Elsy’s Stay at Home Mom Blog

It’s been about a year and a half since I’ve been home with the kids and I feel like a pro. It did take me a while to feel at ease with staying home and not working but now that It’s been that long, I love it. I love getting up in the morning and making breakfast for my kiddos. They all seem to like different things and I know exactly what to cook for each of them.

Bath time is another one of my favorite things to do. I take them all inside my room after getting their clothes together and their diapers, powder and lotion for after the bath. They help me by taking off their clothes and placing them in the dirty hamper. Mikey is the first one in the tub and Genesis jumps in after I take off her hair spongie. The little one needs help getting in. They love hanging out together in the tub and playing with their toys.

I start with Danny since he is the youngest and after washing him down and rinsing him I cover him with nice warm towels and start getting him ready. He really likes the lotion on his cute little legs and arms. After I put on his clothes he is ready to go. Genesis takes longer due to her hair. After she gets out of the tub drying her hair and combing it takes a few more minutes then the boys.

All this time Mikey is having a ball! He pretends he is swimming and makes funny noises. I think he is the easiest of them all. But like I said earlier, I feel like a pro. I have the bath time down. Maybe that is the reason why I enjoy it so much but not as much as my kids I can tell you that!

I ask myself, what have I done to my world(society), my home(earth), my family(future generation). I was reading an article on the Austin American Statesman by a man named Jonah Goldberg, who writes about why he is anti-abortion. The bottom line was that he is not sure about when fetuses are truly human beings and being unsure makes him not want to take the chance of killing an unborn human being.

This article started it all for me this morning. After reading that I began thinking about everything that I have strong feelings about. For example global warming, abortion, and war.

This is not to say that these are the only things that take time in my thoughts. But when I think about global warming and recall the stupid and the ignorant things we all have done at one time or another I can’t help it but feel guilt. I remember that some time ago leaving the bank a group of college students came up to me and asked me for a few minutes of my time to talk about our environment. I thought to myself, “I really don’t have time” as I said “No, I’m sorry” and walked straight past them and into my car. Maybe if I would have listened with an open mind then…….maybe, just maybe things would be a tiny bit different. I look around and see that the awareness of global warming is starting to see more alive but is it enough. The members of my family are doing our share by buying fuel efficient vehicles, sharing a vehicle when possible, using energy efficient bulbs, using fans in every room, turning lights off when not needed and things like that but then I look around and see what our community, local government and federal government are doing or better said “not doing” I get discouraged. I don’t give up but I loose faith in our society. I only hope that we are not too late and that we can still know that our children and our children’s’ children would see the beautiful things we’ve seen nature give us.

Then is the abortion issue. I believe that there are a few reasons why a woman should have the choice to terminate a pregnancy in the early weeks. For example, if it would threaten her life, conception following rape and things like that but even then I think it should be done on a case by case basis. I think that people in general should be held accountable for the mistakes they make. If a teenage girl wants to have sex and gets pregnant, this is not a reason she should have an abortion. If she opened her legs, let her be responsible for ‘her mistake”. If we continue to give our kids a way out by giving them permission and rights, they will never learn the lesson. Instead I think we should teach them about being responsible and owning up when a mistake is made. Lets teach our kids how important a life is and what a huge responsibility it is to bring a child into this world, maybe then they would think twice about having unprotected sex.

When a wife is being unfaithful to her husband and becomes pregnant outside her marriage and society says, “You have the right to get ride of the evidence of your unfaithfulness.” What really are we gaining? You may think that I am going overboard but It is really hard for me to think that a faithful wife, responsible teenager, loving mother would ever be pro-abortion. I just can’t help to think of these people as being unfaithful wives, irresponsible teenagers and people that don’t like to go to restaurants and hear a family at the next table with 3 very happy and goofy kids have a nice family day out. But like I said, I also believe that there should be help for those who get raped and conceive and those loving mothers that find out after their second child that her life is threaten if she goes thru with a pregnancy and there is a chance of leaving her husband and her two young children without a mother.

Life is so precious, one only needs to think about the things we have seen and experienced within one week to know that. The beautiful trees, the breeze, the sun going down, a child’s’ laugh, a mothers’ song, the face of a new father, wrinkles on the face of a loved grandmother. Why would anyone deprive anyone else from those things. We don’t have that right. We don’t have the right from terminating anyone from having the chance to Life.

Now, the war issue is a long time coming. We, and by that I mean the human race have been at war for many reasons in our history. Some reasons have been political, money, hate, religion, freedom, ignorance and in small occasions to defend. Politicians now a days go to war so that their pockets can get bigger no matter how many lives are lost. In our history, hate and religion have played a role. We have also seen freedom and ignorance. There is the political reasons, “Well my sugar Daddy nation is at war with this other country, I have nothing against them but I’ll go to war against them as well so that my sugar Daddy is happy”.

