"Helicopter" Parents

I am not one of these parents obviously. I mean you've read about Trio getting into scrapes left and right. I dislike parents like this a little. I mean I don't let him do anything outright dangerous like play with matches or run with scissors but when it comes to climbing and stuff like that *shrugs* He's a boy. What are you going to do? You have to let kids be kids because that way they learn about what they can and cannot do physically. If you hover over them they will never experiment and realize their threshold of activity. This helps them learn pain threshold, not to mention something of fear. For example if the tries jumping off a swing (which I never had the guts to do) he might like it. Or he might realize he doesn't like heights and never do it again. Of course there is the risk of him spraining something but didn't someone say it's pretty much a common occurrence to have broken bones in childhood?

I look at it this way; if I don't let him play or climb because I'm worried about him getting hurt he is giong to develop an unnatural sense of fear which results in annoying things like your 12 year old falling and scraping his knee and having a total meltdown because of the pain. Really? Sorry but man up get over it, it happens. And don't think this attitude is just for boys oh no. If I have a little girl there is no way she can have a princess complex her entire life. I'm not saying I want a tomboy but I am not a girly girl so I can't support this behavior for long. If my little girl was ever like "Ew I got dirty" and she was like 8 I'd say "Get over it. It happens."

Sound harsh? I respect that. Don't get me wrong I'm maternal and I'm nurturing and if something happens to Trio that really honestly hurts him I give him all the snuggles and kisses he needs. But I don't want a child who's so sensitive they have no idea how to deal with the world. I don't want a bully but I want my child to be assertive enough to not get pushed around. What's truly ironic about this is I'm not all that aggressive despite what you may think. In order to say something firmly I have be pushed and then it comes out more angry then necessary and then I offended someone. I don't mean to but I do. Of course there are some people who are so oversensitive that they take EVERYTHING as criticism and there's nothing you can do but let it go and know that they had helicopter parents themselves.

Trio is my world and I love him so much. However I also love him enough to know there are things he needs to learn on his own and when he falls and scraps his knee I know I have fostered his independence enough that he will be okay unless there is bone sticking out. Kids are gonna get hurt and dirty that's part of the joy of being a kid.

Trio's Walkabouts

With the cooler weather, Trio and I are able to walk once a day. I don't mind it so much; it's cold some days yes but I just bundle him up and we go walking. Since this last summer was so hot we couldn't go out as much as I would have liked for fear of both of us getting heat stroke. So everyday for about the last week we've been taking a walk around our neighborhood. I'm sure once it gets too cold that it will stop or we'll just play outside in our yard for a little while before rushing in to warm up but for now I look forward to it. Since our car is still out of commission we don't get to go many places.

Today on our walk we saw a caterpillar which I only knew was a caterpillar because it was green and moving like Heimlich from A Bug's Life a movie I love. So I pointed it out to Trio since it is nature and he could learn that way. So he sits down and proceeds to poke the caterpillar. I was like "No!" but the caterpillar just froze and didn't move. I don't know if Trio gave him a heart attack or it was just playing possum until we walked away but I felt bad. I didn't mean for him to hurt the caterpillar I just wanted him to see it. Oh well.

Yesterday we were able to go to a playdate at the new McDonald's on 685 with our mom's group and it was awesome! We haven't been at a playdate in about a month or so it was nice to get out and play and Trio really enjoyed playing outside and seeing his friends. Hopefully by this week our car will really be fixed and we can go to more and play outside more. Because this cabin fever is driving us both nuts.

Well that's all for now. Will update more as we get through this week and gear up for Thanksgiving.

Trio vs the Creek

Today we went to Pfluger Park with Lindsey and her daughter Kendall along with nephew Tayden (not sure if I'm spelling that correctly). This was Lindsey and Co.'s first time at the park while it is a fave of Trio and me when it is not feeling like the outer layer of hell in Texas like it was in the summer. Well the kids had a blast running around. Trio was so cute because he found these three clothespins in his carseat and would not let them go for anything. So he's running around the park holding a green, pink, and regular clothespin. That's my son what can I say?

He had fun trying to interact with older kids and they did well with them. I am always worried when there are older kids around because not all of them are polite and I would sure hate to have to punt a kid across the park because they hurt my child you know? But they did good so I wasn't too worried. But then we went to the creek.

