My mother made me do it

My mother said to me today "Tertia, you must update your blog more often. I have friends who look forward to reading it every day and they are very disappointed if you haven't posted anything new. 

My husband even said "I am getting tired of seeing the same thing every day on your blog".  Apparently so tired that he sent me this email this morning:

just stumbled across this article "Top 10 reasons for low libido"  Not that there is anything wrong with yours of course.   xx

Suuuure he just ‘stumbled’ across that article.  What do you think he is trying to say? Surely can't be referring to *me*??

So here I am, updating my blog because my mother told me to and to stop my husband from googling ways to increase my libido.

What shall we talk about?  We could talk about how busy I am, but no one really wants to talk about that (I am really busy though, as in very very busy). 

We could talk about how absolutely divine Max is. And he is divine! He is so cute. He babbles and coos and grins big toothy grins all day.  Want to eat him up.  All babies should be born at 11 weeks. Perhaps I will do a separate post about Max.  And by the time I get around to doing it, he will be 11 years old, not 11 weeks.

I could tell you about what AMAZING progress my dad is making and how he is going through his second youth, but I will save that for another day.

Let's talk about the terrible adorable twins, shall we?

Sister Mel, purveyor of fine parenting told me when I was still pregnant with Max that once he was born, my adorable twins would suddenly become far less adorable. They would suddenly seem huge, and stinky and far less cute and sweet than I remembered. And she was right!  Can't believe those two terrors were ever as sweet and cute as baby Max.

Only (half) joking! Am still very fond of the two of them. Most of the time. Except when they are arguing with each other which only happens about 36 hours every day.

Kate has the upper hand in terms of psychological warfare and she uses it to her full advantage.  She knows exactly which buttons to press and it drives me crazy.  Because it usually ends up with her teasing Adam, Adam responding exactly as she wants (yelling/crying), Kate smirking, Adam crying, Adam boinking Kate on the head with some blunt object and then both of them end up crying. It's beautiful. 

Because I don't know who started the argument, or who hit who first, they both get punished.  And it is amazing how different methods of punishment work (or not) with the two of them. Adam is easy to punish, basically anything works.  Except time out. I sent him to time out yesterday and when I told him to come out he said "I really like time out"

Well that's useful. 

Kate is a different story.  Normal punishment has no effect on her. Whereas Adam's heart breaks if your voice raises even an octave, Kate is like 'whatever' if you shout / cry / rant / rave / spank / timeout. However, I have discovered one thing that works - ignoring her. She can't stand that.  I tell her that I am very disappointed in her actions, and I do not want to speak to her for a while.  She must move away from me and leave me alone.  She can't stand that. Sounds harsh, but the alternative is shipping her off to Mexico to work on the mines. I have programmed this post to detonate in T-3 days so that I can continue to use this method of punishment well into her teen years (which by all accounts, are due in about two years time)

As you can tell, I've run out of time to finish this post properly. In summary - business is great; husband is fine, if somewhat deprived; baby is gorgeous; parents are good, twins are as busy as always and Tertia is doing fabulously well. All is good.

Smooches, till later xx

 

Comments

[Lou]

The only thing that worked on my then 3yo son was to take money from his piggy bank.

[L.]

I love reading blogs, and I blog myself, but sometimes it seems like people blog less when they're happier. Or sometimes they're just really busy :) anyway, being busy is often a good thing too! I am so glad you're all doing well. Max is so beautiful.

[Kristin]

At least you figured out at a fairly young age what works.

Glad everything is going fairly well.

[ruth]

oops - sounds like you just hit an 'ordinary' spot - where your life is level, even and so not dramatic. therefore, ergo, hence - nothing much to blog. EXCELLENT - altho i will admit to being one of the frustrated readers who trots over to read you every day (sometimes more) and finds the same ol sam ol each time.

truth is, you just got too much of a good thing going on, without all the stress and strain. nice. thought you might like to read this - and that it might even offer you something to get really blogged up about!!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1203821/Why-women-sex-What-happened-100-couples-kept-candid-diary-bedroom-antics.html

[bingo live free]

bingo live freemy mother -in-law passed away years ago and the recipe is lost. I'd like to make this for him and all he can remember is you put dry ingredients in a cake pan make 3 holes in it and pour the liquid ingredients into the holes. its a very rich chocolate cake. I would be very greatful- thanks

[tiah]

This post made me laugh.