The only war I think should ever be fought is to defend. To defend our family, our lives not favor from other nations or potential wealth or our egos. But unfortunately this is the one that is not fought.

Why then, do we allow wars? I have a theory! I think wars start inside ourselves. When we don’t treat others like we should. When we assume the worse in others. When we are ignorant about other cultures, religions, races, and status. When we have not learned to say “I am sorry please forgive me” or “This is my fault, I will fix it”. When we refrain ourselves from seeing beyond our immediate circle and forget about our brothers and sisters around the world. You see, if we all thought of human beings as brothers and sisters maybe then we would sympathized, forgive and understand each other for who we are. Accept the fact that we are all different, speak different language and have a different way of seeing things, maybe then our differences would not bother us as much or make us uncomfortable.

I saw a movie once. It was called “Pay it forward” I believe. It was basically doing good things for people you meet and hoping that they would pay going forward and doing good things to those they meet and so on. You may think it’s cheesy, but it really isn’t. Have you ever done something simple for someone but meant so much for that person? Has someone done something for you that was a life saver? How did it make you feel? It makes me feel wonderful to know that I was at the right place at the right time. Wouldn’t it be nice to be that person everywhere you go? The person that is at the right place at the right time every time. What if we all were that person?

Only then would Love, Peace, Safety, Freedom, Family, Health and a Future mean so much more then the definitions of these words imply.

If we all realized that we are the ones that make up society, that own the earth, and that our future generations are in our hands maybe then there would be change. The vast ocean holding such powerful strength is contained by one grain of sand at a time. One by one we can all make a change for our future and stop the problems which are the same issues that our fathers faced once and for all.

I keep saying this but I really love Texas. Last week I helped out in Mikey’s class and realized something cool. Last week was family week at his school and my son brought in a family picture to share with the class. Mrs. Bev asked the kids about the Daddys. She asked “What does Daddy do?”. The whole class answered, “He works”. When she asked “What does Mommy do?”. They all answered, “She stays home”. That is when I realized this is the place I want to raise my children for sure.

All my life while working very hard in California I told myself that when my husband and I were ready to have kids I would raise them. I hated the idea of paying some stranger to raise my children. I believe that raising children it’s a huge responsibility and did not want to have someone else do it instead of me, their mother. With that in mind, I also knew that California was not a place that would allow my husband and I raise three children on one income among other reasons like a fast paced stressful life, the “get the biggest and better of everything no matter what the cost” mentality that one finds there. The good morals and values that I desired for my children were not the norm in the area we could afford to live in California.

When it was time for Mikey to show his picture after several kids had got up and said Daddy works and Mommy stays home, I heard Mikey say the same thing. I told myself that this is what I want the norm to be for him and his two siblings.

I want them to come home from school and find fresh baked cookies on the kitchen counter right next to a nice cold glass of milk for a snack followed by: Mommy helping them with their homework before Daddy gets home to play with them in the afternoon. I want to be able to have dinner together every night and for Daddy to have monthly dates with his only daughter and all boys night out with his boys. You may think I am dreaming this stuff up but in Round Rock Texas, we do have Daddy and Daughter dates and the whole city participates. You see, this is the norm here and I love it! There is no where else I would rather be. I love Texas!

Early in life I learned about what I like to call “The Middle Child Syndrome”

What is the middle child syndrome you ask? It is the inability to be apathetic about other peoples’ problems. Specifically my older and younger siblings. Unable to walk away and let them learn life lessons. This syndrome is so strong that it over powers me sometimes and I cannot help it but care.

When I was in elementary, I would get on my brothers case about their homework because I didn’t like to see them get in trouble. In High School I would worn my older brother about his girlfriend but you should see who he is married to now and sucking him dry.

I have helped them both with, getting cars, jobs, place to live and at the end I somehow end up as the bad guy.

Even now I struggle. I want to tell my recently unemployed younger brother that he should not postpone an interview for a week since the hiring manager may take that as he not being interested but he will do that because that is what he does. After living with me for a year and taking advantage of a helping hand, not going for a full time job, barely paying for his own food, not paying for rent, playing video games and going out instead of taking care of business I don’t want to push him to go out there and get a real job because I don’t want to stress him out. Being unemployed is not an easy thing…, well may be for him it is.

ENOUGH ALL READY! How can I get rid of this thing? I want to be concern about me and my immediate family that depend on me instead of my almost 28- year-old brother who acts like an idiot.

