New Baby, Preteen in the making and all the challenges and blessings with raising boys.. Lets go!

Twelve years later and I am back with a newborn and raising my 12-year-old who has now entered the preteen era and I am ready to take on this new challenge... or am I? 

Motherhood is a constant learning curve for me. I still doubt myself, still wonder if I am doing a good job, and still trying to see if there are ways I can improve. I have a duty not only to myself but also to society and also my children to send them out into the world as responsible and loving children, who will make meaningful contributions to society.

Being a mother has made me realize that this job is not easy. You are responsible for raising a whole person and in my case not just one, but two and boys at that!! That is a tremendous responsibility. I have been doing it so far, so good (at least according to my 12 years old) lol.

So join me on my journey as I raise my boys to become strong, confident, and responsible men. 

It's School Time!!!

It's school time and I have no clue as to where to start! I received Rajeed's booklist along with the pattern for his uniform shirt about 2 months ago lol.
   Now here this, when I saw the pattern I was like 'oh,this means I have to find the material and find someone to make the uniform' So for 2 months I came close to purchasing the fabric but each time I decided against it. It so happens while trying to figure out what to do I called my cousin(she got Rajeed into the school) and she made one call to the school and in no time 4 uniform shirts were ordered  :D

Thank God for her
*hugs*
Next step was to fnd the shorts or pants to complete the uniform. I took my expecting sister to Answers one sunday and discovered they sold khaki uniforms there. They didint have his exact size but I still purcahsed one ayway asked his grandaunt to make the adjustments.

Later on in the week I went o Joseph's and purchased 3 more shorts, this place has nice cheap khaki pants and other uniforms ready made!

I am so excited,my little pickney, who just born the other day is now a big boy attending school!

After purchasing the shorts, all that was left to acquire was his school books and shoes. Well I am happy to say I did not have to go through the humbug of purchasing school books for him. Thank God for Grandparents! Grandpa bought his school books and supplies and Grandma is making  making his pillow Grandparents are so wonderful : D

His dad and I decided to holdoff on purchasing school shoes for him. He has 2 pairs of shoes that can work for his daily shoe and P.E. shoe.

After a few glitches,his second day of school saw him fully clad in his school uniform!

Isn't he handsome!!!

Dealing with Regression

After thinking 'Wow, my son is turning into such a big boy!' He went right back to being a 3 month old baby! throwing tantrums, wanting me to lift him up constantly, crying incessantly, wanting me to sleep beside him in bed and sleep on my bed and waking up at all hours of the night. I started feeling like a bad mother for allowing him to walk to the nursery in the mornings while he was crying every tear out of his little body, but I'm like why must I lift up the 45lb toddler and carry him to nursery every single morning.So for three mornings I endured the "Mummy lift up" or the ear shattering crying for our ten minute walk to the nursery with fellow pedestrians smiling and saying 'don't worry mommy, him soon stop' and even addressing Raj saying, 'Son, you must walk!'

While at work, I received an e-mail from www.babycenter.com re: Why regression happens. This article, did  not go in-depth but provided me with an eye opener. I was shocked at how it just popped up right at the moment when I was at a total lost. I had sought advice from other parents and non-parents with no advice suitable enough to help me figure out how I should deal with the issue.

 I was provided with the insight that it must be confusing to be mommy's little boy one minute and then all of a sudden mommy's big boy!

Armed with my new information, I decided to be more patient with him, to discipline him sternly but with love and allow some flexibility. I am battling not being able to spend enough quality time with him but I am making every effort possible to do so.

 Parenthood is very challenging but I am enjoying it every step of the way!!

Nursery

Rajeed started attending nursery when i moved from my parents house to Portmore about 3 months ago.  I liked that nursery they fed him breakfast, sang to him, bathed him twice a day, coloured with him and made sure he had his nap. They even scolded me regarding some home work they had given him and I 'assisted him with it" lol. The nursery was so cost effective too!! I enjoyed every moment that he was there, he was so happy to go in the mornings and happy to see me pick him up in the evenings. Then I had to move :(  Back to Kingston to face highly priced nurseries :S but thanks to my dad he helped me locate one in close proximity to work!! I like this one because they handed me a book list with books I needed to get Rajeed along with all the other school supplies.
I don't think anyone could have been as impressed but shocked as I was when I received that list lol. I had 2 days in which to acquire the supplies,so I immediately went to the book store to start spending. I never planned that i would have been buying school books for Rajeed at the tender age of 22 Months Old. So I started feeling the cost of school already : S.
His first week at nursery/school he got homework and what a task it was for me to get him to sit and do it each day. Grandpa had more luck getting him to sit and do his homework than I did initially till i got the hang of it : D

He doesn't seem as eager to attend this nursery as he was at the previous nursery but I guess it takes time for him to get settled. I can't complain he is coming home singing his 'ABC's', counting and even singing Barney's Song 'I love You'. He is more eager to colour now than he was before and he also doesn't want me to assist him while he is doing his home work now lol. They even have started potty training him!!


