Pregnancy, adoptions, and parenting

[snopes]

Continuation of thread from http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=45541

[FredCat]

oh dear, DS has got bottom problems again. A lack of pooping. He usually goes once a day but has only gone once in the last three days and then it didn't seem to be enough to clear everything out. I think it's back to the coloxyl... I really hope we don't have to resort to the glycerin suppository...

[Christie]

Huh... Saleh, at two, was quite insistent on being Elmo for Halloween. Sure, he didn't know what Halloween was, in the sense of going door to door to get candy, but he wanted to dress up as Elmo. When he got sick and ended up sleeping through trick-or-treating, he was very upset and cried and cried. Next year, he wanted to be Elmo again, and he delighted in going door to door and saying "Trick or Treat!"

Really? At two my kids were not aware that there was an option of "dressing up" that involved mom having to go shopping for costumes or get out the trusty sewing machine (well, to be honest, asking one of my sisters to get out their trusty sewing machine). Halloween, had we wanted to do so, would have been just another day in October for them. It was their dad and I who cared about marking the day, not them. The enthousiasm for going trick or treating came soon enough though believe me!

[Auntie Witch]

Not only does Katarina want a costume for Halloween, but she has informed me she wants her birthday to be a costume party. Since it's the Saturday after Thanksgiving and therefore most likely to be the day of our big Thanksgiving dinner, that's not likely to happen.

[Pinecone]

If this baby hasn't turned up by Halloween, I may dress up as something that involves painting my belly.

ETA: There's some cool pictures here!

[purpleiguana]

Originally Posted by Christie

Really? At two my kids were not aware that there was an option of "dressing up" that involved mom having to go shopping for costumes or get out the trusty sewing machine (well, to be honest, asking one of my sisters to get out their trusty sewing machine). Halloween, had we wanted to do so, would have been just another day in October for them. It was their dad and I who cared about marking the day, not them. The enthousiasm for going trick or treating came soon enough though believe me!

Yeah... but then, Halloween is hubby's favorite holiday, so he was seriously hyping it up. Couple that with Saleh's being all hyper-verbal and (at the time) insane love of Elmo, and bingo. Khaled, OTOH... I think he understands that he gets candy for saying "trick or treat" but I'm not entirely sure that he understands why, and he more or less allows us to dress him up, but he doesn't really choose what he wants to be.

ArrowTech originally posted:

Usually, I try to give Theron choices. However, we decided on Theron's costume primarily because I can't afford to waste money on another expensive costume at a shop this year, particularly if he'll just refuse to wear it. Last year, Theron wanted to be Elmo. That huge, furry costume was too hot for 87 degree weather. He wore it once in the shop and never again. Unfortunately, that's what they sell us here in Texas: ridiculous, hot, total-body costumes.

That... is dumb. On the part of the shops, of course.

If Theron refuses to be a pirate and we can cobble together a different costume, I'll do that. We have a cowboy hat and a bowler hat too. I even have a few extra white t-shirts, and he can decorate one if he wants to. What I can't do is spend $40 on something he might not even wear once. I would rather spend the money on cute books or videos that we'll use.

That totally makes sense, of course. And the best time to save money on Halloween costumes is the week after Halloween, when the store's looking to unload inventory... but of course, there's no way to be sure that Theron would want to even be that a year later.

***********************************************

Switching gears radically... I have a cute story of something that happened a few days ago when we were in NC. Of course, I think it's cute, but I warn that there is poop involved, so skip the rest of this post if you don't want to read about poop.


I was downstairs with my MIL. Hubby was upstairs with the boys in this playroom that they have. All of a sudden, I hear Saleh call down the stairs, "Mooooooooommy! I got poopy on the potty seat."

I really didn't need an explanation beyond that. I knew exactly what happened. See... Saleh's only recently begun to notice that, in public, Mommy and Daddy use different restrooms. So sometimes he insists on going to the men's room, and we explain that Daddy has to take him... or he insists on going to the women's room, and we explain that I have to take him. I'm not allowed in the men's room, and Daddy's not allowed in the women's room. And I told him that when he was big enough to go to the bathroom all by himself without any help at all, he would use the men's room, and I would wait outside the door.

So... I knew... I just knew that what he had done was decide to go to the bathroom by himself. There was poop involved and, since he doesn't seem to predict the need to poop into the toilet, I deduced that he had pooped, then slid himself across the toilet seat to go potty.

What I wasn't expecting was that he had completely disrobed in preparation to go potty (tho his shorts were back on now), had left the poopy pull-up on the floor (rather than putting it in the trash), and that the smear was HUGE. And, since his pull-up was on the floor, I knew that there was poop all over the inside of his shorts.

Cleaning up wasn't the most fun I ever had, but I did explain to him that I was very proud of him for trying to go potty all by himself, but that next time, I would like it if he told me so that I could help if he needed it.

[mizzie]

Arrow Tech IV wrote:

Unfortunately, that's what they sell us here in Texas: ridiculous, hot, total-body costumes.

Wow, seriously? Because what they sell here in Minnesota are tiny things made out of the thinnest fabric that still qualifies as fabric, usually with short sleeves or sleeveless and (for the girls) knee length skirts. On average, you can expect it to be somewhere around 45 degrees Halloween night. It's not unheard of to Trick-or-Treat in the snow.

So, you either cover the whole thing up with a coat (so what's the point?), freeze, or find cleaver ways of layering clothes underneath. That's exactly why DD hasn't been a princess or fairy for Halloween. Her first year she was a pirate (I made the costume, so I made the "boy" version that had pants instead of a skirt and long sleeves) and last year she was a witch (long sleeves, ankle length skirt). Both times we could layer clothes under the costume.

