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Pea(poop)nut Butter Recall

18 Feb

AH!  I can’t believe this!  For the past 6 plus years of my life I’ve been searching for product recalls to write about for our consumer segment on the newscast – none of them ever affected me personally.  Of course, now that I don’t get to see hardly any news there’s a recall that affects my family and I just fed the potential poison to Nia last night!  I found out about it in the weirdest way too – as I was checking out at Publix tonight the cashier was mumbling and laughing about about “feeding her sister Peter Pan peanut butter” – I must have shot the what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about look at her because she then went on to tell me about the recall.

I haven’t eaten a lick of the peanut butter myself but I’ve been serving up the possibly salmonella-infested spread to Nia since we moved into this house.  I’m searching my memory trying to think if she got sick after eating the last sandwich I made for her – but that doesn’t matter because all of these websites say even if you haven’t gotten sick yet you still could and you won’t know it for like 8 to 72 hours after you swallow it down.  Now I have to sit through 3 days hoping my little girl doesn’t have a potty attack.  In the meantime, I’m just going to scowl at the little brown jar with it’s alarming red lid as if to tell it – you and me – we’re gonna go rounds if you upset my sweetie’s tummy.  I know I’m supposed to throw the jar away and all – it’s just right now I feel this strong need to have a showdown with it – at a distance of course.

It’s interesting what something like this can do to people.  I’ve read that some are suing because they say the salmonella infection cost them money due to lost work and doctor bills – others say they’re afraid to ever eat the peanut butter brands again. As for what it did to me – it’s taught me a lesson.  I’m trying to make sure I won’t miss another recall – I’ve signed up to get email alerts from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department.  We’ll see…

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I Broke Her Heart

18 Feb

The other day I accidentally broke a little Snoopy/Charlie Brown frame that Nia had on her dresser.  As she held Snoopy’s decapitated head in one hand and the rest of his body and frame in the other, she told me through her tears, “Momma, this breaks my heart that you broke my Snoopy.”

As if I didn’t feel bad enough now I’m getting guilt-tripped out by a 3-year-old and then she (of course) tattled on me as soon as Andrew came home that night.  “Daddy, look what Momma did – she broke Snoopy.”

Later the next day I super-glued his head back on and even though she was so happy when I gave him back to her all doctored up, she still reminded me how I broke her heart. All I could tell her was that I was sorry and that I loved her with my whole heart.  I think that healed hers because she gave me a sweet smile and told me it was okay and thanked me for fixing him.  I don’t know if Snoopy will be that forgiving though…

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How I’m Different

18 Feb

Before staying at home with the kids I:

  • Went to sleep at a reasonable hour (now I’m glued to the tube through the night trying to get my fix of tv shows and movies)
  • Ate fast food Monday through Friday (now I’m happy (and hungry) to say I’ve only bought it once since we lived here!)
  • Rarely cooked dinner on weeknights (now it’s a struggle to decide what I should make – it’s like the one big decision I have every day and sometimes it really stresses me out)
  • Took a shower EVERY day (I know this sounds gross but I mean what do I do?  I hardly ever leave the house so it’s not like I’m schtanky or anything – I swear the most I went without a de-schtanking was one day)
  • Only wore jeans 3 or 4 days a week (now they are all I wear – although the other day I decided to wear pants and put on some fancy jewelry just because – it would figure that I lost an earring though!  Luckily, since I don’t leave the house it didn’t go far and the little man (who of course finds every tiny, dangerous object he shouldn’t) found it for me later in the day!)
  • Super stressed about taking time off from work when the kids were sick
  • Knew about the latest news headlines (now I’m lucky to catch any blurbs on tv or even know what day of the week it is)

Overall, I think I’ve changed for the better.  I feel less stressed and enjoy simple things (like getting the mail) more than I ever would have thought.

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In Case You Ever Ask…

11 Feb

Notes to Nia about what she was like as a 3 and a half year old:

You are a wonderful big sister.  When Nate cries you try to do things to make him stop (either by giving him toys or his bottle or by yelling “NATE! BE QUIET!”  (The yelling usually works best!)  You also try to soothe him.  When he got his shots the other day you gently touched his head and told him it was going to be OK.  On the flip-side though – you are definitely making him tougher.  You are constantly chasing him around the house and that usually ends with him falling on the floor and you falling on him.  Amazingly, he hasn’t been hurt yet.  He actually seems to think it’s fun – in fact, that’s what you tell me when I tell you to stop…”But he likes it.”

