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A Wonderful Note From Kelly In Ohio

---As mothers, we look up to and at other mothers for examples to show us the right way of doing things. As a mother, I want to tell you that you are an inspiration to me and I'm sure other moms on here also. You always know the right things to say. You always have the best advice. You inspire me to become a better mother. Yes, I barely know you but from just seeing the things you say and put into posts it inspires me. I think every mother in their own way wants to be more like you in someway. I admire the way you protect your children. I just want to let you know this because I don't want to hold it in and regret it later for not telling you.

Honestly, I was not going to watch the Oprah special because I felt she needed to build a school here if anything, but I ended up watching it and am very thankful that I did. And yes, my kids will be parked in front of the TV on Saturday to also watch it. Before I watched this, I was against people adopting kids from other countries because I thought "Hey we have kids here that need homes" and now I can honestly say I really see why you do go to other countries to adopt. They have it 100 MILLION times worse. I know there are kids here who need homes but they at least eat everyday and have running water and indoor plumbing and don't have to walk hours to school and even though they might not have parents anymore, they at least have a country that takes care of them. I want to say I am sorry that I felt this way before. I guess I just didn't get it why people adopted from other countries. NOW I REALLY REALLY DO. I am so thankful for you and for the Oprah special.

You are an honest,brave,inspirational women,mother,and friend. You make me believe in myself and make me know that someday I can become what a mother is all about. You have shown this too me and I am so deeply grateful to you.

Have a great day.Talk to you soon.

Kelly S. (Toledo,Ohio)

A Great Email From Anutha Mutha

Hi Rocky,

    We met at Costco one day about two months ago as I was loading my children and groceries into the car.  You were kind enough to offer me a very cool "Muthahood" tee shirt that I now wear proudly.  Since that day I have often visited your website reading recent and archived posts. I want to thank you for sharing. Your posts are entertaining, hilarious, heart warming and informative.  I appreciate them because in the readings I feel a sense of familiarity with my own day to day activities, thoughts and feelings.  Of course, I only have two children as opposed to six and so I really can't compare, but I identify with your love for your children and your strength as a woman. I enjoy the candid tone of your writings. It rings of truth and honesty of heart. You do an excellent job. Kudos to you for taking the time out to empower other muthas. Thank you.

Sincerely,

TEA

When Do You Move Your Kids To a Toddler Bed?

It’s not as hard as you think...
if you are willing to put in the hard work for about a week.

This question comes from a Mother of twin boys in Seattle. For one thing, it’s going to be twice as hard... especially if they share a room. Since my second kid, I have always had two in a room during this transition stage. It was always hard, but very entertaining.

First, you need to mentally prepare the kids that they are growing up and it’s time to get the “Big Boy Beds”. To me it didn’t matter if they transitioned to a toddler or twin bed. All my boys went to twin beds (I just didn’t want to spend the money on another bed later down the line) The girls were a different story. I did buy toddler beds for them because their room is quite small. The girls are pretty tiny too. I think they will be in toddler beds until Kindergarden!

Okay... so make a big hoopla about the beds... get them new sheets. Just make a big deal about it!!

All my boys were under the age of two, by the way. This was a personal choice for me. I felt I had too because there was always a baby on the way that needed the crib. So if your kids are climbing out of the crib, that is a good sign that they are ready.

Down to business. You can do this two ways.

I was lucky enough to get one of those TV monitors 8 years ago at my first baby shower. I have used it with each child for this process. I set up the camera in the room, and placed the TV monitor right outside the CLOSED door. Do your normal bedtime routine and walk out of the room. I would lay down right outside the door and watch the action. The moment they would pick up their head off the pillow, I would call out...”LAY DOWN.” It was like some strange Mommy Voice from above. I would bring a book, magazine or catalogue to keep me occupied. It only took a week of constant watchdog behavior for them to get it!!

If you don’t have or can’t borrow a friend’s monitor for a week, I suggest just sitting outside their room. If you hear any noise, just shush them until they fall asleep. It could take up to an hour though. That’s why it is hard work for the first week.

If they try to get out of their bed and bolt for the door, just pick them up, tell them it is bed time. That’s it, NO CONVERSATION! Any more than that and you are rewarding them with attention. Put them back to bed and walk out. If you can get help from the hubby, grandma or Aunt Sue for the week, that would be great too. It’s not to help kick the boys back to bed, but for moral support and to keep you focused on the task at hand. If it is just you, prepare yourself mentally. Plan to sit outside the door for hours, and when it only takes one hour, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Well, there you go. If anyone else out there has any great ideas, please let me know. I am a true believer that it takes a village.

Muthahood Ain’t For Sissies | Motherhood Ain’t For Sissies

Muthahood Chat Room

Here's a place where Mutha's can gather to chat. It's our own little chat room. Just send this link to whoever you want to chat with and set a time together. Log in with any nickname you wish and start chatting. It's that simple.

