Potty Training Blues

Soooooo, we started potty training. (DUN DUN DUN!) Yes, the rest of this post is about using the potty...so if this is TMI for you, just skip this one. I'll put up a recipe again soon and you can come back and check on that post. Haha.

I have heard from many a wise parent not to push your child into potty training, but to let it come when they are ready and interested (to avoid potty hatred). We have had a little pink princess potty (that plays music when you go) since Alina first showed some interest-when she was 18 months old. Then the glory of using the potty faded, and we didn't do much with the singing potty for a while.

Well, Alina is one of the youngest kiddos in her class at school, so many of her friends are using the potty now. So, she decided to go at school, and then wanted to go at home! So, I thought....if we are doing this, we are doing this for real this time. In the first few days, she was peeing every time we put her on the potty, and on the first or second day we got some number 2 in there, too! I was THRILLED! I was thinking....oh my word, this is the easiest and best thing ever!

Two weeks later we have a child who poops on the floor. Oh yes. This is a process. All my joy about this taking no time at all has vanished, and reality has set in. Unless you are home 24/7 for days on end, there is no way to do this quickly. So, I have to just be okay with it taking a while I guess. She is still peeing in the potty about every time she sits on it, though....and going in her diaper, too...but we are getting results so now we must power through! More mini M&M's (or "baby M&M's" as Alina calls them), more dancing and clapping when we see a drop of pee in the potty. Ugh. Wishing children came out potty trained. Maybe my next child....

I can hear you laughing. *flush*

Vegewhaaat?

Okay, okay. I confess. I watch "Oprah" sometimes. And I watch "The Talk" sometimes, too. All that to say, Kathy Freston (the author of "The Veganist") keeps coming on all of these television shows and telling the world the benefits of being vegan. A Vegan lifestyle sounds like an impossibility to me, because not only are you deleting meat from your diet, but you are deleting ALL animal products! So, no eggs, no dairy....you get the picture. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, I am just saying it sounds very difficult to do.

All of this has really made me start to think about what I eat. I know that my husband enjoys meat (okay, so do I). So, when I cook dinner, it is rare that there is no meat involved in the meal. Whether it be chicken, ground beef, or pork....there is usually MEAT. But now this lady comes on TV and tells me all these health benefits of taking out this yumminess. But, instead of just taking this vegan lady's word on how healthy being vegan is, I googled some "benefits of being vegetarian"...no, not vegan...because seriously...taking out meat in itself would be a miracle for me, much less eggs and dairy, too. (Let me make a side note of saying that I know googling isn't true research. It is more like "research on the fly." And I definitely have learned not to believe everything you read online.) Anyways, as you may know, there really are some good benefits. So, then to be fair, I googled "benefits of eating meat" and found some interesting information there as well. I'm not going to list it out for you, but you can see that there is a dilemma here...mainly the issue with the protein differences.

Then there is the issue of "food costs." To be honest with you, I would love to shop for organic foods, getting lovely items from the "Fresh Market" all the time, and enjoying my crunchy granola on my organic soy yogurt. But the truth of the matter is, we can't afford that right now. (I can say this because pre-child, and during the 2 full time jobs part of life, we did try eating mostly organic, and it was expensive.) So, if I cut out meat and want to purchase the "fake meat", won't that cost me some serious cash? I don't know. I am really asking. :o)

All that to say, I want to eat healthier, and cut out some meat in our weekly menu. This should actually save me money, and be healthier...right? Heart disease and cancer run in both of our family lines, and that concerns me.

Are any of my blog readers vegetarian or vegan? I would LOVE to hear from you. And all my fellow meat-eating friends....fill me in on your thoughts, too. Just lots on my mind today, so I thought I would blog about it. Now, go eat your tofu burger! :o)

Tutus

One of our friends in Greenville sweetly gave us a tutu she made before moving back up to Canada, and we love it! Recently, my mother-in-love gave Alina another cute pink tutu for dress-up. So, last night as we had music playing in the living room, we thought it might be fun to dress up together and dance. So we did.

Alina is probably thinking...My Mom looks kinda silly in that tutu!

At one point she looked at me and said, "We match!"

Man, I love having a girl.