You have a GREAT sense of humor and love to make others laugh.  You make me laugh a lot – sometimes you make funny faces and sounds to be silly and other times you say something you think is silly and then you ask me with a smile, “That was silly huh Momma?”

You love books and are super perceptive – always pointing out the little things in the pictures and which picture matches the one on the cover.  I still am amazed at how you do that and how you can read the books by memorization and looking at the pictures.

You are extremely particular.  Whether you are playing or getting ready to go to sleep, you like things a certain way and you will not let it slide.  For example, for night-night time I have to read you books in bed and then you have to drop a purple crayon on the floor like “Harold” does.  You wait to hear the sound of it hitting the floor and if the sound is different than it hitting carpet you want to know what it hit. (It seems like you really like it when it hits something.)  I then have to wind up three music boxes and you will sometimes tell me one is playing just to keep me in the room longer.

You love laying on the arm of the couch as you watch your nightly fix of “Harold.” You are so tiny that you fit perfectly on it – you lay on your belly and let your arms hang down on either side of the arm.  You make it look so comfy.

When you want to make me happy or show me you love me you give me what we call an “extra special” hug where you hug me so tight that I can let go and you don’t budge.  We call it “extra special” because I tell you all of your hugs are special but that one is my very favorite.

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Doctor Appointment Agony

9 Feb

Two freaking hours!  That’s how long Nia, Nate and I were held hostage at our new pediatrician’s office today.  I can understand that if the waiting rooms were packed or something but there were only a few of us in there.  What’s worse is there were no toys/books to entertain the kids, there were signs everywhere that said “No food or drink” and “Take your soiled diapers home,” the fluorescent light was flickering and the boy had to spend an hour walking back and forth on the examining table in nothing but his diaper only to win 3 shots at the end of the torture!

I was losing it!  Nia even said (twice) “This is taking FOREVER!” (Wonder what bad-attitude adult put that phrase in her vocabulary?)

It was so hard picking a new doctor for the kids – we all really like the doctor we had in Savannah.  I mean, sometimes we wondered about a diagnosis or two but overall we never had a horrible experience with him.  This one makes me want to send him a thank you card or something.

(By the way – the boy is fine – just a well visit – it confirmed he’s healthy, small and angry. And if you were wondering – I did have to take a “soiled” diaper home with me since their trash cans were apparently too good for a little baby poo.)

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Pre-K Pressure

7 Feb

This fall our baby girl will be prekindergarten age.  It’s something that has me stressed out beyond belief.

I just can’t believe how hard this is!  I mean, when/where I grew up there was really only one place where every kid went to “nursery” school and after that there was really only one private school so it was pretty much a given that I would just get educated at the school that served my address.  With Nia, there are several choices – from religious to public to private – from half-day schedules to full-day schedules – how am I supposed to know what’s best?

I’ve heard great things about the one religious school and the person in charge of it has been super nice to me on the phone (but like Andrew says – everyone’s nice in this town).  At that school your child can either attend 3 days a week or 5 and the school days only last for 3 hours.  In comparison, the public school pre-k is (of course) 5 days a week and those school days last for about 6 hours.  The other difference – we’ll have to pay a tuition for the religious school but because the public school pre-k is state funded your child is not guaranteed a spot.

So far, the plan is to apply for both schools and see what happens. I just filled out the religious school application and got a little dizzy and nervous when I was asked to describe my child’s personality and abilities.  What the heck do most parents write there?  My son throws a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way – has a tendency to put food in his mouth, chew it and then spit it out – he picks his nose and eats it and continually tries to play with poop.

I just think Nia is such a remarkable little girl and I think she is so super smart – but don’t most parents think that of their kids?  I tried to be as proud and descriptive as I could be without sounding like I was just bragging about my genius 3-year-old.

I hate to think what I’ll be like when her brain really depends on what school we pick.

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Feelings I Feel

7 Feb
Every day the kids make me experience so many different feelings – it’s amazing how I can go from insanely happy to insanely angry with the toss of a toy.

