When do you start disciplining your child?

Over the long weekend a few friends and I got into the discussion about when do you start disciplining your child. When Alex was a baby I read every parenting baby book out there about this topic. I was so afraid I was going to make mistakes! Ha ha!! In my opinion, a child under the age of one does not understand being spanked, swatted, etc. I always redirected Alex and it was not until he was well over one year of age that I started to swat his little hand and say "no". I NEVER spanked him. In my opinion a baby does not understand being spanked and certainly doesn't grasp the idea of time out. It was very interesting to get every one's opinion as we chatted by the camp fire. The main reason I started the conversation is because we have a very young lady in our family who has a baby who just turned one. She is having some issues (in my opinion of course) with the whole parenting thing. It's only to be expected though considering she is just a child herself. We try to guide her in the right direction, but I have to say it's hard. So I started a poll to see what you guys think. I just love doing these polls so please take the time to vote and/or leave me a comment on what you think.

Well that went by fast....

It seems like it was just yesterday I was posting that we were heading to the lake for almost 6 days. Now here I sit at my computer at work writing about how it all went. Time is just FLYING by so fast it's scary. We had such a great time!! Alex had a wonderful time and made a couple of new buddies whom he played with about 90% of the time we were there. We went fishing (well I didn't fish but just watched) and Alex reeled in a fish that was almost bigger than him. It was awesome! I have ALOT of pictures to add when I get a chance. This was our little weenie dog Hammie's first camping experience. He is NOT a very good camping dog to say the least. Lucky, our Jack Russell, is so good and just loves to camp. Hammie on the other hand would not let me out of his sight. He would start barking hysterically if he couldn't see me or if I walked away so by day two I'm even taking him to the bathroom with me. We are hoping that next year will be better since he will be older. Of course Sunday night into early Monday it stormed really bad. Typical Oklahoma weather for you! It was about 2:00 a.m. when it got REALLY bad but we just road it out. Alex was sound asleep and didn't wake up once, which I couldn't believe. At one point the thunder was so loud the entire tent was vibrating. Monday was ALOT of fun since everything was completely covered in mud and sand. We spent most of the morning cleaning and packing up then we headed home. Alex and I made our last trip to the bathrooms and he was wishing so bad that we could go back in time to Wednesday and start all over. I still can't believe how fast it went by this year. We are already planning for next year's trip!! We plan to go on a few weekend camp outs, but it's just not the same as Memorial Day weekend!

Lake here we come!!

Well I only have an hour and a half until i'm outta here till next Tuesday!!! Yippee!! We are going to the lake for Memorial Day Weekend. This will be our third year in a row to go so we have decided it's our family tradition now. Yes we are brave...we camp for 5 nights and 6 days! I started packing last night and by the time I was done it looked like we were moving to the lake for good! Mr. S just looked at me and shook his head. We'll see how hard he shakes his head when he desperately needs something that I just happened to pack! I am looking forward to getting away with the family where we actually spend quality time together. There are no computers, Internet, T.V., x-boxes or Wii's so we actually have to talk to one another. Anyway, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and please be safe! I am signing off till next Tuesday!

Gavin's MRI Results

My friends little boy Gavin who has cancer had his first MRI yesterday since he started chemotherapy. Great news....his tumor is shrinking!!!!! Which means the chemo is working!!!! The only downside was they saw that he had alot of fluid built up in his tiny brain so he is having a shunt put in this morning. Please keep him in your prayers. His mom posted on her blog that since he is already weak from the chemo that he is very susceptible to infection etc. so this surgery is kind of risky however it has to be done. God is working his miracles as I type this!!! Please be sure to stop by her blog at http://www.smithscooptexas.blogspot.com/

I'm a wolf now!!

Last night was the big Cub Scout cross over ceremony. Alex started cub scouts as a Tiger Cub in August. We made it through the entire year somehow and last night he got to cross over to the Wolves. This past weekend we had the big end of the year camp out at Cub World. It was sooo much fun!! He earned five belt loops and a patch during all of the fun as well. The belt loops he earned were for Archery, BB Gun Range, Ultimate Frisbee, Wildlife Conservation and Map & Compass. They taught the boys the importance of picking up after yourselves while camping and they earned the Leave no Trace patch. When we first started cub scouts I was not sure what to expect. As the year progressed I watched Alex learn so many things and develop friendships that could possibly last throughout his school years. I can't rave enough about cub scouts and highly recommend it to all parents out there with little boys! As I watched Alex strut across the little bridge with his head held high I couldn't have been more proud!! He just couldn't believe he was a "Wolf" now!! Once I get the whole video thing figured out on here I will post the video I took, plus lots of pics!

Mom you have flappy arms!

So the other day I was walking Alex to the bus stop and as he got on the bus I waved goodbye to him like I do every morning. This morning though I noticed something that was really disturbing. As I was waving the skin on my upper arm was flapping back and forth!! Not to be offense to anyone about age, but you know like your grandma's arms do when she waves?! When did this happen? Overnight? Gradually? Why haven't I ever noticed it before? I used to be a runner and was always in really good shape, but after I had Alex I quit running. My body isn't what it used to be to say the least. However, I've never had this problem before. So that evening while we were eating dinner (no it probably wasn't great dinner conversation but oh well) I started telling Mr. S about my little problem. Of course he doesn't understand why this is a big deal but he's trying to be reassuring by telling me that I look fine and don't have huge flappy arms. He's almost got me convinced when later in the evening Alex says to me "Mom, you do kind of have flappy arms but it's ok I still love you anyway!" He was trying to be really sweet and it melted my heart that he loves me no matter what I look like. However as all of us mothers out there know a child tells it exactly how it is so I MUST have flappy arms. I guess it's time to break out the running shoes and get back in shape!!

Under the Weather

I just realized it has been awhile since I have posted anything! Geez where does time go? I haven't been feeling all that great the last few days. I'm pretty sure it's just allergies or something, but it's still annoying. Mother's Day came and went. My day was pretty good. I was able to sleep in and didn't do a single load of laundry or dishes! So that in itself is a good day. Alex gave me a beautiful piece of art he made at school. He was soooo excited he just couldn't wait for Sunday so I opened it Friday evening. He is not very good at keeping secrets!

Oh please keep Gavin in your prayers this week. He is starting another round of chemotherapy this week and i'm sure it will be tough on the little guy as well as his parents.