Our yard sale went well, I suppose. I don't really have much to compare it with. My in-laws said that many more people came than they would have had at their house. I made $50-$60, which is fine with me. I didn't have that many items to put in, so I can't complain. My in-laws made a couple of hundred each. It was kind of exciting to sell things. I think I will have to open a retail shop someday (along with all of the other careers I would like to try).

What amazes me is the stuff that people will buy! Most of what I put in was fairly decent still; clothes that I'm just plain tired of, working computer monitor, George Forman grill, etc. Some of the things my in-laws put in were just not worth anything, but yet people bought anyway! H. and I were making fun of my mother-in-law, M. for trying to sell a shower curtain for $3. It was a giant photo of a mountain scene, complete with a field of tulips. The colors were very bright, to say the least. We kept telling her to mark it down, but she wouldn't. And then, a couple bought it! M. was so pleased with herself, because she had originally paid $2 for it at a yardsale!

Baby Shower

I went to a shower tonight for a lady having her fourth child. Her oldest is not quite five yet. It makes me very tired to think how tired she must be. I've observed her with her children in church, and I wonder how she can do it, especially with them so close together. Amazingly, she said tonight that she wants to have lots more children! I'm impressed that anyone could feel that way when they are enormously pregnant.

The shower was typical. We only played one game, thank goodness. Refreshments, and then the presentfest. I was the only person that gave her books (board books for babies and toddlers). Unfortunately, I started to develop a splitting headache, so I did not enjoy socializing that much. A few people brought their kids, which I find a little sad. I'm so glad I have a husband so I can leave mine at home. Some of my friends have to drag their kids wherever they go because their husbands either work weird hours, or won't be left alone with them. The latter fills me with disgust! How can you have children and not be willing to care for them? Also, ever notice how some people, including mothers, use the word "babysitting" to refer to fathers watching their children? As in, Joe is babysitting the kids tonight. That drives me crazy.

Hurricane Rita

It's interesting to see how reactions to the impending storm are different since Katrina hit. The media is having its usual frenzy, of course, but local leaders seem eager to show that they have learned from "the lessons of Katrina." I did notice that one city (was it Galveston or Houston?) is not going to have a shelter of last resort, à la SuperDome. Hmmm. I wonder why! So far, the urgency is greater, and more people are evacuating this time. However, the hundred mile long traffic jams don't bode well. I would really hate to be sitting in an interstate parking lot for hours on end in the heat.

This may not seem very nice to say, but I hope Rita goes for New Orleans. It has to go somewhere, and N. O. is already flood damaged, half-ruined, and evacuated. It would save a lot of tax payer dollars if N. O. got the brunt of it.

Yard Sale

I am so excited - I am having my very first yard sale on Saturday! I've always thought it would be fun to have one, but I have never had much of anything to sell, since I am the opposite of a pack rat. What would that be? I shall have to coin a new idiom. Hmmm. Are there any creatures that throw things away? Anyway, that's my speciality. When in doubt, throw it out. I can't stand clutter, so I make frequent trips to Goodwill.

But now I have my chance. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were planning on having a joint sale, and I offered my yard as the perfect high visibility location. Really, it will mostly be their sale, as I don't have too much too contribute, but that's alright. As I mentally go through my closets, I realize there are things that I could easily part with (old clothes, weird wedding gifts, books I don't want to reread). I even bought little stickers at Wal-Mart today. Oddly enough, I rarely go to yard sales. To me it's a waste of a Saturday morning to sort through others' junk. But the opportunity to pass off my junk . . . I think I have a large dose of the entrepreneurial (sp?) spirit. It would be an interesting challenge to own my business.

Massunutten

We just got back from Massanutten Resort (in the Shenandoah Mountains). A friend from church hooked us up with a stay in a two bedroom condo for free. With our current budget, that's the best kind of vacation we can take. Seriously, the only extra money we spent was gas to get there. We brought food from home and cooked ourselves. The resort is mainly for skiing, which we obviously didn't do, but they have many other summer activities. There were some nice pools, which the we all quite enjoyed, especially S. and K. S. also liked the fancy playground, mini-golf, and the cable TV (No, we do not have cable at home). If you think you notice a theme here, you are correct. Leisure activities at this point in our lives revolve around trying to keep the little ones happy. There were a lot of other activities there we would have liked to have done, such as canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding, raquetball, and hiking, but they just don't work with kids. Someday, however, J and I are going to Europe and leaving the kids behind! That's my idea of a vacation.

Now everyone is cranky and overtired, and I have a lot of unpacking and cleaning to do. Still, it was worth it just to get out the house for a while.

Rethinking Flood Insurance

This Washington Post editorial makes some good points. I have no problem with people choosing to build in flood-prone areas, as long as I don't have to help pay for it!

