Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, September 3, 2008 9:09 pm

I am truly touched by all the wonderful responses to my last post! Honestly, I was a bit nervous when I hit the “publish” button for Blog Fears. It was a little more personal than I normally tend to get, but now I am SO glad that I wrote it.

It is very comforting to know that other mothers around the world share the same feelings that I do. And I am glad that you all realize where I am coming from too.

If anyone else out there has ever felt down about their blog, a nasty comment, or even simply a bad day at home with the kids, I encourage you to read the amazing comments that people left for my Blog Fears post.

Thanks to all of you, I am now feeling renewed, invigorated, and encouraged!

I’m sure I’ll still feel the sting when the next mean remark comes my way, but I’ll look back on all your comments and remind myself that there are far more wonderful people in the world than not.

Thank you all so much for lifting my spirits. YOU are the ones who inspire me!

Comments (42)

By Mom Unplugged, September 2, 2008 8:20 pm

CONFESSION: Sometimes I fear that my blog might make others feel inadequate.

I am NOT a Perfect Mom, far from it!!! In fact “Consistently Substandard” is my parenting philosophy (CSS=”Consistently Substandard Slacker”).

OK, forget the humor. Honestly though, a carefully written post every few days does not really completely equal my life and me. Does that make sense?

I have read discussions over the year and a half that I have been blogging and reading blogs, about how the rosy, “perfect” Mom-blogs of others make some feel inadequate by comparison.

I constantly worry about that. The purpose of my blog is to hopefully help, inspire, and connect.

• No we do not have TV in our house and I blog about that. By this I am not implying that I feel that this is the desired lifestyle for all. It is not. However for anyone who has inclinations in the TV-free direction, I hope to provide information, encouragement, and show that it IS possible (for some) to live happily without TV.

• Yes I try to do a craft project with my kids once a week. Am I “crafty?” No. Am I creative? Probably. I have always enjoyed art, music etc. but so far have found little time or energy to tackle much of that with my kids. The Unplugged Project is as much for me as for others. It makes me sit down once a week and do something fun and creative with my children.

• Much of my daily “real life” is spent following my two year-old dictator around, tidying up clutter (I have a dysfunctional love-hate relationship with stuff), and accomplishing such exciting tasks as laundry, scooping cat poop out of the litter boxes, and cleaning bathrooms. Glamorous? No. Real? Yes.

• I don’t homeschool. Although I love the idea of it and greatly admire those who succeed at it, I am not unhappy with the school my children attend. I also am quite delighted to see my kids return to school in the fall. See? I really am a devotee of CSS!

Unplug Your Kids seems to have become more well known recently. Apparently with “fame” comes criticism. Perhaps I liked it better when no one had heard of UPYK.

I have recently read a few negative, spiteful references to my blog. I have also had some equally negative, spiteful comments. (By the way, can you read this nasty commenters? “D-E-L-E-T-E B-U-T-T-O-N.” I have one and I use it, so don’t waste your time and mine with a needless, unpleasant remark.)

As a well-intentioned perfectionist and a relatively (I hope) nice person, I find this upsetting. I know I must make an effort not to take it all personally, but it is hard.

Good thing I am not a celebrity. If I had to read a bunch of awful things about myself in the National Enquirer in the grocery store checkout line, I’d just fade away and die. (Although if I were really a celebrity “worthy” of the front page of the National Enquirer, then I don’t suppose I would ever be in the grocery checkout line. Wouldn’t my “handlers” be there for me?)

I spend a lot of time and mental energy on this blog and I am thankful to have had mostly very positive comments and emails. I try to put more focus on those. They really mean so much!!

But for those of you who might feel inadequate or somehow threatened by my blog, here is THE TRUTH: I do not live in a state of blissful harmony with my offspring. Motherhood is certainly not all there is to me as a person. I adore my three children, but much of the time that I physically spend cooking, cleaning and following around my two year-old tyrant, I am actually mentally dreaming of flying; writing a book; having an intelligent, thought-provoking, adult conversation; traveling to Europe; making stained glass windows for my bedroom; or hanging out by the pool at a five star resort with adult friends drinking wine and tasting assorted fancy hors d’oeuvres.

This confession may disillusion some, and cause a few others to want to call Child Protective Services. Hopefully however, it will encourage most readers to see Unplug Your Kids not as a place of comparison, but a place of encouragement and companionship.

Comments (4)

By Mom Unplugged, August 28, 2008 11:20 pm

Hopefully NOT your tax dollars at work.

+++Exercise and limited TV time may keep kids trim +++

New Study - Boys need 13,000 steps per day, girls need 11,000.

