"The Worst Day Ever"

Today was not a great day, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that bad.

I left the boys in the house for a short outing to get the oil changed in my car.  When I stopped at the store to buy apples on my way home, I got a call on my cell phone.  It was my neighbor, whom I don't know very well.  He said, "Your kids are yelling out the window.  They say they are locked in a bedroom."  This was more than a little embarrassing, so I very quickly explained to him that I had turned the door knob of that bedroom door around so that when I give my 3 year old a time out, he can't get out.  I thanked him and quickly called another neighbor and close friend and asked her to dash over to the house and free the boys, which she did.

When I returned home, shortly thereafter, I asked the boys how they knew my cell phone number to give it to the neighbor.  They explained that 7 year old Bob knew it.  Dwight said that Bob doesn't know how to go through caller i.d. or the phone's saved numbers, so he'd memorized it.  It's a good thing he did because otherwise they might have been left in there until I got home.  Dwight was in a bit of a panic.  He admitted that he had freaked out while they were locked in the room.  He even did some damage to the door, trying to break it down.

As I suspected, 3 year old Harold had turned the lock and then one of the other boys had closed the door, not knowing it was locked.  Since Harold is now sleeping in the main bedroom with the other boys, we've turned his old room into the "man cave" and all of their Lego creations are on display in that room.  The boys spend quite a bit of time in there.

I have now taped up the locks on ALL of the doors in our house.

I was definitely thankful that nothing dramatic happened while they were in there.  A few hours later, I was even more grateful for the timing since at 1:51 p.m. we experienced a 5.9 magnitude earthquake!

I heard and felt the rumbling and quickly realized what was happening.  All four boys came running up the stairs asking what was happening, was it an earthquake?  I confirmed that it was and calmly but quickly shuffled them out the door.

They were all shaken up (pun intended) especially Bob and Dwight.  Dwight wanted to know what in the world was going on today.  Was the world going to end?

We spent a good amount of time talking about what an earthquake is and why we don't need to worry now and then they went back downstairs to play.  Bob and Dwight came upstairs to check in, periodically, asking questions to get reassurance that all was well. 

Dwight accompanied me when I went down the street to pick up dinner.  Bob called my cell phone to tell me he had a bad taste in his mouth and he couldn't get rid of it.  He said he'd had it since the earthquake.  I asked him what it tasted like and he said, simply, "nervousness."

Dwight knew that I'd bought Bob's Halloween costume a few weeks ago, when he'd told me how much he wanted to be Voldemort, from Harry Potter.  He is currently reading book #4 and is a big fan of the series.  Dwight suggested that we give Bob the costume early, as a show of appreciation for remaining calm and saving the day when they were locked in the room.

It was such a sweet thought, coming from an older brother, so I went ahead and let Dwight open the package and give the costume to his little brother.  Bob was beyond thrilled and played in the costume until bedtime.  Before going to bed, Bob gave me a hug and said, "Mom, you really turned my day around.  I thought it was the worst day ever, but now it turned out ok.  Thanks."

The "talk" for a seven year old

Seven year old, Bob, has asked where babies come from several times over the past few weeks.  He has asked at odd times, like at the dinner table or in the car with all of his brothers around, so I have avoided answering him by saying we could talk about it later, when it is just the two of us.

Two nights ago, though, he asked again while I was helping him to get ready for bed and I could no longer put off the inevitable.  My mind raced for the right answer. 

Each child is unique and each is ready for a different level of information and detail and different times.  Bob is bright and knows a lot, but his "awareness" of human relations is not high.

So, here's what I said.  "There's a special kind of seed in a mommy and a special kind of seed in a daddy.  When the mommy and daddy want to make a baby, they give each other a special kind of hug and the seeds go together in the mommy and grow into a baby."

He gave a satisfying, "Oh.  Thanks, Mom," smiled and dashed out the door to brush his teeth.  No further questions!

Phew.

I recently purchased two books about puberty and S-E-X for my preteen and teenaged boys.  I pre-read the books and found that the one that is all about puberty: American Medical Association Boy's Guide to Becoming a Teen  is age appropriate for 10 year old Dwight, but It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health (The Family Library)   is too advanced, in other words, TMI, for Dwight, but will be a good resource for 13 year old Zack. 

This is a tricky topic for many parents but it cannot be ignored.  Ignorance leads to no good.  So I hope my experience will help other parents.

What's a Cleava? Here's What... Plus a GIVEAWAY!!!

One of my favorite podcasts is Lian Dolan's The Chaos Chronicles.  Lian is funny and witty and always has interesting things to say.  In March she mentioned something called the Cleava, you can listen here.  Lian had received a press release about the product and thought the concept was funny.  The idea intrigued me.  I often find myself in situations when I'd like to be a bit more covered than the cut of my clothing allows, so I contacted the company to ask some questions and they sent me a sample to review here.

What a great creation this is!  You may think to yourself, "how hard is it to put on a camisole?  Why would I want a Cleava?"  Well, sometimes a cami just won't fit under your clothes, and sometimes it is hot outside and another layer of clothes, no matter how thin, makes you even more sweaty than you would have been without it.

Coincidentally, I recently bought a dress for a special occasion and it shows a bit more skin than is appropriate for the event.  So, this morning I unwrapped my brand new Cleava and tried it on with the dress.  As the website shows, the Cleava is very easy to put on.  The material is high quality and the workmanship is very good.  It takes seconds to put on and I could even put it on after I was already wearing the dress.  Here are before and after pictures: (taken by my 10 year old)

 I am very happy with the results.  I know I will get a lot of use from my Cleava.

Get one for yourself!

The best news is that I have one to give away!  You can enter by becoming a follower of the blog and leaving a comment on this post.  You can also head over to the Been There Done That Mom page on facebook and "Like" it for a second entry (leave a second comment here telling me you did so), and follow @BTDTmom on twitter for a third entry (leave a third comment here telling me you did so).  Be sure to leave your email address here so that I can contact you if you win.  The contest will be open through Friday, August 19.

Cleava comes in dozens of materials and designs, I am sure I will want to get others.  Sure, tank tops and camis have their place, but the Cleava will definitely come in handy.