Introduce Your Blog July Blog Hop

A Mom Is A Job is proud to be a part of the first MckLinky Introduce Your Blog blog hop!

When someone asks me what I do for a living or if I work, I always answer yes.  When they ask me what I do I tell them I’m a Mom.  I may not bring home a paycheck every week for my kind of work but I can assure you that being a Mom is in fact, a job. My children are my employer and taking care of them in addition to everything else I do IS my job.

I am a thirty-something stay-at-home mother of two boys ages 6 and 3 and they are polar opposites. My 6 year old has the personality of Alex P. Keaton (you remember- Michael J. Fox’s character on the classic ’80’s sitcom Family Ties). Then there’s my 3 year old whom I should have named Dennis -as in the Menace.  Ahh yes. It’s never a dull moment in my house!  Alex and Dennis consistently keep me on my toes but hey…if nothing else, at least while they’re testing my patience and sanity, they are giving me tons of material to post about.

A Mom Is A Job has rants, raves, and reviews of all things Mom.  Take a look around, then check out the other blogs who are sharing the link love with the first Introduce Your Blog MckLinky Blog Hop.

Wordless Wednesday: Mom’s Time Out

This Wordless Wednesday comes courtesy of my friend Kelle who saw this in her grocery store.  I’m hoping to score a case of it because I’ve been bad…very bad!

One Piece Of Advice For New Moms

Do you ever think back to how far you’ve come as a Mom?  Remember the FIRST time you were pregnant?  I remember vividly.

I was a neurotic mess.

“Can I eat this?  Wait, it’s soft cheese.  I’m not supposed to eat that.  Oh I can have tuna fish.  Oh yeah.  Can’t have that either.”

“I really want a cup of coffee.  Wait.  Caffeine isn’t good for the baby.”

“Maybe I’ll ride my bike so I don’t think about what I can’t eat.  Oh right.  The doctor advised me not to do that in case I lose my balance and fall off of it.”

“Okay then I’ll just go and get those things down from the attic that I’ve been meaning to go through and organize.  Crap.  Can’t do that either.  I might fall down the stairs or lift something too heavy.”

“Man an ice cold beer sounds really good to me right now.  Damn!  No alcohol allowed when you’re pregnant.” (which is too bad since I’m starting to get depressed over all the things I’m not supposed to do and a drink might take the edge off!)

“Geez what in the hell can I do then?”

“You know what?  My butt  is getting bigger by the second so screw it.  I’ll just eat.  And eat.  And eat.”

Nine months and fifty-five pounds later, I delivered a healthy, beautiful baby boy.  And yes.  It was ALL worth it.

It’s almost funny really.  When you are pregnant with your first baby, you are over the moon and want to do everything “by the book.”  But if and when the time comes that you are ready to give your first child a sibling, chances are that you will approach your second pregnancy much differently.  Well at least I did.

Having already been through it, I knew what to expect so my second pregnancy was actually much easier and less stressful on me (and everyone else that was close enough to me that had to put up with my raging pregnancy hormones).  I didn’t freak out over every little thing like I did the first time.  In fact, since I already had a little one to take care of, I sometimes even forgot that I was pregnant believe it or not.

So I have a question for you:  If you could give any new or expectant mother advice on anything, what would it be? Obviously there are tons of books available relating to pregnancy, child birth and parenting but I’m talking about things you wouldn’t get from a book.  Things that you would only learn from having a first-hand experience.

I’ll go first.

I say Forget the books on the growth and development of your baby-let your OB take care of that.  Read the books on how to get your baby on a good sleep schedule.  That was my BIGGEST problem with my first son.  Maybe if I had a plan in place it wouldn’t have been as difficult for me.  I talk about that more here.

Okay.  Your Turn.  New and expectant moms out there are counting on us!

Tale of A Tonsillectomy

Yesterday I mentioned that my son Alex had a tonsillectomy last week.   His recovery has been unpleasant (to say the least) for ALL of us.  The first few days he did great so I was hopeful the whole process would go rather smooth.

