So today was my big day in court. About a month ago I had to go to Vista for the second time to plead not guilty to my speeding ticket. I left home about 6:30 am to make it to the court as it opened. At 8:15 they called us into the court room and we waited for the judge. I had to walk up to a microphone and state that I was pleading not guilty. He then asked me if I wanted my trial within 45 days or after. I said before and he said OK and off I went. Just standing up in front of the judge, I was so nervous. All of this talk about a trial and seeing the police officer who pulled me over was just way to much and this wasn’t even the trial.
So today I took my third drive to Vista to fight my ticket and for the past month or so I have been worried about this upcoming trial. I have had many sleepless nights worrying about what I would say, what the police officer would say and if it was even possible to have the ticket dismissed. I decided that my main defence was going to be that I was driving the speed of commute traffic and I felt that the ticket was issued because the police officer thought I was disrespecting him and not slowing down. It is just surprising because I know that I wasn’t going faster then the traffic. I honestly don’t know how fast I was driving because I was following a motorcycle and paying more attention to him than the odometer.
My dad decided to go with me to court. It was great having his support there and he drove me so it was nice to be able to relax on the drive to Vista. We got there very early so we had lunch. In Subway there were two police officers having lunch and even their presence there had me scared. We arrived at the court at about 12:45, 30 minutes before the trial was to begin. Everywhere on the paperwork it says don’t be late so I was glad we were early. 1:15 came and went and at about 1:45 they finally called us into the court room. Why do police officers feel there are more important then us. I wasn’t allowed to be late, but they were running 30 minutes late and no one seemed to care. There were 12 people scheduled for court at 1:15. As we entered the room we saw on one side of the court room sat the police officers and we were to sit on the other side. By this point I was so nervous I thought I might pass out. The clerk in the front of the room began to take roll. She would call the name of one of the people who got a ticket and then the police officers name that went along with the ticket. When she called the name of the police officer that pulled me over, he did not answer. I had this enormous feeling of relief he wasn’t there. When the clerk then said please stand and the judge came in I started to think that maybe I would still have to talk…oh man. After the judge came in the court room he explained all our rights and went on for about 5 minutes on how to act in court and appropriate ways to address everyone. I was still freaking out and then…he started down the list of anyone whose police officer wasn’t there and said there was insignificant evidence and the cases were dismissed! I won! I won! I won! Now on to the rest of my life…no more tickets please!
Jake swimming in Palm Desert. After about 4 months of lessons, once a week, he is finally getting his confidence and jumping in the pool and actually swimming…like crazy!
So if I ever wrote a handbook for ‘Soon-to-be-Parents’ there would have to be a least one whole chapter dedicated to Poo. I never knew that becoming a parent meant that the first five years of life would revolve entirely around poo. I mean from the first days of life…the black tar that is so sticky you need like ten wipes just to get it off to now pooping in the potty, well most of the time in the potty…
I remember when Jake was about three months old we went to the Padres game with a bunch of friends. I was carrying Jake in the baby Bjorn and he had one of the biggest blow outs ever. I think being in the bjorn just made it even more a mess. I could feel, not to mention smell that it was bad, but it wasn’t until I actually got him out of the bjorn in the bathroom and saw that it was a disaster. Jake’s clothes and the Bjorn were filled up. Jake ended up wrapped in paper towels because his clothes were so full of poo and had to be washed out at the time. I had no idea I needed more clothes so paper towels did the trick. Later we went to a bar and everyone was just talking about the yellow mustard poo that had been everywhere…YUCK!
That was only the first of many blow outs. We used to put Jake in the Excersaucer when he hadn’t pooped in a few days and that would always do the trick, except that it usually made the mess worse because he would go poo and then continue to jump and it would just start crawling up his back. One time there was so much that it actually filled up his back and could be seen coming out the top of his onesie near his neck…YUCK!
So I would like to say that the worst poo stories happened with Jake and we learned a lot, but I can’t leave out the fact that Druw has been known to poop in the bath tub. I usually give the boys a bath together and Jake being a little older was just sitting in the tub and says, “Mom, I think Druw went poopoo in the bathtub.” When I looked down I could see ‘poo snakes’ in the tub…YUCK!
So potty training Jake was one of the most difficult hurtles we have had so far. With potty training, the parent has really no control at all. Jake went pee in the potty very easily and I thought, “Wow, this is great, it is going to be so easy to potty train…” famous last words. Jake refused to poop in the potty…It went on month after month. He would hold out and wait until I would put a diaper on him for bed and then poo. After a 9 month struggle with pooping in the potty, I decided to take control back. I told Jake that on New Years Eve would be the last time I would put on a diaper he could poop in. All the way up until the last diaper he was on board, but then…he wanted another diaper. I refused so for two weeks I put him to bed with no diaper(and yes changed sheets everyday because he pees in his sleep) and he did poop once in his sleep, but after two weeks the poo started going in the potty and we have had no real accidents since then! Oh wait there was that one time he pooped in this sleep and it wasn’t until I took off his sleeper jammies that I noticed a log in the foot of the sleepers….YUCK!
Even though Jake is now potty trained he still wears a pull-up at night.
I think my favorite poo story comes from Barret. Now that Jake is potty trained I think he has decided that we need to visit every foreign potty out there. I always ask if he need to go before we leave the house, but we never do. When we get to where ever we are going he has to go at that moment. ( Not to mention all the gas stations we have visited on our way somewhere.) Anyway going poo requires we take off every stitch of clothing including shoes and socks. I also have to leave as soon as he is on the potty and hold the door so that my hand can be seen, but I am not allowed in the stall. This whole process takes about 10 minutes and 5 out of 10 times there is no poo. So recently we were at the Padres game and it was Barret’s turn to take Jake to the Potty so of course as the clothes were coming off in the stall Jake managed to flings his underpants off and they sailed three stall down. The men in the restroom were very nice and just passed them back down, underneath the stalls. I almost died laughing, thinking about these men in the restroom passing these little underpants back to its owner. Things like that just don’t happen to adults?!
