A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down

It's that time of year where people are getting sick.  First we had the dreaded stomach bug go through the house and now it's the common cold.  Froggie is coughing a bit and has a little runny nose.  I, however, will be down for three days or more feeling like a bus ran me over and then the driver backed up to see what he hit.  She's sick and wants to run and play.  I'm sick and want to lay down and loose consciousness for a few hours.  I'm truly miserable and she's blown it off.

So while I was making sure Froggie could be well enough to run and jump and play, I was also thinking about children's medicine now and children's medicine when I was a kid.  My mother told me that the favorite treatment for anything that was ailing you was castor oil when she was a kid.  I think she told me that as a child to try to make me feel better about taking the disgusting tasting medicine I had.

I remember watching Mary Poppins as a kid sing about taking a spoonful of sugar because this would make the medicine go down.  She was probably right about this.  I tried to convince my mother that this would be a good idea when I had to take medicine.  It didn't work.  Hey it was worth the try.

My husband and I were trying to figure out just which medicine tasted worse.  Triaminic was the cough medicine we had to take.  It came in three colors, yellow, orange and red.  Each color treated different symptoms so it depended on what you had as to what color you had to take.  We both agreed that the orange was the least offensive flavor.  While it was sickening sweet, you could drink it down rather quickly.  I think the yellow was the worse.  Red was tolerable.  Not the best tasting medicine in the world but not the worst.  I do remember as a child holding my nose hoping that would help.  It didn't.  The yellow was just terrible and made me want to throw up when I had to take it.  I can't even describe what it tasted like to you today but I remember it.  I can taste that nasty tasting stuff at this very moment.

So when I was directed by the doctor to give Froggie some cough medicine, I was reluctant.  Not because I didn't think it was alright to do it.  It was because I was dreading having to give her nasty tasting medicine.  Oh I was in for a shock.  They still sell Triaminic today.  I'm not advertising for them since I actually bought the drugstore version of it.  I was surprised to see it is still made.  It comes in a Daytime and Nighttime version.  The Daytime is a nice cherry flavored medicine while the Nighttime is grape.  Where the hell was this when I was a kid.  No disgusting tasting medicine that would leave an after taste in your mouth.  Oh my daughter gets the stuff that tastes so good she's more than willing to take it.

The good thing about medicine tasting the way it does is unlike my mother, I will never have to fight with Froggie to take it so she'll feel better.  The bad thing is she'll never have to take a spoonful of sugar to make it go down.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...Or Maybe Not

My gripe today is about Christmas.  Please don't shoot me.  I love Christmas since my daughter was born it's great.  However, it seems that Christmas is getting earlier an earlier each year.  No, I don't mean that anyone has changed the date.  I mean in terms of stores and advertising.  I swear I saw Christmas decorations out in September.

I know the older Moms out there can relate.  Once upon a time you didn't see Christmas items until after Thanksgiving.  There was Halloween, then after that we all concentrated on Thanksgiving.  Finally we celebrated Christmas.  I remember my Mom thinking it was crazy that her friend was putting up her Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  It was just too early in her eyes.  Now I bet there are some out there that put up a tree right after Halloween.

One of my favorite radio stations started playing all Christmas music the second week of November.  I'm thinking, "You're kidding me right."  I like Christmas music but there is only so much of it that I can take.  I know I will be burned out on it way before Christmas gets here.

This is not to mention that we have practically excluded Thanksgiving from the holiday celebrations.  We're so focused on Christmas that stores are opening Thanksgiving Day to sell you stuff for Christmas.  I must admit I will be shopping Thanksgiving because, as much as I don't want to, I can't pass up the great deal on the Elsa doll that Froggie is asking Santa for Christmas.  I don't really want to go but at the same time the thought of getting something she wants at a great deal is hard to pass up.

I have been asked if I'm decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  I might put up the lights because last year my husband waited and waited and we had them up for maybe a week.  Putting up the lights always reminds me of the good times I had as a child.  We will probably wait until the first weekend in December to put up the tree.  Froggie likes to help with the decorations.

