More Sleeping, Better Sleeping, Longer Sleeping

Mattias' sleeping hasn't improved (at all) since I vowed to work on his sleeping. I think I'm having the some of the same problems I had with Noah.

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First of all, I get this idea in my head that there is a Solution and I simply haven't stumbled across It yet, therefore, I keep trying new things. That's a little spastic, and not so sleep-inducing, don't you think?

Then, I become really obsessed with if only(s). If only Mattias would sleep longer, I could clean the kitchen.  If only Mattias would sleep more, he'd play so much better with Noah. If only Mattias would sleep better, I could carry the ten loads of washed-and-folded laundry up the two flights of stairs! That's the single-minded, goal-oriented, obsessive Ann emerging. She doesn't help relax the situation, either.

Next, I start thinking there must be some undiagnosed medical condition. Way back when, in Munich, I asked Noah's/our (German) pediatrician about this. The pediatrician looked at me carefully and said, "Well, you look okay."

Um. In case you didn't catch that: I! Me! Yours truly! was supposed to LOOK sufficiently tired for Noah's sleeping to be a problem. I was a new mother and I was Outraged! (In retrospect, I find this a lot less offensive and a lot more funny.)

Shortly thereafter, we found a new pediatrician. Because I was Outraged.

And I waited a couple of months before I begged Fritz to ask the new pediatrician about Noah's (still) miserable sleeping.

"You have to ask because if I-the-mother ask, she might not take me seriously."

"You have to ask because if I-the-NON-german-speaker ask, she might not understand."

"You have to ask because if I-the-woman ask, the answer might just be another commentary on my makeup!"

Off went Fritz to the pediatrician with little Noah in tow. And the answer came back that little Noah was just fine. And the pediatrician? Well, she was wise. Here's the message she gave to Fritz:

Parents often believe that how well their child sleeps is a measure of their abilities as parents.
It's not.
It will get better.

And with Noah, it did get better. He's a great sleeper now. And not because I found the Solution, but because it simply, eventually, finally happened.

Well, he could wake up a little later than 6:30 AM, but I'm not really complaining.

So, with Mattias, I'm trying to relax a little bit. It will be okay. It will.

White Window Treatments

It would be better if this photo was from the exterior.  But I couldn't resist!
And, no, I'm sorry this is NOT our house.  If only I was so brave.

First. Disclosure:  we have ALL of the following:

• white wood blinds 
• white plastic blinds 
• white sheers 
• white temporary-paper-blind-thingies (what a great invention!) 

Second.  Do white window treatments - viewed from the exterior of a house - remind anyone else of white underwear?

Fritz mentioned it about 6 months ago and I CANNOT shake that thought. We went ahead and treated some of our windows in white - but I've got to tell you, it's bothering me. 

Because it kind of does remind me of white underwear sticking out of somebody's pants. Or worse.


What do you think? Do some window treatments look better than others from the exterior? 

One Photo, Three Thoughts, Two Lessons

1.
Dumb Idea: Giving a 3-year-old a bedroom with it’s own bathroom.  Fortunately, playing with toilet paper is messy, but harmless and relatively cheap (no toys, still). Buys me a few minutes to play on the internet.


2.
Noah’s “making” Radiergummi. Erasers. As in, pencils have erasers on the ends. He got the idea from a Sendung mit der Maus Podcast. (Here's the video online.) Sendung mit der Maus is the best children’s program I’ve ever seen. It’s unfortunately in German, but someone should be translating it. Really. Every week they put together a small documentary for kids on a different topic. We download the podcasts and watch them on our computers. Here's one on YouTube for how they put stripes in toothpaste. It’s one of my favorites; I think you can understand it without understanding the German (rap). Now you can impress your friends with your toothpaste knowledge! The previously mentioned lost socks in a front-loading washer here.  Isn't it great all the stuff you can find on the internet?


3.
Gotta go before Noah adds some real water from his bathroom to the play kitchen sink.  I’m pretty sure that’s part of his own special Radiergummi process. I don’t want to see what that looks like with the toilet paper.  


3. Updated
Noah DID add real water to the Radiergummi.  After carefully explaining how bad it is to spill water all over the wood floors, and hide soaking wet clean-up towels in the play kitchen cupboards, AND showing him how NOT fun it is to clean up wet toilet paper, we decided to lock the door to his bathroom for a week, so that he can't use it. We reviewed our decision with Noah, to make sure he understands why this is happening.  Of course, the decision means all of Noah's bathroom accoutrements are now in OUR bathroom.  


That includes: special toilet seat, normal toothpaste, special toothpaste, toothbrush, toothbrush holder, special flossing devices, hairbrush, small stool for the toilet, big stool for the sink, bubble bath, kids shampoo, and rubber duckies. 


Argh. Isn't that why we just bought a house with more than one bathroom?


Call it whatever you want. Discipline. Consequences. Manipulation. Once again, it appears to be disproportionately affecting me.  


The second lesson?  Get off the internet, Mommy.