dreaming that stupid dream again

 I'm not talking about dreams, where you want something someday, I'm talking about the sleeping and hope you remember dreams. Today, I had a dream that, I do hold on to that someday will happen.

 

Monster woke up this morning at 0330 with teething pain and I ended up rocking him back to sleep. Of course that left me WIDE awake. So, I decided to get some work done and figured I would take a nap when he does around 0900ish. Yes, I got a lot of work done in the hours before anyone else woke up, including the kitten. And, Yes, I did take a nap at around 0945ish. I was exhausted by then because, after all, I went to bed at 0100!

 

Now, there's things in my past that I'm not proud of, and I'm sure everyone has those ghosts. Me, I tend to dwell on those coulda, shoulda, woulda moments. Today, while napping, I dreamed of Carol again. This is one of those mistakes that I regret.

BIG.
TIME.

 

She was like a second mother to me, and when I was divorcing my ex-husband, I did everything in my power to push everyone that had anything to do with him away, including the woman that I respected greatly. It's a defense mechanism of mine...if I push you away, then you can't hurt me like so many people have done while I was growing up. (I've had both of my parents say that they didn't want me.)

 

I dreamed today that Carol had invited me to her house, and I could see my daughter, and Leon. But, mostly, it was Carol. AND, she hugged me. I have yearned for that hug for over six years, and I'm still waiting in reality. But, oh it felt so good in my dreams. My own foster mom, Dandi, died last year, so I don't have a mother figure anymore.

 

When she hugged me, it was like everything was OK again between us and we could pick up where we left off. In my dream, it didn't matter so much that she let me see my daughter again, what mattered most was her forgiveness.

 

I make it a point to forgive people for wrongs that they've done to me and other people. I'm a forgiving person. I've forgiven the man that molested me, my father for beating me, both of my parents for using us kids as pawns in their nasty divorce game that is going on 20+ years later. Yes, I do tend to hold grudges and rarely forget and just a tiny bit of that trust that was there is gone...but I ALWAYS forgive. It's not up to me to judge, I leave that to God. It's up to me to make the best of a situation and learn from it.

 

So, I'm going to go to bed tonight with the hope that I hold on to for the future. That one day Carol will forgive me, and one day my daughter will know who I am.

Do you forgive?
I'm curious...

Beautiful Creatures Review and Giveaway

 From the time he was born, I knew Monster was addicted to music. He has constantly had to have some sort of music to fall asleep to, and he "sings" in his own way to the music on the radio when we're in the car. I've always introduced my kids to different kinds of music, when PJ was small, he was a big fan of Andrew Lloyd Weber and could even tell you which songs were what at age 4, his favorite song was "Memory." So, when I got the opportunity to review Beautiful Creatures, I was ecstatic! I've always believed in introducing my kids to different cultures and different music.

I was contacted by Paul from Beautiful Creatures and was instantly hooked from my first listen of Imvubu The Happiest Hippo. Of course, I wanted to do a review and listen to the rest of the great music. So, I got my copy of the CD and listened to it, THREE times!! This was after Monster went to bed of course, it's when I do all my work. So, the next morning, I played it again with Monster here...he LOVED it! You can tell because he was smiling the whole time. Monster's daddy liked it too, you can tell this because he didn't ask me to turn it off like he does with all my other music. How two people with such different tastes gets along so well is beyond me...LOL!

I have to say that the song Monster sings to the most is "Lucas the Lazy Lion" ROARRRRR!! And, I really can't say I have one favorite because they're all great songs, but I do like "Mafutha", because I LOVE ELEPHANTS! Also, I must mention "Beautiful Creatures" song, it's a great song with a message to "share this planet" and preserve our planet for "future generations."

My take on "Beautiful Creatures"

• 
  
  I love the variety of music
• 
  
  The songs are quite catchy, not sure if that's a good thing because I have woken up with the songs in my head!!
• 
  
  The songs teach about nature and the wild animals of Africa
• 
  
  The songs have just the right amount of education to them!
• 
  
  I'm going to have to buy more of the CD's to build Monster's music library!

How you can get your own copy of "Beautiful Creatures"?

You can buy it from iTunes

OR

THREE lucky readers will win a digital version via download!

How to enter:

Please leave an email address (you can use name at site dot com format) so I can contact you if you win

AND

Leave a separate comment for each entry (if an entry is worth 2 then leave 2 comments)

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• 
  
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AND

• 
  
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• 
  
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• 
  
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Disclosure: The product(s) provided for the review were sent to me free of charge, the opinions contained are 100% my own.

This contest is open worldwide and will end on August 20, 2010 at 11:59 PM Central. The winner(s) will be chosen using random.org and will have 48 hours after I send the email to respond, or new winner will be chosen. Good Luck and thank you for supporting TheMarciFactor!

