tantrum and N trying to escape in the mall or something, but for now, I feel like I've accomplished a minor Christmas miracle.
So... it's pleasantly surprising when an outing goes much better than expected. Yesterday was the Christmas Sing program at my kids' school. After taking the twins to the Halloween parade was a bonafide disaster (complete with my hyperventilating on the way home), I decided to make preparations to hopefully ensure a less stress-inducing event.
With the program right when the twins would go down for a nap, I was concerned that they might be crankypants toddlers. I packed tons of nifty snacks, coloring books, and magna doodles. I planned to sit in the back, in case A2 began yelling and whining, as is often the case in any kind of event we attend.
Well, color me surprised, but it went so well! We got there with only a few minutes to spare, but the benches in the back proved to be perfect, because it gave the twins a little room to run around. T's grade sang first, and H and S weren't far behind. (For once, the principal didn't mess up the grade order so that my kids sang last. That always seems to happen.) The twins played, ate their snacks, danced to the singing, and waved to their siblings. And even more surprising, I was relaxed and happy. Then I shuttled them home and put them in bed.
I'm sure that by writing this, the next outing with involve A2 throwing a major tantrum and N trying to escape in the mall or something, but for now, I feel like I've accomplished a minor Christmas miracle.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Dreaming of words
Most of my husband's family (and maybe much of the rest of the world) plays an iphone app called Words with Friends. Everyone kept telling me how fun it was and how much they thought I'd enjoy it. But I kept ignoring them because a) I have a slightly addictive personality when it comes to stuff like that, and b) I really, really like to win (and I don't like to lose).
Words with Friends is like Scrabble, only cooler—cause it makes cute little sounds when you put words together. Except the not-so-cute sound it makes when you pick a word that doesn't actually exist... like maybe duen or qay or onoy or something like that. Not that I've tried to play such words or anything. Not that I've tried about every letter combination that you can do with three o's, two i's, one u, and one t. (And for the record, not so many combinations work with those letters.)
Over the weekend, my husband added the app and got me to do it as well. And within like two minutes, I was completely hooked. As a lover of words in general, it's the perfect game for someone like me. And the worst game for someone like me. I keep having dreams of cool double and triple word scores I can do in games. I'm plagued by nightmares of x's and q's that I just can't get rid of.
I'm not great at it yet, as evidenced by the fact that out of three games completed, I've lost two. But even when you are a great player, the letters you get are the luck of the draw and could either be amazing or awful.
But I'm officially hooked. Completely and totally hooked.
Words with Friends is like Scrabble, only cooler—cause it makes cute little sounds when you put words together. Except the not-so-cute sound it makes when you pick a word that doesn't actually exist... like maybe duen or qay or onoy or something like that. Not that I've tried to play such words or anything. Not that I've tried about every letter combination that you can do with three o's, two i's, one u, and one t. (And for the record, not so many combinations work with those letters.)
Over the weekend, my husband added the app and got me to do it as well. And within like two minutes, I was completely hooked. As a lover of words in general, it's the perfect game for someone like me. And the worst game for someone like me. I keep having dreams of cool double and triple word scores I can do in games. I'm plagued by nightmares of x's and q's that I just can't get rid of.
I'm not great at it yet, as evidenced by the fact that out of three games completed, I've lost two. But even when you are a great player, the letters you get are the luck of the draw and could either be amazing or awful.
But I'm officially hooked. Completely and totally hooked.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Bits and pieces
I walked in on N the other day, perched in her highchair right next to the kitchen counter, carefully licking the frosting off homemade pumpkin cookies.
I was able to talk my husband into purchasing a new Christmas tree. It's nine feet tall and it was kind of a pain to decorate, what with having to get up on a ladder to do the top and all. But it's super bright and absolutely beautiful. I love Christmas.
I totally enjoyed the new Disney movie Tangled. However, I felt rather stressed out about the actual length of her hair. I kept thinking, "She's going to trip over it... Other people are going to trip over it." I visibly relaxed when it got all braided up. I think that's a sign that I'm a bit too OCD.
An update on the "unknown quantity," otherwise known as T. He's doing rather well in school. Even more so than the older kids at this age, he comes home with all sorts of stories about what he's learned, which kid misbehaved, and the art projects he finished. It's been rather surprising, actually. One day, he came home with a little paper with his name written at the top and then, "I go to bed in the night." I keep it on my nightstand because I love it so much.
Lastly, lucky for little N, crayon comes off microfiber couches.
I was able to talk my husband into purchasing a new Christmas tree. It's nine feet tall and it was kind of a pain to decorate, what with having to get up on a ladder to do the top and all. But it's super bright and absolutely beautiful. I love Christmas.
I totally enjoyed the new Disney movie Tangled. However, I felt rather stressed out about the actual length of her hair. I kept thinking, "She's going to trip over it... Other people are going to trip over it." I visibly relaxed when it got all braided up. I think that's a sign that I'm a bit too OCD.
An update on the "unknown quantity," otherwise known as T. He's doing rather well in school. Even more so than the older kids at this age, he comes home with all sorts of stories about what he's learned, which kid misbehaved, and the art projects he finished. It's been rather surprising, actually. One day, he came home with a little paper with his name written at the top and then, "I go to bed in the night." I keep it on my nightstand because I love it so much.
Lastly, lucky for little N, crayon comes off microfiber couches.
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