Do You Plan Your Meals?

Yes, I do. I plan all breakfast and dinner meals for the week. I simply got so sick of wondering what I was going to make for dinner everyday around 4:00 PM. So... I decided to get organized. This is what a typical weeks meal might look like. My week starts on Friday, because I do my grocery shopping Friday morning. That’s when the stores are stocking the shelves for the weekend!

DAY: Breakfast | Dinner
Friday: Eggs & Toast | Chicken, Mac N’Cheese w/Fruit
Saturday: Donuts w/ DAD | BBQ with the neighbors
Sunday: Cereal and banana | Pizza with carrots
Monday: Pancakes | Pasta w/ spinich
Tuesday: Bagels and yogart | Tacos
Wednesday: Oatmeal & smoothies | Baked whole chicken & Potatoes
Thursday: Cereal w/ fruit | BBQ sandwiches BBQ beans broccoli

I first look at the menu and look through my fridge and pantry. I then write down what I need for the week. I spend $90 per week, on average, at the grocery store, and I do one VERY LARGE trip to Costco, an easy $300 trip. When I go to Costco, I buy 10 gallons of milk, 10-20 loaves of bread, 5 dozen eggs, 16 cartons of OJ, boxes and boxes of cereal, meats etc. I FREEZE it all, milk, bread, OJ, meats, and cheese! I do not run to the store in the middle of the week!

The best part of it all, is that if I don’t want tacos on Tuesday, I can always do BBQ sandwiches instead because I have the stuff to make it! It just makes my life easy!

By the way I try to prep all the meals on Sunday night or Monday morning. While my pasta sauce is simmering, I’m washing/seasoning the chicken for Wednesday’s meal. I will actually put the chicken in a baking dish all garliced up with onions and maybe an orange stuck up in it and cover it with alluminum foil and stick it in the fridge.

I love it when I can just pull it out, add some potatoes and throw it in the oven at 4:00 PM for an hour @ 350. It is an easy and wonderful trick!

I just try to make my life as easy as I can. The kids and regular life events throw so many curveballs. I just don’t need to worry about this. Even today, with all the crazy things going on with the adoption, I had my dinner planned... and I still did not have time to actually make it. Those darn curveballs. My last resort? I will always make breakfast! There is nothing easier than pancakes, bacon and scrambled eggs!

So even the best planned day can go awry!

Muthahood Ain’t For Sissies | Motherhood Ain’t For Sissies

When Do You Do Your Laundry?

My friend, Kiran, a Mutha of 19 month old twin boys, told me I should have an “Ask Rocky” category for my blog. Sounded like a good idea to me. So, she provided the first question: “When the heck do you find time to do laundry?”

I do the laundry every flippin’ day! Yes, it is true. But the beautiful thing is that I only do one load each day. It is a beautiful thing.

I am rarely overwhelmed by laundry. The kids get naked after dinner and I gather their clothes and head down to the laundry room. I don’t really separate their clothes. I will look over any white shirts that might look a little dingy and put them aside (I do one load of whites a week. I also do my sheets every two weeks. I know this might sound gross to some people, but all the kids go to bed clean since they shower at night!) I call this part of my “evening chores” I have gotten in the habit of starting the load before 7:00 p.m. By the time the kids are in bed with lights out, I am already putting the load into the dryer.

Sometimes, on those “I am so tired I can barely walk let alone finish the laundry days,” I will just leave the load in the dryer overnight for my morning chores. (Morning chores consist of finishing the laundry if needed, emptying the dishwasher and starting the coffee!) But, if I’m OK I will pull them out of the dryer and put them in the kids buckets. You see, I’m okay with putting the clothes in the washer/dryer, but I HATE putting clothes away. There are too many of THEM to do this for! Each child has their own bucket. So instead of REALLY folding the laundry, I am just placing it in their bucket so they can put it away!

They put their laundry away twice a week. (Even the 3 year old) Usually it is Wednesday and Sunday. I know it will be tougher when they get older, just because their clothes will get bigger as well. I have your normal size washer/dryer. We have had them since we got married. So we are looking at almost 9 years here! I have already threatened, I mean warned, the hubby that when the kids get older or when the washer/dryer blows up (whichever one comes first) I want one of those holds 27 towels/jeans and washes your dishes at the same time kind of machines!! (wouldn’t that be nice?)

Until then, this works for me. Even on those days that I don’t want to do it, I know that it will take me less than 5 minutes total to do the evening laundry. So, I stick with it. I trudge through it.

I must say, that it is nice to wake up and not have to worry about the laundry all day!

Muthahood Ain’t For Sissies | Motherhood Ain’t For Sissies