I have days where I sit back and think, my god all I do is look after Francis, sometimes I feel guilty about not contributing to the bank account, bills etc... But then the hubby comes along and says something like this......

YOU ARE DOING A WONDERFUL JOB...... 

And it just makes my day...  I have often voiced my I am sorry that I am not bringing in any money, and he says you do your part....

I love hearing this when it is said, but sometimes I still wish I could do something more.. Then I realize if I took on any more I don't think I would be able to cope with everything.... I don't know how people can work and look after kids at the same time. Mind you I am sure if I was working full time, I'd get the hang of it. I know lots of people do it. 

But right now, hubby says I am doing a great job and bringing up Francis, and taking care of the home.. (mind you I know from the dust under the bed we found today as we are getting a new one tomorrow yipppeee, that I could do a better job at cleaning.. :)

Either way, I have a happy kid, (most days) and a happy hubby, and a step daughter who just loves coming to stay with us for the weekends, that I must be doing something right.. :)

I press latest activity, but can't see anything later then 23 hours ago... So i am always stuck on the same page...

So i guess I'll just sign out...

Night guys have fun.. xxxx

I remember when I first joined minti I never read the words bitch or someone calling someone else stupid because of way they thought. What is the world of minti coming to?

Where did all the friendliness go? When people disagreed with something it was just an opinion! People left their opinions, good or bad, but never actual attacks that I see more often here. Ok it is not all the time, but becoming more frequent.

We are all here for the same reason, parental advice, to help those who need it and to take advice if we need it. Of course not every one is going to agree with you and not every one is going to disagree with you, you may not find what you are looking for either but there is usually plenty of different things to try for one problem which may or may not help… WE CAN'T PLEASE EVERY ONE....

Look at it like this, if someone disagrees with you, take it on the chin, and say well that is how that person works, I hope their parental styles work for them. And if some agrees with you great! Just because something works for my kid does not mean it is going to work for yours.

The point is when you get down to it; there is no way on earth that we can please every one. If we could there would be no need for a site like this because every one would be home playing happy families.

I have not been commenting on much of late, the odd pop in here and there; because I have been reading too much stuff that well was just not the minti I used to know.

Lets all try to get along. We all have the same goal… To help our children to grow up happy and be wonderful adults! At least that is my goal. Ok so you might disagree with me. That is ok. This is what I want for my child. I would love one day for him to come to me and say thanks mum for the wonderful job you did bringing me up. I can’t thank my parents enough for what they did for me. And I don’t ever remember them having a support system like this...

Let’s not ruin it with petty comments, calling people stupid because they believe on thing and don’t agree with us….

Let’s be happy little mintites and enjoy what has been given to us free of charge….

A place where we can meet people, and have many different idea’s on how to deal with many problems that we may have to face in the future if we have not faced them already. One thing may not work for you but another might…

Good luck... I hope Minti can get past all the petty stuff and come back to being the place I remember…..

i was complaining about my child and his devilishness the other day. Well after I saw this I thought... Well at least he does not do this all day....

WOW what do I do well as a parent?  It’s kind of like asking me to float my own boat, to put myself on a pedal stool.  I think I can do that… o But do I talk about something I am proud of teaching my children or something about myself that I am proud of?????  Oh well let’s see what I say…

 If you have been reading my blog over the past week you would see that my son had turned into a devil child, teething I believe with the back teeth. But that is sort of an off side topic, it is more his mood that I am talking about. He was throwing things at me, hitting me, yelling, screaming, and kicking. You name it he was just a pissed off little kid, and no one else to take it out on but me. Even the dog stayed away from him (they have a sixth sense and he sensed danger).  I was at my wits end.  I looked up some minti advice but did not seem to find exactly what I was looking for. So when I write this up as advice I hope someone has not already written it, if so sorry.

Why am I proud of myself? Not sure if I am exactly proud of myself, but I am for sure feeling better about myself as a parent!   