BTW Druw pooped in the potty for the first time yesterday and then the toilets got clogged and it cost us $300 to have the line flushed?!
So my kids are OUT OF CONTROL! I feel like I spend the entire day just yelling, giving time-outs and redirecting behavior. I know that they are only 2 and 4 year old boys, but I am going crazy. Druw has decided not to nap anymore so the days go by very slowly. The good thing about no naps is that the boys will go to bed without much fuss at around 7 every night. Jake is now done with school for the summer so we get to play together all day…With selling the house it is impossible to just let them have the run of the house so consequently they want to destroy anything and everything they can get their hands on. Then when I won’t let them get more toys out they decide that it is fun to slam doors and run around like crazy people. I must say that when we are out of the house doing something like the park, zoo or just going for a walk they really are good like boys, but as soon as they are home and get bored after 2 minutes the beasts come back…what to do?
So the other day Jake, Druw and I went to meet Tara and Ashby at the park. There is a park near Tara’s house adjacent to an elementary school. The park is great because there is a big grass field, swings and play equipment. There are two sides to the play equipment, one side for toddlers and the other side for kids who are a little older. Anyway we were at the park and Jake, Druw and Ashby were playing on the side where the toddlers play. They were putting sand on the bottom of the slides and then running around and going down the slides and pushing the sand off. Druw was mostly just watching, but laughing right along with the kids. Tara and I were sitting fairly close, but also far enough away that the kids were doing their own thing. After a little bit one of the older kids from the other play equipment came over to see what the kids were doing. When he saw that Jake and Ashby were putting sand on the slide he didn’t like it and tried to tell them to stop and when the didn’t stop he started to push the sand off himself. Druw was watching this for a minute, but he didn’t like this kid getting involved so the next thing I know is that Druw is walking right up to this kid and starts growling at him. He puts both hands up like claws and is literally growling at him!!! Tara and I were dying laughing. At first the kid didn’t know what to do but Druw was not backing down so the the kid decided to shove and push Druw a little, but still Druw didn’t care and the growlin continued. After a little bit the kid got bored (or Druw scared him off) and he left them alone!
So we left swimming yesterday after playing at the park and having a bagel and cream cheese…here is the car conversation:
Jake: Mom, when we get home I am going to throw up…
Mom: Are you ok, does your tummy hurt?
Jake: No, don’t talk to me.
Dad: Jake do you want me to pull over now?
Jake: Ok.
Barret pulled over and Jake got out and threw up more than I thought was possible and we got back into the car and drove home, got into a new pair of jammies and wanted to eat, but I said no so he went to sleep…I must say that it is great that he can now tell me he is going to throw up because in the past my car would be taking a trip the the detailer the day after…
It is amazing how some things in life just don’t phase me anymore…
So Jake finished his first year of preschool today. On the way home all he said was that he was so sad that he wouldn’t be going to school for a few months. For the last day I got an invitation to a Patriot Parade. Jake was supposed to wear something red/white/blue. So Barret, Druw and I were early and ready for the parade and just waiting for Jake. Unfortunately, I should have known, Jake was not going to participate in the parade. The kids all had different kinds of hats on and they were carrying festive batons. There was a big la g in the parade and some of the kids were outside not coming into the room where the parade was. A minute later I could see that it was Jake that was not coming in and holding up the rest of the parade. Jake finally walked into the room and immediately started to cry and then came running directly to me and wanted nothing to do with the rest of the kids or the parade. The parade went on without Jake and by the end of the parade all the rest of the parents and siblings were in the parade and we were the only ones left to watch. It was actually pretty funny and we just waved to everyone as they walked around. I am not really sure why Jake gets so scared or shy, but I hope he grows out of it and before his high school graduation!
So I have been watching “Days” since I was 12 years old. I don’t really know what it is about the show and why I keep watching it, but I do. I can usually keep up with the show and the story lines, but recently I have fallen 22 days behind. That is a month behind. And let me tell you, nothing ever happens. I thought to myself it is probably I good time to move on and stop watching, but these people in Salem are people that I know so well. I like watching their drama and being glad my drama is not as bad as theirs. Most of the time things run in a pretty true to life fashion, but I must say there has been some pretty bizarre story lines. People keep coming back to life has to be the strangest, but we also had people buried alive and kept alive for periods of time and then when Marlena was the devil…I guess that is the strangest…I guess I just like to know I have sometime to watch on TV even after the regular shows are gone.
So my niece graduated yesterday from preschool. It was an actual little ceremony where the kids sang songs and there was a long video program that was played with all the kids that were graduating along with their families. There was definitely a sense of love from the teachers and a sense of community that was really shown at the ceremony as well as the after party. And yes I said after party. The school had many community donations and had a large buffet set up in the school gym. They had lots of pizza, salads, Greek food, Mexican, and a table of cookies, parfaits, and doughnuts. To top it off, outside there was a booth making kettle corn. They had set up a large jumpy house and slide to play on and had booth for the kids to take photos in along with a man making balloon animals. It was a first class operation.
It is funny how a graduation brings up so many emotions. I can’t believe that Sammi is 5 years old already and will be starting Kindergarten in the Fall. She is growing up so fast and she is such a smart little girl. I can’t wait to see how well she succeeds in all the new adventures that lay ahead!
My name is Leah and I am a mother of two boys, Jake who is 4 and Druw is 2. I have lived in San Diego for over 15 years. I was a teacher in the San Diego City Schools for 5 years before taking on my job as a full time mother.