So tomorrow when you're gathered around the table with family and maybe even friends, think about Thanksgiving. Put Christmas out of your mind for just a moment.  Think about what you are truly thankful for.

Are you a friend or are you a mom?

Every so often I come across a really great article.  This one was due to the fact one of my Facebook friends had read it and thought it was good.  So I looked it up and read it for myself.  She was right.

Kelly Ripa was talking about discipline and her 13 year old daughter.  She mentioned in an interview that her daughter didn't like her right about now because she had taken away the computer and phone privileges.  Her daughter broke the rules and she was punished.  She also mentioned that she is not her daughter's friend she's her Mom.

Bravo, Ms. Ripa.  I know that there are people out there that are gasping right now and feeling faint.  I believe this way too.  My four year old, light of my life, told me that she hated me and she didn't love me anymore.  She had a major temper tantrum and wasn't listening to me and wanted things her way.  I'm sorry that's not going to happen.  She got mad and told me mean things.  I don't know if it's the way I was raised or because I'm an older Mom but I believe that you can't be friends with your child.

As much as teens say they want freedom, independence and to be grown up, they secretly desire structure and rules.  It's scary being on your own.  Sometimes those rules you have in the house, even the ones that they break, is a security blanket.  I could give Froggie everything she wants at 4 and then she can be a total nightmare at 14.  I won't do it.  I'm sorry.  She needs to know that there are consequences to her actions.

I am not a super strict Mom.  Yes I do give in to somethings.  I do believe in picking your battles.  But  I also am not the carefree, I don't give a damn what my child does parent either.  I am hoping to raise a well adjusted child all the way into being a well adjusted, successful adult.  If that means being the bad guy sometimes then so be it.

I'm not my child's friend.  I'm her Mom.  I'm her caretaker.  I'm her teacher.  I'm her nurse.  Most of all I'm the one that is responsible for the way she behaves for the rest of her life.

Mom's Don't Get Sick Days

This is the new slogan for Dayquil.  The commercial shows a woman that opens the door to a room and tells someone that she needs to take a sick day tomorrow.  The next shot is of a little girl playing dress up in her room.  The announcer says "Mom's don't take sick days."

Never has there been a truer statement said.  Recently a stomach bug went around our house.  When Froggie got it I had to explain it wasn't an actual bug in her stomach but a virus.  That was fun in itself.  She got it first then it passed to my husband.  I went three days and figured I was fine.  Oh how wrong I was.  Wednesday afternoon I was sick at work.  I couldn't leave due to the fact we were short handed.  Luckily, hubby was already taking Froggie to dance class.  I told him I was very sick and to just pick up something for the both of them to eat I was going to bed when I got home.

These are the times I am very thankful for daycare.  Even though I still got up the next morning after a sleepless night due to spending most of it in the bathroom, I didn't have to take care of her the whole day.  However, hubby had a very important meeting after work.  So he took off early and picked up Froggie then told her what was going on.  He told her that I was sick and he had to go to a meeting.  She asked if she would go to the meeting and he told her that she had to take care of me.  She said, "Why don't I go to the meeting and you take care of Mommy."  He told her she couldn't because she couldn't drive.  Though I do think his meeting with the board would have been much more fun and memorable if Froggie would have attended in his place.

I will say that my daughter is very caring and loving and a good nurse.  But she still relies on me for a lot.  I had to get her dinner.  Thank goodness for Ravioli and a microwave.  It wasn't the best meal but I got my child fed.  We did a lot of snuggling but I still had to get up to get her something to drink.  She gave me lots of hugs and kisses to make me feel better.

I am lucky that my husband is good.  He took care of the dishes and put Froggie to bed when he got home.  Not all Moms have someone that can or is willing to help out when you aren't feeling real well.  I remember the last time the stomach bug hit me, Froggie was just a baby and it was over the weekend and my husband was working that Saturday so I had to take care of her.  Let me tell you the last thing you want to do with a queasy stomach is change a poopy diaper.  But I sucked it up and I did it.  Just like the other night.  I had to suck it up and take care of her.  She's my baby and Mom's don't get sick days.

