"Random Mommy-ism" Boogie Man and Other Things That Go Bump in the NIGHT!!

     Time for another of my "Mommy-isms". I was reminded about this the other day when our girls were reminiscing about the things I used to do when they were little. The little tricks...that at the time made me their HERO but now they realize were just that...little tricks!
     All of us along with our children...and for some of us...even our Grandchildren now have at some point or another been fearful or afraid of something or another, especially at night! Mostly it's at the young tender age of between 2-8 yrs old...some even beyond that age...but we have all felt it at one point or another. It typically begins with our little ones doing there best to convince us that there is a "Boogie man" or "Monster" in their closet or under their beds. We relentlessly make every attempt to convince them that there is nothing there! Well when our youngest...Taylor who is now 15, was little....she had a HORRIBLE fear of Elephants!!! ELEPHANTS of all things!!! She was so little she called them "FEE FEETS" Ya I know...Fee Feets! But that was her word for them! I had tried EVERYTHING...taken her to the library and showed her pictures....showed her them on TV...it just made her fear STRONGER! IT was the oddest thing I tell ya!
     Living here in the Reno-Sparks Lake Tahoe area we have a LOT of casinos...so we even took her to a local Hotel Casino that at the time had Elephants for a huge show. During the day they would take the Elephants outside and give them their baths...have play time etc. They would also make it so that the public could SEE and even interact a bit with them! The older kids thought it was awesome...but ohhhh boy! One day we were driving by on the freeway...and they were outside in their play area...the Elephants not my kids...haha...so I beelined it OFF the freeway and I thought...MAYBE this will do the trick! So we all get out of the car and I have Tay in my arms and we start walking up to where the Elephants are playing in the water inside this huge gated area. I am walking slowly...and stopping here and there...talking to her about the Elephants. I feel her grip getting tighter around my neck...I keep talking really calmly to her...telling her how cute they are...and OHHH look they are taking a bath Tay...just like you do....you know...the silly things we say to our children. So just when I think...THIS MIGHT BE WORKING...she tightens her grip even more and makes every attempt to climb to the top of my head and SHE PEES ALL OVER ME! So this...we will call a FAILED attempt!
     So we get home...and now that I have traumatized my child...I begin thinking she will never sleep in her own bed...EVER!!!! She is forever going to be convinced that there is a FEE FEET under her bed! So it hits me...I have a light bulb moment like NEVER before....this is SURE TO WORK......
     My next move is to the kitchen....I grab the spray bottle that I use for spritzing the plants and ok...ya I admit...the kids! I then go and find one of the kids books that has an Elephant in it...and I make a copy of it on the copier. I taped it on...and I found a red sharpie and drew that big ANTI circle on it with the line through it!!! She couldn't read so what did it matter??? It was the principal!! HAHA!
     I go and find Taylor and I show her WHAT MOMMY HAS FOUND!!!! FEE FEET GO AWAY SPRAY!!! I give her the bottle of what she then called FEE FEET SPRAY and of course its just filled with water...and I take her to her room...and we SPRAY EVERYWHERE....she says FEE FEET GO AWAY....we sprayed under her bed...in her closet...she went nuts. And I let her! She giggled...she laughed...and she sprayed away!!!! We did it that night before bed too!!! JUST in case we missed one! Ya know what??? IT WORKED!!! We had to keep the spray in her room...on her little dresser...but ya know what??? EVERY TIME she even thought of an Elephant...or Fee Feet...she would get her trusty spray bottle and spray away! For me it was a giggle...but for her...it was comfort in a spray bottle! Her very own Anti Elephant Spray!
     I have shared this with friends who had children and Boogie Man issues...and this works great! I know it sounds so silly!!!  But IT JUST DOES! It gives them a little bit of control in their fears....and us...a peaceful nights sleep! So next time your little one has a Monster in their closet...grab your spray bottle and draw a funny monster on it...let them go crazy! And then...you...go get some rest!
Let me know how this works for you! I'd love to hear your feedback. OR things you have done to help your little ones through their fears!

The Secret To Happiness

Is there a true Secret To Happiness?? Is this secret supposed to last a life time? A minute? A day?
I sometimes wonder if I am making EVERYONE happy?? By that I mean my husband Steve...our 3 girls...the granddaughters...the lady behind me in Zumba...well not really the Zumba thing... but you know what I mean...EVERYONE!!!
They say it's typically women that just do this...that we have all these proverbial balls in the air that we juggle and we are so busy making sure that everyone else is taken care of and happy that we sometimes forget about ourselves. We are worriers...it's true. Women tend to worry more than men do too... we worry and process things over and over so much more then men tend to do. Men have this crazy insane way of mentally filing things away in some odd and secretive compartment in their brains. Why women didn't get this fancy compartment I don't know...was it after market or are they born with it? I do know that if I had to choose to have envy over this after market magic compartment and the little thing called penis envy...I would be guilty of after market magic compartment envy!!! 
So how do we as women handle worrying and making sure everyone around us is happy! We WORK at everything every day...we wipe questionable things off of our little ones faces...and things up off the bathroom floor that we are convinced should be put into bio-hazard but in some odd way, but yet we just wipe it up and move on...we can cook with a child on one hip a phone on our shoulder while supervising another child with spelling words and homework. We are able to make 100 cupcakes at 9:00 at night the night before a bake sale because our children "forget" to tell us that their teacher gave them the notice 2 weeks ago. We have "magic" kisses that can heal almost any "boo-boo" or skinned knee.  We can settle a squabble between our children with just a look...and on occassion we are even actually able to do all these things in a day and still have time and energy not to mention piece of mind...ok maybe not the piece of mind thing...but we are still able to get cleaned up pull our hair up and be presentable enough to go out on the town with our amazing husbands.
So is this the Secret To Happiness?? The fact that God has blessed us with all these magical abilities to share and use on a day to day basis with our families and our loved ones??? 
I think if I had to make my own happiness...I couldn't come up with anything else that could make me THIS HAPPY!!! I think happiness is in perception...and its the way we choose to look at it.
SO for me...I Thank God for my Happiness...for today....for tomorrow...and for this year and my lifetime. I have been truly blessed. I had my Secret to Happiness right in front of me all along......

Random "Mommy-ism" ~ Nightmares and Little Ones

Along the years I have come up with what we in our family call "Mommy-isms"...meaning...goofy or silly things that I have come up with to help our kids or friends...or whoever needs it at the time...to get through the moment...or with three girls...THE TRAGEDY at hand!!!!
So this one works when your little one comes to you in the middle of the night and says "Mommy....I had a nightmare"
One night...I was just completely exhausted and...not sure where this one came from...told her to turn her pillow over. I told her she had her pillow on the wrong side!!! That she had it on the NIGHTMARE side! I told her to go and flip her pillow over and she would have good dreams!!!! Believe it or not this works like a charm!!!
It even became a night time ritual for our youngest daughter for a while...when tucking her in...she would have me make sure it was on the "Sweet Dream Side" She didn't come to my side of the bed anymore in the middle of the night...as a matter of fact...they all became self sufficient in this area and if they woke in the middle of the night....they would tell me in the morning...that they had to flip their pillow over...that they had it on the wrong side!!!
 For the past 20 yrs it has worked not only with our 3 daughters...but with our Granddaughters as well. It's fun to hear our Daughter and Son in Law use it on their girls now! We have passed this on to other friends and family as well and EVERYONE says it worked for them too!
So next time your little one comes to you and says..."Mommy....I had a bad dream" just tell them to flip their pillow over....to the good dream side!!! Everyone will have a better night sleep!