Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Black Hair Dye and White Tubs Don't Mix


Last night at Dotty's school they had a costume parade. Dotty wanted to be Jasmine. She also wanted to dye her hair black like Jasmine.

Apparently Tony tried to talk her into a black wig but that did not work. (I think he should try harder next time!) So yesterday afternoon I sprayed my child's sweet brownish blonde hair with black hair dye.

She was a cute Jasmine...and black hair makes her blue eyes pop...but I am still never doing that again...at least not if I am the one that has to wash it out!

Dotty was exhausted from the day (long story...but she got up at 5am and had not had a nap all day) and to top it off she did not want her black hair to go away.

Insert wailing and gnashing of teeth here.

It was quite the trick to get her into the tub and get her hair washed. I am so thankful Memaw was there to help or else I might have started crying too!

When all was said and done Dotty was clean but my bathtub was a black mess! It took me a good 20 minutes to clean it and it is still not like it used to be. I plan to bust out the big cleaning guns this weekend when Dotty is away and really SCRUB!

I also have sent a message to Tony saying that I will NOT do hair dye of any kind ever again. I had nightmares about that stuff all night! No wonder Halloween is so scary!!!

Hair dye at Halloween is now ranked right up there with bunnies at Easter...fine if someone wants Dotty to have that type of thing but I want nothing to do with it! LOL!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Few and Far Between

It is that time of year again...the time of year when my life at work gets NUTS...literally! We will be getting super busy at the Pecan Shed in just a matter of days so my posts for Dotty's blog might get few and far between for the next few months. My goal is to keep a list of topics written down, to be able to find that list in January, and to blog about stuff in more detail then!

However, if anything major comes up...like she wins a Nobel Prize or scores a soccer goal I will be sure to write something up...even if it is a short one!

Friday, October 14, 2011

My Life Needs a Remote Control...

Dotty loves our DVR...she thinks every tv in every place should have a pause button and that all shows she has ever watched should be able to appear again at her command. Dotty also always expects me to drop whatever I am doing in order to work the remote control for her.

While I was in my bathroom getting ready this morning I heard the living room tv come on...then go silent...come on...then go silent...come on...then go silent. I finally got worried and went into the room to see how much I was about to spend on a new tv. What I found was Dotty had learned which button was the "pause" button.

She was a busy girl running from room to room and when I asked her what she was doing to our poor tv...she simply said "I don't want to miss anything Momma so I pause it every time I can't see it."

I wish life were that way. Dotty is growing up so fast and there are times I wish I had a pause button. Sometimes I wish I could freeze the moment and just savor it for a while longer. Other times I wish I had a rewind button...like when Dotty is with Tony and they do all the great fun things they do together I wish I could hit rewind and have her do them again only with me this time...that way neither of us would miss out! (And I am sure Tony feels the same way in regards to Dotty's time with me.)

Life doesn't come with a "pause" or "rewind" button though so we have to make the most of our time. For that reason, I stopped getting ready and sat in the living room with Dotty and watched "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" with her. Of course there were a million things I needed to do but they could all wait. My time with Dotty is precious and because of our life situation I do miss out on a lot of time with her (as does Tony).

I have said for some time now that being divorced is what you want to make of it. If you want to focus on the bad then the divorce will be bad. If you want to focus on the good then the divorce will be good (crazy as that sounds!). Believe it or not (but if you know us...you will believe it) Tony and I have a good divorce. We communicate, we get along, we do things jointly, we can even laugh and joke around with each other. Oh sure there are the not so good times but every relationship has those.

One of the blessings I got from being divorced is that I learned how short my time with Dotty truly is and had I stayed married I might not have realized that until Dotty was heading off to college. Children grow up quickly and you don't get their childhood back...so I try to make the most of my time with Dotty. And I will always be grateful for that life lesson...regardless of how I learned it.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Puking Princess

Monday night I had a puking princess on my hands. Dotty went to bed telling me her tummy felt bad but she didn't want medicine and she seemed fine...no fever...ate a banana before bed time. All was well...or so I thought.

I may not ever give Dotty a banana before bedtime again! I may never eat a banana again!!!

I went to bed at 10:30 and at precisely 11:30 I was seeing that banana again from a whole new perspective...Dotty had thrown up all in her bed, on her, and everywhere!

Fun times!

I have a weak stomach, but I swear God gave moms superhuman powers when it comes to their children. I just grabbed up Dotty...stripped her down...got her clean clothes on and got the trash can just in time for round two. By the time she was finally done, I was able to put her on the couch with the tv on and went to clean up her bedroom.

Cleaning my kid is one thing...cleaning the bedroom was another. I dry heaved for about 5 minutes before I finally just pinched my nose and did what had to be done. I felt like I had just survived some sort of nuclear warfare when it was all done.

Right about the time I had started the first load of laundry and got new sheets on the bed, Dotty started throwing up again. This time we were in the living room sitting in the chair so I was more prepared.

Dotty was exhausted though. She wanted to just go to bed. By the time I took the trash out I found her back in her bed...and 3 seconds later...yep you guessed it...more sheets, more nightgowns, more pillow cases.