Potty-training

If I had to pick my most dreaded aspect of motherhood, it would be potty-training. I have feared it for years. It probably stems back to my childhood, when it seems as though there was always someone in my house being trained (I'm the oldest of 10). It was practically a phobia.

In early August, I decide to try seriously with S., age 2 and 9 months. I had made a few feeble attempts before, but had no success whatsoever. By the way, don't waste your money on those potty chairs that play music when the kid performs. It only takes a 2 year old about 10 seconds to discover that there are other much easier ways to hear the song. It didn't take me long to remove the batteries, and tell S. that it didn't work anymore. Also, those disposables with the wetness liner didn't work for her either. She was willing to put up with it. You gotta get the real underpants.

So, having discussed this with my daughter in the previous days, I was as ready as I could be for what I knew would be a challenge. I made a large, decorated potty chart. I had stickers and lemonade. I had mini candy bars. I had a doll that pees. I had a video with songs such as, "She's a Super-Duper Pooper." Basically I just took away the diapers away, and stayed home all week. We watched movies together and read books. That first week was so awful for me, mostly emotionally. I can't stand being cooped up in the house all the time, but I didn't want to confuse her by putting Pull-ups on her to go out. I hated trying to keep her on the potty. She could hold it almost all day long, but I didn't figure that out for a few days, so I was constantly paranoid that she was going to go on my furniture or rugs. Basically, I was a nervous wreck. After one week, there were only two stickers on the chart. The sink was constantly full of wet training pants.

Finally, I relaxed a bit. S. learned that she had to sit on a towel if she wanted to sit on the sofa! By the second week she had a few more successes, but not more than one a day, because she would hold it in until the afternoon. I never could get her to drink very much. By the third week, it clicked. She is now quite well-trained in the peepee department. She will even come in from playing outside to go, and is so proud of herself. She has stopped holding it. Half the time she forgets to ask for her treat, which in any case we are weaning her off of. We downgraded her from the candy bars to chocolate kisses to gummy bears.

Beware if you have a younger child. Three times S. has done her business, and not told me (isn't that great she's so independent?). Well, K. crawled over and was playing in the pee before I realized what was going on! Horrors! Now S. knows that she has to tell me!

Anyway, I am so happy at the progress she has made. (Number 2 is another story. Currently she waits til she has her bedtime diaper on to poop.) I know that many experts say not to push a kid; let them do it when they are ready. But I was tired of paying for all those diapers, and knowing her personality, she may have held out until the age of four. So I don't regret it, although that first week was brutal.

How many outfits a day?

S. is now fully into that phase of being extremely interested in clothing. She can get herself dressed and undressed for the most part, and is enjoying using that new power multiple times a day. It is driving me crazy! All day long she puts on new outfits and discards old ones. There are clothes strewn all over the house. Rarely is anything matching or weather-appropriate, so if we go anywhere I still have to change her. I got her a used chest of drawers recently (yard-sale of a friend) with most of the handles missing. I hoped that that would hinder her, but she is still able to get the drawers open. I'm hoping that she will outgrow this phase soon. If not, I will have to be more creative. When my sister-in-law had the same problem with her daughter, she took her whole bureau and moved it to her bedroom, and kept the door locked. However, our room is so small, that wouldn't work for me. Plus the door doesn't lock.

This morning in church we had our second rehearsal for next week's Primary Program (annual children's presentation in sacrament meeting). The kids were a lot more restless this week than last; frankly, they're just bored with singing those songs so many times. It was like a revolving door to the bathroom. I'm sure half of them didn't really need to go, but who cares? I would have done the same in their shoes. I think it will be fine next week, though. They always behave better when there is an audience staring back at them! I'm just so glad I'm in the presidency, and thus can walk around a bit. The poor class teachers are stuck sitting there during the whole rehearsal - it's murder. I know, because I was a teacher last year. I feel a little guilty for having it easier, but hey, that's the way it is. There are plenty of other things I should feel guilty about instead (like being too grouchy to my husband).

Early to Rise

Why is that children get up earlier on Saturday than any other day of the week? My two little munchkins had been sleeping decently late all week (around 7 AM), but this morning K. starts fussing at 6:11 AM. It was still dark out, so there's no excuse for it! J. got her up and brought her in to our bed, but that was the end of sleep. I've been told that other people's children will snuggle or doze with them in those early morning hours. Never happened here; not with S. or K. Oh well, it helped me get a real jump on the day. I made omelettes and was ready to run errands before some of the stores were even open. Makes me feel very industrious. I catch myself thinking, "Why aren't these businesses open before 9 or even 10 AM? Don't they know it's Saturday morning?