Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Dreaded Gynecological Exam
My title for today's post is a mouth full. Try saying it three times really fast, or for that matter try just saying one time really fast! :)
Even though most of us have given birth a time or two and have been poked and prodded and laid out on display for several to see I'd venture to guess that most of you, like me, dread your annual exam. I feel most comfortable with female doctors so I see one of three each year. One of them delivered my oldest child and one of them delivered my youngest. I started going to them almost 12 years ago and on my first appointment the doctor brought in an intern named Helga. I was nervous but it was just another female in the room. Then when I was in labor with my first child and ready to push they brought in three interns to observe her delivery. I had just turned 22 and the interns were two males and one female all of which were my age. The whole time I was pushing, one of the male interns kept clapping and cheering for me and in the midst of pushing I actual found that quite humorous because a complete stranger was cheering for me as if I was running a marathon or something.
Years went by and I never had another intern, at least not until my last annual exam which was last November. Even though I've had three children I still hate the dreaded gynecological exam. I make sure I'm physically prepared to be viewed in such a manner and head off to my appointment. The nurse took me back to the examining room and asked me the usual questions, then she gave be a gown and an over sized napkin and said, "Please undress and tie the gown in the front." They used to have me tie the gown in the back but I suppose tying it in the front gave better access for the breast exam. I put on my gown and tried to wrap the smaller than I remembered napkin around my lower half. I chalked the decrease in napkin size up to budget cuts.
I sat and waited patiently and in walked the doctor. She was the one who delivered my oldest child and I was happy to see her. She shook my hand and asked how I was doing and then, gasp, in walked a man! "This is Todd and he's a student intern, I hope you don't mind if he observes today," she said. I thought, student intern are you kidding me? He was at least in his early forties, he had salt and pepper hair and he was very good looking. It was just my luck that this man would decide to better himself and now I have to bare my nether regions to him.
After a few more pleasantries came the dreaded words, "Please scoot forward and put your legs up." She moved the hot lamp closer to me and sat down. I can't believe how warm those lamps are and how close they get them to you. If you ever smell burning hair I guarantee your lamp is too close! The whole time she's examining me she's asking about my weekend or if we took the kids on a summer vacation. I politely tried to converse with her but the whole time I was thinking, I can't believe she brought George Clooney into observe me! I was mortified but in a few minutes the exam was over and I sat up. She asked if I had any concerns or questions and I did not so I shook both of their hands and they left the room. I breathed a sigh of relief that THAT was over for yet another year!
No matter how much I dread it I just keep telling myself that it is the responsible thing to do as an adult and as a mother. It's preventative medicine and it's worth the terribly uncomfortable few minutes out of my life to be examined. I will say though, I hope I can go another ten years without an intern, specifically a male one!
Even though most of us have given birth a time or two and have been poked and prodded and laid out on display for several to see I'd venture to guess that most of you, like me, dread your annual exam. I feel most comfortable with female doctors so I see one of three each year. One of them delivered my oldest child and one of them delivered my youngest. I started going to them almost 12 years ago and on my first appointment the doctor brought in an intern named Helga. I was nervous but it was just another female in the room. Then when I was in labor with my first child and ready to push they brought in three interns to observe her delivery. I had just turned 22 and the interns were two males and one female all of which were my age. The whole time I was pushing, one of the male interns kept clapping and cheering for me and in the midst of pushing I actual found that quite humorous because a complete stranger was cheering for me as if I was running a marathon or something.
Years went by and I never had another intern, at least not until my last annual exam which was last November. Even though I've had three children I still hate the dreaded gynecological exam. I make sure I'm physically prepared to be viewed in such a manner and head off to my appointment. The nurse took me back to the examining room and asked me the usual questions, then she gave be a gown and an over sized napkin and said, "Please undress and tie the gown in the front." They used to have me tie the gown in the back but I suppose tying it in the front gave better access for the breast exam. I put on my gown and tried to wrap the smaller than I remembered napkin around my lower half. I chalked the decrease in napkin size up to budget cuts.
I sat and waited patiently and in walked the doctor. She was the one who delivered my oldest child and I was happy to see her. She shook my hand and asked how I was doing and then, gasp, in walked a man! "This is Todd and he's a student intern, I hope you don't mind if he observes today," she said. I thought, student intern are you kidding me? He was at least in his early forties, he had salt and pepper hair and he was very good looking. It was just my luck that this man would decide to better himself and now I have to bare my nether regions to him.