The Woes of Raising a Girl

My niece and I were pregnant at the same time.  Yes I said my niece because there are only 6 years difference between us.  She was pregnant with her second child while I was with my first.  We got to talking after we found out the gender of our unborn children.

I am going to interject a funny story hear before I get back to the main topic of my post.  My great-nephew had so wanted his Mom to have a little girl.  He was quite disappointed that he was getting a brother and not a sister.  So one day my niece let it slip that I was having a girl.  Her son asked, "Aunt Stacie is having a girl?"  She told him that I was.  He paused for a moment and suggested to her that we could just switch babies.  That way he could have a sister and his aunt and uncle could still have a baby they would just have a boy.  I asked her why he wanted a sister so badly.  She looked at me and said, "He wants his own personal cheerleader."  I had to giggle.  My great nephew was playing football at the time.  So I explained to him that we couldn't switch babies but he could still have his own personal cheerleader.  She would just live with  us.  My daughter has gone to his games.  How effective a cheerleader she is remains to be seen.

Late that same day is when the topic of gender came up.  I remember my niece saying she was so glad to be having a boy that girls are so difficult to raise.  Probably not those exact words but something like it.  She went on to explain about girls getting all emotional and having to go through puberty.  Not to mention all the drama that comes with a girl.  Boys were generally easier because they didn't have all this.

I started to panic.  She wasn't even born yet and already people were telling me how difficult it was.  I had heard this from friends too.  I don't necessarily think that boys are less difficult then girls.  I just think it's different.  Girls do have their issues and so do boys.

One of the major things I'm thinking of is body image.  I want to promote good bod image to her when she's four so maybe it won't be so bad when she's fourteen.  Everywhere I took they're talking about how Barbie is a bad roll model because she's out of proportion.  When did a doll become a role model for kids?  I read about all the celebrities that have been photoshopped to look the most appealing to the audience of readers out there.  Then there is the notion that thin is pretty and if you don't look a certain way you are ugly.

Not only am I dealing with all that, I'm dealing with being an older Mom.  Am I going to understand my daughter's woes when she is 14 and I am 55?  Will I be able to relate to her?  Will I be able to help her past this time in her life?

I don't know right now.  Maybe I'll just have to wait until we get there.  I try not to worry about what will happen ten years from now, but sometimes it just creeps into my mind.  I just have to remember to try to be the best Mom I can possibly be.  I must be doing something right because the other day I had put on some lipstick and she said, "Mommy, don't color your lips."  I said, "Too late I already did it."  She said, "You don't have to do that.  You are pretty without it."  I smiled the rest of the day and prayed she'll keep thinking like that as she gets older.

Feeling My Age at Dance Class

Froggie started dance class three weeks ago.  Hard to believe tomorrow will be her third dance class.  She is very excited and loving dance class.  However, I feel like an outsider.  I'm surrounded by young Moms.  I have to admit I get uncomfortable.  Though I did try last time talking to some of them.  The conversation was on the short side.

It is funny because I have a job where I have to deal with teens on a regular basis.  Despite my age, they think I'm rather cool.  I'm young at heart.  Every so often I shock them by saying something about a musician that is popular.  They are amazed I listen to some of the same music they do.

So why is it so hard for me to talk with someone who is thirty something or even twenty something.  It would probably help if I were more social in general.  I'm usually the one that keeps to herself.  I watch and I listen a lot.  No one would really call me a social butterfly.  Lucky for me Froggie is not like this and makes friends easily.

I will keep on trying and hopefully I will be accepted into the fold.  Not thought of as that old woman that brings her child to dance class.  Though if they are thinking I'm old they are probably thinking that I am her Grandmother that's raising her and not her Mom.

Everyone has an opinion

Life got hectic and I feel bad that I have neglected my blog.  Sometimes this happens especially when you have children.  Even one child can throw your plans into chaos.  So I have some free time and decided to write about a blog post I read recently.