 After talking to Angelmum and Wildrose, I realized that I needed to upgrade on my parenting.  My son is no longer a baby and he was telling me this, I just was not listening hard enough.  He did not want to sit in his high chair any more, yet I still tried to make him.  He did not want to play with some of his baby toys any more but I still tried to make him.  Along with other stuff!  And if it were not for my two friends mentioned above I would not have realized that my baby is no longer a baby, but a toddler.  In the past two days, Francis has been sitting or should I say kneeling at the table like a big boy, I have upgraded some of his toys and plan to do this a little bit at a time and he has enjoyed his big boy toys more then anything. (I had a stash in the basement).  I let him stand in the shopping trolley instead of sit in the little front part (which is some what easier if I want a big shop, but decided on little shop instead. He helped me with the shopping placing things nicely behind him, and then when at the check out lifting things to give to me to place on the belt. He was happy, very happy. I guess with out telling me he felt like a bigger boy. He helped me. He has big boy toys. Still sleeps in a cot, but a big boy bed might be next….

 I guess what I am trying to say is I am proud of the way I adapted to my sons growing up, I almost missed it. Sure I would have picked it up eventually, and that would have lead to many a sad and sorry week… 

 I guess the topic for my next advice would be  learning to adapt or something like that… J

Jess xxxx

PS: Thank you Wildrose and Angelmum for your in site.

WOW what a day...

First of all he got up and was cranky, went to have breakfast and threw it all to the dog, same thing for lunch, threw some cars, books and other nick knacks down the stairs over the child safety gate to the basement.. Yippeeeee....  Then he slept...   Oh sure there was some laughs but there were some tears too, and yes some of them from me...  So I did the only thing I know how to do before I lose my sanity completely.   I turned the music up as loud as it can with out hurting baby ears.   And sang until my heart was content, as loud as I could.. The music was up beat and had me ready to challenge the cute little devil before me who had finally decided to smile because mum was making a fool of herself singing and dancing around the table...  My step daughter of course thought I had lost my mind...

I noticed his face was a little swollen today so we think it may very well be his teeth as he has this Angel turn Demon thing going on for a week.   He has not eaten much this week other then soft stuff, and like an idiot I just figured he was being a cranky bum...  And I had a few doubts about my parenting skills because nothing I could do other then dance around the table singing loudly and flapping my arms around would cheer him up... And really you can only do that for so long.

So I rang a friend and asked her if she was still coming to dinner and she said yes... I said fantastic because I had a horrible week and explained everything that has been going on... She said "I'll see you soon."  So she comes over and low and behold my son makes a lier out of me.... He was the sweetest little thing tonight, hugs and kisses all around.... AHHHHHH but I was grateful for the peace and quite...   :)  Lets hope he feels much better tomorrow...

We logged onto PBS Kids on the internet and played a bit with Barney, and a few other little games on there which kept him happy for a bit.  It was his first real time on the computer and was excited to watch it... And wow i can find all the little duckies that were hiding on the farm.. :)  But that only lasted for half hour thankfully my friend was not to far away...

And last but not least, my friends boyfriend taught my dog tonight in a matter of minutes how to bark on cue... It has been fun....

Well that is all I have to say.. No more hair pulling, no more screaming and throwing stuff, just plain quiet.. Time for sleep now...

Night all and hope tomorrow is a great day for all...
Jess xxxx

Ok here is a photo taken by mum.  Mum and I were shopping and noticed we could not find our husbands... We turn around and found them leaning up against the pool away from the crowds looking like they were ready to give in... LOL this is taken at the St Kilda Market on a Sunday....

To gain a little peace today I decided to break out the crayons and pencils.. For the life of my I could not find the crayons and the pencils kept going to the dog (Francis threw them and the dog was trying to eat them.. A couple got away from me.)  

Anyway i had brought these markers a few weeks back for Camille and decided to give Francis a go.. I should have gotten out the camera.. I am afraid I don't know how his minti t-shirt faired, but the way I was feeling at the time I must say white was not a  smart move...

Anyway these PIP SQUEAK CRAYOLA TEXTA (MARKERS) are amazing.... They are totally washable and came off every part of Francis that he had drawn on.. His face, arms, hands not a bit was untouched.. they even hit the floor.... And all over the kitchen table.... And it all cleaned off with a face washer and water... thats all folks... OH SO EASY... His clothes might need to go through twice but I have a feeling that it might just come out....  Heres a hoping...

