This may not seem like a big deal to other moms of preschoolers, but it was a really big deal when TJ asked me to put the Cars DVD on yesterday. He has never wanted to watch DVD movies at home before. He’ll watch DVDs of his favorite Noggin shows at Grandma Kitty’s house, but never anything resembling a feature length movie.

We’ve had the Cars DVD since Christmas 2007. Almost every time we’ve tried to watch it with him, he always screamed until we turned it off. Even after we got him excited about his Cars bedding and jammies, and he got some Cars toys to play with, he still didn’t want to watch the movie.

I tricked him a few weeks ago by popping in the DVD when he wasn’t home, and I told him it was a special on Noggin when he came in. He did protest at first, but it was half-hearted. He ended up watching the whole thing and enjoying it.

And yesterday morning, he asked if we could watch it! First time ever. Of course, we were just about to leave the house for lunch and grocery shopping, so I couldn’t do it just then. I didn’t put it on right when we got home, though. I wanted him to ask for it. And he did!

So we watched Cars together, and he got really into it. “No! No! Watch out! You’re gonna crash!” So cute. So exciting. I’m so happy.

Dear TJ,

You missed Grandma Kitty a whole lot when she was in Michigan visiting your cousin Kyle. You kept asking if she’s ever coming home, or insisting that she was already at home and that you were going to go see her.

When she came home on Tuesday, you were so happy! I think she missed you as much as you missed her. And that’s why you were so excited to have a sleepover at Grandma Kitty’s house on New Year’s Eve.

Grandma Kitty was awfully nice to offer to let you stay with her while Daddy and I went to a party at our friends’ house. You were ready to head to her house on Tuesday night after we had dinner at Friendly’s together. “I’ll miss you Mommy and Daddy!” It was so funny. You still have a hard time grasping the concept of “tomorrow.”

You were ready to start your sleepover on Wednesday morning! We had to remind you that the sleepover wouldn’t start until nighttime, and it was hard for you to wait. But once it was time, you were jumping around the house and singing!

Grandma Kitty got you your own pillow and blanket to use at her house; she gave them to you for Christmas. That was pretty cool!

We didn’t have extended goodbyes when we dropped you off. You couldn’t wait for us to leave so you and Grandma could start having fun together.

She told us the next day that you were a very good boy who slept very well. By “slept very well,” she meant that when you came into her room and climbed into bed with her, you went back to sleep without a fuss.

I’m so glad you enjoy your sleepovers with Grandma Kitty!

Love,
Mommy

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It seems that my Dear Kid Saturdays inspired a new meme meant more for the moms than their kids. This one is called Transformation Thursday.

It sounds like a good idea to me, so here are the goals I plan to work on in 2009. I’ll be posting my progress every Thursday.

• Learn yoga on the Wii Fit (need to get it first)
• Manage my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome better, not overdo it when I feel good
• Manage my anxiety better, but let it feed my physical symptoms
• Go to bed before midnight
• Get my 30 grams of fiber each day, per gastroenterologist’s orders
• Make healthier eating choices
• Weigh in and post my weight here (today: 144 lbs)
• Improve my self-image

I don’t actually need to lose weight. I’ve been maintaining much better than I thought I was, especially over the holidays, but I want to make sure I don’t start gaining again. It would be good to tone a little, as well, because my healthy BMI still leaves me awfully squishy in places. It’s tricky to exercise with CFS, but I hope getting my Wii Fit will change that. (Amazon just needs to get it back in stock!)

I need to be happier with who I am. I’ve come a long way since last year. I took the first step in getting better when I called and made my first appointment with the psychiatrist last year. He’s been a miracle worker.  I accept that I need medication to treat chemical imbalances in my brain; he’s helped me find a combination that helps me to function at a higher level than I thought possible. But I still get down on myself quite often, and my body image is still a bit out of whack. (If my husband finds me beautiful and “hot,” I should be okay with my extra-padded bottom, too.) I’ve made the move from WAHM to working in an office, which I had doubted I could pull off with my energy levels. It’s actually helped to energize me, pushing me not to give in to my exhaustion.

