Invincible Mother Presses On

So, my back is still hurting quite a bit, but I've just kept on keeping on, with little laying-down-on-the-bed back rests every here and there. Just call me Granny!

Flylady and I have had an on-again/off-again relationship for years (like most of the rest of you) and last week I decided to get on again. I spent the first week happily deleting every single message, since my back was hurting so much. But this week I have actually made mighty fine progress decluttering. I'm always amazed at just how much you can accomplish in a 15 minute burst. Now my kitchen has far less clutter, and much nicer work spaces. So, let's hear it for the never-ending nagging of mighty Flylady!

Several weeks ago I discovered a site that could be dangerous for all of you that grew up in the Atari years: Jimbo Games.
Here you can find all of your old favorite games like Space Invaders, Frogger, Mario, Donkey Kong, and my personal favorite, PacMan! :) They have lots of other games far too newfangled for me to be interested in them, but some of you younger gamers would probably love it. I guess it's a mixed blessing about how much my back hurts. I have a pretty short window of time where I can sit at the computer (or anywhere) before I get to the pain-and-agony stage. A couple rounds of pacman, and I've got to get back to my decluttering!

Many of you will remember the news bulletin from the Potty News Network last fall after I found out that my two preschoolers were the only ones from their class still in diapers. After a lot of work, we've finally got both of those little terrorists using the pot quite successfully (one of them got the hang of it fairly quickly....the other one took a darn long time, so much so that we still breathe a little sigh of relief every time we see him perched on the throne instead of hiding in a corner pooping his pants). Since I have that accomplishment crossed off my parental To Do list, I've now undertaken the Nighttime Weaning Process with my youngest, Squiggy Magoo. On the first night (and a few others) he would pitifully cry "I need some MILK, mama!!!" and I would sweetly say, "We aren't having any milk at night any more. Would you like some water?" After several tearful refusals of the water, he would eventually have some and then say in such a sad little voice, "Would you hold me?" It's been so sad and pitiful at times that I nearly broke down and just whipped out a boob to give him a swig.....but then remembered how far we've come and how much we need to move past this point. He's 26 months old, for cryin' out loud! And I've been breastfeeding for a current grand total of 142 months, or 11.75 years. I think I deserve to reach the finish line soon...don't you?

Once we get over that hump, I assume he'll stop waking up at night, since there won't be any perks (excuse the pun! Which of course, if you would see what's left of my breasts, you'd know that PERK isn't exactly a pun for them...). Then we can move him on to Sleeping Somewhere Other Than My Bed. We've always had our babies and little ones sleep with us, and really we've enjoyed it. If I could go back and change it to having them all sleep in cribs, I absolutely would not. There is nothing that would make me trade all the sweet cuddles, and all of the peaceful rest that I've gotten because I knew my baby was safe and sound right next to me all night. It's been good. I have no regrets. BUT, part of the process that is not fun, is the part where, as a caring parent, you know that it's going to be a hard transition for your child to go from sleeping by your side for his whole life, to sleeping somewhere else. It takes a lot of time for some of the kids, and for parents who are particularly tender-hearted about this issue, it's often 3 steps forward, 2 steps back. The good news is that our 4 oldest kids all sleep just fine in their beds in other rooms, and I know that the youngest two will get there eventually too. We'll be working on project Sleep In Your Own Bed this summer, with The Firecrapper and I looking forward to the day when we get the whole bed all to ourselves.

Only 6 more school days for my bigger kids, and just 3 days for the preschoolers. Then we'll be on summer break.... I've been so spoiled this year, having some less busy time in my days. I need to just be thankful I had it, rather than ruminating on how I'd like some more of that! For now I might as well kiss my quiet and privacy goodbye, because next school year we'll have 2 of our school-age kids home for homeschooling. As the 1990 dance tune says, "Back to life....back to reality..." That's ok. It's all good. It's just been mighty nice to have so many Mental Health Days this year. I should be more mentally healthy than ever, now!

Well, peeps, that's all the Invincible Back can take for today. Dollymama, over and out!