By the time 3am rolled around I was all out of mattress protectors, I was down to only flat sheets left on the bed with towels under them and covering up with miscellaneous blankets, and Dotty and I had both changed clothes several times.

At one point Dotty looked at me with the saddest face and asked "Mommy, when will I stop throwing up?"
"I don't know" was the best I could do.
Then Dotty said, "I hope you don't get sick Mommy."
I teared up at my sweet, sweet baby girl...worried about her momma!

Dotty slept for a few hours but I didn't. While Dotty tossed and turned in her sleep I kept a close eye on her. By daylight I was exhausted and Dotty was thirsty...bad idea.

All the Sprite came right back up. Dotty yelled at the "bug" to get out of her tummy! (At one point in the night I told her she must have a stomach bug...she asked me how it had gotten in there...then she blamed it on her belly button not being closed up tight enough).

By 10am though...almost 12 hours later...Dotty was able to sip Sprite and eat a few crackers. I got her to take a nap and we both slept hard (well she did and I slept with one eye open). She was a happy girl by that evening and we both slept like rocks.

Dotty being sick like this reminds me of when she was about one...she had gotten a stomach bug and she gave it to everyone...me, Tony, Memaw, Nana...everyone! It was awful and I spent many hours on the floor begging it to go away. However, I would take being sick a million times over it would spare my sweet baby girl!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Sleeping Like a Rock Star

Dotty likes to live like a rock star in one particular way...she likes to stay up late and sleep late. I on the other hand like to go to bed early and get up early. Needless to say...we are both kind of grumpy at bed time and in the morning.

Dotty also talks in her sleep a lot (fights with Presley, plays with Ava, yells for Memaw, etc.) and she gets up a lot wanting a drink or to go to the bathroom or something. She usually wakes me up at least three times a night for one reason or another. Dotty has never been a "good sleeper" and I have just come to accept it.

This whole week Dotty has been going to bed at almost 10pm but she has been awake every morning by 6:30am (on her own). And every night she is up two or three times needing something, wanting me to sleep with her, etc. I just knew at some point this would catch up to her. Finally it did...

Last night she was asleep by 9:30 and she slept straight through until 7am! Not once did I hear a peep out of her. In fact, when my alarm went off at 6:30 I was shocked I was still in my own bed! And I was so excited to have gotten over 8 hours of sleep...I hit snooze and slept for 10 more minutes!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Lessons in Losing

Dotty should have the genetic makeup of a fierce competitor. The Nichols were all great in sports and like to compete. My dad was never fond of losing at anything. Mom was a cheerleader (enough said there).

Tony is still competitive to this day. I like to win, but I also like for everyone to just get along so I don't have that "killer" attitude like some do.

Dotty is definitely a competitor by birth. She does not like to lose and she is not above cheating in order to win (rules get changed quite a bit when you play with Dotty).

I have been trying to teach her that sometimes you win and sometimes you lose...but it is always how you play the game that matters...no matter what the game is...and you should always just try to have fun.

This morning I was attempting to teach Dotty that lesson yet again. She got up at 6am so we had time to kill. We started playing Candy Land. When I won the second game Dotty threw a huge fit, complete with tears, screams, and fist flying.

I (being the calm and understanding mom that I am) told her that if she couldn't play nice then I would not play with her again. I took the game and hid it from her. (Perhaps not the best teaching tool but I still had to get ready and I was short on time.)

More tears, more screams, more fists flying.

Some day I am sure I will cheer on that competitive spirit but today was not that day. I want my kid to know that winning isn't everything. Games (all kinds) are meant to teach us life lessons and to build character. At 4 years old Dotty has a ways to go. I just hope she grows out of this stage. If not, her high school years might be filled with lots of technicals and possibly some game suspensions.

Side Note: I never got T-ed up. Tony on the other hand cannot say that. :)

Monday, October 3, 2011

Pierced Ears

Tony and Brittany took Dotty and Dylann to get their ears pierced yesterday. Dotty has been wanting to have her ears pierced for two years now (as for Dylann...I am not so sure on what her opinion of it was).

Tony said Dotty did great! The guy doing it had to do each ear...one at a time...and Tony said Dotty did not even cry!!! Such a big girl!!!

(Dylann on the other hand apparently was a bit more opposed to the process. Brittany and Tony said she let them know about it too!)

Dotty was so excited to show me her ears when I picked her up yesterday! She ran up to me and said, "Mommy! I got my ear pierced!"...as she held back her hair for me to see her right ear. Then she turned to the other side and said "I got this ear pierced too!"

Glad she didn't stop at just the one!

Dotty picked out pink flower earrings...and she is already wanting me to pierce my ears too (that's right...I don't have my ears pierced) so we can wear matching earrings. Since I don't tolerate pain well, I think I am going to pass on this bonding experience.

Dotty has shown everyone she meets her pierced ears and she always adds, "Presley will be so jealous!"

While this is a true statement...I am not sure I like Dotty's way of thinking on this. But then again...Presley being two years older does make Dotty feel like Presley gets to do everything first...so if she has this one moment of glory...well then perhaps I can overlook her desire to make Presley jealous.

Side Note: I have warned Jake about all this and he agrees...Presley will indeed be jealous!