Because I have such issues with energy, I need to get myself to bed (lights out) before midnight. Hubby and I usually read until several minutes after midnight, which can stretch to 12:30. Before midnight would be much better.

I had been doing really well with my fiber intake for many months. After my colonoscopy in December 2007, my gastroenterologist put me on a high fiber diet. I’ve learned to love many Fiber One products, but I don’t always remember to eat quite enough of my fiber every single day. (30 grams is a lot!)

And despite my healthy weight and BMI, I eat really poorly. I love pizza, fried chicken sandwiches, paninis, cheeseburgers, french fries, ice cream, and baked goods. I’m never going to be able to give those up, but I need to remember to try and make better choices more often than I allow myself the treats. I do like grilled chicken, salad, and yogurt. Just not as much as the junk food. Or when I do have treats, they should be the healthier versions of them, like my Fiber One Chocolate Toaster Pastries, whole gain pizza bagels with reduced fat mozzarella, or my Melaleuca Unforgettables Dark Chocolate Supplement Bars.  (It’s a 66% cacao bar with DHA, phosphatidylserine, and antioxidants. Yum!)

I’m hoping that this transformation journey will make me a better person, a better wife, and a better mom.

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Leave me a comment with your name, your blog name, your blog URL, and why I should add you to my blogroll.

You can also recommend other people’s blogs for my blogroll.

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Have you ever had one of those days where your kids pushed all of your buttons, and you’ve exercised the patience of a saint, and you feel like you deserve an award for not having a nervous breakdown in the midst of the chaos?

Now you can win it! The Best Mom in the World Award.

Post a comment below to claim your award! You can “keep” it until the next mom claims it. You may keep the title for seconds, minutes, hours, or days. But you can always have a memento of your win by placing the award badge on your own blog!

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Merry Christmas Pooks,

You made Christmas so much fun this year. You were so excited about Santa coming and leaving presents, and you liked all of the trees and decorations everyone had up. You’ve been playing with Grandma Debbie’s nativity set for weeks, putting all of the figures “in the manger.”

I wanted to explain to you why Mommy gets so sad on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve was your great-grandpa’s favorite holiday, and that’s when I miss him the most. That’s why I couldn’t sit through church, and why Daddy dropped you and Grandma Kitty off at Great-Grandma Betty’s house before he took me up to the cemetery for a visit. I cried a lot, because I wish he was here to see you; he’d be so proud of you. But I did feel better after I went up to talk to him.

You had a great time with your cousin Eli at Great-Grandma Betty’s house. The two of you played with toys, ate some cookies, and opened your presents with so much energy that we couldn’t believe you were still going strong at 9:30. Two hours after we usually start your bedtime routine. We had to make you stop running around to sit down when your face turned all red! You fell asleep in the car on the way home after you handed me the soccer ball you were holding on to.

Santa came while you were sleeping, and you were so excited about opening your presents in the morning. We looked in your stocking first, which had lots of cool healthy snacks in it, some dice like your Uncle Josh has, some Go Fish cards, a box of animal crackers, some gummi bears, and an apple in the toe. (Santa likes to leave fresh fruit in the toes of stockings.) You took a bite of the apple as soon as you took it out of your stocking.

Ripping into the presents was pretty cool, too. You were so happy to open everything, even Mommy and Daddy’s presents. Santa gave you a monster puppet, a stamp set, a wooden shape clock to help you learn to tell time, a Dora and Diego play set, and the red car you asked him for when you sat on his lap. It’s like a Mr. Potato Head, but it’s Lightning McQueen, and you can change all of his car parts. It’s pretty cool. You seemed to like the clock and the car the most, but because they had too many parts that can get lost, you chose to take your soccer ball with you when we got in the car. Uncle John gave Hess soccer balls to both you and Eli.

