Candy Land

Before I had Tyler there were specific things I wanted to do and not do as a mom. Some of which I've failed at. For example, he watches more TV than I would have envisioned. But one thing I would definitely score myself with high marks with is the amount of sugar Tyler has had over this life span. I was/am a bit of a sugar Nazi with Ty. Seeing that I have a weight problem and a sugar lust issue myself combined with the fact that sugar is so stinkin' bad for us Tyler's sugar intake is important to me. As a sidebar, I'm a bit of a hypocrite in that if I ate as well as Tyler did I'd lose a ton of weight. But I digress....

Halloween, 2009 was the first Halloween we let him eat any of his candy. It gave him a taste for sugar. He became under the impression that he should get a treat everyday. I hate you, Halloween. Then there's school. Uggg. One day last year I picked up Tyler from preschool and my eyes about popped out of my head. The kids were eating large cupcakes WITH a 100% sugar drink. His teachers could tell that I did not like that. It was someone's birthday and the child's parents brought in treats. Thanks a lot. Doesn't common sense tell a person that you bring in a healthy drink if you have a sugar treat or visa versa?

I was reminded of my hatred of sugar today when I picked up Tyler. It was someone's birthday and each child got a goody bag of one drink (granted it was 100% fruit juice), one yo-yo, three packs of Smarties, one bag of cookies and one package of sour gummy worms. Can you hear me sighing? I explained that he may have one treat today and one tomorrow.

Okay, people, I know I can't control his sugar intake forever. I know that he has to eat some sugar otherwise he'll go to the other extreme later in life. But as a parent I feel like I'm constantly fighting something. You should have seen me a few months ago when I all but yelled at the kid across the street because she pointed a play gun at me. Rick explained to her that even though a gun is fake you never point it at someone. Speaking of guns, that is something I'm even more of a Nazi about than sugar. In this day and age I feel VERY STRONGLY about play guns. Tyler will never, ever have one. Not even a super-soaker or a water gun. He will be taught to respect guns and Rick will take him to a shooting range. (No, we don't have a gun, don't worry.)

So what are you anal about? Not that you probably think I'm crazy....

Thay-at

There are two types of Southern accents: the endearing kind that is a pleasure to listen to and the kind that makes the speaker sound dumber than a sack of hammers. Unfortunately, Tyler is picking up some of the later. Mind you, my son is far from dumb but Rick and I are trying hard to correct some of the words that make him sound let's just say less than intelligent. Most of the words have an 'a' in them and are one syllable words that he's turning into two syllables such as: cay-at, thay-at. Just as I'm typing he said they-ar (instead of there).

I think he's getting his accent from his teacher in school (who is not dumb but who has a thick Southern accent) or one of his classmates (all who seem smart). I don't know what to do. I don't want to keep 'correcting' him because he's really not doing anything wrong. Who am I to say what is the right way of speaking vs. the wrong way of speaking? Our family may be a mixed bag when it comes to accents. Actually, Rick basically untrained his Long Island accent and you'd never know where he's from with the exception of a few words here and there. He doesn't have any type of accent. I'm from Ohio but grew up in Arizona, where people are from all over and we all just came to acquire a non-regional specific accent. For additional fun maybe the three of us should just develop an Australian accent and really throw people off.

Preschool Update

Some of you may have read my posts regarding the decision Rick and I will need to make as to where Tyler will go to school next year: Bright Beginnings through CMS or Church Preschool. I'm also expressed my worried feelings to some friends in person. I've prayed about this at least a few times.

Rick and I are 90% sure that we will place Tyler in Church Preschool. Signs here and there have been unfolding and I feel that God is speaking to us through these signs. The first light bulb moment was when we received thank you cards from his teachers for the meager Christmas candles we gave them. It wasn't the cards themselves that were a surprise but this was: one of his teachers wrote, "I love having you in class and I love you, Tyler." How sweet is that?!

The second sign was the fact that his preschool will now offer a four day a week program for four year old children. I spoke with the preschool director and all but begged her for a four day program as they currently offer three day programs. I felt like that was an answer to a specific prayer.

Tyler absolutely loves his classmates. I'm talking head over heals type of love. He speaks about them frequently. We bought a copy of the class picture and I put it in a frame for him to look at. In a typical Tyler fashion, he started using in as a lovey. He carried it around and went to bed with it. (Rick and I would go into his room after he would fall asleep to remove the picture from his grasp.)I guess he loved the picture too much because he broke the glass in the frame! Yikes, I'll need to find an alternative way to protect it.

I have a soft spot in my heart for Tyler's teachers and the preschool director. I think they are sweet, kind, warm, and lovely. More important than that, Tyler has progressed a lot more there than in the CMS program. Now reader, I have never been in denial about Tyler's "disabilities" but now I feel that the progress he's made strips away the label of having any disabilities. I think that some of the thing's he's now a tad behind on are a result of just needing to mature more. For example, he can't carry on a conversation to the extent that you (I) might think he should be able to for a four year old. Yet several people, including the church preschool teachers, have told me that there are plenty of "normal" four year olds who don't have conversations per se'.

Part of me wants to pull him out of the CMS preschool system now. Rick pointed out that as long as the CMS preschool isn't slowing him down than there really isn't a reason to pull him. Good point, Rick. A lot can change between now and May, when we need to tell CMS what our decision is. I'll be surprised if we change our minds and put him in CMS next year.