Should we issue each child a pedometer? Or simply turn off the TV and send them outside? (Journal of Pediatrics - Text of actual study: Combined Influence of Physical Activity and Screen Time Recommendations on Childhood Overweight.)

+++Just having TV on can distract kids+++

Of course it does. Do these researchers even HAVE kids? (American Behavioral Scientist - Text of actual study: Television and Very Young Children)

++++++++++

However, on a more serious note:

The USA Today TV distraction article says one survey found that 14% of parents say the TV is ALWAYS on in their homes. Also: “recent surveys show that as many as two-thirds of children up to 6 years old live in homes where the TV is on at least half the time, even if no one is watching.”

(Being a nerd, I really like to find the actual sources for what I quote when I put an article in my blog. Since newspapers don’t always give the source, I resort to Google. A quick Google tonight turned up no readily apparent studies for the TV always on or TV on half the time claims. If you know a link to these studies, please let me know via comment or email and I will update the post to include them.)

(Photo thanks to morguefile.com and photographer “cohdra” -Jane M. Sawyer.)

Comments (7)

By Mom Unplugged, August 26, 2008 9:56 pm

OK, I know that my two year-old’s potty progress is not the world’s most earth-shattering, fascinating topic. Even I, her mother, am not THAT riveted by it all. The only one who finds it endlessly entertaining is my two year-old herself.

So, WARNING - If you are not interested in the finer points of potty training a 2 year-old, please stop reading here and maybe go read about some crafts instead. For those who are still with me, please read on:

Before I left on our big summer adventure, I wrote about our successful Potty Fiesta, but asked for advice on getting my little one to give up her little potty and begin using the “big girl potty.”

Since so many of you commented and offered your tips, this must be a subject that really is of more interest than it might seem! Thank you all for your helpful input! I really appreciated it and thought I should let you know how we finally solved the issue.

We spent the month of July in Upstate New York at my Dad’s house and I was worried that a vacation was not really the best time to finish tackling the potty issue, but my stepmother had no little potty, only the seat that fits on the “big potty.”

Despite my misgivings about potty learning while on vacation, I boldly decided not to go out and buy a little potty. Instead, I told my daughter that there was no little potty at Pop Pop’s house and she would simply have to use the big one (several of you reported success with some variation of this method).

Well, my little one is PRETTY STUBBORN (where does she get that I wonder?), and absolutely refused to go near the potty for several days. We were back to diapers. It was quite discouraging.

Then my stepmother had the idea of making a doll “go to the big potty.” My stepmom gave a brilliant performance and made quite a show of it. Of course we all acted really excited for Dolly and gave her lots of praise and some Skittles (bribery has its uses).

I was skeptical that my little one would buy into this trickery, but wouldn’t you know, within 5 minutes she was on the potty!! She was nervous and was clearly afraid of falling in, even on the little seat, so I had to hug her tightly while she went. She did it and got lots of praise and Skittles too, just like Dolly.

After one or two more potty trips she lost her fear of falling in and no longer wanted to be held (“ME do it!”). What a breakthrough!! She was fine from then on, and even manages public toilets without using a little seat (but while being held).

When we returned home after our month away I ran inside and whisked away the little potty before she had a chance to see it. I thought she might want to use it if she saw it, but so far she has never asked where her beloved little “poTEEE” went.

My fears of having to pack the little potty everyday in her high school backpack are gone now, thanks to my brilliant stepmom as well as your advice and encouragement. Thank you!!

(Cute photo thanks to photographer ZeroSilence3 (Jason Lemay) and morguefile.com.)

Comments (2)

By Mom Unplugged, August 22, 2008 9:09 am

After a long and complicated summer full of travel and adventures, school will begin again on Monday (hooray!!!).

Thanks to a little two week baby sitting coop that some friends and I did, I had some time this week without bored children around (as in NO children, ZERO children, NOT ONE CHILD!!!). I spent my time doing some badly needed decluttering of my house and now I feel that I have a fresh lease on life. Funny how something as simple as a few peaceful, child-free days and a bit of organization can lift the spirits so magically!

My next project will be to tackle the electronic clutter. My inbox currently contains 387 messages. A summer’s worth of undealt with email. I feel that I have been ignoring the blog for the last few months and I hope to be a bit more actively involved.

I have not replied to comments in a long, long time (I usually try to email a response) and for that, I apologize profusely. I appreciate each and every comment that is left, even if I don’t manage to answer. I hope to get back on track with that too so people know that there really is a live human being behind this blog!

I hope you all had super summers and can greet the fall with positive energy and joy.

(1743 Painting by James Seymour - Thomas Gage, First Viscount Gage and his horse. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)