We went to Grandma Kitty’s house a little earlier than we had intended because our power was out. It had gone out after you climbed in bed with us in the morning, around 7:45. That’s when we all got up. But because it was starting to get cold, we grabbed our special breakfast (Pillsbury cinnamon rolls) and went to Grandma Kitty’s house.

Grandma let us make breakfast there, and there were lots more presents to open. You got lots of noisy stuff that Grandma Kitty is going to keep at her house. She got you a cash register, a little guitar, and a Little People town set, among other things. She got Mommy and Daddy some DVDs we wanted, but you weren’t interested in doing more than help unwrap those.

After Mommy took a little nap on the couch, we all went to Grandma Debbie’s house for Christmas dinner. The ham was delicious, even if you didn’t try it. You did have some corn, potato smiles, and some dinosaur chicken, which paved the way for dessert. You asked for chocolate pie, but only ate the whipped cream.

You were such a good boy all day long. You had fun playing with Uncle Josh. You said goodbye to Grandma Kitty without too much of a problem when Daddy brought her to the airport so she could go have dinner in Michigan with your cousin Kyle. You got to talk to your Aunt Meghan and cousin Avery on Grandma Debbie’s webcam. It was a nice day full of fun and family.

Bedtime was easy. After two full days of excitment, you were more than ready to take a nice bath and go to sleep in your big boy bed.

It was a Merry Christmas.

Love,
Mommy

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1. Write your own Dear Kid letter on your blog.

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3. Grab a Dear Kid Saturday button for your post and/or your sidebar.

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On Sunday, I spent most of the afternoon baking and decorating gingerbread cookies. I can say, quite confidently, that the recipe I use is the best gingerbread cookie recipe in the world. Really.

This is not my original recipe. I asked my mom for it after I got married. She got it from a woman at church who used to bake gingerbread men for all of the kids at the Sunday School Christmas pageant each year. I don’t know where she got the recipe from, but I have not encountered a single person who has eaten one of these cookies who does not agree with me about these being the best.

I have made only minor adjustments to the recipe; most notably, I like White Whole Wheat Flour instead of all purpose flour. (Whole grains are an important part of a healthy diet, so eating these gingerbread cookies is good for you!)

For best results, these require two days to make.

Day One

Ingredients

1/2 cup Crisco shortening sticks
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, adding them in order. Because this dough it very difficult to mix once the flour is added, I use my KitchenAid 5-Quart Stand Mixer on the lowest setting.

Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Overnight is best.

Day Two

When you take the dough out of the refrigerator, it will be incredibly sticky. You need a lot of flour to avoid big messes. Flour all of your work surfaces, including your countertop, rolling pin, spoon (if you use one), cookie cutters, and the fronts and backs of your hands. You will need to re-flour your work surfaces many, many times, or you will end up with gingerbread stuck everywhere except on your cookie sheet.

Roll out the dough to approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to create shapes, or drop spoonfuls onto your cookie sheet to make ginger snaps. I roll the dough out on my countertop and use my cookie spatula to transfer onto an ungreased cookie sheet, but you can also roll the dough out directly on your cookie sheet if you are having trouble transfering your cookies.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Cool for at least an hour before frosting.

Icing

1 1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 egg whites

Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth.

Add another 1 1/3 cup of powdered sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix until stiff peaks form.

I used my Cutco spatula spreader to apply the icing to each cookie, but a butter knife will also work. Alternately, you can use a piping bag to decorate your cookies.

I waited a few hours for the icing to set, and used Betty Crocker Easy Writer food decorators to draw on the white icing.

Makes about 5 dozen assorted shaped cookies.

Because they are so delicious, I always make a double batch.

I offer you this challenge: try this gingerbread cookie recipe and leave me a comment to let me know whether or not you think this really is the best gingerbread cookie recipe in the world. I think you’ll agree.

Note: If your little ones are waiting for a visit from Santa this year AND know how to read pretty well, you may want to make sure they aren’t trying to read over your shoulder. Nothing devastating in here, but you can’t be too careful.

This is the first year that TJ really “gets” the whole Santa thing. His preschool class has talked about how Santa brings presents to the boys and girls who celebrate Christmas. TJ has sat on Santa’s lap twice now - once at the mall, and once at school.