My next Post will have a 'Guide to Choosing a Day Care Facility'

My Baby

On December 15 I will be celebrating my baba's 2nd year on this earth!!!

I am soooo excited!! I can't believe its been almost 2 years since his birth,

seems like yesterday i was waddling around with him in my stomach complaining of back pains, craving for everything, swollen feet, etc

Now Im going through the terrible 2's even though they arn't soo terrible, just a bit of crying for no reason, very clingy, and trying to trick me with fake tears..dwl



I have started planning for his birthday party already, call me previous..but I love him soo much words cant explain it enough, his smiles alone warms my heart he is absolutely the best child ever!!!

When they are sick ..... :S

Monday started wonderfully, till I hugged Rajeed and realized he felt a bit too hot. I went for the thermometer to check his temperature, it showed it was slightly over the normal temperature. So I gave him some panadol the fever went. Thought that was the end of it..till Wednesday came around and not only was the fever back but he was extremely cranky. So I told my mom who said just to give him some more panadol and watch him; which I did. He went to bed in only his diapers that night because it was really hot. He did not wake until 9am Thursday morning which was odd because he went to sleep very early. However I went into the room to check on him and saw he had rashes all over his body( you can now imagine how I started to freak) He woke and didn't even give me a smile just started crying. When he finally calmed down I carried him to mom and we decided he needed to go to the doctor. Well doctor said that it was just a mild virus and that he should be fine in a couple of days but if no change I should carry him back. I will not say he is totally better now but he is recovering started to get back his spirit ( Thank God!).

Accidents, play time...

Since Rajeed's birth i can't count how many times he has fallen and its gotten worse since he has started walking. He has rolled off the bed, tripped over his own feet, tripped over his toys, over the dogs, other people's feet, u get the picture. The rolling off the bed...my fault, you think when you place all the pillows around him thinking he won't do much rolling at 3 months and then you hear the cries :s So to avoid that i just placed him on the floor on top of his blankets. But then we have him knocking his head on the headboard :s countless times I've tried to tell him to stop but he won't keeps smiling or laughing, but surprisingly when he is by his dad and he hits his head on his headboard he cries down the world but not when he with me... I don't understand. He has had a fall that left him with cuts on his head dirt in his mouth and very loud screaming. other falls he just gets back up and continue on his way. With each one all I ever wanted to do is to rush over to him and console him but sometimes I have to just leave him to let him find me or deal with his mistake and find his way around it. The other day I went to register him at Emmanuel Prep, I had my god daughter and Rajeed with me, the accident that happpened not once but twice...he fell why he kept staring at everything else instead of looking infront of him to watch where he was going lol... Some parents saw and said its how they are just make sure I check to see if he had any cuts and dressed them if they were. I invested in a first aid kit which I carry around with me everywhere especially when Rajeed is going to be with me and bwoy did it come in real handy that day... he didn't receive any major injuries just a bruise nothing an antiseptic wipe didn't take care of :D

His Dad one evening told me to check his foot bottom because there was something stuck in it and he could not get it out. When my mom and I finish operating on his foot we pulled something resembling grass blade... the child had that in his foot bottom for 3 days and never complained. So it showed me I can't be laid back or uptight with him. The joys of motherhood :s


Playtime

Aha the joys of it..lol this morning Rajeed's playtime consisted of taking the newspapers(about 2 months worth) and scattering them all over the veranda and then crawling over them and tearing them apart dwl...wow the clean up I had to do when he went to sleep. His hands and feet were so black. It's funny how we want all the brand name toys and such for our kids when they will play with all the other stuff around the house that if u knew you wouldn't have spent a dime and bought them any toys or buy anything too expensive.
Rajeed loves outside, one day I was in the kitchen and my mom was in her work room so I thought her was with her and she thought he was with me. Before he left me i gave him a biscuit, 10 minutes later he came in chewing so I said to him why u still eating the biscuit only to look closely and the child is chewing on dirt and giving me the biggest smile ever!! dwl. When i carried him to my mom she couldn't stop laughing.

Most days I have an itinerary for him, but some days I allow free play whatever he feels like taking up and playing with as long as it won't hurt him or break I allow him so as to encourage him to discover things.