How to Get your Kids Ready for Back-to-School

 If you're like most moms I know, you probably let your kids sleep in every day until they woke up.  While this is good for the summer, it's horrible to get them on a schedule for back to school.  Not to mention, that by the end of summer, both you and kids are usually ready to go back to school.  So, how exactly do you get the kiddos ready to abandon those lazy days of summer?  Well, let's look at several different things you can do:

1. First, you need to start getting kiddo back on a sleeping schedule.  The night before back to school IS NOT the best time to start this schedule!  I started about a month before school started.The reason I say this is because, you can't just say to your kid, "OK time to get back on a sleeping schedule you're going to bed at 8:00."  Yeah, that just doesn't work, because the kid has probably slept in late and won't be tired.  The best way is to start with a bedtime 2 hours after "school" bedtime.  That way, as each week progresses, they will be more tired. 
2. Second, you want to start waking little one up on a schedule.  Along with the going to bed early, comes the getting up early.  Again, start with 2 hours after "school" wake up time.  Yeah, that first week is gonna be really hard, as all of you will want to go to bed after you wake up.  Then, you have the problem that brings us to number 3.
3. You have to now figure out what to do with kiddo, now that they're up early and crabby from no sleep.   Well, you need to feed them a healthy breakfast and get them used to breakfast again.  Because, if your kids are anything like I was growing up in the summer time, I didn't eat breakfast...I always woke up too late for it.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!
4. Next, (and this is especially true if it's a first time at a new school) you need to start getting kiddo ready to "get ready" for school in the mornings.  That means, no more lounging around in PJ's until noon and showers at 3:00 PM.  Just like a sleep schedule, you need to have a "getting ready" routine. 
5. Now, this brings me to getting to school.  About a week before school starts, it's always a good idea to pick a route to go to school.  If you drive kiddo to school, map out the route you're gonna take and start making the trip daily so you know what kind of traffic and roads you're dealing with.  It's a bad idea to just say, "I will take this route" and then there's construction on a certain street or road.  Not to mention, the horror that kiddo will feel at being late on the first day of school. 
6. This one ties in with the getting to school routine.  You should make sure that kiddo knows WHAT they need to take with them every day so that they can get used to carrying it out the door with them.  There's nothing more embarrassing than getting to school only to realize that you forgot your lunch or homework.
7. Some school districts have a meet and greet before school starts, so that you and little can meet the teacher, etc.  I would definitely go meet the teacher, especially if little doesn't like strangers, like Monster. 

So, here's some big tips for getting you (and little one) ready for back to school.  Do you have any other ideas that I've forgotten?  If so, I would love to hear them!!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get a HarperCollins book set. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Ten Tips for Ensuring a Healthy, Safe and Successful School Year

Yep, it's that time!  School is right around the corner.  The stores have put school supplies on sale, school supply lists are at the front of said stores and, if your child needs booster shots, the school has already sent you a notice!  But, there is one thing that many parents don't think about until there's a note sent home from the teacher or school nurse...your child's eyes!  It is important to get your child's eyes checked every year, sometimes even twice a year.  Children do most of their learning for the first 12 years through their eyes, and if they can't see well, they aren't learning well. 

Now, because my son was a preemie, I know that he is susceptible to eye problems, and was on the lookout for Strabismus, or lazy eye when he was younger.  I noticed that he was having one eye turn in and IMMEDIATELY took him to the eye doctor, and yes, eye doctors can tell if your child needs glasses at such a young age.  We caught Monster's eye problem early enough, that with glasses it was corrected.  But can you imagine the frustration, and the learning delays if we hadn't caught it.  Here's a picture of little one shortly after he got his glasses:

You can see he was cross-eyed in this picture.  Since I caught it early enough, he no longer needs glasses! And I'm grateful. 

So, now that you know that children as young as six months can get glasses, what kind would you get?  Well, there's a type of lenses called Airware, and you can learn about them here.  And, luckily enough, they are having an essay contest right now!  You can write an essay on how you are going to provide a healthy, safe, and successful school year.  But, here's my tips:

1. Of course, get your child's eyes examined. 
2. Start each day with a good breakfast, a child won't pay attention to the teacher if they're hungry.
3. Make sure you know your child's friends and parents.
4. If you live close enough, walk your little one to school, or watch them walk to school, or to the bus stop.  What some people have even done is start a "walk to school" coop where one parent does it for one day a week.
5. If your child rides a bike to school, please make sure they wear safety equipment!
6. Make sure your little one gets plenty of sleep.
7. Have a routine, it avoids being late and it's less stressful for you and your child/ren.
8. Make sure homework is done, sit down with your child, or spend time with them while they're doing homework.
9. Give your children some "ALONE" time, most often you're worrying about your child so much that you don't realize, they need time to themselves just like you do.
10. Always encourage your child.  If they want to be a soldier one week and a doctor the next, there's NOTHING wrong with that.  It's the process of learning that they're exploring. 

These are just a few of the many, many tips that are out there.  Please, connect with other parents.  And, always pay attention to your child. 

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Airwear blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card. For more information on how you can participate, visit http://airwear.twittermoms.com/about