The Essential Tools to Caring For and Raising a Child!

So earlier this morning as I was showering off Collin, it occurred to me that A)I haven't blogged in awhile and B)I should specifically blog about "tools" I feel necessary for the survival of caring for and raising a child. So, here I am blogging later in the day about such things! :)

First, let's start with a "tool" you wouldn't typically think of! A pull down shower head. Some of you may be thinking "Huh?!" Let me explain. When I first had Isaiah we would either put him in the kitchen sink or use the baby bath in the bathtub (but just put water in the baby bath. Since I gave birth to Isaiah via c-section I wasn't supposed to do much bending. So bathing him in the kitchen sink worked well because it was at a GREAT level to wear bending was not needed at all! I would just lay a towel on the counter next to the sink and that's what he'd go on when I was done washing him off. Unfortunately the kitchen sink didn't work long for Isaiah Brent. Since he weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 7oz AT BIRTH...he quickly outgrew the kitchen sink. The baby bath in the bathtub was worked okay for awhile. But while my knees were grinding into the cold tiles on the floor (No towel can cushion enough...trust me.) I noticed an ache in my lower back developing. Not to mention it felt like my incision was tight and probably stretching more than necessary. This was VERY annoying to me, but I thought it was the only way to get my child clean. Eventually I healed from my incision and Isaiah grew bigger and was able to sit up in the bathtub. I then though "The end to my suffering at bath time is over!!!!" My celebration was a BIT premature. Guess who still ended up on their knees bathing the child? Oh! Right! This silly Mother who dared think bath time would be easy because the baby could sit up! Silly, silly Mother I am! Due to the lower back pain that would make bath time near unbearable, I tried many things to relieve this pain. Sitting on the small side of the bathtub. As most of you know, I am NO small woman. So sitting on the side of the bathtub was more like an elephant trying to sit on a 4X4 plank. Not gonna happen! EVER! Then I would try sitting on the toilet and reaching over to the tub. That only served to make it more agonizing. Then I discovered "showering with you child"! OH! Hey! I can take a shower and hold him on my hip and bathe him off easier than I can do this whole bath time thing. Cool beans! Well, that's only good if you have an extra person there ready to take the clean baby from you, so you can continue your showering. I will note though, my children have LOVED showering with me. It's something about the naked bonding with your baby that seems natural. Having warm water soothe you. This may sound perverted...but I sure you...both of my children have LOVED shower time with Momma and Daddy. Of course I will also note that my children were all under 1 year of age when doing this. My oldest is now 2.5 and occasionally he will shower with me, but he stands on his own. LOL Anyways, to continue. After trying and trying and TRYING to make bath time easier, I finally submitted to my agony and gave up! Nothing I could do would really improve the situation. So like lots of things in motherhood...I would have to SUCK IT UP! Then I became pregnant with my second child. Dun-Dun-Dunnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!! Bath time became SO impossible that my oldest simply didn't get bathed unless Daddy was there to do it. Not only was the back pain worse with pregnancy, but I then had a HUGE belly in my way. Around the time it got really difficult and I just gave up bathing him at all, we moved to Michigan. The house we moved into had magic. GREAT magic! A pull down shower head! Whaaaaaaaattt?!?!?! The thought had NEVER occurred to me! A shower head you can pull down?!?! We also found a little tiny wooden step stool that someone had left in the house. Viola! Perfection and Magic!!!!!! Bath time became a BREEEEEEEZE. I became a more confident mother. Finally realizing that "Yes! I can care for my child! I can keep him clean! I can shower him EVERY SINGLE DAY if need be!!!! I am Super Mom! Hear my Roar!" And the angels sang! Being that my husband is gone far more often than he was gone at our last duty station, I definitely had to be able to bath my children. I cannot explain in words how much this useful simple feature has changed my world. Had we not moved into a house that had one, I never would have thought to buy one! Now, I sit on that handy dandy tiny step stool and pull the shower head down. Showering them off these days is a mega breeze! I simply sit on the my stool and "hose them down". And because you can pull the shower head down, they don't feel overwhelmed or scared of the massive amounts of water spraying towards their face. It's more easily controlled. So...to conclude this short story. A MUST-HAVE tool for every mother? Unless you're short to the ground and bending down into a tub doesn't hurt you all that much........A Pull Down Shower Head. Something so simple...yet something I will NEVER live without again!

Another "tool" I find handy are scheduled nap/quiet time and bedtime. Have you heard from other parents things like "My child refused to nap once he turned 2!" or "My kids were up until 10p.m. They just wouldn't go to sleep!" I've heard that over and over and over again. Here is my philosophy. First of all a parent NEEDS quiet time away from her children. Especially if she homeschools her children. (I know this because even though my children aren't of age to school yet, I've nannied 2 different families and homeschooled their children) Even more so especially if her husband is frequently gone and doesn't come home every night. A scheduled bedtime and nap/quiet time is KEY to not loosing your sanity! When your the only adult at the home front in charge of tending to the children there should be a small part of the day where you can sit down, catch your breath and put some food in your mouth. Because as all mother's know...eating is not a common occurrence in motherhood. You'll be so busy tending to the little one's, when your stomach finally DOES growl and you look up at the clock it's well on 1p.m. Even though you've been up since 6a.m. Anyways, here's the deal. If as a mother you don't want to loose your mind? You WILL in-cooperate scheduled bedtime/naptimes. For nap time, you don't have to nap BUT you will sit and be quiet in your room for at LEAST 1hour! Period. As for bedtime. Around here, for Collin it's 6:30p.m. (during the winter 7:30p.m. during the summer) and Isaiah it's (8p.m. during the winter and 9p.m. during the summer) Occasionally I will admit that when Daddy's home, Isaiah will be allowed to sit up a bit longer with Momma and Daddy. But he knows the rules. He HAS to be quiet. And when it's bedtime...it's bedtime. No exceptions. We will NOT have crying meltdowns or you will find yourself not only in your bed....but in your bed with a sore behind. Isaiah has tried only ONCE to throw a fit because he didn't want to go to bed. One time is all it took for him to realize the end result is worse than just getting into bed. LOL Yes, you might be thinking "You spank your children to go to bed!" Yes! I do! Because when I say it's time to do something...there are no questions asked. You obey! And when you don't....there are consequences...period. Plus I understand the importance of having MY own free time and space. I HAVE to have at least SOME of it or I will get angry and take it out unnecessarily on the children. Creating a bad situation.

So for now, this would conclude the 2 tools I feel are necessary and you can't live without when raising children. I have been interrupted while blogging, so now I must take off. BUT if I think of anything else, I'll post back here. Hope you have enjoyed! :)