[Adi]

Yes, damnit, blog more. Also tired of seeing the same post every day as I haven't installed my stupid RSS reader and somehow I think it will take less time to just visit all the blogs manually every day than just take five stupid minutes to get the damn reader up again. Anyhoo.

Shame man, don't ignore Kate, twenty years from now she'll have to get therapy for that. Rather get her to wash dishes... or better, clean up Adam's mess. Ah, best: change a nappy. Oh goodness scrap that, can you imagine the mess. Ok fine, ignore it is then. I had a big laugh at the "I like time-out" 'cause I had exactly the same thing, was really great when my parents started using that as "punishment". Time in my room without anyone around, sigh, those were the days...

[Wobs]

Darling Kate! She's a typical girl, don't we all have the "upper hand in terms of psychological warfare".... Gotta love her "whatever" attitude. I still log heads with my 18 year old daughter and at this age, she chirps back and gives herself time out.

[BiancaW]

Bryce and Hannah are exactly the same (though not twins). Oder Bryce is quite sensitive and if I shout at him or give him time out, he takes it very seriously. 2 year old Hannah, on the other hand, when asked if she would like a time out!, says, Mmmm - and waddles off and puts herself in the corner. Very funny, but NOT very effective. (not that I let her see that I think its funny!) Thinking about it, the ignoring thing would SO work for her!

Did you mean toothless grin, rather than toothy? Just checking. :-)

So glad, glad, glad that your folks are all good.

Am about to go and read the "libido" article. (You see Marco (sp?), you are not alone)

[Dana]

I have to do the ignoring thing with my 7 year old son as well - ever since he was a wee thing he has been the most *adaptable* child - something that works well in some circumstances and horribly in most others - time out? Sure! Taking toys/computer/tv away? No problem, he'll just find something else to do! However, if I ignore him he cannot STAND it and shapes up almost immediately.

(My 4 year old daughter sounds more like your son, harsh words or a time out devastate her)

You go. Bond girl!

[Coral]

Yes, isn't it amazing how different children have different buttons you can push? The worst bit is when they get a bit older and say something like "You always give me a time out, but never him." it is hard to explain that different punishments work for different kids.

My friend has a small child, she removes herself from him! She says to him that she will give herself a time out. She goes to her room and closes the door and he stands outside begging, crying, screaming until he says "Okay mommy, I be good now" will she come out! She says she sits on the bed laughing at him!

[JessieB]

So glad you are blogging again.... Almost **almost** removed you from my favourites.... nah - never would. Love you T!

[Dana]

"younger people seem to want to have sex with each other at every available opportunity, including traffic lights, whereas older people are more likely to reserve their sexual activities for special occasions, such as the installation of a new pope." (Dave Barry)
Sorry...

[Billie]

A Word To The Wise!
I have listened to doctors, teachers, counselors as well as social workers dish out advice about our children and some of it is well taken, but all must be critically perused and evaluated by us, were the mommies! Who could possible know our children better than we do?
Some children have adverse reactions to sugar and some do not, however experts would like to paint all children with the same broad brush. Teenagers having problems in school is a good example. The first direction the experts seem to like to pursue is Attention Deficit. However a wise individual would first pursue the basics such as: Are their marital problems in the home or some type of alcohol or drug abuse? Is the child fighting thru Identity issues such as sexuality? These are just a few of the possibilities that could be causing children problems and us Mommies and Daddy’s need to make sure everything is being addressed before we push it off on a medical condition. I’m not saying we don’t look at everything; however it seems we live in a society that loves to turn directly to medication to solve a problem! Just watch the evening news and I’m sure you will see what I mean. The drug companies are now pursuing us directly to get us to ask our doctors for their drugs! The government likes to preach “Just Say No to Drugs”, and then they pitch them at every opportunity!
My 16 year old was being tortured by mean girls via email and was heartbroken. She was having some acne issues as we all did but they were extremely mean to her in nature. It was not easy but I found a site that carries Cyber Bully Alerts warning the children to STOP sending these emails as they are being watched and logged and will be prosecuted. We all know what this kind of meanness can lead to with teen suicides and all. I found the cards at hate cards dot net and they did the trick! The torture stopped for Sarah and that was good enough for me. We need to find ways to overcome and adapt to protect our kids.
We can care for runny noses and chapped bottoms, but we must look out for our babies through high school and educate them to think for themselves until they learn too!
Billie
At Home Mom in MN