spicetart

Fever

I am a worrier and what does a worrier do but worry.

Ivy is sick and has a fever and a weird cough and sniffles and she actually fell asleep on Chris which she hasn't done, well, ever? So yeah, worried. It's silly I know, children have been getting sick for thousands of years, have survived famine and drought and horrible disease and infections, and they have lived. They are resiliant, and humans catch viruses (virii?) and get sick and get better. It's normal, it's natural, yep, it's ok.

Still.

I can't help it. I worry.

Silence is Deadly

How do you know when your child is doing something they shouldn't be doing?  I used to think that moms had some kind of magical sonar that picked up on specific "misbehaving" vibrations emitted by their children. But now I know that the way moms know that their children are eating something they shouldn't or are unrolling the toilet pater into a huge pile on the floor or are throwing all their diapers on the floor, the way moms know is the silence. Silence is a dead give away that they are up to no good. 

Sometimes when I am surfing the internet cooking dinner I will suddenly realize Ivy hasn't made a peep for a couple of minutes. When I look over, I see that she is rummaging through my million-dollar-purse, fondling Chris's Nerd the Nerdling cards or has started the climb up the stairs after the cat (who always keeps at least a two-step distance).  It is inevitable, when playing alone for more than 10 minutes, despite our best childproofing efforts, she always manages to find something to play with that I just didn't anticipate.  Who knew she'd love to carry a tampon around in each hand?

The only time the silence is a sign of something good is when she is eating.  It's hard to make much noise when you are shoveling fusili and kiwi in your mouth.

Kid Friendly Dining #1: Milagros Cantina

What do you do when it's Sunday evening, you want a margarita and your baby goes to bed at 6:30?  A) Make one at home, B) Skip it, C) Load up the family in the car for an early dinner and 'rita.  I have to say that trying to eat dinner, sip a cocktail and feed an infant takes very special multi-tasking skills - it helps that Milagros in Redwood City feeds kids for FREE on Sundays.  Need another reason to go?  Great carnitas street tacos, Mexican chopped salad, and quesadillas.

The kid's menu was also good, and different.  The usual quesadilla, taco and enchilada made an appearance, but so did a taco salad.  I can't tell you how impossible it is to find vegetables on a kid's menu, which usually consists of white food only (quesadillas, french fries, pasta, grilled cheese).  So after we finally got Ivy into a high chair that wasn't broken (after two tries), we found that the high chairs are so much lower than the table that Ivy couldn't even see her food.  We usually bring our own clip on high chair but the table was to thick to clip it on.  Oh well, the food was decent.  Plus, they have a huge outside patio that is great for warmer days and nights, when those come again.

One warning: The smoke (or "steam" as the server called it) from the fajitas gets so thick at times that you think there is a fire in the kitchen.  After two visits we learned this is normal, though it is not pleasant and I imagine Ivy's not loving the bar-like atmosphere.

Rant on: At 5:00, anybody who expects to have a child-free dinner experience is trippin'.  5:00-6:00 is clearly reserved for those with kids, as evidenced by 1-3 kids under 10 at every table in the place.  Plus, it's Kids Eat Free Night, ya *might* expect some kids to show up.  The first time we dined at Milagros with Ivy, the table next to us, a couple in their 40s, commented about what a great baby we had, that she was so well-behaved "especially compared to kids these days".  WTF?  Like kids these days are unruly and out of hand, unlike how kids used to be?  Kids are kids, and Ivy has her moments, she just happens to love shoveling quesadilla, and was focused on her dinner that night.  But the implication that kids who don't say a word or laugh or cry or play are "good" just bugs me.  It's 5:00!  If you don't want to hear a child, try dining later.  Adults talk and laugh and make noise too, but a kid throws a bean and now she's one of those "kids these days".   Some people still think kids should be seen and not heard.  If that guy is lucky, Ivy might be paying his Social Security one day so he might want to chill it a bit.  Besides, we were gone by 6:30, just in time for adults to have their dinner surrounded by other adults (as I like to have as well when I can). Rant off.

Milagros Cantina
1099 Middlefield Road
Redwood City, CA  94065
650-369-4730

RATING: (out of 5 beans)
Kid food: 4.5 beans (.5 bean for the taco salad)
Kid entertainment: 2 beans (4 crayons and a sheet of paper)
Kid seating: 2 beans (2 broken high chair straps)
Kid friendly: 4 beans (friendly staff and FREE dinner!)
Overall: 4 beans

How to Terrify Your Child

I know this is a couple of weeks late, but it is really too good not to share with the world.

Parenting: Getting to torture your children for the Holidays.

Cheers!

I have a crap load of Resolutions that I won't even post because I already know I won't keep them.  Is that so wrong?  I am tried of beating myself up for not sticking to the unrealistic expectations I have for myself.  I guess the real challenge is sticking to the realistic expectations, knowing that I made those resolutions for a good reason and they are worth sticking to.  Like:

1) Be in bed by 10:00 (and brush my teeth before bed which should be easier than it is)
2) Try to wash, dry, fold and put away laundry all in one day.
3) Walk
4) Only buy baby clothes when they are NEEDED.
5) Less sudoku, more thank you cards
6) Avoid Craigslist forums, no matter how tempting
7) Watch the Netflix movies we have paid for.
8) Give up on winning the lottery as a problem solving tool
9) Write in Ivy's journal and on this blog
10) Eat more fruit

I know, not very exciting is it?  But in my little suburban mom world, getting shit done makes me feel good and allows me to enjoy the other stuff.  And, see?  Those are doable, I can do all those with a bit of discipline.  Also:

1) Visit my best friend in New York
2) Eat sushi completely disregarding price
3) Worry less about clutter and embrace the mess - or -
4) Throw everything away that I have not used in the past week
5) Organize my frigging recipe book

See, I even TRIED to make a more exciting list.  Sigh.  Oh well, this very boring blogger bids you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Words.

It speaks.  Sort of.  And it points.  And now it waves.

Ivy learned in daycare that the cat on the calendar is "kitty" and will say "kitty", in a way, and do a sort of Invasion of the Body Snatchers point at the area of the calendar.  As it would turn out, we also have a cat calendar at home, so even though we have two real lives cats, when we say "Where's the kitty?"  she points in the general direction of the cat calendar, regardless if either cat is right directly in front of her.  We figure she'll eventually realize kitties are everywhere (especially in our house where one of the bathrooms is devoted to our cats).  It figures that her first word would be kitty, she LOVES the kitties, and they will learn to love her once the bald patches grown in.

She also says "dada" which mean "hey look at that thing there, I like it, it is shiny or soft or bright and I want to touch it and put it in my mouth".  The vocabulary on this kid is amazing!