The Story of My Life

SHES A BIG KID NOW ---------dammit.

Im not one of those mothers that hopes and prays her kids will potty train soon, fast or whatever. I never really even considered what to do about it ....just figuring nature will take its course and they would let me know when they were ready for me to help them.

For Katey - that was this week ( OCT 1st to be exact ) ...and I was so completely unprepared. I actually tried to talk her out of it but she begged and pleaded with me to let her go on the potty because she was a big girl now and big girls don't wear diapers.

( Imagine my shocked face kinda going WTH just happened?? Didn't I just give birth to you .....like LAST WEEK ???)

The potty wars took on a whole new meaning in MY house .

OF COURSE I LOST ....going grudgingly to the store where Kate got her own very Dora potty with Dora pull ups ....her skipping in aisles literally shouting she was a big girl .... me snarling at every moron who thought that was a good thing ....not understanding how they could be looking at my BABY and be encouraging her to grow up ....going so far as TO MENTION SHE WAS READY FOR SCHOOL !

If I wasn't holding onto that Dora potty with a death grip (secretly trying to kill it of course ) .... Im quite sure I would have ripped some of those happy faces right off their owners heads and left them right there among the tattered remains of all the pull up boxes I had already vented some frustration on. 

( Some Target employee somewhere is going ...OH SO THATS WHAT HAPPENED ....we thought maybe an angry bear had gotten tangled up in the pull ups or something)

Close guys ....a momma bear had to fight off the pulls up coming to claim her child ......

 

 

OBVIOUSLY THE PULL UPS WON .

 

3 GIRLS AND THEIR DOG

DONT VOTE !!!! PLEASE DONT VOTE !

Unless you actually care about stuff......then you have to get off your ass and vote.

HER FIRST DOG BITE

I'm sure as it was with me, in a lifetime of caring for animals this is only the first of many, and as I expected she took it like a champ, more concerned for the dog than for herself.

I didn't see it happen, but I heard it .  Bailey Girl has a horrible ear infection which for years has been coming and going. If you touch her ears the wrong way she yelps and jumps up. Alex loves to go lay on the dogs, roll on them, love on them with a LOT of energy. Simba is very tolerant of this, and for a dog her size, she is impossibly gentle with Alex. Bailey Girl is more of a dog that doesn't like to sit still with the kids...shell run around forever playing, but when shes laying down she really wants to be treated gently.

Shes not an aggressive dog at all, by any means , but she will warn Alex with a growl when its time to move off, or when shes hurting her . Usually she likes to hide under the bed but lately Alex has been following her under there. I think Alex startled her out of a deep sleep by grabbing her ears , she yelped and whipped her head around thinking it was Simba messing with her,and Alex's face just got in the way of her teeth.

Alex cried a little , and I picked her up to wash the cut off ...but she instantly wanted to get down to go hug Bailey and make sure the dog was okay...and it was amazing to watch.

NO FEAR ..even after she caught a bloody face. She went right over, hugged and kissed her ...Bailey knew she did something wrong as her little ears were all down and her face has that stressed look. She said sorry a million times over to Alex on her back little paws in the air.

It was a lesson ....and its going to happen. Even the nicest dogs bite sometimes . Dogs use their teeth as humans use their hands . We favor big dogs in this house ...we take in strays...we rescue the unwanted...fleas, claws ...nasty or nice. They find their way to our door and we take care of them.

Up until last year I had a wolf hyred I brought down from Maine . One of the most amazing animals I ever had. She died in my arms, loyal and fierce until her last minute...and I never worried about the kids around her.

I want my girls to have that love for all animals ...and with that comes teaching them to accept the bites along with the licks. I teach all my animals from the minute I get them  "the rules" ........every dog Ive ever had was WELL trained . I think there is nothing worse than an untrained dog. I watch Ceasar Milan in HORROR at what some people let their dogs get away with.

But even well trained dogs can bite. Bailey is exceptionally well trained ...a Border Collie/ Blue Heeler Mix who was trained with me under the best Texas had to offer . She knows words, hand signals and even what different facial looks Im giving her.

However, the kids too have to learn how to handle animals...even their own.....and even at this age. Looks like its time to start training them together.

CHRISTMAS IN SEPTEMBER

I'm NOT a big one for doing things " just because " . Whether its just because others are doing something, just because society says so ,or just because thats how its traditionally done . BLAH BLAH BLAH .

I do things when it FEELS right to me ....IF it works for my family ..... and when its best FOR US .

This year that meant Christmas in September ...and not as in EARLY for this upcoming Christmas . I mean as in Christmas almost a year late .

WHY ?

Besides the fact that the normal dates for Holidays have NO HOLD on me ...even this is outrageously late for us. However, Christmas for me has always been about my little sister Patty . It was HER holiday . Each of us had one .......mine is Halloween, being born basically right on it ...my brother was born on Thanksgiving .....Patty ....you guessed it . Patty was a Christmas baby.

She arrived on the Earth around Christmas ...and 30 years later ....she left shortly after .

For the last several years of her life I was in NY for Christmas ....shes the whole reason we even moved back to NY and definitely the reason we stayed. We made sure if she was sick ....Christmas waited until she she got better . The whole world could wait for all I cared, because without Patty it wasn't Christmas.

This year she was in the hospital for both Christmas and her Birthday .She was getting sicker and sicker, her body and soul were tired ...and somewhere inside me I knew this was her last Xmas .

Hoping for the best I promised her just like I always did, that we wouldn't do Xmas without her, and would wait until she got home . I said it numerous times as she bounced back and forth the entire holiday season...as she cried on the phone from the hospital ...or from her spot outside on the stoop.

Its one of the last things I said to her while she was conscious and aware of what I was saying ...and even though she was on life support, intubated and unable to talk...she was able to nod and make faces, and I can still see her little face scrunch up into the awww sign that told me she was happy and relieved. 

" Don't worry Pat ...well wait till you come home."

Except that day never came ....and Christmas without Patty was like walking down the aisle to find out your utterly alone . It was unbearable. Not that I let anyone know . But whereas I'm really good at hiding what I DO feel ....I completely suck at trying to fake what I don't feel .

Id rather NOT do something , then try to fake a happy face and force a holiday JUST BECAUSE .

I needed to be able to feel Christmas in order to celebrate it ...and it was an almost year long journey of trying . Week after week I tried ...and it didn't feel right so many times , that I canceled it time after time .

For the kids ....this was totally funny and it became a big game . For them Christmas came twice because although we didn't celebrate Christmas in OUR house ....we did actually go to my cousins and spend Christmas with them ON THE ACTUAL DAY .......so the kids weren't denied Christmas as people seem to think . They got some gifts from family ..saw the beautiful tree ...spent time with their cousins, and had fun .

We didn't deny Christmas or pretend it wasn't happening.. ...we just didn't invite it over to our house until Patty could join in the fun.  That was my bottom line ......a slightly different version of no man left behind . If she couldn't come to Christmas , then Christmas would come to her .

This year I had to wait until she came to ME and let me know it was okay to finally celebrate it ....which she did in a HUGE way . She spoke thru John Edwards ...and the message was so shockingly clear it was like she was standing in the room saying it to my face .

So Christmas was in Sept , the kids had a BLAST ....and my sister was there .