Battle of the Uninvited Bedfellow

I am in a battle; a knock down, drag out battle. The casualties are many. The opposition cannot be underestimated. Yes, I have been engaged in hand to hand combat with my almost two year old, Gavin. He has mastered the art of getting out of his crib. As a result, he visits us in the middle of the night. One night, he came into our room 8 times! Oh yeah, and the crying; I can't tell you how pleasant that is. We have tasted victory when Gavin stayed in his bed all night. However, we have also experienced defeat when we woke up and found him nestled in between us. He's a sneaky lil stinker.

I've looked for solutions online. The worst advice I read was that a family put a huge mattress in the baby's room and slept on that so that the baby would stay in his bed. Hmmmmm....I'm going to pass on that precious gem of advice. The best suggestion I've read was to stay consistent and patient. Every time he comes in our room, we quickly bring him back to his bed. Yet after three weeks of not getting a full night's sleep, my patience is wearing thin.

Somebody, anybody, everybody help! I am reaching out for good suggestions to win this war.

The Perfect Baby Name

A couple weeks ago, Ryan thought it would be fun to go to Borders and look at baby name books for ideas. Before I go on, I want to clarify that I am not pregnant. It was just for giggles. The names we found were more horrible than promising. Below is a list of the top ten worst baby names:

1. Dianca- Here is an example of taking a perfectly normal name like Diana and with one letter, screwing the whole thing up.
2. Kanessa- Vanessa, yes; Kanessa, no!
3. Erastus- This name is difficult to both say and hear.
4. Phosphorus- At what point did we start looking to the Periodic Table for baby names?
5. Clanidia- "Um hi, my name is Clanidia and this is my best friend, Gonnorhita."
6. Alfe- My my, how quickly we have forgotten about that 80's alien comedy.
7. Burr- That is not a name; it is a verbal response to coldness!
8. Foxania- Test your potential baby name by inserting it into the following sentences and see which is a better fit. 1. "Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States ." 2. "And now on the main stage, Showgirls Strip Club is proud to present ."
9. Tender- Imagine your whole life introducing yourself as, "Hello, I'm Tender!"
10. Ishtar- Enough said.

If your name is on the list, my apologies. I did not mean to offend you. However, I would look into changing it if I were you.

Skinny Jeans

There comes a point, in every child's life, when mom stops making the decisions on what they wear. This journey has begun for me. For weeks, Bryce begged for a pair of skinny jeans. Skinny jeans? That's so emo! I had vetoed the idea until I overheard him saying to his cousin that he's the only kid in school without them. I remember being that girl who was about a step (and then some) behind everyone in fashion. While the everyone in my grade was wearing Air Jordans and pegging their pants, I wore knockoff Keds with my Lee Jeans (oh yeah, don't forget the neon laces...nice). What Bryce said bothered me enough that I realized that I did not want him to walk through those same insecurities.

I took him shopping and we found the perfect pair. They were his reward for making straight A's (again). While some boys wear new suits for Easter Sunday, my boy wore his skinny jeans with a tie and high tops. Bryce looked so handsome. It was like gazing upon the long lost Asian member of the Jonas Brothers.

This is just the beginning of letting go and allowing the kids to make their own decisions. Today it's skinny jeans, tomorrow it will be which college to attend or which girl to marry. Whether I like it or not, my boys are growing up. We raise our kids to think for themselves so that they can step into who they are supposed to be. It is great in theory, but bittersweet in action.