After a few more pleasantries came the dreaded words, "Please scoot forward and put your legs up." She moved the hot lamp closer to me and sat down. I can't believe how warm those lamps are and how close they get them to you. If you ever smell burning hair I guarantee your lamp is too close! The whole time she's examining me she's asking about my weekend or if we took the kids on a summer vacation. I politely tried to converse with her but the whole time I was thinking, I can't believe she brought George Clooney into observe me! I was mortified but in a few minutes the exam was over and I sat up. She asked if I had any concerns or questions and I did not so I shook both of their hands and they left the room. I breathed a sigh of relief that THAT was over for yet another year!
No matter how much I dread it I just keep telling myself that it is the responsible thing to do as an adult and as a mother. It's preventative medicine and it's worth the terribly uncomfortable few minutes out of my life to be examined. I will say though, I hope I can go another ten years without an intern, specifically a male one!
"Too many OB/GYN’s aren’t able to practice their love with women all across the country."
— George W. Bush
— George W. Bush
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Potty Mouth
Oh the joys of raising children. Now I'm by no means a perfect mother, a perfect wife or a perfect person. I use the occasional curse word and occasionally it might be in front of my kids. We've taught our children that cursing is wrong however when you stub a toe, or someone spills an entire pitcher of lemonade on your freshly cleaned kitchen floor or someone tracks mud onto the carpet these curse words just seem to spill out at times like these and some of us don't realize what we are saying until after we've said it.
We've never had a swearing problem with our oldest. By nature she wouldn't dare say a curse word because that is her personality. When our middle child was younger he'd be punished for the occasional curse word that would slip out at home but now that he's older he knows it is wrong. Now onto our youngest. He is the child that the occasional curse word will slip out in public and in front of other people. The strange part is that the curse words that slip from his mouth are NOT the curse words he hears us saying at home! So then that leads me to believe he's heard it either from one of his siblings or perhaps out with his dad? At three years old he was with his siblings, cousins and his aunt when they walked through a Wal-Mart parking lot and my son said, "Look at all the f*&#ing people." Ouch! Highly inappropriate!!! He said it so nonchalantly as if it's an everyday vocabulary word. He got in trouble for that and fortunately has not said THAT word again. Unfortunately though he's said a few others.
A few months ago my husband told our son that it was time for his nap and our son's reply was, "That's ass." And just two days ago he was playing in the yard with his sister and two other kids when he walked up to them all and said, "What's up b*tches?" I was shocked!! I had to have a good long talk with him about the words he chooses to use and the privileges he will loose because of his behavior. This child HATES being in trouble and he HATES loosing things so he immediately started saying, "I'm so sorry mommy, I won't swear again! I promise!" Now he is so worried about saying a bad word he'll say, "Mom, is 'knife' a bad word?"
I have to think that even a three year old knows which words are bad words and which ones aren't. It's not like I'm going to give him a list to hang in his room that says...The following words are bad words and should not ever be used. ... Then list all swear words in alphabetical order for him to learn NOT to say! That would be like saying to your child "Don't watch x-rated movies, here let me show you one so you know what they look like."
Kids grow and parents learn and someday our kids are going to curse all they want and we can't do anything about it and then they'll have their own children to deal with!
There ought to be a room in every house to swear in. It's dangerous to have to repress an emotion like that.
— Mark Twain
We've never had a swearing problem with our oldest. By nature she wouldn't dare say a curse word because that is her personality. When our middle child was younger he'd be punished for the occasional curse word that would slip out at home but now that he's older he knows it is wrong. Now onto our youngest. He is the child that the occasional curse word will slip out in public and in front of other people. The strange part is that the curse words that slip from his mouth are NOT the curse words he hears us saying at home! So then that leads me to believe he's heard it either from one of his siblings or perhaps out with his dad? At three years old he was with his siblings, cousins and his aunt when they walked through a Wal-Mart parking lot and my son said, "Look at all the f*&#ing people." Ouch! Highly inappropriate!!! He said it so nonchalantly as if it's an everyday vocabulary word. He got in trouble for that and fortunately has not said THAT word again. Unfortunately though he's said a few others.
A few months ago my husband told our son that it was time for his nap and our son's reply was, "That's ass." And just two days ago he was playing in the yard with his sister and two other kids when he walked up to them all and said, "What's up b*tches?" I was shocked!! I had to have a good long talk with him about the words he chooses to use and the privileges he will loose because of his behavior. This child HATES being in trouble and he HATES loosing things so he immediately started saying, "I'm so sorry mommy, I won't swear again! I promise!" Now he is so worried about saying a bad word he'll say, "Mom, is 'knife' a bad word?"
