Pardon My Poppet

Posts Tagged ‘Children’

As a woman who struggled with infertility for years and years, I learned many ways to get around the “When are you guys gonna have kids?” or the “What are you waiting for?” or the “Maybe you’re pregnant!” comments every time I was tired or feeling under the weather.

The best way someone ever asked me why I didn’t have kids was by asking “Do you not have a child because you don’t want one, or because you can’t have one?”  This opened the opportunity for discussion rather than putting up my defenses trying to think of the next comeback.

As a mother, I find the same bristling when I still get the “Maybe you’re pregnant” at the first sign of fatigue.  Can’t I just be sick?  or tired?  or SICK AND TIRED?

This reaction to just quip “yeah right” or “Don’t think so”, or some other petty  statement surprises me.  I always thought if I was blessed with a child that I’d never have those feelings again.  To my shock, these emotions still define who I am.  I constantly try to grasp every fleeting moment with my daughter, because I may never experience it again.  And if I should happen to wish more children….well, the scheduling, testing, hoping, failure, sadness all exist time and time again as they did before.

I once said to a woman who was lamenting trying to have her second child and who was finding it difficult, that at least she had a child.  She clearly wasn’t expecting this response.  I truly wasn’t thinking at all when I said it of how it would make her feel.  But now I understand that it is possible to still yearn for more after the light of a single baby enters your life.

What I’ve decided is to be honest with others who enquire – we hope to have more children, but it took so long for Poppet, that if she is the only child we have I won’t take away from this precious time yearning for those that might never be.  And if they should bless our lives, how wonderful that would be.  And if they should not, we are truly happy with our perfectly complete family.

Warmest regards,

If you enjoy our posts, please consider taking a moment to follow us!  Pardon My Poppet is on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  Or you can grab our RSS Feed or Subscribe via E-mail!

I used to be so frustrated on Saturday mornings when I wasn’t allowed to go to a friend’s house until I had cleaned my room.  It often felt like a completely insurmountable task.  I would often be driven to frustration, not having a clue where to begin!

One day my parents came home with a book for me.  It was called, “What to Do When Your Mom or Dad Says…Clean Your Room!”  It is one of 30 books in the Survival Series for Kids.  Trust me, it has been well used.  There are principles I still use today (ask my husband, organization is NOT my strong suit!).

This series has been out of print for over 20 years, but the principles remain the same.  Here are some basic tips to help you teach your child how to clean their room!

1)  Make the bed

2)  Take anything that is out-of-place in the room and put it on the bed

3)  Systematically pick up each object, one by one, and put it in its proper place.  (not just crammed any old place).

4)  Throw trash away

5)  Donate unused items

6)  Dust

7)  Vacuum

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on this book it is a MUST have for any child’s library!  It goes into such detail.  There are 10 steps on how to make a bed, 4 steps on how to fold a t-shirt, and a complete section on how to organize your room after it is cleaned.  Invaluable!

Here is a fun check-list you can print that your child can go through with you.  Help them think up some extra tasks to add in the blank spaces!

How To Clean My Room Task List

Warmest regards,

If you enjoy our posts, please consider taking a moment to follow us!  Pardon My Poppet is on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  Or you can grab our RSS Feed or Subscribe via E-mail!

You think you’ve got it all under control.  You made it through Thanksgiving and just claimed your home back from all the extra visitors.  Then it happens!  Your kids are home from school for Winter Break!

If you are having a winter like we are in Ontario, there is no snow, but plenty of mud and muck that gets tracked through the house!  Those pristine carpets are sure to take a beating!  Children love to explore, but even more, they love to share their finds with you!  As the year winds down, Febreze Carpet Care wants to know:  What is the worst thing your kids have brought in to your floors?    And no matter what the answer, Febreze Carpet Care has a solution.  They make it easier than ever to get out what the kids bring in!