Now the creek was a little higher because of the recent rain and what was hilarious is Trio stepped in it, shoes socks and all. Then he just kind of looked down confused like he was thinking "Why is my foot suddenly wet?" and I had to move them. But then he had a grand time dropping leaves in the creek and watching it float away. He kept laughing as he watched it. Then as we were walking out he saw a squirrel and I was like "See?" and he pointed and laughed. Part of me wondered if he expected it to break out into "Witch Doctor" but he seemed okay. All in all it was a great day.

It made me realize how much it hurts Trio when we don't have a car. My cabin fever insanity notwithstanding, Trio likes being outside and I love having outside and since it is not gosh darn hot out right now he could stay out all day and I would let him. But with no car we can't go anywhere we can't even go to story time at the library or the Book Box and it sucks. When I said I was going to be a SAHM I said I wouldn't be too lazy meaning I would take my kid to places. I would free place and take him swimming and all that stuff and for the most part I have been. But in the last month this car situation has just bummed us out completely since we can't go anywhere and it sucks!!

So hopefully this will be resolved (again) soon and Trio can have some fun running outside in the fall weather. Because soon it will be too cold to be out all day.

Books and Girls

I am very excited to have a child that seems like he is going to like reading. From the time he was a baby (like after all the surgeries were done) he has been content to listen to (me) read him stories or look at books by himself. Yesterday we borrowed new (to us) Pigeon books from the library and he saw the Pigeon on the cover and ran all the way to the couch just to listen to me read it to him. I love that. I am sorry to sound judgemental but I think it is ridiculous about all the stuff kids have to entertain themselves nowadays. I mean I like the DS and game consoles as well as the next person but I think it's crap when a child can't entertain themselves without having one of these things in their hand. When I was that age I took a book everywhere to keep me entertained because I knew there was the chance that I wouldn't be able to watch TV or there wouldn't a kid there. So to see children now who depend on these things just annoy me. Even worse is it when they moan and groan about reading and it is like pulling teeth to get them to do it and now it is part of homework to read. I am very grateful to have a child who seems to enjoy it because I think reading is a gift and people take it for granted sometimes. There are adults who can't read because they weren't given the opportunity and you have children who can but don't because to them it's "boring" and God forbid they have to use their imagination and actually think about something instead of having it laid out for them in video game format.

Whatever. I am not saying that Trio won't have these things but he'll also have books and I will encourage that before video games.


This weekend a friend's niece came into town and it was amusing to see them interact. The girl, Chloe, doesn't really get to play with other children from what I understand so this was a fun time for her whereas Trio does but he's not always very sociable. This cute little girl because she was had no sense of personal space which doesn't bother me at all because there are some days you would think Trio was apart of my hip he's that close on me. But she would get right in Trio's face and say "Hi!" and Trio would look at her wide eyed and gently push her back or move away from her. At one point she was chasing him around the house going "Hi, Hi Hi" and I burst out laughing because my kid's a cute little boy and so girls chasing him is probably not gonna stop anytime soon it'll only get worse. And it was cute to see them play once Trio got food in his belly and decided he did want to play. I mean he is a pretty sociable baby for the most part he just has to warm up.

So in short Trio had a good weekend. We played with a new friend, went to the Book Box's Grand Opening and got to bounce around in the moonwalk and got to visit with some family and friends on Sunday for an impromptu BBQ (we have a Foreman grill so we did it inside). I love doing things with my son and I'm glad he had a full weekend now hopefully he'll start to feel better and sleep better.

Pink Eye Update

So (yay) it doesn't look like Trio has pink eye; I think it was just allergies because the drops his doctor gave him yesterday cleared up the eye gunk pretty well. Does he like it? No it is a two person job putting them in (someone could make a lot of money if they could invent an easier way to put eye drops in) but the eye gunk is almost gone so he'll have to deal with it.

However to his doctor it sounded like he was wheezing so she decided to give him a breathing treatment especially after I told her there was a history of asthma in my family. So the nurse came in with the machine and a cool little dinosaur mask to go on his face. I said "Look Trio it's a dinosaur RAWR!!"

Trio was still less than impressed with the whole thing. He screamed for the full fifteen minutes. The doc came in and said it sounded like it helped so she was going to get him an inhaler (not the regular albe-whatever since he has a heart condition but a different kind). Here is where I really like his doc; she could have been mean and given us a machine that took fifteen minutes but she gave us something called an "OptiChamber" which is this long tube you just stick on his mouth and squirt the inhaler to. Does he like this any better? No but it is quicker because you place the mask on his face, squirt, wait ten seconds and repeat and then you're done. Two minutes vs fifteen in the Trio world is just smart math.