One Person's Theory

I think that companies, non-profit organizations, retail stores, and almost every other type of institution spend a good amount of time trying to avoid being sued. I immediately think of that whenever CMS closes down due to "inclement weather". Yesterday I would agree that we had rather severe weather in Charlotte that extended into today. But as the afternoon progressed, the ice melted off of the streets. "Surely kids will have school tomorrow," I thought around 5pm. Wrong. My child, who loves school, will have to miss out because CMS is afraid of being sued. The following is likely a scenario CMS is afraid of:

Someone might fall outside at a bus stop or outside of a school, which may or may not have anything to do with the weather. That person or their parents don't believe in the theory that things just happen in life sometimes and they decide to sue CMS instead. Their attorney's defense will be that CMS should have shut down in light of "inclement weather". Right, wrong or indifferent, CMS pays millions in a lawsuit. Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

It could be argued that I'm making a big deal out of one day of school missed. But you see, this is one example of a few spoiling it for the masses. I'm so tired of that. Maybe it's just that I'm not the suing type. I don't know. What I do know is that it's absurd to call off school the NIGHT BEFORE when we don't know what the weather will be like in the morning and even if they are basing it on the weather now, I hardly think a bit of melting snow warrants closures.

Corey Ryan

Corey Ryan is what we think we'll be naming our new addition. It's not set in stone but I think we're 90% sure. I already call him Baby Corey. Despite the fact that I complain on a daily basis about how crappy I feel the pregnancy is going well. That is a tad ironic, isn't it? How can a person feel so poorly and be doing well at the same time? Nonetheless, the way I see it I only have 11 weeks max left of feeling this way! I realize that I may have many sleepless (or near sleepless) days ahead of me once the baby is born but that surely seems better than feeling badly 24/7.

I go in to see Dr. Phillips every two weeks at this point and I saw him today. He said the baby is measuring exactly like he should be. I have very little fear about this baby being premature. Rick still gives me my shots once a week and I'll get to stop those we week 36 with the shot remaining in my body until week 37.

I'm excited to meet Corey. Rick and I will present Tyler with some new hockey cards the first time Tyler meets Corey. This will be our attempt to soften the blow of Tyler having to share his parents with another person! No, Tyler is NOT happy to be adding a baby to the family. However, if we say, "Look what baby Corey got you, Tyler, more hockey cards," Corey may be in Tyler's good graces from the very beginning. hee hee

Mr. Hockey Lover, Tyler

I'm convinced that hockey is most likely the first thing Tyler thinks about when he wakes up and the last thing he thinks about when he goes to bed. He accosts Rick first thing as Rick walks in the door from work to play hockey with him. He has a few hockey videos that he wants to watch over and over. He's got four hockey jerseys and one hockey t-shirt that he wears throughout the day, switching them just like any child would who loves to play dress up. He has a table hockey game that he plays with for long periods of time. It's also called a rod hockey set, the kind where you control the players with rods. Yet Tyler prefers to concentrate of a few players with the puck and commentate. It's so darn cute.

All he wanted for Christmas we hockey cards. We asked him several times, "Tyler, what would you like for Christmas?" "Hockey cards." "Anything besides hockey cards?" "I want hockey cards." And hockey cards he got! We added to his already generous collection of them. He's got a three ring binder with plastic sleeves full of them. We find random cards all over our house. It's just a normal thing around here. You just expect it.

Then there are the hockey 'pages'. Rick ordered him a hockey merchandise catalog and Tyler LOVES it. I should say 'them' because we've ordered about six catalogs over the past several months since Tyler loves them to the point of destruction. I find torn and/or crumpled pages here and there and have to throw them away when he isn't looking. He will use the catalog as a reference point. More about reference points later.

He knows the logos of each team and can read them with just the word, no logo. He loves it when Rick plays hockey outside with him (boo on the fact that it gets dark too quickly),inside in the family room or out the garage. He incorporates non-hockey items into his hockey game. For example, he'll take the top of his plastic snare drum and use it as the ice for a game for his little plastic hockey players. He'll also use random balls if he can't find his little pucks. I love watching him pretend which almost always includes a comentery by him. He poses different playing positions in the glass in our entertainment center. Obviously this cracks me and Rick up.

The reference points I mentioned earlier crack us up the most. It took us a few months to figure out what he was doing. He'd set up all these things very neatly and play hockey around them in the family room or the garage. Some things he uses are: hockey cards, pages out of the hockey catalog, empty game cases from Rick's XBox, jerseys folded neatly so the logo shows (he folds them), shoes, or other random things. One day, it occurred to Rick that Tyler was using these items to represent the goals, boundaries, and other players. And perhaps the funniest part of that is Tyler gets annoyed if anyone should move one of his reference point. For example, I sat down in a chair and my foot accidentially moved a book (that likely represented a goal net) and he came up to me, moved the book back into place and said, "No, Mommy, no."

Gosh, I'm sure I've got to be leaving some things out but that pretty much covers it. Tyler is a funny kid and I love his love of hockey and the ideosyncricities that come along with it.

New Years Resolutions

I just updated my FB status with this but also wanted to put in my blog.

"Here's my take on New Year's resolutions...if a person wants to make a change (or changes) in his/her life, isn't that change important enough to implement as soon as the change occurs to the person? For example: people vow to lose weight in the New Year but eat like pigs for the month of December."

I think that New Year's resolutions only set a person up for failure almost all of the time. I have experienced this first hand. Year after year my resolution was to lose weight (even when I only had a total of 10 lbs. to lose ((hard to believe, I know)) and I finally realized that losing weight along with any other change I wanted to make were more likely to be achieved right then and there. Why save up several for the New Year? Make small changes that matter now.