Saturday, February 24, 2007

Sweet.

Yoli started up her blog again. I've linked it on the right.

Friday, February 23, 2007

By The Way...

There are some really cute pictures of Aimee on Brian's uncle's blog, Lunatic Biker. However, I must warn you that if four letter words and pictures of his friends giving you the finger offends you, you may not want to read further down than the first entry.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Lately...

I've had a lot on my mind lately. I've been a bit scatter brained lately, too unfocused to really think it all through and have produced lots of half finished blog posts that I have ended up deleting. So in the interest of clearing my mind long enough to sleep soundly, I'm writing a list, and maybe I'll get to elaborating on these things some day. But for now, Aimee, these are the things your mama thinks about from time to time.

1. Racism makes me want to vomit. It's dehumanizing and 100% of the devil.

2. Politics these days are surreal. I'm back to being a democrat. I know that Jesus Christ wasn't a Democrat OR a Republican, but I seriously doubt that he'd approve of using homophobia or racism to smoke-screen the issues that we really needed to address this past election. I was sick to my stomach when all this anti-mexican stuff was going on a few months ago. It made me fear for my family's future. Reminded me of what I learned in history classes about the illegal mass deporations of the 1930's where 1 MILLION Mexicans, many of them American citizens were forced onto trucks and busses and deported to Mexico, no questions asked. Imagine Aimee and I shopping at El Guerro for groceries and being forced on a bus and dropped off in a random town in Mexico. No one knowing what happened to us. No way to notify anyone or return home quickly. It happened. In America. It could happen again.

3. I'll never buy Oberweis products. Ever. Jim Oberweis fits in the catogory of men that make me want to vomit. He used his money and influence to make commercials that were full of lies. He tried to win a seat on the U.S. Senate by taking a page out of Hitler's playbook. He exaggerated, lied, and blamed the nation's problems on a defenseless minority. Even his own party didn't want to associate with him. Thank GOD Obama won. I don't care if you can't resist the famous $5 milk shake (which I admit is pretty darn good), but he'll never see a penny of our hard earned $.

4. I really need to teach Aimee how to speak Spanish. No Joke.

5. I secretly think that all this Britney Spears craziness is just a publicity stunt to gain public favor for her husband, K-Fed. They get divorced, she goes nuts, he helps her get healthy and not crazy and all of a sudden, the world LOVES K-Fed. Very Smart Mr. and Mrs. Spears. Very Smart.

6. I gave Aimee chicken nuggets for dinner today. To mix things up a little bit, gave her honey instead of ketchup as a dipping sauce. Not one of my brightest ideas. Honey is much harder to get out of hair than ketchup is. BTW: Thanks Grandpa, for teaching her that a bowl can also be used as a hat. Thanks a lot. :-)

7. My Brother in Law and his girlfriend are on vacation on some small Island off the coast of Florida. They are probably sitting on a balcony overlooking the ocean, drinking coffee from the french press coffee maker he packed in his luggage because "once you've tasted good coffee, you can't go back to the bad stuff", trying to decide if they want to swim with dolphins or go deep sea fishing. Sounds good, Paul. But you know what? YOU MISSED PAZCKI DAY! Bet you wish you were home now huh? No? Yeah, me neither.

8. My friend's Grandpa is in the hospital. He's 94. I've known him all my life and I have nothing but deep love and admiration for him. He's a pillar of faith and an example to all of humanity of God's grace and compassion. My family is humbled to be loved by him and his family. We are praying.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Like Joan Collins in Dynasty...


People often say that Aimee must be so spoiled. The truth is that I don't deny her many things because she rarely wants anything that is bad. When she does, I try to use distraction. She wants to eat a whole tub of Animal Crackers? I give her an orange instead. She wants to watch The Wiggles for the third time? I invite her upstairs to play in her room. She doesn't want to eat her carrots? Fine. She can have some blueberries. A friend of mine has been a professional nanny for years and she taught me this trick. Aimee is, however, very familiar with the word "no". It was one of her first words and she uses it often with our Dog, our Inlaws pets, the baby I babysit, and even her baby dolls. She understands that "no" means "Don't do that!", and she listens 98% of the time, keeping me from hardly ever having to dicipline.


Now let's talk about the other 2%, that just surfaced this week. It seems that my little angel inherited my temper. She has started to hit. I am blaming it on her genes because we have NEVER hit in our house...throwing pots and pans? Yes, only before she was born and I only did that once. We don't watch television, much less let HER watch anything that isn't tagged "Developmental or Musical". Every book I've read says it's normal. Toddlers don't have filters. They get frustrated and don't know how to express their anger, frustration, tiredness, hunger, whatever. However, I've sat in enough of Rey Moran's annual pre-summer talks at the church, to know that children develop their character before the age of 4. If they are rotten in pre-school, they'll be rotten when they are in highschool...if they even make it that far.