His doctor told us not to be surprised if by day five, Alex gets very cranky and irritable.   He said that for some unknown reason, kids always get really moody and cranky around the fifth day and that no one seems to know why this happens but it does.

Well apparently my son was no exception.  WOW!  It was like a switch was flipped and he completely freaked out.  This episode happened when I tried to give him his pain medicine.  Up until that point, Alex would whine and complain that he didn’t want to take it because it tasted “disgusting”.   It has been a full on battle to get him to take it every single time.  But on day five it was more like a nightmare.  I don’t know what happened but as I was trying to give him his medicine, he starting shaking and screaming and was crying incessantly.  He would not stop.  If you have ever witnessed a child having a night terror, that is what it looked like.  Scary.  It was almost like he was having a panic attack.  He absolutely did NOT want that medicine and was doing everything he could to avoid taking it.

I finally got him to calm down by speaking in a soft gentle tone and I told him he could wait and take it later.  I suggested that he take a few deep breaths and stop crying and then I would let him take a nice warm bath in the whirlpool tub (which he loves) to help him relax.  It worked.  Thank God.

Forty-five minutes later, Alex was calm enough for me to try again and after begging and pleading with him, he finally took it.  Ugh!  And to think I have several more days of this battle ahead of me.

So yes, it’s been a week now since the tonsils came out and my son is still suffering with a sore throat.  This seemed a little odd to me considering just a few days ago he said the pain was “almost gone.”  So naturally. I thought it would be a good idea to take a look in his throat to see what was going on in there.  Let me first say that when we met with the doctor right after he did the surgery he warned us NOT to look in Alex’s throat.  He said “Really. You DON’T want to look because it is not pretty trust me.   No. Don’t look.”

So what did I do?

I looked.

OMG!

What I saw was completely and utterly disgusting.  Ewww!

Where Alex’s tonsils used to be are now huge white cauliflower looking patches.  So so nasty!

Why in the hell did I look?  The same reason you can’t help but look at a car wreck on the side of the road - morbid curiosity.  I’m an idiot!

Seeing those “things” did clear up the question I had as to why my son’s breath smelled so rancid since the surgery.  Again.  Gross.  Sooo so GROSS.  The smell is something I couldn’t even begin to describe.  So I won’t.

But, now that I have already looked, I knew what to expect when I looked in his throat again so it wasn’t such a shock like it was the first time.   The good news is that those white patches are getting smaller and the stench of his breath is finally starting to diminish.  I’m serious it was THAT bad.  I know I must sound like a horrible mom for saying that but believe me, I DO realize that all of this is a small price to pay.  I would put up with all of it for a month as long as Alex having the tonsillectomy gives us the result we are hoping for - less sickness, coughing and strep throat infections.  Keeping my fingers crossed that it works.

Oh and if ever your kid needs a tonsillectomy for whatever reason remember my story and consider yourself warned because believe me…it’s not pretty!

Little Boys Love Their Mommies

Little boys love their mommies.  If I didn’t know it before, I definitely know it now.

My six year old son had his tonsils out last week and I think if he could crawl up my ass he would.   Sorry.  I know that is a blunt way to say it but it’s the truth.

Alex is very very affectionate to begin with but since his tonsillectomy he has been reeeally mushy.  All he wants is me.  Don’t get me wrong.  I LOVE that he wants me.  But it’s really hard to give him 100% of my attention when I also have a super needy three year old.    Alex is constantly wanting to sit next to me, asks me to watch him play his Nintendo DS, wants me to watch endless hours of Phineas and Ferb with him, and he complains when I don’t do any or all of the above for a long time.  I will do all of these things with him for a little while but I also have other things I need to do.  Dishes and laundry don’t wash themselves.  Plus in all honesty, I’m not the kind of mom that likes to get down on the floor and play with toys.  I must not have that great of an imagination because I can only race a matchbox car around the kitchen floor for so long.  Five minutes max.  Maybe it’s because I’m a girl.  The boy toys just don’t appeal to me.  The most “play” time my boys get with me is when the opt to play the Wii.  That is about the only thing that I can get into and play for a decent amount of time.  Other than that, I’m good for five to ten minutes - maybe.  Good thing Daddy can and will play with the kids.  He jumps right in and will play like a little boy with them for hours.  Again - it must be a gender thing.

