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Real Name: Heather Ijames Member Since: April 11, 2008 Last Signed In: November 30, 2008 Profile Views: 507 Blog Views: 1515 He's Won Half the Battle Grasping at Metaphors Get Your Fangs Out, It's Fall Ball! Mom's Night Out First Day Funny It's Not a Dare The Barcelona Chronicles - Part III The Barcelona Chronicles - Part II The Barcelona Chronicles - Part I April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 . 
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Mommy was a Good Girl
I think it is fair to assume that all of us have our "things." You know, a certain way any given "thing" has to be done. For me, if I'm being honest, I have several things I have to have just so. One of those things is Play-Doh. As a child, I loved Play-Doh but would usually refrain from playing with anyone else's Play-Doh, even at school or church, because the world did not seem to rotate properly on its axis if a foul little child happened to mix the colors. Two years ago, I bought Ethan the gigantic tub of Play-Doh at Costco. Something like twenty different colors. It was so many colors they included not just red, but dark red and brick red as well. Ethan was only two at the time. I showed him how we can do our very best to not mix the colors. Even by scraping off the tiny dried crumbs off before we play each time. I also showed him how it's just better to play with one color at a time. You know, resist temptation. For good reason, he never seemed to enjoy himself under mommy's regime. Well, there was that one time during our bout of potty training where he seemed overly excited after I showed him how to roll the Play-Doh. I found him at the table holding two rolled out pieces of dough, which he referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Turd. He actually imprinted facial features on them. The happy couple was always smiling. Ethan was potty trained shortly thereafter. But, other than that incident, he's never really asked for the Play-Doh set to come back out until recently. Figuring he was a big enough boy to play unsupervised, I found to my great horror a half hour later that he had mixed all the colors to a dull brown. Before I got any grey hairs over it, I remembered that fostering his imagination is my most important role and my obsessive ness on matters of Play-Doh did not need to be re-introduced when he was having so much fun. I ground my teeth, I tapped my feet insistently, and I even sweated a bit. But, I said nothing. After all, Ethan already has his own "things." That one is pretty obvious by the straight row of stuffed animals laying head to foot margining his bed at all times.
5 comments from 4 users
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posted by
Christina
on Jun 20, 2008 at 07:08 PM
I was a nut about this also! but I too, had to do the same - Keep my mouth shut and refrain from having a nervous breakdown over mixed up Play Doh colors. Not an easy thing to do! posted by
HeatherIjames
on Jun 20, 2008 at 07:11 PM
Christina, you realize this is why we understand one another so well! In our mutual insanity, I actually feel sane. posted by
Mom2CandC
on Jun 20, 2008 at 07:24 PM
I know what you mean about obsessing over cleaning up and making sure things are "just so!" ;) I USED to do this with painting - and have recently decided that it wasn't worth the stress. I found a great table cloth that my grandma left to me...it looks like lace, but it is either vinyl (really thick without the smell) or plastic coated. It's the best thing since sliced cheese! Anyway, it covers the entire table so that the paint mess comes up in a second and with just a wipe of a papertowel. It has been my sanity saver....and allowed me to relax and encourage the boys to explore their artistic flairs - even if they mix all of the paint colors together and make "poop brown" and the boys love to call it! BTW, I couldn't STOP laughing at the Mr. and Mrs. Turd creation Ethan made! (reminds me of my own little creators....) enjoy it and take pictures of every mess.... that's what boys are all about! posted by
Mom2CandC
on Jun 20, 2008 at 07:28 PM
My youngest loved to eat the store bought play-doh, so, I started making my own at home and creating only one color at a time....that way, there was only one color and that was it! Plus, it was all made from my kitchen ingredients and totally harmless if he ate it....Moon Sand, that's another story! Love it because it doesn't dry out like play-doh, but.....mix it together and you get one ugly mess of color! Caden (4) had major asthma issues in the spring, so we had to keep him inside ALOT - so, I bought him Moon Sand - at his request. We had some before we moved, it was great and easy to clean up. So, we bought four colors and I opened them for him...thinking he'd keep them separate....NOT! Oh well, such is life! ;) posted by
HeatherBee
on Jul 12, 2008 at 09:54 AM
<sigh> I think it must be a natural mommy-obsession to keep Play-doh pristine. And a natural kid-obsession to mix it and make poo. Well, I figured I'd let them play with the Play-Doo rather than the real-doo. Just trust me here, never ever get the hair-cutting salon with Play-Doh. Talk about a mess! Heather B
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