Crazy Mommy

Mild depression can be easy to deal with; diet and exercise usually are great ways to fight it. Be aware of feelings of wanting to kill or hurt yourself or others as this is a more sever form of depression and should be treated by a doctor.

I talk about depression because I remember reading once that the holidays can be a very depressing time and the current financial crisis doesn’t help the situation. I’m not sure if it’s the cold weather, or the stress of buying everyone a gift, or the extra pounds some of us gain during these few months but it’s important to be aware of the problem.

Eating right is just one way to help fight off those negative feelings. Fruits and vegetables are not only good for you but when you eat them you’ll mentally feel better, knowing you’ve put something good into your body.

Exercise can be hard to do when you’re in a hurry. If you’re going shopping try parking farther away from the store so you have to walk farther. (Use caution while doing this at night, especially if by yourself.) A tip I learned from The Biggest Loser was if you’re watching TV during each commercial break do jumping jacks until the show comes back on. Or you could find a step in the house and step up with both feet then step down with both feet. I typically do this to the full length of one upbeat song, than once that song is over I may do lunges back and forth in my living room to another upbeat song. Since I live in a two story town home I make sure I have to go upstairs to change my daughters diaper; by leaving all the diapers and wipes upstairs so I can at least get a little bit of exercise.

Exercise is important for fighting depression just like the fruits and vegetables; They make you feel better mentally.  It’s never easy when you step on that scale and see you’ve gained a little weight but at least by doing a little exercise you can’t say you didn’t try. Helping yourself mentally is important but don’t be ashamed to admit to a doctor if you find these tips don’t work. 

If you’re struggling financially try doing some things online to help you earn a little extra income. http://www.today.com pays you to blog so you could vent about your struggles while bringing in a little extra cash. I also have a blog about finding work at home. http://findingworkathome.today.com so you can make sure you don’t get burned by the man different work at home scams. Venting in a diary, to a friend or online are other ways to help you deal with your depression; don’t bottle it up inside.

Remember that I’m not a doctor or expert in any way and these are just some tips I’ve found helpful myself.

My husband and I joke or argue about this subject every year; when to put up the Christmas decorations. I say it’s the day after Thanksgiving while he says it’s December 1st. Stores have had out Christmas merchandise since before Halloween and I’ve seen some houses with Christmas lights up for weeks now as well. There really is no right or wrong answer and thankfully my husband loves me because he gave in and let me decorate today; he even helped.

After setting up our pre-lit Christmas tree and putting up the ornaments we wondered if it really was a good idea with a nine month old in the house. Em and I sat on the floor in front of the tree with my back to it; she sat in front of me playing but as soon as I got up to go do something she made a dash for the tree. My husband was there and caught her before she did anything but she has a fascination with lights and now there is this large green object filled with thousands of tiny lights in our living room and we’ve forbid her to touch it. Even better, the tree is filled with shiny ornaments that will catch her attention even if the lights are not on. It probably would not be as big of a deal if our home were bigger.

We only bought her four gifts this year; it’s her first Christmas but she’s going to be nine months old and wont know the difference. My husband watched and laughed while I wrapped up three of the gifts then did the last one himself. Apparently gift wrapping isn’t my best skill and afterwards I could see why he was laughing. We bought this dog that you touch his ear, hands, feet and tummy and he talks and teaches you. I think he’s my favorite toy but I have a feeling in a few months I may hate him. He’s filled with music and all my friends who have older kids tell me those are the worst toys. It was only $20 dollars at Walmart which was the best part but I’m kind of worried because most of them on display seemed broken so I’m hoping it wont break for a while. We also bought her a bath toy that is a shark with a button that opens and closes his mouth so you can eat these little fishes that came with the toy. It’s cute and will probably keep my husband and I more entertained than her. I know it seems more like a little boys toy but I thought it was entertaining and she loves playing with toys in the bath tub. 