I have to think that even a three year old knows which words are bad words and which ones aren't. It's not like I'm going to give him a list to hang in his room that says...The following words are bad words and should not ever be used. ... Then list all swear words in alphabetical order for him to learn NOT to say! That would be like saying to your child "Don't watch x-rated movies, here let me show you one so you know what they look like."
Kids grow and parents learn and someday our kids are going to curse all they want and we can't do anything about it and then they'll have their own children to deal with!
There ought to be a room in every house to swear in. It's dangerous to have to repress an emotion like that.
— Mark Twain
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Living the Dream
I know we all love our children dearly and they are our life but have you ever thought about what you will do when they are all grown and out of the house? I know a lot of us put our dreams on hold because we know that we will have all the time in the world to make our dreams come true when our children are grown.
I have always had a little bit of an obsession of France. Don't ask me why because I've never been there. Looking back I wish I would've taken four years of French in high school instead of two and I wish I would've taken four years of French in college instead of one. I would've made French my minor and I would've taken advantage of the French abroad program at my university. But I didn't. I'm refreshing the French I did learn with French for Dummies and learning about French food through cookbooks. The older I get the more obsessed I have become with food as well. I would love to go to Paris and go to a pastry school as sweets are my favorite! My older kids found my French for Dummies book and asked if i could teach them some this summer. I am so excited because once baseball and softball is over in mid-June and we get back from vacation the first part of July I am always looking for things for them to do. So this summer we are going to learn French and cook French food. Well see how long it lasts but right now in my mind it will be a wonderful summer! I'd love to be able to take them to France when they are all older and can speak some of it. In the scheme of things I'd love an apartment in France to stay in whenever we want. A girl can dream can't she?
I think a lot of people dream at times of the things they'd love to do. Why does it have to be a dream? Why can't we plan and save and work our way towards our goals even if it takes several years. Or why can't we use our kids in our plan to learn a new language, learn to cook new foods, save for vacations, start a new business?? Ha! You know as well as I do that moms need to get creative and in the end perhaps everyone's dreams will come true.
"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." Paul Valery French poet
I have always had a little bit of an obsession of France. Don't ask me why because I've never been there. Looking back I wish I would've taken four years of French in high school instead of two and I wish I would've taken four years of French in college instead of one. I would've made French my minor and I would've taken advantage of the French abroad program at my university. But I didn't. I'm refreshing the French I did learn with French for Dummies and learning about French food through cookbooks. The older I get the more obsessed I have become with food as well. I would love to go to Paris and go to a pastry school as sweets are my favorite! My older kids found my French for Dummies book and asked if i could teach them some this summer. I am so excited because once baseball and softball is over in mid-June and we get back from vacation the first part of July I am always looking for things for them to do. So this summer we are going to learn French and cook French food. Well see how long it lasts but right now in my mind it will be a wonderful summer! I'd love to be able to take them to France when they are all older and can speak some of it. In the scheme of things I'd love an apartment in France to stay in whenever we want. A girl can dream can't she?
I think a lot of people dream at times of the things they'd love to do. Why does it have to be a dream? Why can't we plan and save and work our way towards our goals even if it takes several years. Or why can't we use our kids in our plan to learn a new language, learn to cook new foods, save for vacations, start a new business?? Ha! You know as well as I do that moms need to get creative and in the end perhaps everyone's dreams will come true.
"The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up." Paul Valery French poet
Monday, April 4, 2011
Personal Hygiene
As I was in the shower this morning I was thinking about the personal hygiene of children. Now that my children are getting older and more in charge of their own hygiene I find it interesting which child is super hygienic and which one lacks in that department. My eleven year old daughter showers daily, brushes her teeth, combs her hair, washes her own clothes and her own bed sheets. My nine year old son on the other hand is a different story. We practically have to beg him to shower, we constantly have to remind him to brush his teeth, comb his hair and at least get his dirty clothes to the laundry room. It is exhausting to keep on him. I'm half tempted to tell him that he is in charge of his own hygiene, washing his own clothes and sheets and that we aren't going to say anything to him again. I wonder if he'd go weeks and weeks and weeks without showering or wearing dirty clothes or if he'd start doing everything himself because HE is in charge and we aren't nagging him all the time.
The issue with my third child has become wiping. My four year old, like most four year olds, is not a good wiper. You can tell when he comes home from preschool if he pooped there or not. I still try to help him now and then and he does bathe regularly because of that! All little kids tend to do is make a huge mess. He'll get it all over the place and it's so gross!