What makes all of this even worse is that we have all been stuck in inside all week.  Now I know what it feels like to be on house arrest.

I feel really bad.  I am doing all that I can to keep them both entertained but truthfully, I am going out of my mind.  I finally took them both out to the store with me yesterday to run some errands and although Alex was happy to get out, it was obvious he wasn’t ready.  He fell asleep on the way home and he NEVER does that.  We were only gone for an hour.

I am planning on getting out this weekend to do something fun with the whole family but I’ll have to see how Alex is feeling by then.  I guess I am being overly cautious right now.  I’m just so afraid of taking him out and risking him getting sick while he is still recovering.  His throat is still pretty sore and I’m afraid if he plays too rough he may hurt do something to make it worse.

In the meantime, I guess I’m in for more countless games of Sorry, Clue and movie marathons.  Geez…what is so bad about that anyway?  I wish I could sit around the house all week and do nothing!  But, I am not six years old and full of energy either.

At least through this entire experience I have confirmed that my little boys really do love and need me.  And as much as I may complain, the truth is…I need to be needed.  I love those boys more than my own life and I would do anything for them.  So if I have to sit around the house for a week and pretend that I like to play with their toys so be it.  After all, pretty soon they will be begging me to get out of their faces!

No Picture Perfect Father’s Day THIS Year

Today is Father’s Day and already I know I’m going to have to have a Father’s Day Do-Over.

My poor hubby.

I had a nice relaxing day planned for the Boss but it all went downhill at about 7:15 a.m.

So much for him sleeping in.

Alex woke up screaming in pain from his still healing tonsillectomy.  Dennis woke up shortly after screaming for juice.   And hard as I tried to refrain, I soon found myself screaming at the two of them for screaming.

Hey…if you can’t beat em, join em right?

UGH!

All I wanted was for both of them to be quiet so daddy could sleep in today.   Well THAT obviously wasn’t going to happen.  It was not long before the Boss dragged his tired ass down the stairs and into the family room where the three screaming banshees were to find out what in the hell was going on.

“Sorry Honey.”

Surprisingly, he took it pretty well anyway and remained calm.   I made him a nice breakfast of pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and cream so that seemed to take the edge off a bit.

Until Hurricane Dennis came through.   More whining, more complaining and more demanding than usual.  Nice.  The Boss was slowly starting to lose his cool and I could tell that between being exhausted and irritated, he was definitely on the edge.

I thought maybe I could lift the mood a little by presenting him with all of his gifts and it did work…until the tantrums started.

Good God the tantrums Dennis has are beyond description.  Full blown kicking and pounding the floor, head flailing backward.  And this goes on and on and on.  Today it was an hour.  Happy Freakin Father’s Day.

I felt so bad for my husband.  Not only did he have to hear the tantrum, but he was also a victim of it.  While he was trying to calm Dennis down, he got punched in the eye.  And this is not the first time his eyes have been incapacitated.  No.  Not the first at all.  In fact, the Boss’ eyes have been poked out and punched more times than I can count.  Sometimes it’s not intentional though.  When he is playing down on the floor with the kids, nine times out of ten his eyes will fall victim to a stray finger or inanimate object.  To be honest, it’s a miracle the man can even still see.

So needless to say today was not the ideal Father’s Day.  Not by a long shot.   My husband just left to get away from our little monster get some air so hopefully when he gets back he will have calmed down a bit.

Yep.  Today will have to get a do-over for sure.

