What Happened Wednesday

posted by Kandi




This week's edition of What Happened Wednesday s actually a What's Happening! My little man is using the potty!! I know, nothing too exciting about the potty...usually.

See, Ren is quite opinionated when it comes to well, everything. He's either a yes guy or a no guy and there isn't an in between. Since he turned 3 (yikes) in the summer we have been talking up going to the potty. Several times he got really interested in it, only to melt down when it came to the actual act of doing it. So, we gave up. Yes, you did read that correctly. We just gave up.

Finally around Christmas (of all the times, my son picks the busiest!) we were given some advice on how to get him started. The advice was to allow him to go to the rest room with Chuck and use the urinal. Maybe it wasn't he didn't want to potty. Maybe it was he didn't want to sit down and do it. Hmm, brilliant! So, we went to our local Wally World and let him do it. Lo and Behold it WORKED!!! I would have never in a million years guessed that would work.

Fast forward to the past 7 days. Ren is in big boy undies and getting the hang of the potty thing pretty well. We went from having the timer set for every 45 minutes to today not having to set it at all! I'm elated to say the least!

Now that we have conquered the potty (well with #1's at least) maybe just maybe we can conquer the "I never share my trains with my sisters" issue. Then again, maybe not....

Do you have any What Happened Wednesday stories to share? Feel free to link them up below or just post a message and share.




**The potty picture at the top is the the LATTSAM potty from Ikea. We have it and LOVE it's portablility, ease of use and that it can easily be stored without taking up too much room! They are sold for around $4 and this Mom recommends it! Also, I was not ask to recommend. I just purchased it last spring and it works well for mine so I thought I'd share!**

The Binky Fairy

posted by Kandi

Have you ever heard of the Binky Fairy? She is a wonderful fairy who takes little boys and girls binkies and recycles them for the new babies in the hospital. Or, at least, that's what we told Ren yesterday. Chuck and I were flipping channels the other night and came across a re-run of the Supernanny. On this particular episode the parents were having binky issues, just like we were. Well, Jo had this idea of the Binky Fairy and we thought it was a wonderful idea. We just had to wait for a good time to try it.

That time happened yesterday. Chuck and Ren were snuggling and Chuck mentioned the Binky Fairy to see what he thought. Ren bought it!!!!! He got so excited. So, we got out an envelope and put the binky inside. He (with Chuck's help) wrote To Binky Fairy, Love Ren on it and they put it in the mailbox. The story says that the Binky Fairy flies around at night (like Santa does) and checks mailboxes for boys and girls binkies. If she finds one she leaves that boy or girl a present to show them how excited she is that they have become a "big boy" or "big girl".




To help make this believable, I found some old sequins in my craft room. Chuck and I put 3 brand new Hot Wheels packages into a big envelope that we had written on and decorated it. We then took out the binky envelope and replaced it with the decorated one. To make the effect special we put some sequins in the envelope, on top of the mailbox and all around our front door and down our walkway. We also put streamers on the mailbox.

The morning when Ren woke up, he went flying for the door. He ran outside (and it was COLD mind you) and straight to the mailbox. Chuck lifted him up and he got out the present from the Binky Fairy. To say he was excited is a slight understatement. He ran right into the kitchen and dumped the contents on the table. Opened the cars and squealed with glee.



I won't say he hasn't missed his binky today, quite the opposite. He spent a good portion of his playdate telling his cousin about the Binky Fairy and how much he loved his binky. He also decided to today that since he's now an "official big boy" he no longer takes naps either...YIKES!! We may have to chat about the nap thing, but tonight in my thankful prayers I will say an extra "thank you" to Jo from the Supernanny for her Fairy idea!

My *sometimes* trying little man....

posted by Kandi

This is my little man....Ren


He is the child mother's dream of and dread all rolled into one. Now, I'm not knocking on my little man, far from it. He's the smartest guy I know, really. He can be put in time out and completely understand why he's there, without explanation. He also knows how to push EVERY BUTTON I HAVE!!!!! He's sweet as a button one minute and falling down crying the next. I'm assuming it's a "boy" thing because I remember my brothers doing the same thing. I just don't get it though. I have two little girls who love to be independent and their own little people, but with Ren it's different. He has to make sure I know everything and repeats himself over and over just to make sure it's right. He has the longest attention span I've ever seen!

I guess I honestly see a lot of myself reflected in him. He wants to be heard in the midst of his siblings. He loves to be alone to think, yet desires the interaction of others. He is my little snuggle bunny who LOVES to just sit with me and talk about everything. He thinks it's great that Mommy knows about sports, yet adores everything about his Daddy too.

I'm going to be honest, brutally. While I adore my little man with my whole heart, he has been the toughest one of the 3!! He has been my sickly one, my whiney one, the one who introduced me to hospital stays and ER's, the one who fights me at every turn and then looks at me with those steel blue eyes and asks why I'm upset....ahhh, yes, that's my Ren.

Know what else...I wouldn't change a hair on his head or a cell in his body. He's all mine and a not so subtle reminder that what my Grammy, Mimi and Mom have always said...."yes, God does have a sense of humor and he makes sure that all parents get back what they gave to their parents 1000%".

So, do you have a little one like mine? I hope you appreciate every day with them and at the end of every day smile....because they are asleep....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA