The Happy Homemaker

I just read a book called The Way of Boys by Anthony Rao. I enjoyed it so much I read it all in one day. Dr. Rao explains why boys behave the way they do, what is normal, and when to worry. I comforted because I felt like I was reading about Jon Jon or Aron.

Aron is aggressive and bossy and wants all attention. He loves to act silly and he loves to get his way. When he doesn’t get any attention he will act aggressive. He is only aggressive around family. Around peers he is quiet and shy. He tries to show off how mature he is. When a peer hits him he will quietly tell the teacher, “They are hitting me again.” His aggressiveness does not keep him from living a normal life. He just takes over mine which is my own fault.

My mother, an expert on raising boys, warned me not to let Aron’s behavior get out of hand. She told me getting eye contact and firmly saying, “no!” works, as does taking them in another room when they throw fits. The book calls doing this, putting the boy in his angry area.

Rao mentions that boys go through different phases. When they are reaching a new level of development, they tend to regress in behavior. I know Aron is hitting a milestone by turning four and that is probably why he is clingy lately. He knows school will start soon and that his brother and sister will be gone all day and that he will soon be left for a couple of hours a day twice a week for preschool. » Read more…

Now that I have finished watching the first 4 seasons of the New Doctor Who it is time for me to share my favorite episodes. I won’t go into too much detail and the episodes aren’t in any particular order.

1. Midnight- Season 4- This is the Doctor alone on a train like vehicle on a planet with a dangerous atmosphere traveling to see the Sapphire Waterfalls on a planet called Midnight. A mysterious entity takes over the train. Shows people previously friendly turn into enemies when they are suspicious of who is the alien. Reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode, but way more creepier. Fantastic acting and directing!

» Read more…

RIP Basil! I got a few good recipes from you but my trip to Ocean City, MD was too much for you. Basil died of neglect and heat exhaustion.

Squash is hanging on for dear life but is barren. Squash tried very hard to bear fruit but gave up finally and is starting to die.

My Topsy Turvy tomato plant is doing well and I am slowly filling up a plastic bowl. Blackberry bush is fried and blueberry bush was saved from the critters when I sprayed pesticide on it.

So that is my first attempt at gardening!!!

I have a little time before I need to go to Jonny from gymnastics. I am still resting trying to recover. At least now I remember how I hurt my back the other day. I pulled it carrying a small bookcase from the basement up to Jonny’s room. I have been icing it and resting. I think my abdominal muscles are weak again. I guess you can say I had an Icarus moment. I got carried away with remodeling (INSPIRATION!!!) that I poorly chose to carry furniture around. Did I mention my husband lifts weights?

So, that was my moment of hubris. I can’t do everything!! I was good last night. I really wanted to help clean up after our Relief Society meeting but wisely didn’t. I hurt my back once before setting up tables and picking up chairs.

Hurting my back over and over again is my signal to get back into physical therapy. My ab muscles are weak and I need therapy for my bladder anyways.

Why my bladder was acting up I don’t know. I understand now why they call it angry bladder.

I also get carried away with the landscaping. I want a pretty yard, but I am allergic to grass. SO I work in the yard because I have this weird inspiration and will not rest until I can see my vision come to life. So my yard looks the way I want it and then I am sick for two days.

Ok, lesson learned. No moving furniture, no yard work. My bladder has anger issues. I can live with an ugly yard.

Now Aron is screaming because I told him not to climb on me. (so ready for him to start school!)

I love the website tvtropes. I never edit or write in there but I enjoy reading it. I found out about Doctor Who, Dresden Files, and Torchwood from that site. Now we are major Doctor Who fans in my house.

One of my favorite parts to read is the tropes about writing in particular about bad writing. One of the categories is explaining your powers to your enemies.

Basically this sums it up- The evil dark lord threw his fireballs at Sir Igor but he blocked the magic green fireballs with his cloak.

“How did you do that?” The dark lord asked in his shrill voice.

“Ha! I have this magic cloak the queen of the Fae gave me! It will protect me! I don’t even need to bring weapons with this, you are defeated dark lord!”

“Really?” said the dark lord who walked over and snatched the cloak off of Sir Igor. “I can’t believe the queen of the Fae would pick someone so idiotic!”

“I think I should be depart!!!” Sir Igor jumped out of the window while the dark Lord laughed at him. Luckily, he wasn’t too high and was able to land safely in the murky disgusting moat down below.

“Mab, will surely be angry!” Sir Igor thought to himself and he swam to the muddy banks of the moat. Queen Mab of the Fae’s people will never allow their marriage now that he could not get back the crystal rose from the Evil Lord.

I am still hurting and am proud of myself for successfully masking the extreme shivers of agony that shoot through my back. I cooked a quick but delicious meal and went to Relief Society where I tried decoupage. Decoupage is a lot of fun so I will be trying it at home soon.