I Am No Fan of Doctors

Doctors suck.  Sorry but that’s how I feel.  I cannot tell you how incredibly sick I am of doctors.  It’s bad enough when they screw up something having to do with me, but I’m a whole other animal when it involves my kids.  This last experience I had is the icing on the cake.  First I need to give you a little back story.

My son Alex has had a chronic cough for the past two years.  Not your average cough though.  I’m talking about the kind of cough that was so bad that it would keep not only him awake, but all of us - for hours on end in the middle of the night.  It started shortly after his fourth birthday and a bout of coughing would last for weeks at a time.

We started with his pediatrician thinking it was just a cold.  He was treated with cough medicine and sent on his way.  Well the cough never went away.  So then we were given antibiotics.  The cough did go away for a while.  But a few weeks later he got sick again.  So after several trips back and forth to our pediatrician, I figured whatever Alex had was more than just a cold and we had to find someone who could get to the bottom of it. I had a feeling that maybe the problem was caused by his adenoids and/or tonsils since I had problems with both when I was a kid.  So I took him to a highly regarded Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist.

At the first examination, the ENT we saw in Florida at the time who was VERY conservative, did confirm that Alex’s adenoids and tonsils were “larger than normal”.  However, since Alex did not have sleep apnea or snore, and he had NEVER had strep throat, he told us he wanted to “watch” Alex for a few months before he even considered any kind of surgery.  He sent us to an allergist where Alex was given all sorts of allergy and asthma testing.  He tested negative for both.  The doctor thought maybe the coughing was due to allergies so we went through all of that and every allergy medicine possible for several months which didn’t do squat.

Then the ENT thought the cough might be caused from acid reflux so he sent us to a gastroenterologist.  We had yet another test done called a barium swallow to see if there was some anatomical reason in his stomach and throat (they watched him swallow during this test while standing behind an x-ray machine) was the cause if there even WAS reflux but again…nope.  No anatomical problems.  Oh and I forgot to mention that we also had a cat scan taken of his sinuses.  Clear.

I cannot even tell you how frustrated I was.  They couldn’t find a cause for this horrible and very productive/juicy cough that was keeping my son up half the night.  WTF!!!   And still, the ENT did not see a reason to have Alex’s adenoids removed because he didn’t have sleep apnea or snore.   So every time we went in there because the cough was so unbearable, all he did was give us another band-aid antibiotic.

Then we moved to up here to North Carolina.  We were hoping that maybe there was something in the Florida air or in our 30 year old town house that was causing the problem and that maybe a change of environment would clear it up.  No dice.   Again, I had to find an ENT up here.   So I found a guy that was highly recommended and supposedly very good.

The first time I met and him and I had to explain Alex’s entire history with these coughs I was practically crying out of frustration.   He immediately said that his adenoids needed to come out. Well hallefreakinlujah!  He said he had no doubt that from everything I described that it was the adenoids and that they needed to come out since they were obviously not doing their job by catching all of the bacteria they were supposed to.

So we promptly made an appointment to have Alex’s adenoids removed.  Before the surgery though, I met with the Dr. to go over everything and I specifically asked him if we should go ahead and remove the tonsils as well.  I was concerned that whatever bacteria was attacking Alex’s adenoids would then go to his tonsils.  I was assured “it doesn’t work like that” and that should not happen.   He said “if you want to take the tonsils out I will do it, but I honestly don’t see a need to since he has never had any problems with his tonsils.  They ARE big, but he hasn’t had any strep throat infections so you don’t really need to take them out.”   My husband and I went back and forth with this and had the doctor advised us to go ahead and do it, we would have in a heartbeat since Alex would already be under for the adenoids.  But the doctor said it was up to us.  My husband and I talked it over and decided NOT to do it since we weren’t advised to and the recovery period would be a lot longer and much more painful.  We figured if he really didn’t need it than why should we put him through that?  Well I obviously should have went with my gut since it turns out my fear came true and now he has had strep throat 3 times in the last 2 months.