I'm just browsing the Internet when I come across a post about Rosie O'Donnel going off on Mayim Bialik on the view about Ms. Bialik's blog post about the movie Frozen.  Now my curiosity is peaked.  I go to the blog site and read the now infamous post titled Why My Sons and I Hate the Movie Frozen.  (Which you can read here if you want, http://www.kveller.com/mayim-bialik/mayim-bialik-why-my-sons-and-i-hate-frozen)

As I'm reading I'm thinking what is all the fuss about.  Now before you start hating me thinking I'm anti-Frozen, hear me out.  I LOVE Frozen.  It is one of my favorite Disney movies.  My daughter adores Frozen.  Now that being said, Mayim Bialik has a right to her opinion.  She didn't just come out without even seeing the movie and start bashing it.  Honestly, she really doesn't bash it but just lists reasons why she doesn't like it.  She lists three reasons she doesn't really like it.

Plot
Ms. Bialik states she doesn't like the plot. She states it here how she feels.

Sure, it’s sort of hidden, but the search for a man/love/Prince is still the reigning plot line in the movie, as it is with pretty much all movies for young people which are animated.

I didn't feel the same way.  I felt that it wasn't just about finding a man or someone to love but it was deeper than that.  Ana has been isolated from everyone for years.  I got from it that she craves a human connection.  She was not only isolated from the outside world but also the person that was closest to her didn't want to have anything to do with her any more and she didn't know why.  When they are finally together at the coronation of Elsa, you see the uneasiness in Ana.  She isn't sure how to act.  When it comes down to it, in the end a man means nothing.  It is sisterly love that warms Ana's frozen heart.  Froggie believes the main plot line is that Elsa is magical.  For her it's all about the magic.  So much so that she has named her stuffed unicorn Elsa because Elsa has magic and so do unicorns.

Male Bashing

Ms. Balik's other problem with the movie is she feels that there is male bashing going on.

The Prince/hero turns out to be a scheming villain. He pretended to love her and then he double crosses her and she gets the lesson taught to her not to trust those nasty scheming conniving men. Because you know, men can’t be trusted? 

Hans was a jerk.  Sorry to say that.  He lies and cheats.  Is this male bashing?  In my opinion, it's not.  I just don't see it.  And as a parent of a little girl I have talked to her about Hans.  She said to me, "Mommy, Hans is bad because he lied."  I said, "Yes he is.  Lying is wrong."  Then I asked her this, "If Ana was the one that lied would she be bad."  My daughter said "Yes".  She isn't focusing on the gender of the character.  She's focusing on what the character has done and that the action was bad.  Now not all parents will do this with their children.  I know this.  But there are those of us out there that do.  Is Ms. Balik wrong for feeling there was male bashing in the movie?  Certainly not.  That is how she saw it.  I didn't see it the same way.  That's the beauty of it.  Everyone has their own interpretation of a movie.

Female Characters that Look Like Dolls

She does have a point that the female characters don't look like they are the same species as the male characters.  Sorry folks to burst your bubble but Disney is out to make money from their movies and merchandise.  They find out what they think will work to get the most people to go out and pay to see the movie and/or buy the DVD, t-shirts, dolls, etc.  I didn't really scrutinize how they looked but did notice the extra large eyes.  It reminded me a bit of anime characters.  

So what is my point to all this.  I believe everyone has an opinion and a right to state that opinion.  I don't think people should be hating Mayim Bialik's post.  She stated what she believes and if you don't agree with it then so be it.  I haven't once said, Mayim Bialik is an awful person for her beliefs.  I stated to  you how she felt and why I felt differently.  Don't we have other things to worry about then whether someone didn't like Frozen or not.

Daycare Blues

I am a working Mom.  If I had my choice I'd be a stay at home one.  That is not what life has in store for me.  I go to work not because I just absolutely love my job and love working.  I go to work to put a roof over my daughter's head, clothing on her back and food in her tummy.  Sometimes it's really hard to go off to work.  Sometimes when she is having a nuclear meltdown I look forward to the time away.

Today she says, "I don't want to go to school."

We call daycare school because she does do preschool work there and it's an easier transition when she goes to Kindergarten next year.  I'm getting off track now.  I ask her why is it she doesn't want to go to school.  All she can tell me is she just doesn't like it.  The last time she said this and I asked her why, she told me it was because she didn't like nap time.  Nap time is a whole other problem we are facing.