What Makes Me Happy: (here’s where I sound sappy)

  • Making them laugh
  • Teaching them something new
  • Cooking for them
  • When they eat what I cook for them
  • When they actually like what I cook for them and they say “mmmm”
  • If I can get through a day without the boy hitting his head on something hard (although his skull is like steal)
  • If I can get through a day without Nia having a meltdown (her latest one involved not getting to watch her nightly dose of Harold and the Purple Crayon before bedtime)
  • Nia being a loving big sister by giving Nate hugs and kisses and getting toys for him that he can’t reach
  • Being able to make them comfortable/safe/cared for – just the simplest of things like putting clean sheets on Nia’s bed – knowing she loved the way they smelled – something about that made me so happy to be a mom

What Makes Me Angry: (here’s where I sound psycho and mean)

  • Having to repeat myself over and over and over again – example – Nate’s taking a nap and I finally have some time to get stuff done – I choose to use the opportunity to take a shower – I tell Nia, “Momma’s going to take a shower” –  she replies, “And then you play with me?”  (please know I’ve already played with her and read quite a few books to her by this point) – I say “Of course” – well I’m not even out of the shower yet and she peaks her head in the bathroom and says, “Now you gonna play with me?”  This continues as I get dressed and dry my hair.  I know it doesn’t seem that bad but after repeating the obvious over and over again everyday – it just wears on me.
  • “Come Momma!”  I hear this ALL DAY LONG.  She’s constantly telling me to come and see something.  I feel awful for getting upset about it – I mean she just wants Momma to see all the stuff she’s doing (her latest is dressing Prince Eric up in Ariel’s clothing).  It’s just – I have to stop whatever it is I’m doing to “Come Momma!”  At least I’m burning calories I guess.
  • Trying to teach Nate not to do something – I mean how many times do I have to pick him up, take him away from the dangerous/yucky activity and try to distract him?  He thinks it’s funny – I think it’s making me lose my mind.  The latest thing he did was tip over the garbage can – now every time he’s in the kitchen I have to keep the can from crashing down on the floor.

There are so many feelings I feel – it’s hard to write about them all.  I’m glad to say I experience more happy ones than mad – but then again, these examples were just from one day!

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“Boy Voice”

2 Feb

That’s what Nia called my voice today.  Since I’m sick my voice is much deeper than normal – I didn’t think it sounded quite like a boy but it must if she thinks so!  At least she didn’t say I looked like one too.

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False Alarm (Thank God!)

1 Feb

You know that smell of something burning?  I don’t think I ever really experienced it until today.

After smelling it, it took me a few sniffs around the kitchen to figure out what it was.  I unplugged our rechargeable flashlight and sniffed – nope.  I went over to the stove and made sure it wasn’t turned on – nope.  I smelled around the fridge – nope.  I then walked into the other room to see if it was coming from there (it was kind of like that game – you’re getting warmer and in this case I was getting colder).  When I turned around to point my nose back in the direction of the kitchen I SAW what was causing the smell – smoke was coming out of the dishwasher.

I was scared to open it – not only because I’ve watched too many movies that show a huge explosion happens after you open a door that has smoke pouring out of it but also because I had no clue what to do if there were flames behind the door.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with that because it was all smoke.  The cause? Well, he’s about 20 pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes and always into something.  Apparently, the Boy tossed one of his clear plastic bottle caps into the machine and I didn’t ever notice.  It was nicely wedged under the heating element.

How'd that get there?

After it was all over with Nia gave me a suggestion to cool it off and stop the “yucky” smell – “Hey, I have a great idea.  Let’s put lots of ice in it.”

Put some ice in it.

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Day Care Isn’t Always the Bad Guy

31 Jan

We have not even driven in the parking lot of a day care since November and Nate has been sick twice.  There was that one fever a few weeks ago and now he has the worst case of yucky yellow-green snot nose he’s ever had and I’m feeling a case of it coming on too. Where did he get it?  I have no clue and I think that’s worse than knowing he caught it from day care – at least then you have an idea of what your kid could have because chances are they know what the culprit had!

As if it’s not bad enough that the boy has all that gook draining out of him all day and night – there I am CONSTANTLY wiping his nose.  To him it probably feels like I’m going to rip it off (even though I swear I’m being as gentle as I can!). I really think he hates me right now but I can’t help it – I just CANNOT stand it when kids have snot pouring out of their nose.  To help counteract my obsessive wiping I’ve loaded up his nose with Vaseline – I guess I’ve just traded one yucky looking thing for another but at least this one doesn’t run into his mouth or get smeared all over his face/toys/clothes.

I just hope this sickiness ends soon – what makes it even worse is that I had scheduled a “well-baby” check up for tomorrow.  I think I might have to change that now.

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