The Dark Side of Imagination by Military Momma

The other night my daughter Punka, went down (surprisingly) peacefully for her bedtime. Within an hour, she erupted in a bloodcurdling scream that sent me running for her door. I had never heard her scream like that before, so of course my mind involuntarily ran through worse case scenarios. Had she fallen out of bed and broken her arm? Was there an intruder in the house? What could possibly make her scream like that?

I reached her room to find the culprit was a wolf. Yes, a wolf. Apparently in the haze of her dimly lit room, my imaginative 2 year old had found the wolf’s eyes (which had been featured in Aesop’s Fables at Library Story Time that afternoon). I calmed her and asked her to show me the wolf, and she franticly pointed to the tiny lights on the smoke/carbon monoxide detector. I tried to soothe her fears with logic (not a toddler’s strong point), but that didn’t work. In the end, after retrieving Daddy (appropriately still dressed in cammo uniform and hunting make believe wolfs), turning on the light, and rearranging anything that might cast a shadow, she finally settle down to sleep.

The next night she saw birds in her closet – a small pile of clothes that cast a shadow. The night after that, a snake – the skinny outline of her lamp’s electrical cord. My husband and I were both baffled. We’ve never had this problem with my daughter before. You always hear about children being afraid of undescript monsters in the closet or under the bed. But that would be too easy…My daughter thinks monsters are funny. Monsters can be explained away. “Oh, monsters are just pretend. They don’t exist.”

How do you explain away a wolf? Or a bird? Or a snake? They’re all real animals she reads about or sees everyday. It’s not like I can censor them from her life like I could monsters and horror movies. Once again, I’m stumped by a two year old.

DebD, MilitaryMomma

www.DunkDesigns.com

Traveling Toddler by Military Momma

Ladies and gents, May I call your attention to the center ring as I attempt the impossible. I, Momma the Magnificient, will attempt fly alone with my toddler, and arrive at my destination sane! "Can't be done!" You say?...

...I agree, but hey I have to keep the dream alive right? So, back to reality. Me being me, I set off to prepare for this fated trip back to the East Coast by researching and planning. We're not new to long hauls and traveling by car for days, being an Army family, but planes are different. You can't stop for potty breaks and the occasional "my butt's asleep" pitstop. Add to that Mommy's huge fear of flying, and the general chaos of going anywhere alone with a very active and antsy toddler, and it seems like an all but impossible feat.

However, I am determined to try to make the best of it. After all, at the end of that very long plane ride is HOME. Grandma. Grampa. Cousins, Aunts and Uncles. I just have to make it through 8 hours on a plane and a short layover to gain 6 full days of the comforts of home. I can do this! (Or so I tell myself.)

In order to make this trip as smooth as possible, I've compiled quite the Traveling Toolkit chocked full of fun little activities and, well, bribes. My secret weapon: snacks and a portable DVD player. I've also bought a toddler book about first plane rides, a coloring book about airplanes, and toddler sized headphones shaped like teddy bears.

I added a GoGo Kidz TravelMate (an attachment for your child's carseat that converts it into a stroller of sorts, for an easier terminal to terminal dash!) to my arsenal, and I hope that it holds up to my expectations. Most of all I just hope beyond hope that the Tantrum Gods are good to us that day. Be sure I'll be giving a full report of the effectiveness of my battle plan after we return. Wish me luck!

DebD, MilitaryMomma
www.DunkDesigns.com

One Sick Pup by Military Momma

My daughter seems determined to make sure she takes full advantage of the Army’s Tricare medical system. In the past year she’s done so by developing tonsillitis, the croup, countless ear infections, and even a few crayons up the nose. Yesterday, after fighting a fever all weekend and coughing up ungodly amounts of green goop, she went to the doctor’s again. We suspected a double ear infection and possibly sinus infection, which is now the norm for her, but scarier yet is the possibility of pneumonia.

When we arrived, her fever had peaked to 105.3, all the while on fever-reducer medication. The doctor and nurses had to wrap her in cool wet towels and put icepacks on her head and chest to get it to come down. Not fun. My poor baby screamed bloody murder for me the whole time, and I cried a little myself. It’s horrible to see your baby in pain and not be able to help.

When I was finally allowed to rescue her from her chilly cocoon, I had to turn around and hold her down for a chest xray and get the same heartbreaking plea, “Help Momma!!”. It’s a wonder the child doesn’t hate me. With Daddy being gone a lot, or unable to leave work, I am always the one having to hold her down for shots, xrays, and exams. Thankfully, I think on some level she knows I am helping and trying to make it all better. But it never gets any easier.