I don't know what to say to her and I don't know what to do.  She has never stated she doesn't like daycare.  She's always loved going there and has so much fun.  So here I am racking my brains as to why she no longer likes it when it hits me.  There were a lot of kids there that have moved on to Kindergarten.  She is now one of three that are left from last year.  Her problem isn't she doesn't like daycare anymore.   Her problem is she's missing everyone.  Over the summer she got real close to one of the older boys.  They played and had a good time.  She'd often say he was her friend.  Now that this little boy has gone back to school, she is sad.  Daycare is no longer fun for her.

My plan is to talk with her tonight. We're having a "girls night" tonight.  We have these when my husband has meetings and isn't home for dinner.  Hopefully she'll talk about her feelings and I'll be able to help her understand why people leave and it will be o.k..  I don't want her to feel sad and I don't want her not to like to attend daycare.

As soon as my child could talk I started a collection of things she would say.  Often these things were very funny and had her father and I laughing hysterically.  I decided I'm going to share some of them here.  I hope you will enjoy.  I am just going to do a few of the sayings from year 2, 3 and 4.

Due to privacy, I am going to refer to my daughter by her nickname.

2 Years Old

Froggie asks “Where is Daddy?” I tell her he's on his way home from work. Then she starts asking where a bunch of other people are. I tell her he's at home or she's at home. When we pull into the driveway I say “Where is Froggie?” She says “I'm stuck in the car.”

Froggie says to her Mommy, “I need some juice... seriously.”

On the way home from the restaurant Froggie said, “Talk to me Mommy.” Mommy said, “Talk about what, Froggie.” Froggie said, “Talk about me.”

Daddy was making a weird noise and from the backseat Froggie said, “Stop Daddy you're getting on my nerves.”

3 Years Old

Froggie says to her Daddy, “Daddy, you're not wearing a jacket.” Her Daddy says, “No, Froggie I'm not wearing one.” Froggie says, “Didn't we talk about about not wearing a jacket. You need to wear a jacket.”

(I think I'm rubbing off on her.  I know I have said this to her.)

While I was driving Froggie to daycare, she says to me, “Good job driving between the lines Mommy.”

So we went out to eat. I had a bad day so hubby took me out with Froggie. We're in the restaurant getting ready to go and my husband makes a Pffffttttt noise on Froggie's hand. Froggie announces rather loudly in the restaurant "Daddy farted on my hand."

Here is the conversation in the car on the way home from daycare
Froggie: Puppy got sick and threw up
Me: She probably ate something bad
Froggie: She ate a mouse
Me: How do you know she ate a mouse?
Froggie: I know everything

4 Years Old

I was cooking and something wasn't going right and Froggie says, “It's ok, it happens to everyone. It even happens to me.”

Today Froggie comes in the kitchen with her wand and the dog is with her. She waves her wand and the dog moves out the room. I'm not looking at this time and she says, “Look I made the dog disappear.” I said, “Wow sweetie that's great.” Then Sandy comes back in the room, Froggie waves her wand and says “Look Mommy I made her come back.” 

I gave Froggie two Hershey Kisses. One was the plain Milk Chocolate and one was White Chocolate. This is the conversation we had.

Froggie: Ut Oh
Mommy: What's wrong?
Froggie: This one is dead.
Mommy turns to look to see the Froggie holding the white chocolate candy and then explains that it is alright it's just white chocolate.

There you go some of her best sayings.  I suggest to every parent you should do this.  When I'm feeling down and things aren't going right. I will read these and laugh.  Also when your child gets to be an adult you can show him or her this and laugh together.  Even if your child is older start right now.  I'm sure you'll still get a lot of good material to make you laugh and smile.

Raising the Strong Willed Child and Managing to Keep Your Sanity

I'm still working on keeping the sane part of my blog post here.  Let me say I love my daughter.  I can't imagine my life without her.  Though there are times I wish I had a vacation from her.  Most recently I have been feeling this way.

