Rest and Recovery from Three-year-old-itis

Whew. My three straight days of babysitting for 3 yr old Mr. B. are over, and as I've said before, there's a reason God invented menopause -- 'cuz us ol' ladies don't have the energy anymore to keep up with a 3 year old! But in no way take that as a complaint. I enjoyed every single second Mr. B and I had together. He is one amazing child. (A note: I've switched to calling him Mr. B because I'm getting Google searches here for his full name, and it makes me nervous. Previous posts explain why and I won't go into it today. When I have a few extra hours I may go through my entire blog and change references to his name and daughter's name. Sad sad sad.) Despite some very cold weather, we spent a lot of our time outside. If a three year old can have an addiction, Mr. B's is to his tricycle. We live on a cul-de-sac and have a driveway that runs slightly downhill into the road -- almost no traffic on the road -- and this is all fodder for the perfect tricycle riding experience, even in 21 degrees. Luckily, I can swaddle a kid in scarves and hats and mittens and long johns with the best of 'em. We even put mittens on the metal handlebars of his tricycle when his hands got too cold. Yesterday was a big day for Mr. B. He's been asking to see where Jeff works, so yesterday was the day. We both needed to get out of the house for awhile, so first we went to the local dollar store for a little shopping therapy. I gave Mr. B one dollar (earned from all his help with my To Do Lists over the three days he was here) and told him he could pick whatever he wanted from the store. He looked at cars and coloring books and stickers and organizing baskets and kitchen utensils and balloons -- and settled on a package of 3 small pinwheels. LOL. The trip through the store took extra time because this week we started learning to write the alphabet, and the letter A has apparently made quite an impression on him, and he needed to stop and read almost every package in the store to show me where the letter A was. An interesting incident happened at the store. Mr. B didn't want to ride in the cart, so I agreed, but firmly stated that he was to stay with me at all times and if he didn't comply with that, then he'd be in the cart. At one point, he wanted to push the cart and I told him the aisles were too narrow and he'd bump into things. He persisted. At the top of one aisle, he grabbed the cart when my back was turned and pushed it down the aisle -- running straight into a display of plastic flower that came tumbling down. He got upset and said, "I want to sit in the cart, Umma." I put him in it, and then turned around and wheeled us to where I'd previously seen a store employee working. I told the employee that our cart had brushed up against the flower display and knocked it down, and I apologized for the extra work it would cause. The employee thanked me and said, "No problem. I'll take care of it." As we wheeled away, Mr. B. said, "What did you say, Umma?" and I repeated it. I said that the store man wasn't mad because we went to him and told him what happened, and apologized. That was called "being honest". I said everyone makes mistakes, but when that happens you need to "be honest" about it and say you're sorry. Mr. B. took it all in with a serious little look on his face, and said, "I'm sorry I pushed the cart, Umma." I thanked him for being honest with me and gave him a big hug. Life Lesson #320 in place. That is exactly what grandparenting means to me. Then we headed to "Umpa's" work place. It is a rather high security site, and we can only get as far as an outside parking lot, but Mr. B got to see a lot of buildings, a guard shack, a gate, and a water tower with the initials of the company, so he was happy. When he saw his Umpa walk out of the guard shack pedestrian gate, he actually shook with joy. It was so cute. The three of us went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. Jeff and I had decided ahead of time that if chicken nuggets were on the menu, we weren't going to mention them, and try and get Mr. B to choose something else -- and he did! A grilled cheese sandwich and steak fries. Woo Hoo! I will say this little guy was absolutely well-behaved during the entire restaurant thing. He didn't spill anything, he didn't yell, he didn't turn around and stare at other people (I always tell him, it's OK to look at other people, but you can't stare at them unless you say hello.), he didn't run up and down the aisles, he didn't stand in his chair, he didn't fidget. I was very proud of him and told him so as we left the restaurant. We will definitely "do lunch" again! While he was here for three days, besides lunch and shopping at the dollar store, we did puzzles, read books, listened (and danced!) to music, played musical instruments (thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Lisa!), and did some sewing on the sewing machine. We also got out some alphabet beads I have leftover from a craft project, and I made a "needle" from a pipe cleaner, added yarn, and let him string beads. The only bead he wanted to string was the "A" bead. He found beads with little hearts on them and asked me what they were. I said "That's a heart. It means 'I love you'". So every time he found a little heart bead, he'd hand it to me and say, "Here, Umma, this is for you. I love you." Altogether... awwwwwwww.... I am behind on everything - housework, swaps, quilting, you name it. And you know what? The benefit of being a grandmother is -- I don't care. I know I will catch up, and I know those precious days with my grandson were far more important in the great scheme of things than how clean my kitchen floor is or the chaos in my family room or in the fact a swap partner will get a swap one day later than planned. I will give any of those things up in a heart beat in exchange for three days of hugs and kisses, giggles and grins, jokes and pranks, and sweet cuddle time with my favorite little boy in the entire world.