When I asked the doctor last week if the bacteria that was attacking the adenoids is now going to the tonsils he said “it looks that way which is really weird because that never ever happens. I can’t even remember if/when I’ve ever had a patient who has had that happen after an adenoidectomy.”  Are you kidding me???  I guess we are the case study then huh?

So now I have to put my poor kid under again and I am a friggin wreck! I know it’s a very common thing and he did great the last time so I’m probably freaking myself out for nothing but if God forbid anything happens to him I will never forgive myself!  Especially when it could have been done the first time and I royally screwed that one up.

I just want it to be over.  All of it.  The surgery, the sickness, the coughing and the constant use of various medications.  Please pray for us that this works!

I Have a Confession to Make…

I am a wholesale whore.  There.  I said it.  It’s true.  I LOVE wholesale clubs.  I am a huge fan of Costco, BJ’s and Sam’s Club and I would have all three memberships too if I could afford it.  Okay, well I DID have all three memberships once.  But when I realized that I couldn’t go into one of these warehouses without spending at least $100 (usually much more), I decided that I was out of control and spending way too much money so I gave up one of my memberships.  Oh and believe me…that was a sad sad day.

Why do I love them so much you ask?  Sure Sams, Costco and BJ’s are great places to buy things in bulk and I do.  But besides food, I love to buy books, music, DVDs, toys and clothes there.  I have found so many great items at these places and around the holidays…forget it.  They are the first place I go to do my Christmas shopping.  The only other store that I love to shop in more than a wholesale club is Target.  I frequent Target so much that I call it my “home away from home” and my 3 year old has dubbed it the “bulls-eye store”.  If I tell him “we have to go to the store today” , the first thing he will ask is “are we going to the bulls-eye store?”   Hey I know it sounds pathetic but I honestly believe I am doing my boys and their future wives a favor.  Because of me and my shopaholic tendencies, I am raising my boys to be men who actually like to shop!  Right?  Right.

So yes, I am a wholesale whore and after tomorrow I may need to lock myself in the house because the temptation will be too much to bear.  In a few short hours, just a ten minute drive from my house, a brand spankin’ new Walmart Supercenter is opening and behind it in the same freakin parking lot is -wait for it… a BRAND new Sams Club.  ALL IN ONE PLACE!   Am I in trouble now!   Although Target is my favorite (aside from the wholesale clubs of course), I have been known to do some serious damage in Walmart too.  Oh boy…I am soooo in trouble!

Beware Of The Virus Pits

Today was the first official day of Camp Mommy.  Since it is so freakin hot outside, I decided (against my better judgement) to take my boys to an indoor kids gym which is full of inflatable slides and bounce houses.

Let me be clear.  I am not a fan of these types of places and consider them nothing more than virus pits.  And I have good reason.  When Alex was 15 months old, I took him to a mall where they have one of those little play areas in the middle of it.  It was a decent sized area/pit with padded walls and floors and a bunch of little foam faux fruits and veggies that toddlers could climb on, under or through.  Fun right?  Sure it was fun.  Alex loved it.  No one seemed to care or even notice that it reeked of poopie diapers.  Except me.  Oh well.  You have to expect Eau de Poop in a place like that anyway right?  Besides, he was having a good time and I was having a much needed break while he played.  I did however make sure to thoroughly wash his hands when he was finished playing and we were on our way home.

Fast forward three days.

Alex woke up with a high fever and could not stop vomiting.  He couldn’t even keep water down.  He was up all night vomiting and I was right there changing his clothes (and my own) after each episode while trying to calm him down and keep him as comfortable as possible.  He was finally able to keep the Tylenol down and the fever broke but then he threw in a bonus for me:  Diarrhea.  Lucky me.

