The Power of a Chart

It is amazing how motivating a piece of paper with some boxes on it can be. I started a chart for Brianna and Alyssa. I have tried this before when Brianna was potty training. Now we have things like, "Cleans up toys", "No arguing or talking back" (My personal favorite), "Cleans up the bathroom", etc. Whatever issues we're having goes on the chart. Once they get to the end of the row, we will go buy a toy at the dollar store. It has been quite a success.
I had a bit of a crazy night at work on Sat. I was getting report and one of the nurses came and told us that one of the patients didn't look so good. He was having trouble breathing. I left report to check on him and had to call the Rapid Response team (it is a team made up of an ICU doctor, nurse, and respiratory therapist). They came right away and decided that the patient needed to be intubated (tube down the throat to help them breathe). So then it turned into a Code. We intubated him and sent him to the PICU. I've only seen one other intubation on my unit in my 9 1/2 years at CHOC. It definitely gets your adrenaline pumping. I'm so lucky to work with such a great team of people. Everyone really pulls together. It's been really busy at work lately with a lot of really sick kids. The winters are always hard. I've been wearing a pedometer for the past week and a half. It's interesting to see how far I walk. It's been about 5 miles a day or so.
Please keep Brianna's teacher in your prayers. I was told this afternoon that her husband passed away this morning. I know he had some health issues though I'm not sure what kind. I think she is in her 50's. They haven't told the kids yet. Life is short, Pray hard!

Too many toys...

I have started 3 posts and deleted them all. I never was very good at writing. My struggle lately has been discipline. How do we raise kids today to be respectful to their parents and other adults when we give them everything they want? How do we teach them to be appreciative of the things they have and to take good care of them? Sunday night I was getting ready for work and the house looked like a tornado had hit. Bill had told Brianna quite a few times to pick up her toys and she kept getting distracted. So finally he took a garbage bag and started picking them up and telling her they were going in the trash. This tactic used to work but it didn't this time. She just let him do it. Then I see him heading outside to the trash cans. We normally just put them out in the garage and make her earn them back. I followed him outside because he was carrying off her new toys from Christmas including her $50 Baby Alive doll. I didn't want him to actually throw them away. While I'm trying to convince him to just put them in the garage, out comes Brianna, carrying 2 more dolls(one of them is Alyssa's Baby Alive doll).."You forgot these ones." I was furious. Here I'm trying to save her toys and she's ready to throw more away. I rarely buy toys for the girls except for birthdays and Christmas. How they've accumulated so much, I don't know. We do a clean out of toys around every 6 months or so, I guess I need to do it more. I think I might need to follow my mom's suggestion and put some toys away for 6 months then bring them out and they'll be like new. I am open to other suggestions. Tami and Tif, what do you guys do with 5 kids? I only have 2 and it's a problem. I better get going, time to pack up some toys!

The Life Cycle

The start of a new year has been a little rocky for my Grandma Dodgin (my mom's mom). She was admitted to the hospital on New Year's Day. My parents got a call 5 minutes after they laid down to go to sleep after a small get together at my house on New Year's Eve. It was Grandma saying she was having trouble breathing. They called an ambulance and she spent around 5 days in the hospital. On the day she came home, my mom suggested she have the nurse at her assisted living residence keep her medicine for her and give it to her as scheduled. It was a long list and my mom and aunt were worried it might be too much for her to handle. Grandma agreed but when she saw my aunt collecting all of her pills, she threw a tantrum. She was yelling, "Give me back my pills." I guess it was quite a scene. She then locked herself in her room and put a chair up to it so no one could get inside. She wouldn't eat her dinner or take her pills that night. She told my mom and aunt that she disowned them. After 89 years, she is quite stubborn. It is amazing to see how people regress back to childhood. This has not been easy on my mom. But she is a trooper and remains strong. My mom stayed away for a few days hoping that my Grandma would cool down a little. She has been quite depressed since my Grandpa died. They had been married for 72 years. I just pray that God will soften Grandma's heart. It is hard to see that people are trying to help you when you are losing your independence. Please pray for her.

Happy New Year 2008!!

2008...A new year here, another one gone. It's nice to start a new year with new goals and motivations. My New Year's Resolutions are to be more organized, lead a simpler life (I'm still not quite sure what that means but I want it), and of course be healthier. Bill and I got an elliptical exercise machine for Christmas from each other and a 27 1/2 inch computer monitor to watch movies while we exercise. That was supposed to be our only gifts from each other but an opportunity arose that we couldn't pass up.. so we also got a "new" used car. We bought my parent's 2003 Toyota Avalon from them. Our Christmas was nice but it was not the same without Shannon and Chad here. I told Shan I didn't want to spend another Christmas without her. Brianna and Alyssa had a great time opening all of their gifts (way too much as always). They were really into it this year. Alyssa was sick with a bad cough and runny nose on Christmas and seems to have spread it around to the entire family (my parents, Grandma, Brianna). My 89 year old Grandma is now in the hospital with pneumonia. She should get to come home tomorrow. We had a really fun New Year's. My parents watched the girls on Sun. night so Bill and I could go to dinner and a movie. We had the best time! They spent the night and didn't come back until N.Y.'s Eve night so we went to the movies again the next day. We had a small get together at our house. We played American Idol Karoake and Pictionary. We did lots of laughing. Mostly at my dad's expense (he is pretty tone deaf). Sorry Dad! Bill had a great birthday. I was supposed to work but got the night off! Yeah! The holidays were wonderful. When I was taking all of the Christmas decorations down yesterday Alyssa said she missed Christmas. I'm sure another one will be here before we know it! God bless you all!!