Back in a few days

Extra babysitting for Mr. B this week, so not much blogging or computer time going to happen. I am teaching 3 yr old Mr. B the same philosophy I am trying to teach myself these days -- "Work comes before play". Yesterday he helped me make my To Do List, and helped me carry out (or patiently waited while I did ) the list of household chores, before we went outside for tricycle time. We'll see how he does with two more days of it! See you on Saturday!

It's a new old me

Why is it Good Habits are so hard to form but so easy to break! While bad habits are easy to form but hard to break... For years and years, I've been in the wonderful habit of making a To Do List first thing every morning -- and then accomplishing everything on that list (if humanly possible) each day. For some reason (blogging, computer games, life) over the past several months, I stopped making that list and my house is suffering because of it. How did that happen?! So this morning I resolved to get back to my To Do List habit. Apparently "no list" is an excuse to be lazy -- and lazy just isn't something I aspire to be! Another benefit to a daily To Do List is that I get things done early in the day. I'm up at 6am, have Jeff's breakfast cooked, his lunch packed, me showered and dressed, and the kitchen cleaned up by 8am. When my List is in full swing, I usually have either the upstairs or the downstairs vac'd, sheets changed, bathrooms glistening by 10am. One morning a week I run errands, and I'd have those done by noon. I had so much more free time! Now I'm still up at 6am, still get Jeff's breakfast on the table and his lunch packed, the kitchen cleaned by 8am, and then I turned into a slug. Jump on the computer and before I knew it, it would be noon or 1:00, and I'd have nothing done. I'd say "just one more game" or "just read one more blog" and the next thing I knew, it would be 3:00. I'd run around like crazy trying to get surface cleaning done, and that'd be it. NO MORE! I've blown the dust off my Super Housewife Cape! With pen and lined pad in hand, I shall show my magical powers -- be gone dust! be gone cobwebs! be gone clutter that's piled on the bookshelves while I had my nose buried in computer games! be gone gritty floors! be gone non-sparkling bathrooms! be gone I say! So my self-challenge has a goal of re-establishing my GOOD habits (making a To Do List, getting housework done before computer time, blogging later in the day) and doing away with these nasty bad habits (waaaayyyy too much time on the computer, signing up for too many swaps, too much TV time, etc.). It takes 21 days to firmly establish a good habit. Today is #1. My To Do List this morning was this:

• Make bed - done
• Clean master bathroom - done
• 2 loads laundry (wash, dry, fold, put away) - done
• Clean kitchen counters - done
• Sweep kitchen floor - done
• Dust family room & dining room - done
• Take out trash - done
• Re-arrange family room furniture (tonight with Jeff's help)
• Sort and box video's and dvd's in family room for keep or yard sale - done
• Dinner prep - done
• 15 minutes paper sorting in office - done
• Menu planning, grocery list - done

I have to admit - it feels SO much better to have a productive day than to slug the day away in front of the computer! How about you? Do you spend too much time on the computer or in front of the television or in some other non-productive fashion and wish you didn't?