I took him to the pediatrician the next morning and that is when I learned that Alex had rotavirus.  The nurse had me bring in a poopie diaper so they could test it and sure enough, it was positive for rotavirus.  If you are not familiar with rotavirus, I hope to God you never will be because it is miserable for everyone involved.  Basically, it is a gastrointestinal virus that commonly affects kids before they are two years old.  It starts with a fever, then vomiting and diarrhea.   Although the vomiting doesn’t last long, the diarrhea can last anywhere from five to seven days.  Nice huh?  Oh and there is absolutely NO mistaking when a child has this virus because the stench of the diarrhea is like NOTHING you have EVER smelled.  It is THE MOST funky smell…I can’t even begin to describe it but trust me, you’ll know if your child has it.  Alex had the “poopies” for exactly seven days and his little butt was so raw from constantly going, he would scream bloody murder every time he went.  And there was nothing I could do about it.  Just on one day, and this is no exaggeration, he soiled 15 diapers.  Every time we changed one, he would go again.  We went through an entire box of Aveeno Baby Bath and a tube of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste.  The whole experience was awful and that is putting it mildly.

So that is the reason why I despise these kind of places.  Oh and FYI: the incubation period for rotavirus is THREE DAYS FROM EXPOSURE!  Yep.  Three days before my kid was puking and pooping his brains out we were at the mall in the virus pit.  You do the math.

Back to today. 

The boys had a blast jumping around on at least ten different HUGE inflatables and their sweat soaked hair was proof of it.  They jumped and slid their butts off for two hours and were finally ready to go home at 6:00 p.m.   Of course I made sure that we all went into the bathroom and washed our hands and believe it or not, that is where I decided today would be the last time I would come to this place.  Why?  Because while I was in there, a woman walked in and cut in front of me, went straight to the sink (there was only ONE sink) and began to furiously wash her hands.  She apologized for jumping in front of me and said that her son had blood on his sock (it is a requirement that all the kids wear socks to play) and it wasn’t HIS blood and she touched it so she wanted to wash her hands.  I told her to take as long as she wanted.  I was completely skeeved out after that and was more than ready to leave if I wasn’t before that.

But wait.  It gets better.  After I got home I spoke to a friend and told her the story about the blood and she said “Wait.  I have a better one for you.  We were there last week and my son went down one of the slides and when he got off he was all wet.  I asked him why he was wet and he said they have a water slide in here now!  I thought maybe it was water or soda that another kid spilled but it turned out that some little girl peed herself while on the slide and my son slid down in it!” 

OMG!

How disgusting is that?  She told the manager and they did close down the slide to clean and disinfect it.  They also gave my friend free passes to come back another time since she had to leave and change her son out of his stranger-piss soaked clothes.  Still.  Would you go back there after that? 

Not me.

I am DONE with that place.

Camp Mommy has left the building…for good!

Camp Mommy Now Open For Business

Just wanted to let you all know that I survived kindergarten!  Oh yeah…and so did my son.

Yep.  Today was Alex’s kindergarten graduation and a day for me to stop and ask myself “where in the hell did the time go?”  Seriously.  It seems like just yesterday that he was born and my biggest concern was how I was going to make it through my year goal of breastfeeding or how I was going to change his diaper in the dark, in the middle of the night, and without waking him up. 

Thankfully, I survived the trials and tribulations of being a new mom and look at me now…six years later!   I feel like a damn rockstar right now because at the beginning, I remember thinking I wouldn’t make it through six hours being someones mom let alone six years.  But I can say whole-heartedly, without question or doubt, they have been the BEST years of my life to date.

I am so very proud of my little man and I am so incredibly blessed to be his mother.  He had a fantastic kindergarten year and although he is excited to start first grade, he is happy to have a break.

So am I.

From making his lunch every day.

I’m not kidding.  I am so over the lunches.  I would love to say that I am happy that I will finally be able to sleep in every morning but I am realistic…not delusional. 

School is out but Camp Mommy starts tomorrow.  Oh joy.  It is going to be a looong summer.  Ideas anyone?

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