Bad Mommy Confession #3

I'm on the TV train. Yep that's right, I got off my high horse, got pregnant, got tired, got really really tired, and succumbed to letting the little guy watch TV daily.
The best part about all of this is that I had to really work hard to get the hyper little boy to sit down and watch it. First I tried kids shows that I used to enjoy as a youngster; Flinstones, Rugrats, Muppet Babies....-Teddy was having none of it and would often even go and turn the TV off. Fail! Then I tried shows with little to no violence and lots of talking that I liked to watch like Murder She Wrote, cooking shows, or Masterpiece Theater, these sometimes worked for about 5 minutes but then the gig was up and Teddy was back to turning the TV off- and of course I was really into it and all pissed that he was turning the TV off right at a super exciting point in Jessica Fletcher's investigation. Great parenting for the win! Finally I left a channel on which I had previously always skipped over for being too inane- BABYTV. It was like  little Teddy crack (I recently found out that suckers are too, who knew?). His eyes quickly glazed over and he sat down on the couch to watch 20 minutes of little 3-4 minute clips of baby geared entertainment. Supposedly all the clips are created by child development specialists and have specific themes in mind; creativity, numbers, etc. Honestly I could care less and can't imagine that he is really learning anything besides a few annoying theme songs but oh my gosh on those mornings where he wakes up at 6 and the hubby and I want to pretend that the weekend is still something special and different then a weekday, we grab Teddy a snack, position him between us, turn on the TV , and both fall back asleep for another half hour while our son watches the giggling shapes and children on Babytv.

Now this would be the time for me to throw out that we still limit the TV to about 20-30 minutes a day, and some days not at all, and, and, and. But honestly I don't feel bad. We do lots of fun awesome things with Teddy every day. Watching TV is clearly not one of them, but I also don't think it is hurting him either. Is he learning anything at the time? Probably not. But is he climbing on my dresser, throwing jewelry on the ground, taking clothes out of drawers, sometimes jumping onto my head, and otherwise getting into trouble? Nope and considering this is what he used to do when we would try to sleep in just a teensy bit longer I am totally cool with the TV alternative. I've also started using it on those days where I just want 10 minutes alone in the kitchen to get dinner started without the kind of "help" that Teddy provides and it has been a great way to keep my stress and annoyance from rising to overwhelmed levels.

So I'm admitting it here and now. My not even two year old son gets to watch some TV and I think it is OK.

Bad Mommy Confession #2

There are a ton of posts which I have started and need to finish- like the book review for Positive Discipline the First Three Years, but I never seem to have more then a few minutes on the computer lately and those posts need more time then that.

I want to update my blog more regularly though so I thought I would add a nice new Bad Mommy Confession.

You know that kid at the playground? The one with snot hanging from his nose, an untied shoe, dirt everywhere, and just a general look of uncleanliness.
That is totally my kid.

Which is awesome because before I had a child....(you know nothing good is coming when you hear the phrase "before I had kids") I was totally that person who was really grossed out by snot and very dirty children.

This is why I of course had a child who zones in on anything which can get him dirty in a new place, who constantly throws all of his food on the floor (seriously this is driving me batty, does anyone have any tips? We let him do some snacks on the floor but the floor can't handle much more of his abuse), and who has some sort of allergy which causes him to constantly have a runny, snotty nose which can't possibly be wiped clean.

I do try and wipe his face off but the kid hates it and I already have to do enough wrestling with him during diaper changes. So normally there is a nice layer of dried food (peanut butter is one of his favs), sand- thanks good weather!, and snot all over most of his face and clothes. I mean today he was pouring sand over himself like a shower, how am I supposed to combat that??

So instead of fighting it, I have accepted it. I enjoy the twenty minutes before breakfast where he looks clean and adorable and then the rest of the day I just look on in sweet acceptance as he gets incredibly dirty. Sometimes I even wipe his snotty face with my bare hands... I know in my head that that must be incredibly disgusting but for some reason it doesn't bother me at all. It also doesn't bother me when he wipes his dirty little face all over my clothes- because for some reason my clothes are much much better then any tissue. I love my son for the cute little man he is and have now become that parent who doesn't care that her child looks slovenly.

So sorry to everyone who has to look at my snotty, dirty child. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it in the next 10 years.

Bad Mommy Confession, Number 1

My first bad mommy confession here on Hetta Hoo.

Pacifiers. No not that I use them, honestly if you think that is enough for a bad mommy confession, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog.

No, my confession is that I rarely ever sterilize them. In fact I have even take a pacifier out of the packaging and inserted it directly into the squealing little guy's mouth. No 5 minutes of boiling, nothing. At the time it seemed like an emergency but I know for some women there is no excuse.

Besides barely ever remembering to throw them in the dishwasher or sterilizer, I also carry them in whatever I have handy; a pocket, my (probably dirty) hand, diaper bag (and not in its own special hygenic container), you get the idea.

When they fall on the ground do you know what I do?
Blow on it, brush it with my hand, and then plop it back in his mouth. In extreme cases I might even suck on it once in place of water. But as a friend pointed out, my mouth is one of the most germy places of all, so clearly more harm then good.

And you know what makes this a real bad mommy confession? I don't feel bad, not one little bit.