So that's it. So far everything helps but we'll see in the long run although so far I am happy with the results and that I don't have to spend more money on a pink eye medication (man the two yesterday were expensive b/c there was no generic to substitute). More later on my later dude!!

Trio's Allergies (?)

It is very frustrating trying to tell if a child is sick if you don't have a few big signs glaring in your face. For instance a fever; that is a big DING DING DING to know that your child is sick. Also red eyes for pink eye, throwing up, diarrhea (cha cha cha sorry Beavis and Butthead reference there) are good indicators too.



But what if they just sound miserable and look miserable and you know if you were them you would be miserable but other than that they're fine?



Today Trio is like a snot balloon with a slow leak. Sorry for the grossness but that's the closest I can come to describing it. He has mucus coming out of his eyes would warn me to pink eye except there is no pinkness in the eye and it's not constant like it should be with pink eye nor as much (there was this kid at the daycare when I worked there whose eyes were literally glued shut by the mucus). He has a runny nose, and as such a dirty face from wiping said snot all over the place and he is a little whinier than usual not to mention sleepier but from what I can tell I don't think he's sick.



We still have Zyrtec from his diagnosis of dry skin so we're going to try that to see if it helps. I mean the whole sleepy thing could just be a growth spurt; last night for dinner and today for lunch he literally just laid down in the middle of eating and passed out poor thing. So I'm hoping it's allergies because I can fix that easily and without a trip to the doctor. Plus it would be logically what with the weather in Austin not knowing what the heck it wanted to do (hint: it's November can we please have cold now? Thanks). Plus it is not like he is lethargic all the time; if anything he's been getting naughtier every day and he's too young to threaten with Santa (but boy howdy when that day comes....bwahahahaha!!!)



We're doing good other than that. We're starting to talk a little more which is great even though he has no interest in learning body parts which his doctor told me he should be able to point to his nose at least (oops). But hey he blows kisses, says "up" and "down" (although his "down" sounds slightly demonic) so I think I'm good. We're going to work on more as the day progresses. With the weather being (somewhat) cool we can take walks and we talk a lot during that time. I know soon I'll be moaning in my blog about how he won't shut up but for now I want him to talk to me.



Gets boring talking to myself all day.

Trio's Second Halloween

So to some people second Halloweens may get overlooked. The first Halloween is the first so naturally it's special. And the third well then they can actually say trick or treat and get the concept a little more. However I think Trio had a great second Halloween.

Started off rocky. He was still reeling from his partying the night before at the community party where he won first prize in his age group for his costume!! I was so proud and now he has a gift card to McDonald's that is only for him (I'm not like other parents who use it for themselves; he won it on his cuteness so it's only for him). But he danced the night away after all the contest excitement and he hadn't gotten a really good nap on Friday either. So at the beginning of our pictures you have a very unhappy looking Disco Trio. But as we started walking and going house to house her perked up. I told my friend Tiffany as we walked away from a house "I knew he was going to perk up as soon as he realized he was getting stuff from people." It was hard though because all our friends that we trick or treated with are around 3 (with the exception of D'Angela who is about a year younger than Trio give or take a couple of days) and they can walk fast so Mommy (as a goth angel) got a little workout.

One hilarious part was this one house where no one answered at first; however as we were walking away I heard the screen door and turned around to this little boy running after us going "We have trick or treat!!" He knocked on the screen door and nothing. He kept knocking. The other two big kids (Darius and Kendall) had given up and walked away and I had to drag him down the stairs and he kept knocking on the siding, on a window. I told him "Boy you're worse than a Jehovah's Witness!" (it's a joke laugh no offense meant)

Then we headed back home. Some of our friends wanted to get home in time for the Longhorn game (boo) and the kids were getting tired. Besides it is not until the kids are around 5 or 6 that they feel the need to hit up every house they can. But it was fun especially when Trio cheered up. And then we came back home and hung out with our friends letting the kids run around burning off the candy and cheese puffs they kept sneaking. All in all it was a good Halloween weekend. Now it's time to gear up for the last two months of the year and the last two holidays.