Sunday, August 24, 2008

The score so far....

When I was pregnant and my kid was neatly controlled by the womb, I had all kinds of opinions  about how things would work.  Ha.   Here's how the scoreboard looks so far.

The baby will sleep in its beautiful crib and not be allowed in the parental bed. 
Baby         | 230 nights
Mommy   |   20 nights

So, I never pegged myself as a co-sleeper.  I thought they were hippie parents who eat tofu and and headed for a kid who wedges themselves between mommy and daddy right up until the prom.  Turns out, some babies flip out really bad every time you attempt to place them on any surface that isn't a mommy or daddy.  So he slept with us.  Every night.  He slept on my chest until he got too heavy, then by my side.  Turns out you aren't doomed to 3 in the bed until he brings home his new girlfriend,  at 6 months we were rid of the bed bug, aside from the occasional bad night from teething or something like that.  

I will not submit to the cult of the Treehouse channel.
Mommy             |  Winner
Treehouse         | Loser!

My kid doesn't watch videos or TV.  He's seen kid tv before, and he's mildly interested in it, but not enough that I bother putting a DVD on for him or am willing to watch kid TV for his sake.

Maybe I'm just selfish because I don't want to watch it, but whatever it is, I'm just not opening the rat trap until I absolutely have to.  Right now he's WAY more interested in people doing everyday stuff, it could be flossing your teeth or folding laundry.  He'll sit and watch and study you like he's taking notes for the mothership.  He likes to sit on the porch and watch people walk by, especially the ones with kids or dogs.

The one thing he really liked to watch was Ultimate Fighting with Nanny in Cape Breton, which was on ALL of the time.  He came back beating his stuffed animals, which I'm pretty sure is not good, I feel bad for them.  The kid movies will come in time, he will ask for them and we will let him watch them.  In the meantime, he likes the fishy screen saver, watching Wipeout with me and he likes to watch Daddy play Q-bert on the PS3.

I will not rearrange my house, the kid will have to get used to it.
Baby       | 25
Mommy | 75

My kid started crawling last week and we are in a mad scramble to put plastic thingys in all the plugs and hide all the electrical cords pronto.  I also now lock the cabinet under the kitchen sink and looked for things he might pull himself up on and topple over.   He has a basket in the living room with his toys.  Now I'm at a crossroads....how far do I go?  

My current theory is don't want a clear runway for him to run around indoors.   I presently think its better to desensitize a kid so he doesn't go crazy the minute he's out of captivity.  I say current and present because who knows if I may still lose this battle later.  This may seem mean to anyone who has cleared their house of all hard surfaces so their toddler can stomp around the house freely, having loads of 'fun' dragging things out of cupboards and emptying shelves.  To that I say, Yay for you and your endless energy, I can barely get my regular housework done without adding to it, so I have no choice but to straightjacket my kid unless I want to live in a dump.  Plus, if he gets used to spreading out everywhere, what are a few cute Fisher Price people today will be his not so cute stinky socks and other items that should be in his room very soon.  Even as little as he is he knows what's his and what isn't his, because when I say 'NO' he won't waste any time grabbing it and shoving it in his mouth before I take away whatever juicy little tidbit he had in his jam hands, and he makes a run (crawl) for it and laughs.

I'll play cool music for him and not do all that nursery rhyme crap.
Baby         |  50
Parents    | 50

Kids pretty much gobble up anything that you read or sing to them, but when he was three months old, barely more than a blob, I took him to a 'playgroup' thing, just to get him weighed and he LOVED the stupid kid songs and all the actions.  Itsy Bitsy Spider,  Grand Old Duke of Kent, etc...  As all the other babies were being lovingly bounced and lifted into the air by their joiner mommies, he looked at me with his big baby eyeballs twinkling and was so into it that I felt like a big meanie, so I got down on the floor with all the other baby slaves and learned the stupid songs and all the actions and crap.   

Its come in handy because now if he is bored or being bad I can stop him in his tracks with a song.   I don't even have to yell "NO!".  I just belt out a little "Ba Ba Black Sheep" and I have his full attention - he loves it that much.   I have to admit its pretty cute when he goes to sleep practicing the Itsy Bitsy motions with his little muppet hands and babbling.   We 'balance it out' by exposing him to other music, like I play what I want in the car or and Andrew plays what he wants at home.  Daddy puts him to sleep with "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera, and I sing Out on the Mira or Hey Jude.  Kids love the Beatles.  Who doesn't?