Feeding My Toddler
My baby girl is 2 years old. Well 2 1/2 really. Not sure if it makes a difference.
She is what you would call a picky eater. I call it annoying.
She refuses to eat meat, unless it’s bacon (turkey) & sometimes deli meat.
She refuses to eat any veggies, except for baby carrots (sometimes).
You’ll see the word sometimes used a lot throughout. That’s because there is not one single solitary thing that I can get her to eat on an always basis. Everything is hit or miss. Even the food that I know she likes, she’ll refuse at times. (Exception is milk - the girl loves some milk.)
I’ve tried a lot of things.
- giving her a choice - A lot of times she refuses my choices and adds in her own. Sometimes it works. But, sometimes, she chooses, I make the food, and then she says, “No. I don’t want it.”
- not giving her a choice - I’ve done the opposite and have tried to get her to eat whatever we’re eating or whatever is given to her. This usually results in her skipping that meal. Call me a softy, but what mom wants her child skipping a meal, especially when it’s dinner?
- having her help - Yes, having her help me make her food is fun and exciting. But, again, most times she still refuses the food after we’ve made it.
- cutting food into fun shapes - Let’s just say the novelty of this wears off after the first couple of times. For her, not me.
It’s maddening, to say the least.
I swear she lives off milk and wouldn’t otherwise gain any weight.
What can this mami do?
I’m sure some of you out there have some tips. Let me hear them!
Please. Pretty please. 
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Posted in Motherhood, Parenting, The Monkey, toddlers on July 18th, 2008 by ModernMami | | 5 Comments
Poop in my Fridge
Yes, you read that right.
There is poop.in.my.fridge.
There’s something I never thought I would say.
Or have in my fridge, for that matter.
But yet, here I am. And, I’m blogging it. Cause, that’s what the cool kids do these days. 
Anyway, here’s the story.
Baby girl has been having some stomach issues since yesterday.
I took her to the doctor this morning and was asked to provide a sample.
My poor mother had the unfortunate task of collecting the sample, since both the husband and I were at work.
I soooooo owe her. I probably need to buy her a couple cups of Starbucks. Or chocolate. Wait, she doesn’t like chocolate too much. (I KNOW - what woman doesn’t like chocolate? It’s a whole nother story.)
Where was I?
Oh, right. The point is I OWE HER.
So, since I was at work, by the time I picked up baby girl, the lab spot was already closed.
I have to wait until the morning to drop it off.
What to do with 3 tubes of poop sample?
Hmmm…NO IDEA
Called the pediatrician and they said “Refrigerate it!”
Yay! Why not?
So now I have poop in my fridge.
Aren’t you glad you read all about it?
***Update: There is no longer any poop in my fridge. I dropped it off to the lab the next morning.
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Posted in Motherhood, Parenting on July 16th, 2008 by ModernMami | | 4 Comments
Brushing Teeth Technique for Toddlers/Preschoolers
I was watching last week’s Supernanny - I’m lucky I have a DVR, otherwise I’d never watch TV!
Anyway, in last week’s episode, the family had an almost 5 year old girl, and twin 3 1/2 year old boys.
Well, the parents were complete control freaks! They wouldn’t let the kids run a few feet ahead of them. And, they didn’t let the kids brush their own teeth.
You should have seen how they brushed the teeth for them! It was like torture for the kids.
They laid them down and propped their heads up on pillows and while the kid screamed, brushed their teeth.
Supernanny offered them a pretty cool technique for allowing the kids to brush their own teeth. She gave them all their own portable mirrors so they could see themselves while brushing. And, she told the mom to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” two times. That way, the kids knew how long they should brush their teeth.
Who knew?
I thought that was really useful and a good way to provide kids with a cue to know how long they should brush their teeth. Or even a cue for me to know!
I think I’m going to try it with baby girl and see if it’ll help her to get better at brushing her teeth.
Now, how to teach her to spit the tooth paste out and not swallow it?
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Posted in Motherhood, Parenting, toddlers on June 18th, 2008 by ModernMami | | 10 Comments
Toddler Potty Training (What Not to Do)
Ok, so here’s what not to do when trying to potty train your toddler -
- Don’t listen to everyone else telling you it’s time
- Don’t buy a potty seat and hope that it will magically inspire your toddler to show interest in potty training
- Don’t let your toddler play with the potty seat
- Don’t laugh when your toddler takes the “bucket” and wears it
and finally…..
- Don’t expect much to happen at first
Ahhh, yes, the joys of embarking on the potty training journey….
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Posted in Motherhood, Parenting, The Monkey, toddlers on October 22nd, 2007 by ModernMami | | 1 Comments
Working Mothers - A Delicate Balance
It’s Wednesday!
What a hectic week so far.
Work is super busy. Of course, the home life is always hectic.
I find that more often than not, I have an inner battle going on.
Part of me knows that I can’t possibly keep up with everything - home, work, husband, daughter, myself, parents, etc.
Yet, the other half, for whatever unknown ridiculous reason, has it in her head that she should be able to keep up with everything. Not just should, but MUST.
It’s insane.
I realized the other day that this is probably due to years of brainwashing from my mother. And, when I say brainwashing, I mean that in the nicest way possible. Obviously, she did not set out to corrupt my mind. But, through example, it happened.