Today is turkey day! The day President Bush pardons a turkey, it gets shipped off to California to be in the Disneyland Thanksgiving Parade! What a weird tradition; not like the turkey knows he’s been spared his life but I’m sure PEDA is happy! ha ha I’d like to go to Disneyland so maybe I’m just jealous of the turkey?

I don’t have much to say except; Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you all have a great day and please be safe!

If you need a weather report message ChaCha from your mobile phone; text 242 242 (spells chacha) with W and your zip code. Chacha is a free service as long as you have a texting plan on your phone! You can get directions and traffic as well so take advantage! (It’s not just for weather and traffic so check it out!) www.chacha.com to learn more!

FOOD TIP

If you’re planning on giving your child Thanksgiving food tonight make sure you cut up anything that needs to be cut to prevent them from choking. Also check the temperature before they put it into their little mouths or drop any on their skin. Another thing to remember is that you may need to portion control what you give them because they don’t always know to not stuff all twenty pieces of whatever into their mouth at once which could also be a choking hazard. (We learned this when we gave Em too many Cheerios at once and she just kept shoveling them into her mouth. Luckily we were right there and stopped her before anything happened.)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! HAPPY TRAVELING!

Well the holidays are approaching and if you are like me, I’m sure you are looking for cute little outfits for your boy or girl. Walmart, Target and Kmart all have cute outfits for under $15 dollars. I found three dresses for my daughter (not holiday dresses) for $5.99 each at Target; sweatshirts for $4 dollars each. Walmart had stockings/tights in a three pack; red, black and white for $4 dollars.

Someplace I have yet to check out is Factory 2 U but I know they have some cute things. They are also supposed to be inexpensive. 

I refuse however to shop anytime from Thanksgiving til the first or second week in January due to all the crazy shoppers. The day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, is the most chaotic as everyone rushes around to find the best deal. As a former Walmart employee I can tell you that I hate this day. ha ha It was always so crazy; people lining up the night before in lines for things like computers or toys at incredibly low prices. Most sales only last the first few hours of the morning and are void for the rest of the day but it is still chaotic to shop during the holidays so I try to do my shopping either online or days before Thanksgiving. 

Another place to look could be ebay if you’re not against your child possibly wearing someone elses clothes. They do have stores on ebay; people who sell merchandise they’ve made. So don’t expect that just because it’s on ebay that it’s used. It’s important to look through the WHOLE sale page. If something is .01 cent make sure you’re not bidding on information or a digital photo. Check the sellars feedback or score and if they have negative comments how many are negative compared to the positive; why are they negative? Are the negative comments trivial? If I am shopping on ebay I like to us and mainly only trust paypal so I always look to make sure the seller is okay with that. Paypal is safe and secure because they are the “middle man”. 

FIRST WORDS

Came back from the grocery store this after noon and while my husband was in the kitchen making some food, I was holding my daughter and I swear she said “Hi Da da”, it was so exciting! So I took her to the kitchen and showed her to my husband and said “hi da da” to see if she’d repeat it. It’s not clear, but she said it a few more times. Sounds more like, “hi yada” but we know what she’s trying to say. ha ha I don’t mind that her first words are da da, I’m slightly jealous but it makes me feel proud either way.

SPILL PROOF CUPS

Every mother enjoys that title I’m sure;  spill proof cups. Something your little darling can take and toss around with out making a huge mess. Nice thing is, my favorite brand are called the “Take & Toss”; built right into the name, you can’t lose. You can find them at Walmart or Target or even the grocery stores in the baby sections; 6 spill proof cups come in multi colors where the lid just snaps into place. The cups are from the Learning Curve which has some great products. The other good thing is they are dishwasher safe! Just make sure they don’t fall down to the bottom of the dishwasher if the “Heat Dry” button is switched on. The metal coil on the bottom heats up and will melt anything plastic that touches it. I mention this because we had to throw away a lid last night after it fell to the bottom and melted.  Also, sometimes the lids do pop open when dropped just right, but this doesn’t happen all that often. (It’s only happened once to me and she’s been using them for maybe two months now?)