This year she's said she wants to be a ghost or Little Red Riding Hood. I'm trying to steer her away from ghost, actually, because I like to make her costumes and that would be boring. (I'm selfish, ) I think LRRH might work, and it would be SO cute to get a wicker picnic basket to use for candy instead of her plastic pumpkin. AND, a red hooded cape is part of the costume. Built in coat! ^_^

[LizzyBean]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

If this baby hasn't turned up by Halloween, I may dress up as something that involves painting my belly.

ETA: There's some cool pictures here!

Pinecone I think that is a FABULOUS idea.

I wanted to do that too, but Sprout came two days before Halloween.

[Christie]

Originally Posted by mizzie

This year she's said she wants to be a ghost or Little Red Riding Hood. I'm trying to steer her away from ghost, actually, because I like to make her costumes and that would be boring. (I'm selfish, ) I think LRRH might work, and it would be SO cute to get a wicker picnic basket to use for candy instead of her plastic pumpkin. AND, a red hooded cape is part of the costume. Built in coat! ^_^

OMG, I just had a flashback to my first Halloween in the US when I was 6. Finally I could wear a costume that didn't involve coats and mittens! My mom made me (or somehow got me) a Little Red Riding Hood costume. And I was pretty darn cute .

[Gibbie]

Arrow Tech, I think you really need to scale down your expectations a bit. Understand I mean this kindly and I'm not trying to be harsh, but a full body Elmo costume for a two year old was never a good idea. He wanted to be Elmo? Red footy pajamas and some face paint. Seriously. Save anything elaborate for when he's old enough to participate. When my daughter was 2 she wore a dress, I painted two red circles on her cheeks and she was a doll. She didn't know, she didn't care, people thought she was cute. (And she couldn't say trick or treat but she'd hold her bag out and yell "CANDY!!" It was adorable.

Same with this year. You don't have to sweat a costume contest perfect costume, it's simply not going to mean anything right now to anyone but you. And you've already learned that your model is fickel. You've got years and years to be elaborate ahead, right now really isnt' the time.

Gibbie

[Auntie Witch]

Gibbie's comment reminded me that I need to make the following Halloween-related PSA:

Do not, under any circumstances, give your children the impression that you are capable of/willing to create anything they might want for their Halloween costume. Should you do so, you may just end up having to come up with how to dress your child up as the moon. With two sides. That glows.

[Hastings]

Backyardigans does have a pirate adventure. Warning: You'll be singing the songs for weeks. Earworm alert here. "It may seem bizarre but you know you're a pirate when they hear you say ARRR!"

Oh my goodness, Matt has been singing that ever since I clicked on the link days ago. Bear in mind, please, that Matt is my husband, and has just turned 31.

I blame you, Auntie Witch!

[Auntie Witch]

Originally Posted by Hastings

Oh my goodness, Matt has been singing that ever since I clicked on the link days ago. Bear in mind, please, that Matt is my husband, and has just turned 31.

I blame you, Auntie Witch!

And I blame you for the soda that just shot out my nose!

[purpleiguana]

Originally Posted by Hastings

Oh my goodness, Matt has been singing that ever since I clicked on the link days ago. Bear in mind, please, that Matt is my husband, and has just turned 31.

I blame you, Auntie Witch!

I'm 34, and I know that song... almost every last word of it. I actually had to rein myself in to stop from correcting AW. "It might seem strange, just a bit bizarre, but they know you're a pirate when they hear you say ARRR."

But I like the P-U song better.

[Hastings]

I know.
I think it might be slightly more understandable if we had kids, but we have no such excuse...

[purpleiguana]

Originally Posted by Hastings

I know.
I think it might be slightly more understandable if we had kids, but we have no such excuse...

Ah... well that's another matter entirely!

[Zorro]

Haha, my son loves Great Big Sea! We have been listening to "Donkey Riding" and "Excursion Around the Bay" nonstop in the car for three days.

They are one of my favorite bands and I am starting to get sick of both songs.

[Arrow Tech IV]

Theron really likes the Dora pirate adventure! Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I am trying to keep my expectations fairly low, but since we will have two days of preschool Halloween parties, a Mom's group party, a Halloween "Trunk-or-Treat" at the church, and the actual evening itself, we need to have some sort of costume.

Actually, the costumes for older kids in Texas are all pretty flimsy, but the 0 to 3 range costumes are usually full-body, furry costumes that cover the hands and feet. I'm assuming that, for some reason, retailers assume that our small children become horribly chilled in 80 degree weather.

[purpleiguana]

Arrow, another thought. You might check out your local Dollar Store. They usually have a toy section, and sometimes the toys are themed (police/cowboy/handyman), so you might be able to find a little pirate get-up. Will it be cheap and cheesy and not last very long? You can pretty much count on it. But odds are good that Theron's not looking in terms of historical accuracy.

[Arrow Tech IV]

Checking a dollar store is a good idea!

Actually, the reason I'm hoping the pirate theme works is that I picked up several pirate items at Target's 50% off after-Halloween sale last year (when Theron's refusal to wear his costume was still fresh).

Then we found an adorable $3 red t-shirt with a pirate-flag-style skull and two black swords on the front at a resale shop. We could pair the shirt with black pants or shorts and "Voila!" a costume for a warm day/evening. I like the idea of a costume that will allow him to be comfortable. And, well, I'm cheap. This costume only cost me about $10 and he's already worn the shirt several times. The rest of the Target stuff will be perfect for the costume -- or, if he refuses, we'll stick the plastic sword and other things in the dress-up bin that we've bought.