I hurt but I am no longer down. It helps to talk to other women, many who have their own struggles. It helps me not think about myself so much.

Most of the time I feel fine and can keep my pain and Interstitial cystitis under control. Every once in a while it takes over just to kind of remind me that I still have a chronic illness and that I still need to be careful. Last night was the worst. I was having spasms all over my lower abdominal and lower back area. Pain spasms! I didn’t do anything so I have no idea why I am hurting.

So, I am stuck in the house again. It is almost like a manic sort of lifestyle. When I am not in pain and feel so happy and start a lot of projects and plan for the future with optimism. Then the pain comes back and I feel so stuck and helpless. I tend to keep busy even when I am in pain by reading or writing on my blog and now have recently started knitting. (though my fingers are also in pain) I also like to color and make plans for teaching my kids. So I am not depressed all of the time. Sometimes I am though.

I hate that I will be in this sort of pain for the rest of my life. I want to do so much but my body won’t allow it. I also still mourn the loss of my baby last March. It is especially difficult because I know several people who got pregnant at the same time. If I was still pregnant I would be in my 8th month now. I would probably be handicapped and in more pain than I am in now. That knowledge still does not comfort me from my loss. I still feel like there is an empty hole in my life. A crack in my existence that will never be filled. It will always exist as a small crack in my heart that hurts just as much as the physical pain. It is hard for me to get back on my meds knowing that it was probably my meds that caused the miscarriage in the first place.

So this is my off week. I am trying to stay positive. I have come to peace with almost everything in my past, proof that a person can heal and move on. However, I still have not accepted the miscarriage and the chronic illness and I hope in time that I will.

Aron is almost 4 but is attached to me as a 2 year old would be. He doesn’t want to be a big boy. He also doesn’t want his Papa to go to work ever again. Poor thing!

He is very independent in most things. He is potty trained and even wipes himself. He can make his own sandwiches. He loves to help me with laundry and folds his own underwear. He makes friends and plays well with kids outside the family. (he fights at home) So it is not like he has a social problem. He just wants to be right beside me with his hand touching my arm or sitting on my lap all day long. If I walk away he cries. When we are in a store and I walk just a little bit ahead he completely freaks out as if I left him alone. I have no idea why this started. I guess it is good that he recognizes that he needs to stay nearby and not walk off, but the freaking out stuff needs to stop.

It probably doesn’t help that I am trying to get him to sleep in his own bed. Before you judge, all my kids except Victoria slept in my room or bed until 4. (there are advantages) That is because Victoria is an excellent sleeper, she also got replaced by Jon Jon. The boys, not so much. Aron has been the most difficult because he is the baby of the family and there is no other baby to kick him out of my bed. So he really gets emotional when I put him in his bed. My husband doesn’t mind him sleeping with us. We have a king size bed now and I think he loves spoiling his baby boy. That baby boy is getting bigger and likes to put his feet on my back. So Mommy is ready for him to grow up a little bit.

I think the realization that he is a big boy is overwhelming for Aron. As a boy he hates changes, he had the roughest transition to nursery, Primary, and Pre-school. But my job as a mother is not to baby him but to raise an adult. Boy, I have a huge fight ahead.

I am in pain again. I did some yard work even though I have bad allergies to grass and was sick all day yesterday. I woke up Saturday night extremely dizzy as if I were trapped into a whirlpool to Hell. I was scared at first but then figured out what was wrong. I took some decongestant. I was dizzy for most of the day. Benedryl and Mucinex helped the best. The bad thing is that Benedryl bothers my bladder.

Well I have to go, Aron just kicked Jon Jon in the eye

The kids and I have a few favorite shows that we enjoy together. The best part is that we can tell each other inside jokes based on the shows. These are our favorites:

Phineas and Ferb- We love this show. Our favorite part is the songs. Right now we spend our days singing “Rubber bands, rubber balls!”

Doctor Who- It is a BBC show that we watch on Netflix streaming. Every episode has a different alien trying to destroy humanity from the Daleks, the Cybermen, to the Master, and the Weeping Angels. We still laugh at each other when we see statues and run from them. Doctor Who was made to be watched with the family and does not disappoint.

Wizards of Waverly Place- This is my favorite Disney kidcom and the only one that doesn’t make me vomit. Sibling rivalry, wizards, vampires, werewolves, it is a lot of fun.

We also like to watch shark documentaries and even watched the movie Jaws together.

I read to Victoria The Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

We also are reading about the miracles of Jesus in the scriptures and had a deep conversation on resurrection.

Of course there is always the library, the spray park, and the swimming pool.

They also love to go to Occoquan. There is a farmer’s market every Saturday morning. I park near the river where the boys love to watch the fish swim and watch people go fishing. We see people kayaking and boating. I really wanted to do canoeing this year but my kids are too little.