The Unthinkable

I met a man the other day and had a chance to hear his story.  Those of you close to Everett, WA might have the heard the news story of a man and three children hit by a car on the corner of Broadway and Everett.  Reading or watching stories like that are shocking but impersonal.  We feel empathy for those families but we may think "that won't happen to me."

I had the opportunity hear this man's first view account of what happened that day.  He never once bragged or called himself a hero.  He told me that he was just walking down the street with his niece, nephew and son when he saw out of the corner of his eye a car make a u-turn and head straight for him.  He didn't know how but he had the time to throw three middle school aged children out of the way of the on-coming car. He took the brunt of the impact and dragged under the car.  Some how his injuries were minor.  He knew that if one of the children went through what he did, they wouldn't still be here.  He was told me over and over how blessed he was to have the quick reaction to save three of his own.

As a mother I couldn't help but think about my own daughter.  He is a big guy but I can't imagine the inner strength he would have had to pull on to throw the weight of three children out of the way in time.  I'd like to believe someone was looking down on him from above to help him react in time and prevent what could have been more serious or even fatal injuries.  It was touching that he had no anger, hatred or ill will towards the driver.  He sincerely was thankful it wasn't more serious.

I hope and pray if the unthinkable happens to my family I'll be able to think as clearly and quickly as he did.  What are your thoughts?

Home Coming

It's coming to an end! My time working and living dual roles as a mother and a father is ending today! My husband's ship is coming home and we get to see his face. We get to hug him, touch him and to love him in person.

My toddler is not even three and these past few months was the first time she's been apart from her daddy for this long. I was worried how she would handle it. I didn't want her to forget him or his face. I don't know how other moms handled it but I talked about daddy a lot. She watched videos of the two of them together, over and over. When she missed her daddy she would hold and tell her "problems" to her daddy doll.

I'm getting more excited writing this blog. My hubby's coming home!!! Here's to all the other military wives out there!

Life Proof Iphone Case

I've had the Lifeproof Iphone case for about six months give or take. I didn't think about writing a review on this blog until today. I didn't think a phone case review belonged on my toddler/mommy blog until I had to deal with a toddler problem.

My husband bought me this case because it's water, shock and dirt proof. Throughout the six months it's definitely done it's job up against my child that sucked on it, bit it, threw it on the floor or across the room. It still works great and when I do open the case my iphone still looks brand new.

Today my daughter thought it would be hilarious to drop my phone in her glass of milk. I was able to fish it out, wash it under running water with soap to clean it and it still works like normal. I thought it this case was overkill when my hubby first brought it home but today's extravaganza made the cost worth it. Have you ever had an "incident" with your child and phone? Was it salvageable or did you have to buy a new one?

Blood is Thicker than Water

Yesterday I shared with you my Child Care Woes.  The day care we use will be closed until August 13th for a suspected mold they found in one of the rooms.  On one hand I am happy they take any concerns like this seriously and promptly.  On the other hand I have been worried that I wouldn't be able to find child care for the days I work.  Right now we do not live close to family or friends.  I work outside of the home and I'm an "acting" single mom until my hubby's ship returns.

That makes it a VERY big deal when my main source of child care closes down at a moments notice.  I don't have anything concrete right now but I wanted to share something special.  As soon as I spoke to my parents about what was going on they started searching for a flight here.  It just goes to show no matter how far apart you are or how old you become nothing is stronger than a close family bond.

I'm so thankful my parents are healthy enough and so supportive to jump on a plane at a moments notice at times like these.  Hopefully, we'll get a visit from grandma and grandpa next week.  Was there a moment when your friends or family pitched in to help you and your family out?  What about it stuck out in  your mind?  Thank you for sharing!

Tantrum

Tantrums.  Yes, that one would can in fact strike fear in a full grown adult.  When I was a new mom I would hear horror stories about toddler tantrums and the terrible twos.  I also saw many frazzled parents dealing with their own terrible two year old.

As my own daughter began developing her tantrums my parenting strategies changed to take into account her bad behavior.  Some days it seems like whatever it is I'm doing is working.  While other days, I want to crawl into a dark hole and hid.  What's even worse is the more my child is developing her language skills and motor skills the tantrums are only getting worse, not better.  WHY, WHY, WHY?!?!?  Shouldn't it be the other way around?  Now that she's able to tell me what she wants shouldn't the her frustration go down?

Today's tantrum was in epic proportions.  I had an unexpected day off when my day care called to say the are close for possible mold.  So I thought it would be a great idea to check out the child's concert in the park at Silver Lake.  Tim Noah was there and the concert was free.  I never heard of the guy but I guess he's this big singer of children's songs.

Izzy had a great time singing, dancing, and jumping around during the concert.  We even stayed after to play on the amazing play ground.  I would have let her play longer but it was very crowded and I had a big bag of things I couldn't lug around while chasing after her.

Once I told her it was time to go, she flipped.  This child screamed nonstop for 40 minutes.  She screamed on the way out of the park, through two time outs trying to leave the park, in the car ride home, unpacking the car and refused to take a nap.  I have never seen her THAT bad.  She has here moments but never screamed at FULL volume the entire tantrum.  I was so surprised that I didn't get flustered and kept me cool the entire time.  I even stuck to my guns and had her sit in a time out and made her say sorry to get out of it.  She thought she was off the hook and when I kept trying to leave the screaming continued.

What was your child's worse tantrum?  Was it at home or in public?

Child Care Woes

Transitioning back into a working mom came with a few obstacles.  Child care was the biggest one I had to overcome.  We no longer live close to family so searching for the right person to watch my only child with the schedule I have took plenty of patience and persistence.  I thought I was good to go.  I had a full time day care center for the week and someone else for the weekends.  What I didn't think of was who to turn to during unexpected times when either of those two options were not available.

Late last night I received a call from the day care letting me know they had to close down for a possible mold found in one of the rooms.  My weekend care works for another family during the week and I didn't have a back up put in place.  My only option was to call in and let staffing know I wouldn't be at work.  Even though I have a legitimate reason I know it doesn't look good at all.

Today I received another call from the day care that they will be closed for a little over a week.  That means I have 3-4 work days coming up that I have to find an alternate plan.  Right now my game plan is to try to swap my shifts for the weekend so I can use my weekend person.  My second option is to start interviewing new people for those days.

Have you dealt with a similar problem?  How did you handle it?

Wordless Wednesday - Seafood