Lived and Learned... And Paragraphed!

Whew, people! I survived the weekend of blundering Wisconsin fools! The snow didn't stick, but damn was it COLD this morning!! When I think about how cold it is going to get, I also like to think about how for a good portion of it I will be toasty at home with my newborn! HA!
Speaking of babies, I have been thinking and perfecting my "mother knows best list".
For those of you that require a further explanation, let me spin it to you this way.
Do you remember every time you got mad at your parents in high school and said, "Man, I am NEVER going to make my kids do that!". It is sort of like that... Except this particular list is a list of things that I have learned from the first baby that I won't do with this baby, or things I have leaned along the way.
For instance:
1. I won't make the false assumption that if I hold her too long she will get spoiled.
2. There ARE more important things than having to do laundry on a day off, and it won't be the end of the world if my child has to wear the same socks two days in a row.
3. Organic? Please. She can puke just as easily on 1000 thread count egyptian cotton made in America with no chemicals added sheets than she can on plain old Carter's burp bibs. Just trust me on that one.
4. It really IS kind of cool that they can make formula smell like THAT.
5. So what if I don't shower for three days? If my 1 month old doesn't care, than neither do I. So sit somewhere else.
6. HECK YES if she pees her pants on purpose she can sit in them for a few minutes. There is a valuable lesson in pee pants!
7. The $60 outfit IS cute, but how cute is it with a poop stain up the back that you can't get out?
8. Contrary to "popular" belief, I am NOT a bad mother if I forget to wipe off the ketchup stain from her chicken nugget happy meal, don't change her diaper within five minutes of her soiling it, let her run around outside in her diaper in the sprinkler with her big sister, or let her shampoo her barbies hair.
9. I am also not a bad mother if I even buy her a chicken nugget happy meal, or plop her in front of the t.v. for an hour to nap.
10. She doesn't care if you spend $10 or $100 on her for her first birthday. In fact, she is going to like the box a million times more than the Baby Einstein brain stimiluating ulta comfortable bouncer.
11. There is nothing more important than saying I love you- even if you have to force it out between clenched teeth and a red face because you just caught her in the bathroom coating herself with the jar of vaseline.
12. Maybe the most important thing of all- TAKE PICTURES! Even if you find the baby cereal dumped out in the living room to make a swimming pool- it's not funny NOW, but I guarantee a half a year down the road you will have tears streaming out of your eyes you will be laughing so hard.
13. Hug often and cuddle constantly... before they are too big to.

That's what I have so far! I am thinking about adding one a day as a sort of Mommy Mantra. Tell me what you think.

I had an issue with my daughter this weekend- it seems my five year old has her first dilemma.
She hasn't been her usually bouncy self- she has been withdrawn and sullen. I finally had it with her last night and asked her WHAT on EARTH her problem was... and she started all out sobbing telling me she thought I would love Charlotte (the baby) more.
I tell you people, it broke my heart that my daughter would think that!! It made me realize how much talking we have been doing about the new baby, and sort of "neglecting" her. All she needed to do was talk about it, but to rid myself of my guilt I had to run out and buy a Baby Alive Learns To Potty.
After dropping a cool hundred bucks at Toys R Us, I came to this startling realization...
Man, does my five year old ever know how to play me.

Kristi Rufener