My little boy was great with his potty training. I can say that he got an A+. He was wonderful. He never had major accidents at home or in public. I am very proud of him.

This is what I did:

First I put a side 2 days when I knew I could dedicate myself to hang out with him for the most part of the day. Then, I bought a potty chair to keep in his room as well as a timer to sit Mikey down every 15 minutes. Except on the first day I put a diaper on for his nap. Every 15 minutes the timer would go off and Mikey would sit on the potty. Sometimes he would go and sometimes he would not. At first he did not want to sit but would give in. Towards the end of the day he knew the drill.

The second day it was easier. The first thing he did when he woke up was sit in the potty. The timer was then set for every 30 minutes. During these 2 days he was wearing a t-shirt only. On the 3rd day he got brand new Spider Man briefs and he loved them. So, we made a deal if he wanted to wear them he needed to keep them clean. Over the past 2 months he had about 3-4 accidents toward the beginning but he is now a pro.

Mikey started school at the beginning of this month and he is doing great with going potty at school.

I tried doing this before when he was 2 but he was not ready. He is now 3 and completely potty trained. The first 2 days was the hardest but after that I made sure I kept reminding him about going potty. If a couple of hours had gone by and he said he did not have to go, I would walk him to the bathroom and he would realize that he needed to go.

Overall this was pretty easy, I am getting ready to start with my second child.

One thing that I forgot to mention is that most of the time during the first day Mikey and I were mostly in his room. The second day he was out and about doing the normal things that kids do. After that first weekend when we would go out in public, Mikey would wear a diaper but he never used it. After 2 weeks of that, the diaper came off completely.

Good luck to all the Moms that are starting this process for the first time!

I’ve been told good things about this cleaning service called clean freaks. At first I was people were saying cleaning freaks but that. Any ways they are called Clean Freaks and they are local which is nice. Some of my neighbors use them and they were left very impressed.

I visited their site and they have the cutest site. They have a baby girl dressed up like a maid and all! Very cute. I am thinking of checking them out myself. It is always nice to have a spring cleaning here and there from floor to ceiling. It’s one thing to clean your house every so often but with three little ones…. well, things are always left undone.

I find myself short handed between their naps, meal times and just other things that have to get done on a daily basis. Things like laundry versus ceiling fan dusting? Obviously the laundry will always be priority. Anyways I got their number from a friend and they can be reached at (512) 905-6341.

Did I mention that I like the name Clean Freaks. It reminds me of the character Monica in the show “Friends”. Now that girl was a clean freak.

This summer I wanted to get the kids out and having fun so I enrolled Mikey in swimming lessons. The City provides classes for toddlers at one of the community pools here in Round Rock.

The first day Mikey was unsure of himself. The strangers around him and the other kids he did not know but on the second day…., he was asking me “Swimming with the kids?” Needless to say, that made me feel better. To know that he enjoyed being in the pool and playing with other kids his age and not being afraid of the water like he usually is when I take him swimming.

This is his last week and I speak for him and I when I say “We loved it!”.

My parents have their birthday in the same month. Dan and I have it the same day! Today, to celebrate our birthdays we decided to take a drive to Dallas. We did stay in Dallas about 5 years ago but we did not really get a chance to explore. Our two oldest children came with us and one of the things that I enjoyed doing was the museums they have there.

Dan and I then came back to the Round Rock area and took the kids to see a movie. After the movie was over the little ones were tired and went home with the Grandparents. That gave Dan and I the rest of the day off which was really nice. We went back to the movie theater and saw a movie we both wanted to see for a while and then had dinner at a nice sit down place.

It was very nice!

As a parent it is very difficult to have your little ones with the flu. My kids are so small that I feel so helpless when they are sick. Dan II has been very ill for the last 3-4 days. He was very congested and could not sleep very well because he could not through his nose. Sometimes the flu comes on so strong that sometimes ear infections follow and that is exactly what happened to my little baby.

He had a sore throat, low grade fever, nasal and chest congestion, ear pain, hungry and tired but could not do either because of his congestion and sore throat.  As a parent this is what drains us, not being able to comfort them and not being able to take their aches and pains away.

Taking him into the bathroom while the hot water was running seemed to help with his congestion a lot. The new “Tylenol Plus Cold” helps a lot.

His Doctor prescribed antibiotics and ear drops and that is helping also.

I am happy he is playing and smiling now. God knows I’ve missed that smile!

Exactly one week from today is Fathers’ Day and I am not sure what to get my husband. XBox or Bike. He loves to ride bikes but he has been wanting an Xbox for some time now and I just don’t know. One is more expensive then the other and I just don’t know what to get him.

Maybe for his birthday I can get him which ever thing I don’t get him for Fathers’ Day.