DebD, Military Momma

www.DunkDesigns.com

Graphic Design & VA Services

The Gift of Silence: Military Momma

I happen to have a high-spirited two year old who hardly ever sleeps through the night without a peep. She will put up a fight when you put her in the room for the night that sometimes lasts hours. Her favorite torture is the scream "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" continuously for an hour, only interrupting her chant when she breathes in. When she does fall asleep she will wake up an average of twice a night, sometimes as much as 6 times a night depending how restless she is.

She is a very light sleeper so even the wind outside her window is a potential opening for an hour long scream season in the wee hours. After such a restless night, you'd think she'd sleep in but NO! she's up at the crack of dawn, sometimes before dawn, off and running. She's been this way since the day she was born, and I can count on one hand the number of restful nights sleep I've gotten in the past 2 and a half years. It wears on you.

Enter my husband. He is great at thinking up romantic presents, or gifts that are so me but this Valentines Day he out did himself. He gave me the best gift ever: a restful nights sleep. He gave me earplugs. Not just any earplugs, the industrial grade ear plugs soldiers use while on the firing range! To anyone else, this would seem like a stupid valentines day gift. To me, it was an acknowledgment that he understood I work hard, and I'm exhausted. Best present ever!

DebD, Military Momma

www.DunkDesigns.com

Growing Pains by Military Momma

I routinely use BabyCenter.com to find answers to my many parenting questions. I fell in love with it when I was still pregnant with my daughter, and used it almost daily as a resource. This week I looked to BabyCenter for help and guidance solving my daughter’s latest behavior issue.

Before even typing in my search request I was shaken by information on the website’s front page. I had guided my mouse to the word “Toddler” under the “Browse by Stages” heading, and was horrified by what I saw. Next to the word Toddler appeared the annotation “(12-24 mos)”. No! It isn’t true! She’s still a toddler I swear!! I simply cannot bring myself to click on the “Preschooler (2-4 yrs)” link. She’s only 27 months old she can’t be a Preschooler. I won’t allow it!

And just like that, I’m mourning the loss of my daughter’s babyhood and trying to accept the fact that she is indeed growing up. Someone tell her to stop it...

DebD, MilitaryMomma

www.DunkDesigns.com

The Nutritional Value of Plaster by Military Momma

My daughter, “Punka”, has a lot of behavioral problems that are not uncommon for children her age, such as being a picky eater, throwing tantrums, refusing to sleep, insisting on being naked, etc. She seems to take the phrase “Terrible Twos” as a challenge, and is determined to find the weirdest, most frustrating ways to test our parenting skills.

At this point she’s winning. It seems every time I make progress with Punka, her daddy goes to the field or participates in some other Army related event that takes him away for long periods of time, disrupting her schedule and setting off a chain reaction of bad behavior.

Her newest tactic in the quest to drive mommy insane is to gnaw the paint and plaster off the corner of her closet. Thankfully our house is less than 10 years old, so I know she’s not consuming lead paint. Just the same, this can’t be good for her. The frustrating part is that I don’t know how to prevent it.

It always occurs when she’s supposed to be napping, and so we don’t discover it until it’s already happened. I have no clue how to stop her. I’ve wondered if there were some sort of bumper to place on the corners, but that makes me think it would just make it appear more like a teething toy and an invitation to chew. I wonder what a liquid thumb-sucking deterrent would do to the paint? There’s got to be some sort of solution.

I tried to research it online, and hidden in between articles about how to get your puppy to stop chewing on your furniture, I found a few articles that suggested some toddlers may partake in this unusual behavior of eating non-food items when their nutritional needs are not being met. Very plausible considering my daughter’s recent refusal to eat anything that isn’t in hot dog form slathered in ketchup. What am I going to do with this kid? I wonder if there is any nutritional value to plaster…?

Military Momma: Welcome to Chaos

My goal here is to give readers of the BB@WW Blog a new perspective on the struggles and joys of being the wife of a soldier and the mother of an Army Brat. Army wives have been known as the “Silent Ranks” and until recent years, the civilian world gave us little thought. Now with the media saturated with images and stories of war and military, we’ve begun to receive due recognition. The trouble is, the media often stereotypes us and misleads the public on what our life is really like. With this blog I hope to educate everyone about my personal reality of being a military wife and family.

That said, let me introduce myself. My name is Deb. I am 25 and have been an Army wife for close to 5 years now. We are currently stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas with my Staff Sergeant husband, our 2 year old daughter “Punka”, and mutt dog named Bubba. My husband has been deployed twice to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and recently spent a year unaccompanied tour in Korea. Last Spring when he returned from Korea, we relocated to Fort Bliss and I became a work at home mom. I am a graphic designer by trade, but a stay at home mom by choice. I freelance from home and also have a side job crafting.

While you may not be able to relate to all the situations I write about, my day to day life is full of happiness, stress, struggle and strife just like any other mom. Mine just happens to be a different breed of chaos.
Enjoy!
DebD, MilitaryMomma
www.DunkDesigns.com