I don’t want TJ to realize that Mommy helps Santa out by storing some of his wrapped presents until Christmas Eve. You know, to help make room on his sleigh and give the reindeer a bit of a break. We parents don’t like to let on when we help the big guy out, because we don’t want to take part of the magic away. Childhood is so fleeting, and kids should be able to keep the magic as long as possible.

So TJ found one of his presents this morning, wrapped in the special wrapping paper that lets us know that the present is from Santa. He also found the rest of the roll of the special Santa paper.

I covered (badly) and said that he had found a present for one of his cousins, and not to touch it. (Though he had started trying to open it. Thankfully didn’t get far enough to know what it is.)

Tom thinks TJ will forget all about it, and that I don’t need to do anything. I think I now need to help Santa find some new wrapping paper and re-wrap everything so that TJ doesn’t get the “wrong idea” about things.

This is the little boy who still talks about how “Target didn’t have power in October.” And “Grandma Kitty had a funny tire. It’s called a donut. In October!” He remembers where the old Tumbling Tykes is, even though they moved locations in September and we hadn’t been to the old one since June.

We suspect Asperger’s, which adds a new layer to his intelligence and his uncanny memory. I don’t want TJ drawing any conclusions he shouldn’t be coming to at this point in the game.

Do you think I need find some new wrapping paper and re-wrap everything?

If you’re on Twitter, please tweet your vote:

@cutestkidever Yes, you really should re-wrap everything. Can’t be too careful. http://tinyurl.com/wrappingdilemma
@cutestkidever No, you should be fine. Leave the current wrapping paper alone. He’ll forget in 4 days. http://tinyurl.com/wrappingdilemma
@cutestkidever I can’t sum up my advice in 140 characters. I left you a comment. http://tinyurl.com/wrappingdilemma

If you aren’t on Twitter, you can just leave a comment here.

Dear TJ,

Your preschool class had its holiday singalong party on Thursday. I worked from home so I could come; Grandma Kitty drove me there, and Daddy took his lunch break to stop by.

When we got there, you were dancing with your class. We got to see what your teachers were concerned about as far as your evaluation was concerned; you don’t quite know how to move just one body part at a time like the rest of your class, and you faced backwards toward Miss Maureen instead of forwards toward Miss Sandy like the rest of your class. Miss Maureen had to help redirect you often. At one point, you were staring off at nothing in particular, and Miss Maureen had to say your name several times before you responded. It was hard to watch, to see you struggling. The good thing was that you didn’t realize you were struggling. You were having a great time dancing to your own beat, laughing and having a blast.

When you saw us there, it was hard for Miss Maureen to get you back to dancing, but she did it.

After dancing, you sat down on the carpet with the rest of your class. You needed a reminder to sit there instead of coming over to us. But you did sit there and wait until we were invited to come and sit with you.

You were so excited when I came to sit next to you. At first, Grandma Kitty stayed where she was because she couldn’t sit on the floor, but she was able to pull over a chair. Daddy hadn’t actually gotten there yet at this point; he was a little bit late.

You didn’t sing along with the class. (Or Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma.) You didn’t look excited at all when the singing started. You’ve been singing Jingle Bells at home, so I know you knew the songs - although you substituted some of your own words… Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the white milk!. You just don’t do well with crowds. And it was pretty crowded with all of your friends and their mommies, daddies, siblings, and grandparents.

You did some more of the “staring off into space” thing that the school psychologist told us to talk to your pediatrician about after your evaluation. The best part for you was when your teachers handed out some jingle bells for everyone to shake, although you decided it was more fun to hit your bells up against my bells and Daddy’s bells than anything else.

When the singing was done, you were eager to get going. I tried not to take it personally when you told me I couldn’t go in Grandma Kitty’s car, that I needed to go in my car and “go far away.” I’m not normally part of your Thursday routine. You started to cry when I told you that I didn’t have my car, and that I had to ride with you and Grandma Kitty, but you got over it by the time we left. You gave Miss Maureen a hug on the way out.

