One blog, one tree - Writing my way to carbon neutrality

I received information that the average blogger is anything but carbon neutral.  In fact, annually, a blog can generate an average of 8 lbs. of carbon!  So, I am working to make this pretty, pink blog a greener place to read.  I am joining the "1 blog, 1 tree" movement and having a tree planted to neutralize the carbon emissions caused by my blog. 

During the Spring and Summer, I suspect I do my fair share of combating global warming.  I plant and grow flowers and veggies and love my outdoorsy stuff.  I don't know what we'll grow this year because we're looking at potentially moving.  But even if I can't grow a lot this year, I'll at least have a tree in my blog's honor. 

So, in an effort to encourage greener living, I will encourage you to join the "1 blog, 1 tree" movement and do your part to minimize your carbon footprint.  Remember, we can always use more trees!  I will also encorage you to take other steps towards a self-sustainable lifestyle.  These are things you can do in both the big city and out in the country.  Grow a garden.  It can be in containers on a patio or balcony or you can plant them in the ground.  There's nothing quite like fresh veggies right from the plant!  Plant your own tree, bonus points for a fruit tree!  Volunteer at your zoo or park.  Pick up garbage from the road in front of your residence. 

Good luck and let me know how it goes! 

This month has been rough!

Well, this month's class is over and I am thrilled to reach the end of the month.  this month was harder than usual due to the illness that went raging through the house.  After it laid us up for a week, I realized that I had lost so much time and missed the grading I needed to get done.  It was horrible trying to catch up.  But last night at 9:30, I filled in the last blank spot in my gradebook and submitted my grades. 

Another month down and now I have a week off.  This break is definitely needed and I will be taking advantage of it.  Part of it is going to be spent finishing the recuperation process from this illness.  There will also be cleaning, crocheting and hopefully calmness.  I need to do some prep for next month, but I am free baby! 

Little Guy and I are going to continue to work on the potty thing.  He's still balking at the potty,  He wants to do what he wants to do and doesn't want to take a break to sit on the potty.  It's turning into a major headache but I cannot give in.  We've relegated diapers to sleep-time.  And, unfortunately, I've learned that sleep time cannot include rest-time in the front room because he'll take advantage of it. 

However, this weekend we have a birthday party to attend and I am rapidly realizing that Easter is approaching and we have gotten NOTHING for Little Guy. This needs to change. 

Just shoot me

So... Where have I been? If you're familiar with Stephen King and
The Stand, then you're familiar with "Captain Trips". I had his close
cousin. We've all been sick around here, even Little Guy and it has
totally sucked. (Yes, I know that is not proper English Teacher
wording, but it really has totally sucked.) Whatever we got stemmed
from Big Guy's place of employment and he got it first.

It hit Big Guy during our anniversary weekend and really put a damper
on things for him. By Sunday he was feeling bad enough to not go to
work on Monday. After he came home early last Wednesday, the illness
broke and he started feeling much better. Unfortunately, that is when
I started getting sick. I made it through Thursday and Friday and
then was out for the count over the weekend. We took Nyquil, Dayquil,
everything we could get our hands on. I drank cup after cup of tea
and attempted to stay hydrated because I was blowing my nose
constantly. By Sunday, Little Guy had started sniffling and he was
obviously not feeling good.

He's doing better today though, so it appears he got a mild case of
it. I'd hope that was due to our foresight when Big Guy got sick
where we started pouring orange juice down his throat and ensuring
that he ate all his fruits and veggies and his vitamins. Right now
he's sniffling and coughing like the rest of us, but he doesn't seem
to have caught the majority of the aches, pains and general malaise
that went with this bug, lucky little booger.

So, I am still alive, and I have not forgotten about my journal. My
illness put me extremely far behind in grading though and this week is
that last week of class for the month. Grades are due for me on
Thursday and I still have an entire set of papers to grade. I've been
busting butt to get it done, but I can't seem to catch up. Luckily, I
have tomorrow and during the day on Thursday! Wish me luck!

--
"It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get to where we are today,
but we have just begun. Today we begin in earnest the work of making
sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better
than the one we inhabit today." - Barack Obama
http://kraftykittencaboodle.blogspot.com/ - A Blog about Urban
Homesteading and Crocheting and the craziness that goes with both
http://www.cafepress.com/redparrotgames
http://hippiewitchmama.etsy.com

^..^
>'<

Parenting while sick - the gift that never stops giving

Well, it's happened.  Big Guy's cold has worked it's insidious way into my body and now I am huddled up at home with a stuffy nose, headache, achy body, the works.  Right now I've dressed Little Guy in a diaper and laid him down for a nap because he started whining over a mess he made which precluded playing with a particular toy.  While I was trying to clean it up, he started doing this screechy scream thing because he wanted it and he wanted it now.  I gave him a five count and when he kept pushing, told him he was going down for a nap.   This screechy scream is always a bone of contention between Little Guy and his parents. 

I know my patience is at a low point right now, and I try to balance it out when I know I'm not feeling well. Parenting while sick is so very difficult.  Trying to figure out the proper way to parent and ensure you aren't too harsh because your patience is low or too lenient because you don't want to deal with things is one of the biggest issues.  Right now, I am relatively certain that he needs a nap and I need a time out from him or else I am going to have a mommy meltdown.  And, when you're sick, minimizing stress needs to be a key point.  You may enforce the rules more closely when you're sick, but that's OK.  Enforce the rules, but make sure you don't go overboard too.  

For sick parents who are home all day with the little ones, it may seem like your time with them will never end, particularly when the normal routine for a stay at home parent extends, in general, until the child goes to bed.  I recognize that, for the most part, I have Little Guy on my own during the day and then, on nights where I don't teach, Big Guy and I split the parenting at night.  On nights where I teach, Big Guy gets a half-measure of the day's activities and then we work together when I get home.  Tonight, though, I've already told Big Guy that he needs to take over with Little Guy when he gets home.  I'm not going to have the energy to chase Little Guy or nail his butt to the potty chair. 

Little Guy wants to do all the normal things we do, which often means climbing on mommy like a jungle gym and having a playmate who will pretend with him.  Thanks to the achy muscles, the jungle gym was closed today and, while I could definitely applaud his imagination, I was too brain-dead to help come up with more stories.  I am sure some of his afternoon meltdown is simply a frustrated reaction to the change, and I wish I could make it better for him.  However, I don't want him to get sick, so snuggles and kisses are off the table for today. 

As it is, being curled up on the sofa with the laptop and some tea has helped to recharge the mommy batteries, but I still think both of us need at least an hour's time out.  Little Guy's stopped being mad about being stuck in his room and I can hear him playing.  I can let it go because he's not wound up and I know that eventually he will fall asleep.  I will continue to curl up on the sofa and maybe even allow myself some time playing Bioshock 2.  The goal is to relax without letting Little Guy walk all over me or allowing myself to overextend and become even more ill. 

And hopefully I'll see you on the flip side of this cold.