Rey Moran, excuse me, I mean Lieutenant Reyes Moran, Jr. who worked with the elite anti-gangs unit for the Chicago Police Department, also a respected elder of the church I grew up in, would take the pulpit once a year, right before summer to talk to the parents about crime. His talks always included these highlights....

"Parents! Teach your children when they are young. If you don't raise them up in the ways of the Lord, and if they don't respect you by the time they turn 4 yrs old, you will lose them! In ten years, I will come to your door to tell you that they are doing drugs, hanging out with gangs, or maybe even to arrest them! And kids, don't think that knowing me will get you out of trouble! You are wrong! Don't you use my name! Because every police officer out there knows that I would arrest my own mother! Parents! Summer time is coming. Keep your kids off the streets, even if they are well behaved you don't want them to be in the wrong place at the wrong time! Keep them involved in church, teach them when they are young, and I won't have to visit you!"

His most famous and memorable talk was the one about the new drug "Extasis" That was the talk where he was interviewed by a local Spanish News program. We'll never forget that one.

So that's the record that plays in my head when my little girl gets out of control. I know some people are thinking, "Oh HELL NO! I will BEAT MY KID'S BEHIND!" But I refuse to teach her that hitting is wrong by hitting her. I much prefer to learn my inlaw's method of dicipline, where the mere thought of receiving the unknown punishment was terrifying enough to earn Brian and his brother, Paul the title of 'Best Behaved Kids Ever in the History of Glendale Heights." My inlaws didn't gave them specifics about what a punishment could be, but the imagination of a boy is very vivid and enough to give Brian anxiety that he still deals with to this day.

So over the past few days, when Aimee has gotten out of control, I go up to her, kneel down, grab her arms, look at her in the eyes and in a low but calm voice tell her "No HITTING." The first time, she looked at me with hurt feelings and let out a cry that broke my heart. The second time, she was prepared. Her response was to slap me right across the face. She did it with such confidence and precision that I wondered if she'd ever spent time watching Spanish Novellas or Dynasty. After the shock wore off, into her crib she went. "You are in TIME OUT for HITTING! We do not hit! Time OUT Young Lady!" I took out her blankie, her doggie, and left the door open to let her know that it was NOT nap time, but punishment time. Time out seemed to work. I left her in there long enough for her to calm down, and when I got her out I explained again why she was in time out and told her to not hit. She gave me a hug and went on playing as if nothing ever happened.

I'm really hoping that she's a fast learner and that it's a phase. Good advice would be much appreciated.

Aimee


I don't know when it happened. A few days ago? Last Week? It just seemed like one day Aimee woke up and decided that she wants to have looong conversations. From the moment she wakes up until the moment she falls asleep, long strings of words spoken with emphatic expression come out of her mouth. Some are in English and others are in her secret toddler language that only doggies, babydolls, and other babies understand. I try so hard to decode what she's saying. I find myself listening and thinking "ok. What she just said rhymes with... Nope. I've got nothing."


She's figured out that all of the yummy things come from the pantry, so when I'm not looking, she opens the door and reaches for whatever she can find. Just the other day I found her walking around the house with her little fist jammed into the box of oyster crackers. She carried them over to the fireplace, sat down, and started sharing them with remmy. 1 for Remmy, 2 for her, 1 for Remmy, 2 for her.


She now takes some ownership over daily tasks. She pulls her toddler bath out from under the sink when it's bath time. She let's me know when she needs a diaper change and hands me the baby wipes (She keeps one or two to change her baby's diaper). She also likes to put moisturizer on herself and gets mad if I do it for her.
I've been taking her to the mall toddler play area once or twice a week to give her a chance to run around. Usually when it's time to go home, we leave with her kicking and screaming. However, the last few times we've gone, she's let me know that she's ready to leave by putting her coat on and climbing into the stroller.

Now that her hair is getting longer, I 'm tempted every day to not comb it. Her curls are so pretty that I want everyone to see them. I love this picture because it shows her curly hair.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Not all Dates can be winners....

Brian and I decided to beat the crowds and have Valentine's Dinner early. We were in the Indiana area already for my Cousin's babyshower, so we decided to cut out a little early from the shower so we could have a nice dinner togather, while my mom watched Aimee. What ended up happening was a truly memorable dining experience. So memorable in fact, that we had to write Leona's and tell them about it. For those of you that have never had the pleasure of Leona's. It's an amazing local chain here in Chicago that is well known for their service and for having a HUGE menu that includes lots of healthy, vegetarian, and organic foods.