Daddy went back to work, and we went to a nice lunch at Friendly’s with the Grandmas and Abby.

I love you so much it hurts sometimes.

Love,
Mommy

Wanna play? Here’s how to participate in Dear Kid Saturday:

1. Write your own Dear Kid letter on your blog.

2. Sign the Mr Linky below with your name and the link to your Dear Kid post - the specific post URL, not the homepage of your blog. DON’T sign unless you have a Dear Kid letter this week.

3. Grab a Dear Kid Saturday button for your post and/or your sidebar.

Mr Linky!

I am never going back to the Picture Me Portrait Studio inside of Wal-Mart. I dislike Wal-Mart to begin with, but Tom reasoned with me that it was an independent studio that leases the space. Our mistake.

We’d tried calling for an appointment at the Halfmoon NY store, but they never answered the phone. Since TJ’s hair was behaving tonight, we decided to drop in. There were two families already there when we arrived. We decided to wait, even though the photographer never said two words to us.

More families arrived. When we thought we were next in line around 7:30, after we’d been there for more than 30 minutes, we learned that the family that came in after us had a 7:30 appointment. A family that stopped by after them had a 7:00 appointment.

At 8:00, the photographer was still with the same family she was with at 7:30. She still hadn’t said two words to anyone in the waiting area. It was only after she had the people at the register that she finally acknowledged that other people were there. And oh, by the way, she would be taking the people who had appointments before taking us, despite the fact that we tried to get an appointment and only failed because she didn’t bother to answer the phone. (We heard the phone ring, unanswered, at least six times while we were there.) Despite the fact that we had been there for over an hour, at least 30 minutes longer than anyone else there. Despite the fact that, had she bothered to speak to us in between families to tell us she couldn’t accommodate us without an appointment, we wouldn’t have waited for an hour in the first place. She was also very rude. Zero points for customer service. Even the people with the appointments were angry at this point.

I’m generally pretty understanding when customer service people are busy - if they show even an ounce of effort and have some customer service skills. This girl had neither. Do not go to the Picture Me Portrait Studio in the Halfmoon Wal-Mart. In fact, if this is how the company operates, do not go to the Picture Me Portrait Studio anywhere.

So at 8:00, half an hour after TJ’s bedtime, we left. He was screaming he didn’t want to go anywhere. He wanted to get his picture taken. He had been such a good boy; I hated having to make him leave.

Tom decided to give JCPenney Portrait Studio a try. They were only a few minutes away, and we had to do something. I called them on my cell phone on the way there, but they said their last scheduled appointment was at 8:00, and they wouldn’t be able to see us until tomorrow. Tom wanted to show up in person anyways.

He explained to the nice man behind the counter about our horrible experience at Picture Me, and we were squeezed onto their schedule.

The photographer was great. She really connected with TJ - unlike the girl at Picture Me who spent 20 minutes trying to photograph a screaming infant without stepping away for two minutes to let the mom comfort her. She made TJ laugh. When he wasn’t able to understand what pose she was asking him to get into, she got down on the floor and modeled it for him. And she captured the mischievous twinkle in his eye in more than one picture.

I was so happy with how our impromptu portrait session turned out. The people at JCPenney Portrait Studio were friendly, professional, and accommodating. They answered their phone, which was something that Picture Me couldn’t bother to do. They were polite and happy to help us, which was something that Picture Me wasn’t capable of. They were very good with my son, capturing his love for life on film, which I doubt the overworked and underqualified staff at Picture Me could ever accomplish. And even after going above and beyond for us by agreeing to take TJ’s picture tonight in the first place, they offered us 50% off when I told her I didn’t have my coupon with me.

The moral of the story? JCPenney Portrait Studio has won my loyalty. I highly recommend them, especially the amazing staff at the Clifton Park Center location. I am never going back to Picture Me, no matter what promotional portrait package they dangle in front of me. Bad customer service is not something you can get away with when you cater to moms and families.