Anyway just wanted to tell you how good these markers are.... Totally recommended for those who have kids that draw all over themselves... :)

Finally my devil child is asleep.. I am hoping he will be angel child tomorrow but anything is possible...  Tomorrow he is going out with his dad and his Papi (grandpa) looking for land... Hopefully he will have a good time driving around in the truck, he likes his dad's car a lot so who knows lets hope he is a good boy for them. I'd hate to think he would be a little devil for his Papi....  I want his papi thinking he is an angel.. Mind you most kids are for the papis, mamis, nanas grandma etc....  

So tomorrow morning I think I have to go in search of a purple t-shirt so that my step daughter can iron on her iron on thingy she made on the computer today to make her a nice t-shirt... Hopefully she won't get grounded for copyrighting.. But we'll see... :)

Francis calmed down towards the end of the evening only because I picked him up and held him while I was cooking.. Which is not an easy thing to do. In fact it is a pain in the back trying to turn sausages and not burn your sons feet at the same time... It kind of has you at an uncomfortable position.. But praise be my step daughter who asked if she could help... And she did a fantastic job of cutting up the green pepper, carrots, bacon, frying them up then adding the rice that was so nicely boiled and stirring to make sure it did not burn.... And in the end added an egg... We both agreed the rice was missing something but we could not figure out what it was..... Hmmmm  maybe we will perfect it next time.. We did enjoy cooking together... Well at least I did as for the first time she asked if she could help and did not abandon me in the middle because she was bored... My little girl is growing up...

Anyway tomorrow is another day, this day ended up pretty good in the end... The house is tidy for a visit from the FIL tomorrow, and it looks great, just have to clear a few small items off the bench that really does not matter if they are there but I would prefer to have it clear.. And the roomba is cleaning the floor.. All in all I say tomorrow had better be better then today... Cause in between the book throwing and other devil activity's and the Jess can we do this or can we do that.... Well I have been run ragged..

Ok well that is my rant... LOL love ya Jess xxx

I am sure I am not the only one out there who has days where they wonder what the hell am I doing being a parent.. And if they don't then I am jealous...

Today is one of those days... The plan was, Francis goes to day care and Camille and I go to the 1$shop and buy up stuff to make scrap books....

The plan failed when yesterday Francis broke out in a rash, turns out it was just his allergy but I kept him home anyway just in case.  And for the past week I have wondered what the hell am I doing wrong because I feel like I have the devils child.... Of course this is not the case and I know that when he gives me that beautiful smile... And the smile is beautiful as long as he is not throwing something....

So I figure no worries we'll all take the car to the 1$ shop.. But alas hubby needed his car today and being that it is way to cold to walk there was no scrap booking to be made...   So  Cam and I decided that we'd just print of some photos to get the ball rolling at least.. Well what do you know we are one cartridge short of printing good quality photos that either of us would be happy to put in our scrap books... So no photos to print...   By this stage I am pulling out my hair as while trying to keep Cam happy I am also trying to keep my beautiful devil child happy as well..   This is not an easy task...

But in the end he has now gone to sleep. Cam is playing the xbox and hubby has been home long enough for me to sneak out and buy some ink for the printer, and tomorrow who knows if all goes well we may just get to go to the 1$ shop...

With any luck Francis wakes up an angel as if nothing has happened and he'll be just fine.. He has been sick over the past couple of days, so I will allow him to be some what crabby, but I draw the line at throwing things because he thinks this is fun...

Bye for now.. Love Jess xxxx

This is a photo my mother took when we were finally able to get him into one of these cars and actually enjoy it... :)

LOL well it is almost 2AM and it seems I am back into my old habits.
I have not been on Minti this late in a long time.. Well with out flipping though other websites and getting distracted that is.. :)

I really should be in bed.. But I have Bronchial Asthma which I get at least once every year, so it is hard for me to sleep as for when I lie down I cough like you would not believe and all the coughing gives me sore chest and a headache.. So sleep is not usually there anyway...  So here I am sitting comfortably in my minti chair, drinking from my minti mug..

But should I at least try to get some sleep.. YES I SHOULD.. and will soon.. LOL

So night for now.. xxxxxxxx

Here are a few photos of Francis, the hubby and I taken in Melbourne.. He did not much like the car but after we found one a few days later that was big enough for papu (grandpa) to get in as well he loved them after that....   But this was his first and he did not like it at all.. :)

See my Tabblo>