Three Thought Thursday: Episode 12

1. A few days ago after both little monkeys were sleeping in their beds, I realized that we've finally reached an exciting new state of "normal" at the Asmussen abode. I say exciting, because it truly is the closest thing to the rest of the world's "normal" than anything we've had in the past two-and-a-half years. And by "normal" I'm talking everyone in this house goes to bed on their own, sleeps through the night in his own bed, can walk and doesn't have to be carried (although sometimes they still are...), can feed himself (though it requires a massive clean-up effort 100% of the time), and naps at the same time as everyone else wanting or needing to take a nap. I never realized how much I missed normal until I finally had it back. It's awesome to fix the boys their lunch, set it on the table, and then either eat with them or have time to clean a few dishes while they eat instead of aiding in the eating process. And don't even get me started on how much I love seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. Yes, up until about a month ago I had a baby up in the middle of the night since November of 2007. Kolbe was just barely sleeping through the night when Reagan was born. I had just accepted that no sleep was my lot for the rest of my life. So now, all I can say is, "Ahhh." Sleep is glorious! Guess I better enjoy it while I can!

2. But when we're not busy being normal, we're busy being terribly not-normal. At least Kolbe, that is. Kolbe has been two for four months now and I've been so happy to see that the so-called "terrible twos" aren't so terrible after all. Until now. I'm really not sure what has gotten in to him, but a few words that come to mind are "bull-headed", "strong-willed", and "independent." Here's an example:
Kolbe: Mama, mes go back ard?
Me: Not right now, Kolb. It's raining.
(Immediate melt down with genuine fake tears begins.And no amount of reasoning helps.)
The scene continues on and on. Yesterday for literally TWO hours! As soon as he'd calm down I'd make the mistake of saying something like "Ok, let's go eat lunch now." To which he'd respond with immediate crying. Once he gets worked up, anything (seriously, anything) I say is just complete fuel to the fire. The ignore tactic has become a friend of mine. A lot of the time he's upset about something he wants to do himself. This has largely revolved around getting dressed, thus morning time and bedtime have become a nightmare.
Me: Kolbe, let's go get dressed so we can eat breakfast.
Kolbe: Me's turn.
Me: Ok. Pull your jammies off.
(Kolbe struggles to get the bottoms off and is completely stuck on the top.)
Me: Here Kolb, let me help.
Kolbe: No, ME'S turn!!!
Me:I'm going to let you do it, I'm just going to help.
(Full melt down begins.)
These melt downs often result in "Don't come out of your room until you're ready to stop crying." You can get down and try to level with him all you want. It does no good. The worst is the battle of the wills:
Me: Well you can't go with Pinkie until you tell Mama sorry for kicking her while she was helping you get dressed.
Kolb: (silence.)
Me: (after roughly five minutes of trying to get him to apologize) Ok, go ahead and leave, Pinkie. Kolbe isn't going to apologize to Mama.
(Pinkie walks out. Kolbe starts crying.)
Kolbe: Worwies, Mama! Worwies!
Me: Well Kolbe, Pinkie is already gone. You should have said sorry when we asked you to. Let's see if we can catch her before she's gone. Oh good! There she is! Let's put your shoes on so you can go.
Kolbe: No shoes, Mama.
Me: Kolbe, you have to wear shoes to go bye bye with Pinkie.
(Melt down back on.)
No, he didn't end up getting to go with Pinkie. It ended with me leaving him in his room and telling him not to come out till his shoes were on. By the time Pinkie got back, he had stopped crying and his shoes were on. The wrong feet, of course, but on nonetheless. It's been a long few weeks. The biggest challenge for Mark and me has just been following through. Kolbe has definitely discovered his will power and is testing us to see what he can get away with. He wants the world to revolve around him. Hey, don't we all sometimes!?! And there are many times that Mark and I kind of feel like just giving in in order to get him to calm down. But what good will that do us in the long run? We've seen several families where the child is in charge and that's definitely not how we want to roll. Guess we'll just have to grin and bear the melt downs till he figures things out. He actually had a fabulous day yesterday so maybe we're not too far off!

3. Are you in need of a new major appliance? Do you want to save a ton of money on it? If you live in Texas, there's a major opportunity coming up next month to make this happen! Back in the fall, the government decided to fund a program similar to Cash for Clunkers but for appliances. The money was distributed to each state and each state was given the power to decide how to run its version of the program. Texas has decided to have the program coincide with Earth Day which is on April 22nd. Appliances have to be  Energy Star appliances and have to be purchased between April 16th and April 25th. Plus, you have to "reserve" your rebate prior to purchasing the appliances either by calling a number or applying online beginning April 5th. So you apply. You get approved. They give you forms to send in with your receipt. They mail you the rebate. A few hoops to jump through, but well worth it! Plus, you get even more if you recycle your old appliance! Sweet! And there are definitely many Energy Star appliances that are very affordable. So you can either get an affordable model for a steal or splurge and get a fancy shmancy one for what you would have spent on the affordable one. Mark and I got some money for Christmas that we had planned on using for a new dishwasher. (ours is disintigrating.) We haven't made our purchase because I knew about this program and decided we had to hold off till we could get the rebate. When you see how much you get for each appliance, it's definitely worth it! Check it out at THIS website.