With their complete line of carpet care products, Febreze has every aspect of carpet care available to take care of the big messes so you have more time to spend with your family!

Febreze Carpet Care has generously paired with Pardon My Poppet to offer one lucky follower a $100 AMEX Gift Card.  4 runners-up will receive a Febreze Carpet Solution.  To enter simply leave a comment below letting us know “What is the worst thing your kids have brought in to your floors?” and follow Pardon My Poppet on either Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.   Extra entries available as outlined in the Rafflecopter below.  Remember to click on “I did this” after completing each option.  You can sign in with either your Facebook ID or your name and e-mail address.

Share the love and “like” Febreze Carpet Care on Facebook and follow them on Twitter too.  And when you’ve done all that, head on out and pick up your favourite Febreze Carpet Care Solution product!

Read the rest of this entry »

If you enjoy our posts, please consider taking a moment to follow us!  Pardon My Poppet is on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  Or you can grab our RSS Feed or Subscribe via E-mail!

On my husband’s day off, we ventured to one of our favourite places.  Ikea.  Need I say more?  It is a very dangerous place for us to go.  There is always something uber-useful to bring home.  And now that we have a van, there is no excuse not to!  This is what our trip home looked like.  Somewhere in there is a Poppet!

We headed home, and Poppet and I went to work on the nursery as Papa putting together items for a project in the master bedroom (a future Tidy Tuesday post).

Although Poppet still nurses, I noticed she really did not spend any time in her room other than to sleep in spurts.  Every time we travel she is found under desks, in bed side tables, anywhere that can act as a fort.  I thought it was time to create her own little space in her nursery.  Originally there was a small Lazy Boy rocker in the room, and I never seemed to have a place to put diapers other than in their packaging on the floor.

We started by taking the chair out of the room and moving it into the adjacent guest bedroom.  Next we put together a fabulous leaf from Ikea (which is meant as a toddler bed canopy).  Someone gave us an awesome desk from Fisher Price that is the perfect size for Poppet.  I put this in the corner to keep her away from the laundry basket and electrical outlets.  Laying down a child-sized duvet and a couple of green throw pillows and we had the perfect little escape for her imagination to run wild!

She went right in and played away!  Also love the numbered storage bins!  Tim asked the rep at Ikea if Poppet put them on her head if she could breathe.  The man is like “um, yep”.  No sooner did Papa hand it to her in the shopping cart than over the head it went.  ”Boy, she didn’t waste any time!” the sales man said!  But they are great for holding toys and books on the floor.   I really like the feel of her little space.  Her nursery already has a garden theme, and this just fit right in!

Finally we tackled the diaper problem.  There is a great hanging mesh toy storage unit that looks like a hot air balloon.  One hook in the ceiling and I have a great place for diapers.  I even use the bottom basket for cloth diaper supplies.

Love it!

Warmest regards,

If you enjoy our posts, please consider taking a moment to follow us!  Pardon My Poppet is on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  Or you can grab our RSS Feed or Subscribe via E-mail!

Poppet goes outside.  Perhaps not as much as she or I would like, but she does get to have at least a little fresh air from time to time.

The last couple of days we’ve had a little bit of snow falling when we wake in the morning.  Not enough to stay on the ground, but beautiful nonetheless.  Yesterday I lifted her up in my arms and was surprised to see how intently she was studying the tranquil scene that lay before her.  This white wonderment.  I find myself wondering if she always does this?  Am I just too busy to notice as I cart her in and out of the van, plopping her in one shopping cart after another, going about my own day.  Or is she also caught up in the fast pace and never really noticed the beautiful world around her until we took the moment together to look at it?  I find myself entranced just watching her.  To my surprise it has become one of my new favourite moments!

I am thankful for the wonderment of a child

Warmest regards,

If you enjoy our posts, please consider taking a moment to follow us!  Pardon My Poppet is on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest.  Or you can grab our RSS Feed or Subscribe via E-mail!