I always said I was so blessed that we missed the terrible twos.  I had always heard that the age of 2 was so hard and that kids were so bad at this age.  Parents were tearing out their hair when their children turned 2.  She would say the occasional "no" but otherwise was a fairly good child.

All of a sudden she has hit four and all this has changed.  I hear phrases like, "No!" and "I don't want to."  Not in a normal speaking voice either.  I hear this at the top of her lungs.  The most challenging thing we are dealing with right now is expressing anger.  She gets angry or frustrated with me because I have told her that she can't have something she wants or she can't do something she wants and she lashes out.  She will come up to me and hit me.  This is not good.

I am not one that doesn't believe in spankings.  I do believe this.  The punishment has to fit the crime and spanking is a last resort for something really serious.  Also spanking should always be on the butt, never anywhere else.  Think of me what you want but this is what I believe in.  I was spanked as a child and I can count the number on my fingers it is that low.  I was not spanked for everything.  I was spanked when I ran across the street without my mother telling me it was alright to cross and almost got hit by a car.  I'm sorry but I think that was justified.  

Now back to my point here.  Usually what I do with my child is take stuff away.  This seems to work pretty well. It gets the point across.  Also I don't think I can spank a child when disciplining them for hitting me.  It just teaches them that hitting is alright.  At this moment she hasn't been listening so she doesn't get to watch her educational shows on t.v. until Friday.  If she keeps being bad she won't get to camp out on Friday.  (Camping out is sleeping in the living room instead of in her bedroom.)  I will keep taking things away until she learns.

I don't think that this is going to solve my whole problem.  This is what we're trying.  First we are rewarding good behavior.  She's good she gets something special.  That way she's being encouraged to behave the correct way.  Also I read in an article that strong-willed children want to be independent and do things on their own.  So I let her help me with the cooking by pouring things in.  I let her help me with the dishwasher.  I am going to start to give her more tasks.  Something small but something she can be in charge of.

So far it seems to be working and I am wanting less and less to go outside and do a primal scream.  Will these things work for everyone.  I don't know.  You have to figure out what works for your child and for you.

The Humor of It All

I'm reading different things on the Internet and come across this short piece called Michele Barbera is (Accidentally) Pregnant.  So this has caught my attention and I click on the video.  This comedian starts off saying that she's pregnant but it was an accident.  This makes me giggle a little.  She then explains she got drunk and wandered into an IVF clinic.  I giggle some more.  She says that there were all these waivers and the subcutaneous shots then the expense of it all.  It ends there.  It's really short.

I realize that some might be offended by her joke.  IVF is supposed to be something serious.  It's a procedure that many women go through that are unable to have a child.  Sometimes it's even heart breaking.  I agree IVF is all that.  It is is also very stressful.  The whole thing is a wild roller coaster ride.  I know I went through it three times.  The thing that got me through it all was the humor my husband I had during it all.

It was my second procedure and the doctor was running late so I was stressing a bit.  The reason I was stressing was when they put the embryos back into you, you must have a full bladder.  Here I was drinking my water like a good girl and holding it in.  When the nurse came in to say that the doctor was running a little late due to a traffic accident, she told me if I had to I could go in the bathroom and let a little urine out.  I am wondering who could do this.  I knew if I was going to the bathroom my whole bladder was emptying out.  There was not going to be any stopping it after a little came out.

So the doctor gets there and my husband is told the put on a hospital gown and such so he could go in with me.  It was nice that he was going to be allowed in for the conception of our child. My  husband puts on all the stuff, even the paper booties on  his shoes then looks at me and says, "Does this outfit make me look fat?"  I started laughing then I started cursing telling him that was not right.  I was going to pee on the bed if he didn't stop.  You know what that little bit of laughter made me relax and the procedure went smoothly.  When I finally was allowed to get up, I was never so happy in all my life to see a bathroom.