You see, my mother was a stay at home mom - way before that was even a term; in fact, I believe the term at the time was “housewife.”
Anyway, since she stayed home with us until I was about 12 or so, I watched her keep the house in an impeccable state of cleanliness. She had no clutter, no baskets of laundry just waiting to be folded, no dust, and always had dinner on the table when my father came home from work.
Even when she did start working, she still managed to come home from work, and get right to the kitchen. Maybe it had something to do with our Puerto Rican culture. But, whatever it was, it still amazes me how she did it.
I struggle on a daily basis to be able to just put a quick dinner together. To spend some time with my baby girl after a long day at work. Don’t even mention trying to squeeze in some time for the husband.
I think (well actually, it was brought to my attention by the husband recently) that because I grew up seeing her manage so well, and because she often talked with me about having to be a “good wife”, I now have these extremely high (and false) expectations of myself.
It’s very frustrating.
How do you manage to keep up? Do you find you have false expectations for yourself?
technorati: balancing work and life, managing household, motherhood, working mom, working mother, sahm
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Posted in Motherhood, Sahm, Women, Work on July 11th, 2007 by ModernMami | | 18 Comments
Getting Pretty Big, huh?
For all you moms or soon-to-be moms out there, I’m sure you can relate. We’ve all heard those annoying comments or questions when pregnant.
The one I used to hate the most was, “Getting Pretty Big, huh?“.
I used to just smile and nod, or fake a lil laugh, but man, do I wish I could have just told them off.
I think next time, if I get the same question, I’ll try to answer with something like, “Big? You think I’m getting big? You don’t think I could be pregnant, do you?”.
What sorts of questions/comments did you get when pregnant or as a new mom? What was your answer (or what you wish you had said)?
Don’t you wish you could have just handed them this
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Posted in Motherhood, Pregnancy on July 6th, 2007 by ModernMami | | 10 Comments
Toddler Bed - Is it Time?
My 18 month old daughter climbed out of her crib last night.
She didn’t even cry or talk.
We have no idea how long she was up and out of her crib. Just that around 4:50 am, she said something (not sure what), and when the husband went to check on her, there she was. Standing by the door, holding her stuffed seal…waiting.
How did she climb out? No idea. I know she can put her leg up over the railing. I’m guessing she pulled herself over and dropped down.
So now what do we do? Do we move her to a regular bed? Do we leave her in the crib and take the front railing off? Won’t she fall in her sleep?
How did you handle it when your toddler climbed out of his/her crib?
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Posted in Motherhood, Parenting, The Monkey, toddlers on June 25th, 2007 by ModernMami | | 10 Comments
Time Management Tips
Who’s Got the Time? Five Ways to Save Hours in Less Than a Minute
By: Christine Louise Hohlbaum
Time is a democratic commodity. Everyone has the same amount of it. Yet most people you talk to will tell you they don’t have any. Don’t buy it. Everyone has twenty-four hours a day. What your boss, spouse, neighbor, teacher, contractor or vendor is really telling you is something completely different. They are telling you they have other priorities: such as servicing another client, watching the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy or attending their child’s soccer game. It just sounds nicer to say you are out of time than that you are out of luck.
If you’ve fallen into the trap of saying you have no time, you’re not alone. Most Americans value their time more than their retirement funds. The question is what is time for?
Most would answer by closely linking their quality of life with how they spend their time. The real question is how much time do we actually spend doing the things we love? Goal-setting is integral to answering that question. To paraphrase Jack Canfield in The Success Principles, knowing where you want to go will get you there faster than if you don’t. Oftentimes we waste our time, however, on things that do not serve our ultimate needs and desires.
Juggling our commitments in this fast-paced world is not easy. It warrants, however, taking a step back to review how we might apply better use of our time. Test these five time-saving techniques on your own. You may find yourself saying yes to actions that will ultimately give you what you want out of life.
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Posted in Articles, Motherhood, Parenting, Sahm, Wahm on June 23rd, 2007 by ModernMami | | 0 Comments
New Baby in the Family!
My brother and sister-in-law just had their baby last night!
I have a brand new nephew to add to the collection.
She was in labor for a little under 23 hours before they did a c-section.
My little nephew just didn’t want to make his way down the canal. Try as they did, he stopped mid-way.
All is well and everyone is healthy.
As dumb as it might sound, I asked her, “If he was already making his way down, how did they pull him back up to deliver him via c-section?”
She had no clue either and didn’t bother to ask. I don’t blame her.
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Posted in Misc, Motherhood, Parenting, Pregnancy on June 22nd, 2007 by ModernMami | | 0 Comments
Getting Toddlers to Eat Healthy
The search continues to get my toddler daughter to eat right. You might remember my previous post where I expressed my frustration with getting her to eat.
This article might help….
Getting Toddlers to Eat Healthy
By Mila Sidman Alice Seba
It may seem a daunting task but getting your toddler to eat healthy isn’t actually the difficult task it seems. In fact, the toddler years is the perfect age to instil good eating habits in your toddler. As kids get older and they have outside influences such as school, going to friend’s houses and the every popular media aimed at kids it gets much more difficult to get your kids to eat healthy.
So that’s the great news, now how do you get your toddler to eat healthy, nutritious foods?
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Posted in Articles, Motherhood, Parenting, The Monkey, toddlers on May 18th, 2007 by ModernMami | | 0 Comments
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