A January Meltdown

It might be freezing outside, but thanks to our own Hurricane Mateo, we got to experience a meltdown of major proportions on our way home from Bemidji today. Whew, was it a doozy! Every few months it seems we are treated to one of these very special episodes. Maybe he was just trying to warm things up because, granted, it has been ridiculously cold as of late. But not to worry, within the first few minutes of our drive home, Troy and I were getting a little hot under the collar from the whining, crying, and forceful demands of an over-tired three-year-old.

Mateo was in one of those moods that no soothing, consoling, deal-making, stern-talking, hair-pulling, time-out-threatening, computer-time-privilege-yanking, out-of-control-child-ignoring parenting tactics would resolve. After a full twenty minutes of whining turned to yelling, crying turned to sobbing, and kicking his feet so that his boots fell off, he finally wore himself, along with our patience, out. At one point, Mateo told us he wanted his grandma because she was nice and we weren't. Oh, and did I mention the three times Troy had to stop the car and pull over after Mateo unbuckled his car seat strap because he wanted me to be his "friend" and sit next to him?

About three minutes before we got to Bagley, Mateo realized that he was tired and actually agreed with me when I told him he should rest when we got home. The last few minutes of the ride were blissfully quiet! As soon as we got inside the house, I settled Mateo in for a nap that took all of a minute before he fell asleep.

Unfortunately, he didn't sleep as long as he should have. As I write this, Troy is dealing with another time-out. I think this January deep-freeze is making one little hurricane a little stir crazy!

Baby, it's cold outside

It's almost mid-January and the usual deep freeze has descended. The forecast for the coming week is supposed to be well below zero every day. As Minnesotans we hunker down and take pride in our ability to brave the weather and conduct business as usual. I liken it to the really, really hot summer months of the south where you dash quickly from the house to the car after you have given your car the appropriate time to cool off. Well, here in northern Minnesota, we dash quickly from our house to the car after we've given our cars the appropriate time to warm up. If you're native Minnesotan, you rarely wear boots, hats, or scarves. I've people watched during the coldest times of the winter and am always amazed at how little we bundle up when it's really cold. I always get a kick out of pictures of celebrities walking around in LA with hats, boots, scarves in the fall when it's probably a chilly 70.

This post is a little rambling, but the whole reason I wrote about the cold weather is so I could show my summer flower pictures in hopes of a little warm inspiration. I am very convinced that I have yet to find my natural (warmer) habitat.

First Blog of 2009

Christmas vacation is always such a highlight. We traveled, visited, ate, stayed up late, and even managed to get a few things done around the house during the few days we were home. It's the last night of Christmas break and school starts again tomorrow. It's going to be a busy January with a slight transition since Troy is student teaching for the next three months. I've been spoiled by just having to get myself out the door before eight (and even that is sometimes a challenge). Now we will be sharing bathroom time and attempting to get Mateo up and ready by 7:45. Poor Mateo has no clue what he's in for. He's been used to sleeping in until 8:30 or 9:00 for the past couple years. On the bright side, maybe he'll be ready for bed a little earlier than 11:00.

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy, blessed new year! Here's hoping Troy, Mateo, and I somehow magically turn into early birds.