Monroe Parenting

I just read an article on CNN.com about a mother who was arrested for killing her newborn by putting the baby in the microwave. What is the matter with people?!!!!

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

I feel like my eyes are going to pop right out their sockets today and, true to form, Baby Keegan now has a cold, too. We’re all in for the long haul now…….

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

I am sick today (although still working) and it’s really hard to rest and get better when you have two children (or any children for that matter) to chase around. When you have kids and get sick, it means one very important thing: that illness isn’t going to leave the house anytime soon.

The last time my daughter caught a cold, she had it for two weeks. In that time frame, she passed it on to the baby, my husband and myself before her sniffles went away, only to catch it again from one of us a few weeks later. It’s like the gift that just keeps on giving!! The never-ending circle of misery.

The fact is, no matter how much hand-scrubbing you do or how hard you try to keep sickness away from your kids, they are going to catch it somewhere. Babies love to put their hands in their mouths. Toddlers are curious about everything, whether it’s been on the ground or not. And grade-school kids and teens are around other kids all day long. The best you can do is give extra does of hugs and be patient.

And since I’m the one who happens to be sick at the moment while they’re healthy, it looks like there will be plenty of Disney videos in our future.

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

As a parent, I suppose I should be used to sleepless nights and only getting to sleep in small increments throughout the day. And yet I guess I’m not.

I got up at 4 a.m. this morning to hit the Black Friday sales. I finished up my shopping spree around noon, had lunch with my family and then headed off to work here at the News for my 4-midnight shift on the copy desk. It’s rapidly approaching 8 p.m. and I’m wondering how on earth I’m going to make it to midnight without my head hitting the desk. I’ve had enough caffeine to kill a donkey today and yet I’m so tired I feel like everything is moving in slow motion. Have I become so used to my baby sleeping in 7-8 hours stretches during the night that I can’t even manage to function one day without a little bit of sleep?

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com
Well, I am adding my last minute touches to my battle plan for tomorrow’s shopping adventure. I have been preparing for weeks (yes, you may feel free to shake your head and laugh at me, but I am too hyped up to care). I found this fabulous Web site, www.gottadeal.com/blackfriday, and it has had most of the Black Friday sale ads on there for at least 2 weeks now. This is the one day of the year that I will actually forego sleep to find the best bargains on my family’s Christms gifts. Call me crazy (and many people have because of this) but the thrill of the hunt gets so exciting!

I have so many stories (good and bad) that revolve around this day. I have stood in line with my sisters at 5:30 in the morning, fighting the bitter cold and getting angry at line-jumpers. Last year my sister Lauren and I went to Kmart to hunt down a purple and pink toy box that was featured in the ad, only to find out after I had it in my cart that there was only one in the whole darn store. Boy did we get out of there fast!!! I was actually afraid someone would try to take it from me.

The year I was a few months pregnant with my daughter, my sister and I started at Wal-Mart. There was a CD player in the ad that my niece wanted for Christmas, so we went to track it down. People were pushing me and I was starting to freak out a little bit. So I just yelled out “People, you’re squishing my baby! Get off me!” And it was like the Red Sea parted as everyone made way for the cranky pregnant woman. I grabbed the CD player and high-tailed it out of there.

I know tomorrow is going to be a very frantic, high-energy time for everyone out shopping for the best deals. I just hope that things don’t get too out of hand. I hope that people who show up 5 minutes before the stores open don’t try to cut the line and anger everybody else who has been waiting so patiently. I hope that people don’t start throwing elbows at others just so they can get their hands on some cheap freebie that stores are giving away.

And after having said all that, yes, I will still be in line somewhere at 4:30 in the morning. Wish me luck!!

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

Have you ever jumped in the shower only to have your baby wake up crying as soon as you get the shampoo in your hair? It must have been a parent who created the 5 minutes or less shower.

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com
I really have to give credit to single parents and those with significant others who work the night shift. My husband started a new job a few weeks ago and it’s working nights. He sleeps until about 11:30 a.m. and then gets up and goes about his business for a few hours before heading off to work. This has been a MAJOR adjustment for my family. …

First of all, my two-year-old daughter has started having “separation issues” and cries whenever one of us goes to work. She begs us “not to leave her” while clinging to our legs. She has been in a daycare setting before and it has never been a problem dropping her off and picking her up. But now, her schedule is all out of whack and she can’t quite figure out when mommy or daddy is supposed to be home. It’s heartbreaking.

Secondly, I also have taken over trying to put both kids to sleep at night. Sometimes it’s no big deal (like tonight), but other nights…..oh geez. My son is teething so that makes it extra hard and my daughter doesn’t understand why I can’t put the baby down and hold her in my lap and read stories until she falls asleep. I try to explain that there are two of them and only one of mommy, but some nights I just want to pull my hair out in frustration.

In a way, I sort of feel like a single parent at night. Before this job, my husband and I would tag-team to get the kids to bed and clean up a little around the house before we passed out. We would each take a child and if we ever got too frustrated trying to get them to sleep, we would switch and help the other person out. Usually dealing with one of the kids for two hours and not making any progress was considering the “breaking point.” I have hit my breaking point many times since we started this new schedule, but no help was forthcoming. It’s very difficult to realize that. And that’s why I want to give credit to the single parents who never have had that help when the nights become just one long blur, or the parents who have been dealing with kids alone at night while their partner works to help keep a roof over their heads.

They say you never can understand what someone is going through until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Well, I understand now. Kudos to you all.

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com
I was all set to write a fabulous blog entry on my excitement for next week’s Black Friday shopping free-for-all when a parenting reality decided to intrude: noisy, attention-hungry children.
Behind me, at his very moment, my husband has Laurie Berkner kid music blaring out of his computer speaker, my daughter is doing her best to bang out a tune on her Fisher-Price piano and my 4-month old son is using his new-found babbling skills to make high-pitch squeaks that can only be heard by dogs. No wonder I get little writing accomplished at home! Who can think in this madhouse?!
For the past few months I also have been editing the Monroe Parent Web site (www.monroeparent.com) and my boss told me I can do it from home if that would be more convenient for me. I tried it a few times and discovered that I get much more done from the office. I think the deciding factor came for me when my daughter “tried to help” and ended up hitting the keyboard and erasing a bunch of work.
Are there any work-at-home parents out there (preferably still sane) who have found a balance between work and chaos?

By Shawna Schmitt, sschmitt@monroenews.com

While I do not claim to be the expert on all things child-related, I am the mom of two small children. Therefore, I like to think that qualifies me to discuss a wide range of topics from popsicle-stick art to the secret trick of a warm running dryer to calm a fussy baby. I’ve spent countless nights walking the floor with a teething infant who prefers drooling down the side of my shirt to a nice cold teething ring, and I’ve spent a good deal of time reading kid’s books to a hyper two-year-old until my voice runs out. Ah, the joys of being a parent!
So let’s have some fun on this site. Do you have any good tips for calming a “screamer?” Or how about any good kid book suggestions? Or maybe you just want to complain about the lack of free time for yourself? Whatever you have to say, I’m listening.