The Art of Negotiation

Our TV has been on it's last legs for several months now, and yesterday we agreed it was time to bite the bullet and buy a new one. I did some research, found information I needed on manufacturers, warrantys, cables, etc., and we headed to the local electronics store where they were holding their President's Day Sale "extravaganza". We've moved into the 21st Century and purchased a Plasma Flat Screen High Def TV. I asked a lot of questions (that I already knew the answer to, thanks to my research). A wonderful "equipment specialist" stepped us through all the details, along with simply viewing all the TV's in the store, we made our decision on a TV. The price? $1799, on sale for $1399. A new DVD player that ?upgrades? standard DVD's to HD, $149 on sale for $89. Two HDMI cables at $95 each (one for cable to TV, one for DVD player to TV). Delivery and set up - $120.00. Service contract $395.00 for three years (sounds like a lot, I know, but according to what I researched, almost any part for a plasma TV is $300 to $400 plus labor!). A new stand for the TV to replace our humongous entertainment center: $370 on sale for $185.00 Total cost pre-sale: $2839. Sale price: $2378.00 Armed with information and knowing what I actually needed, but pretending not to know, my negotiations went like this. Me: OK, I'll take this TV. Sales guy: Wonderful choice, ma'm! Let me ring it up for you! Me: Do I need to buy a special cable for High Def TV? Sales guy: Yes, you're going to need an HDMI cable Me: You'll throw that in for free, right? Sales guy: Well, let me see.... Sales guy: OK, I'll give you that for free. Me: I've decided to take the DVD player too. Sales guy: OK, I'll add that in... Me: Will we need another cable for that? Sales guy: Ummmm... yes, you will. Me: So that's free too, right? Sales guy (looking nervous): Well, let me see if I can do that. Me: OK, but don't forget I'm paying cash today. Sales guy: (Goes away, talks to manager, comes back...) OK, I can give you that second cable for free too. Me: How much is an extended warranty on the TV? Sales guy: $395 for three years. Me: OK, I'll take that too. Me: And I need a TV stand -- I saw one there that I like -- add that in. Sales guy (brightening): OK. Me: Is that your store manager over there? Because I want to go tell him how wonderful you've been to us today. (He says yes -- and while he's keying in the invoice, I go over and talk to the manager. The Sales Guy is VERY happy with me now.) Me: Now, this is a big TV. I'm not going to be able to fit in my car, am I? Sales guy: No. You'll need a van or a truck - or we can deliver it to you. Me: What's the delivery fee? Sales guy: For standard delivery, it's $70. For Deluxe Delivery where they set it up, set up your DVD player, calibrate the color, and take away your old TV, it's $120. Me: Best Buy is offering free delivery, free setup and they'll take my old TV away. Sales guy: (gulp) Me: Will your store match that? Sales guy: Let me get your invoice finished up here and I'll see. Me: I'm sorry -- before you do the rest of the invoice, I need to know if you'll match Best Buy -- otherwise I probably ought to go over there. (*beam*) Sales guy: OK, ma'm. I'll match their offer. Me: I want to watch the Daytona 500 tomorrow in HD -- can you deliver it today or tomorrow? Sales guy: Well, I'll have to call and see what the schedule is. Me: OK, because there's really no point in buying it if you can't deliver it and set it up in time for the race. I think I'll just have to buy a smaller TV I can fit in my car... that one over there is just $399, right? Sales guy: (Breaking out in a sweat) (Goes away, talks with manager, makes a phone call... comes back). Yes ma'm we can deliver it tomorrow but they will have to call you between 6am and 8am to confirm delivery early enough for you to watch the race. Me: Oh, that's OK, I'm up anyway. Final cost of 47" plasma HD TV, DVD player, TV stand, 3 yr warranty, "deluxe" delivery: $1800 - $578 less than sale price! Yeah baby! UPDATE: Apparently the delivery truck people damaged our television. The company called and stated that they had no more 47" in stock -- would we be willing to accept a 50-inch in it's place? Obviously, we accepted. Everything we received we paid $300 less than the price of the television alone. An even better deal than I anticipated. It's all good.