My own personal hygiene has improved since my kids have gotten older. I now have the luxury of showering daily! One never thinks that would be an accomplishment but for all of you with small children you know how easy it is for you to go a whole day without a shower! Now my showering issue has been my lack of focus while I'm in the shower. I need to get in, wash up and get out but instead I am thinking of so many other things that I've got to do and I forget whether or not I've washed my hair. Yes, I have forgotten whether or not I've washed my hair! I'll be so deep in thought that I don't remember what I did in the shower. I'll look around for evidence of shampoo suds on the shower curtain or walls and if I don't see any I'll just shampoo my hair again just to make sure. One time after I got out of the shower I realized I had shaved one leg and not the other! I must have really been deep in thought that day.
I rarely ever forget to brush my teeth but I know I have on a rare occassion or two left the house without deoderant and I HATE that! I need to put a travel deoderant in my purse because even if I didn't get a shower that day I can at least put on a fresh layer of deoderant.
The issue with my third child has become wiping. My four year old, like most four year olds, is not a good wiper. You can tell when he comes home from preschool if he pooped there or not. I still try to help him now and then and he does bathe regularly because of that! All little kids tend to do is make a huge mess. He'll get it all over the place and it's so gross!
My own personal hygiene has improved since my kids have gotten older. I now have the luxury of showering daily! One never thinks that would be an accomplishment but for all of you with small children you know how easy it is for you to go a whole day without a shower! Now my showering issue has been my lack of focus while I'm in the shower. I need to get in, wash up and get out but instead I am thinking of so many other things that I've got to do and I forget whether or not I've washed my hair. Yes, I have forgotten whether or not I've washed my hair! I'll be so deep in thought that I don't remember what I did in the shower. I'll look around for evidence of shampoo suds on the shower curtain or walls and if I don't see any I'll just shampoo my hair again just to make sure. One time after I got out of the shower I realized I had shaved one leg and not the other! I must have really been deep in thought that day.
I rarely ever forget to brush my teeth but I know I have on a rare occassion or two left the house without deoderant and I HATE that! I need to put a travel deoderant in my purse because even if I didn't get a shower that day I can at least put on a fresh layer of deoderant.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Selfless vs. Selfish
I've always heard that being a mom is one of the most selfless acts a woman can perform. As soon as our child is born we want everything for them and we tend to forget about ourselves. However, there have been times in my eleven years as a mother that I've found myself wanting to be selfish. I want to watch a good television show without interruption, I want to watch a movie in silence, I want to type on the computer, I want to read a book, I want to write a book and I want to eat a snack or drink something without having to share it with anyone else. I hide candy in the house just so I don't have to share it! Yet other times I don't mind dropping everything no matter how much I'm enjoying what I was doing to listen to one of my kids tell me a story about their day or to fix them a snack or to share my snack with them. Motherhood is definitely a balancing act.
Recently I've been finding myself getting selfish again. I have all these goals I want to accomplish but at 3:30 p.m. my day stops completely for my kids. We've got homework, supper, bath time, and now sports practices and games. I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want to accomplish. However, I constantly tell myself to relax and enjoy the children as much as possibly because they grow so fast and I'll have plenty of time to accomplish my dreams once they are in college.
Even though I feel selfish I know part of me is still selfless because I'm still making sure they have everything they need and are getting to where they need to be even though I'm getting run down, tired and sick. I know I need to take care of myself or I'm not going to do much good for them but sometimes in the whirlwind of things a person can forget to slow down. I'm at that point right now. I need to slow down for a minute and get healthy because there is no time to be sick. I really enjoy my young mothers group because you realize that all moms go through very similar feelings and emotions. We are normal, a lot of us hide candy in the house and a lot of us hide in our house. We all need a moment of peace and quiet, we all need a moment to ourselves and we all need to remember that it's okay to be selfish once in a while. It's what gets us through this crazy life of motherhood!
Recently I've been finding myself getting selfish again. I have all these goals I want to accomplish but at 3:30 p.m. my day stops completely for my kids. We've got homework, supper, bath time, and now sports practices and games. I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish all that I want to accomplish. However, I constantly tell myself to relax and enjoy the children as much as possibly because they grow so fast and I'll have plenty of time to accomplish my dreams once they are in college.