The next bit of humor came when we decided we needed to name the embryos.  We weren't sure at this point how many had implanted.  It could have been as many as three or as little as none.  So I was talking about crazy celebrity baby names and told  hubby we needed to name the baby Peach Cobbler.  He nicked that name.  So when telling my co-worker about it the next day she suggested Bananas Foster.  We had to come up with two more names in case all three were in there.  So we had Bananas Foster, Cherries Jubilee and Orange Sherbert.  That procedure unfortunately didn't work so we had to try again.  This time hubby wanted Bear Claw but I said no to that.  So he suggested Apple Fritter.  We had Apple Fritter, Baked Alaska and for the life of me I can't remember the third name.  After that procedure didn't work, we waited on naming the embryo.  After we found out there was only one, I came up with the name Lemon Merringue.  I chose this because this was my Grandmother's favorite dessert.  All through my pregnancy my daughter was referred to as Little Lemon.

I remember having to give my best friend Lemon reports after each doctor visit.  This little tiny bit of humor kept us from coming apart.  I had two miscarriages and we were so worried.  The humor really helped.  So before you get all high and mighty about a little humor injected into a serious situation, think about that little bit of laughter might be helping someone out.

I am her Mom not her Grandma

I want to start off by saying something about myself.  I didn't plan on having my first child at age 40 almost 41.  What I mean by that is not oh look my husband and I were intimate, I got pregnant and we were both surprised.  We started trying to have a baby when I was 33 years old.  We had a house and settled in our careers.  It seemed like it was the right time.  Little did we know that God had other plans for us.  After a few years of trying and nothing happening we saw a specialist.  The bad news hit us like a ton of bricks.  My husband wasn't to blame and I wasn't to blame, we both had a problem.  We went from fertility drugs straight to Invitro Fertilization.  After paying as much as we would for a nice luxury car, we started on the procedures.  As I tell everyone, it took seven years, three procedures and two miscarriages for us to get our little Froggie.

Pregnancy isn't easy for an older Mom.  We worried about complications and Down's Syndrome.  As a side note here, I skipped the amniocentesis since there was a risk of miscarriage and I wasn't going to take that chance.  Also what was I going to do if the baby did have a genetic defect.  I was still going to love that child with all my heart and just worry for the rest my pregnancy.  Since I was over 35, I was considered high risk.  I had to see a Maternal Fetal specialist.  I will say the good thing about that was we had lots of ultrasounds.  It was good to be reassured of some things.

The pregnancy went well despite the fact I came down with Gestational Diabetes.  I was good and kept in check with diet and exercise.  In the beginning of 2010, we had a rather large but healthy baby girl.  My husband and I were thrilled.  Our family was so happy for us.  I was loving being a new Mom.

Not everything was coming up roses.  Due to my fertility issues, my breast milk never came in.  I was depressed that I was unable to breast feed.  However, I learned there are definite advantages to formula feeding.  Science has come a long way and the formula is much better than it used to be.  I believe breast milk is best but I also don't believe anyone should be condemned for going with a bottle.

There are times I feel my age when it comes to my daughter, such as, when I read on Facebook about a person I went to high school is celebrating  as his/her son/daughter graduates high school.  I start to realize just how old I will be when Froggie walks across that stage to receive her diploma.  I feel old when I realize that Froggie is closer in age to her second cousins then her first.  Though nothing made me feel as old as I did when I went to Walmart when she was around two month old.

I'm standing in line and there is a cashier who looks barely 18.  She might not have been 18 yet.  I don't know because I didn't ask and I don't want to assume she was younger.  Anyway, she remarks how cute my little one is and I'm beaming as I say thank you to her.  Mom's often do this sort of thing.  The good feeling was short lived when the cashier asked me, "How old is your Grandbaby?"  I could have corrected her here but she would have felt very embarrassed so I chose not to.  I just politely said Froggie's age.  I couldn't stop thinking the rest of the day, "Do I really look that old?"

I don't know if I do or not.  All I do know is that I love my daughter and as I told her this morning, I love her even when she gets me upset.  I wouldn't change a thing.  So here I am writing a blog that will hopefully help other older Moms be able to relate to someone.  This is a blog for the over 40 new first time Moms and the Moms that thought they were through only to find out they were pregnant again.  It's also for those out there that love and support them.

I'll share my experiences and try to give some advice.  Hopefully someone out there reading this will feel a little less like, "I am the only one."