Even though I feel selfish I know part of me is still selfless because I'm still making sure they have everything they need and are getting to where they need to be even though I'm getting run down, tired and sick. I know I need to take care of myself or I'm not going to do much good for them but sometimes in the whirlwind of things a person can forget to slow down. I'm at that point right now. I need to slow down for a minute and get healthy because there is no time to be sick. I really enjoy my young mothers group because you realize that all moms go through very similar feelings and emotions. We are normal, a lot of us hide candy in the house and a lot of us hide in our house. We all need a moment of peace and quiet, we all need a moment to ourselves and we all need to remember that it's okay to be selfish once in a while. It's what gets us through this crazy life of motherhood!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
The Workout Queen
I will admit I am one of those people that does not motivate easily when it comes to working out. I can find a million excuses why I don't have time. I am a busy mom of three children and there just aren't enough hours in the day. Well this year for my new years resolution I decided that I was going to work out and I intended on sticking to that goal for once. I bought myself a Gold's Gym workout DVD and thought I'd do it three days a week to get started. It only took about 30 minutes in the mornings and I loved it. I told my best friend about it and she too was going to start a workout DVD. She decided to buy me the same Jillian Michael's DVD she had and if we did it together, at our own homes, on our own time it might motivate us to keep doing it. It was a six week program and we had to do it five days a week. We started on the same day and after our work outs we'd call each other or email just to say we did it for the day. We could compare notes and talk about the exercises we liked and the ones we didn't and it was fun. It was as if we were holding the other one accountable and we didn't want to let each other down.
We were so proud of ourselves for getting to week five of the DVD and after the next two weeks decided that we were going to both buy the same DVD again and continue this. So Monday morning I got up bright and early to start week five of our workout and when I pushed play on the DVD player the movie The Other Guys appeared. My face dropped in disappointment as I realized I must have accidentally sent my Jillian Michael's workout DVD to Netflix! I have subscribed to Netflix for the last few winters and Friday nights we like to watch a movie and then put it in the mail Saturday morning so we get a second movie by Tuesday. I remember putting the movie in the Netflix sleeve and dropping it in the mail but I was NOT aware I had picked up the wrong DVD! Needless to say The Other Guys did not help me get my work out done that day. I quickly called Netflix and since Jillian Michael's was not in their library of movies they would be sending it back to me but it could take a week or longer. I put in the old Gold's Gym workout DVD but it wasn't the same. I'll continue to do that DVD five days a week until I get my Jillian Michael's back and then I'll do two weeks of it to finish it off. All I know is I want to go back to doing the same DVD on the same schedule as my friend!! It is crazy how much that motivated me. I no longer had excuses as to why I couldn't fit my workout in because it became important to me, it became a priority. I wanted to get it done first thing in the morning and it was a great way to start my day but knowing a friend was doing it also must have been to main motivating factor. It's almost as if it made working out FUN!
I suggest that if you want to workout but are unmotivated like I was to try this. Recruit your favorite person or several people, go out and buy the same DVD and get to it! You might be surprised at how much fun it can be! Also another tip would be to take the DVD out of the player and put it back in it's case and put it far away from any Netflix or rented movies!
We were so proud of ourselves for getting to week five of the DVD and after the next two weeks decided that we were going to both buy the same DVD again and continue this. So Monday morning I got up bright and early to start week five of our workout and when I pushed play on the DVD player the movie The Other Guys appeared. My face dropped in disappointment as I realized I must have accidentally sent my Jillian Michael's workout DVD to Netflix! I have subscribed to Netflix for the last few winters and Friday nights we like to watch a movie and then put it in the mail Saturday morning so we get a second movie by Tuesday. I remember putting the movie in the Netflix sleeve and dropping it in the mail but I was NOT aware I had picked up the wrong DVD! Needless to say The Other Guys did not help me get my work out done that day. I quickly called Netflix and since Jillian Michael's was not in their library of movies they would be sending it back to me but it could take a week or longer. I put in the old Gold's Gym workout DVD but it wasn't the same. I'll continue to do that DVD five days a week until I get my Jillian Michael's back and then I'll do two weeks of it to finish it off. All I know is I want to go back to doing the same DVD on the same schedule as my friend!! It is crazy how much that motivated me. I no longer had excuses as to why I couldn't fit my workout in because it became important to me, it became a priority. I wanted to get it done first thing in the morning and it was a great way to start my day but knowing a friend was doing it also must have been to main motivating factor. It's almost as if it made working out FUN!
I suggest that if you want to workout but are unmotivated like I was to try this. Recruit your favorite person or several people, go out and buy the same DVD and get to it! You might be surprised at how much fun it can be! Also another tip would be to take the DVD out of the player and put it back in it's case and put it far away from any Netflix or rented movies!
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