Dear Leona's Restaurant,

We hate to complain, but our visit to your Cal City store was so unbelievable that we just can't keep quiet! We love your restuarant and don't get to visit frequently enough because we moved out to Aurora (where you HAVE to open a restaurant). We decided to celebrate V-Day early and drove 60 miles to my Mother's in Indiana for the free babysitting and to visit your Cal City store on Saturday, Feb. 10. We were looking forward to this for weeks, so when we arrived, we did not let the fact that the host stand was empty for over 10 minutes discourage us. The host was busy waiting on and bussing tables.

When we were finally seated, we witnessed a show unlike anything we've ever seen. The waitress made it known several times that besides the 4 tables in our section, she was also tending bar, so we'd just have to be patient. 20 minutes after we were seated, she took our order. 30 minutes later, the Manager came by and we asked him for the drinks we had ordered and never received. The waitress came back shortly after we got our drinks and admitted that she never put in our appetizer order, so she was just going to put our entire order in at once. The manager came out with our food about half an our later, but it was the wrong order. When we finally got the correct order on our table (everything at once) the waitress immediately gave us our check and declared that she was done with our section, she was going to another one. She stood over my shoulder as I completed the tip part of the receipt, reviewed the receipt at the table, and thanked us for the generous tip, (I was really afraid she'd freak out if we gave her what she really deserved!).

So let me tell you about the show she put on while all of this was happening. Over the course of the evening, she almost had a nervous breakdown. Out of the four tables she was waiting on, one left before dinner arrived. They asked her 3 times for a bill for the drinks, which she refused to bring until they got up and put their coats on. She yelled at them from across the section that their food was probably ready, she just hadn't gone to check.

She lost the check for the 2nd table. So she came and told them that it would be "like $32". When they refused to pay until they saw a bill, she made a scene and went back to the register to print a new one.

The 3rd table had not received their salads for over 45 minutes, so the waitress spent quite a lot of time screaming at a busboy from across the section of tables about bringing them their salads.

The fourth table was us, and well, you already know about that. She also walked around the section saying things like "Jesus Christ is messing with my tips tonight! How am I supposed to pay my rent?".

The manager was clearly overwhelmed, as he was trying to fill in service gaps throughout the entire restaurant. The restaurant ran out of silverwear by 8:30 pm.

My husband and I understand that every workplace has their "off day" and everyone deserves compassion. This letter is more to let you know that you really need to send in reinforcements. Maybe they need training, more employees, a therapist, or even a priest! I'm not kidding about the priest part. The last time I visited that restaurant location it was a steakhouse. A fight broke out in the kitchen that we could hear in the dining room. Dishes were breaking, and the waiter came out and told us that a cook and dishwasher had just walked out. We love Leonas. We'd drive 60 miles for you again. We just want to make sure that you are still there when we do!

Love, The Wroblewski's.


Was this too harsh?

Sunday, February 11, 2007

All that we have...

I just wanted to share something that I felt God was speaking into my heart a few weeks ago. A few months back, I was being really tempted to not be content with what we have, where we are in life, ect. I was being challanged to want for more when people in my life couldn't agree with my decision to quit my job in order to stay home and "make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches". I think it's pretty normal to feel that way after we made the decision that I would put my career on hold during a time when I was doing really well while my friends keep moving up the corporate ladder. Not to mention the fact that our decision meant that we would go from 2 healthy incomes to one. After a few weeks of struggling with these feelings on and off, I began to feel a peace in my heart when I finally came to the following realizations.

  • Everything we have is because God has provided it.
  • God provides it through my Husband's extremely hard work and sacrifice.
  • My discontent DISHONORS both God's gracious provision, as well as my husband's hard work. Discontent is an act of disrespect.

I am happy for what we have. I don't need more. We could live on much much less. These words are said in truth from the core of my being. No struggle. No envy. No need for more. Amen.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Family Date

Yesterday we had a MUCH needed family date. I just noticed that Brian likes to call everything a date. Taking Aimee for dinner and Home Depot isn't just that, it's a Daddy-Daughter Date. So going out to dinner as a family isn't just going out to dinner, it's a Family Date. Sweet guy.

I am now firmly convinced that no matter how hard I try, I'll never be one of those women that's ok with being in the house for days at a time. In the past several months, Aimee and I have developed a schedule that includes daily outings. Whether it's to Mom's Coffee, Play dates, or just running to the mall for a quick play in the Toddler Play area while I enjoy a Starbucks coffee, we both need to get out of the house. Even taking care of Colin, my friend's baby, doesn't stop us from doing our thing. His parent's are ok with me taking him to my weekly playdate, and juggling two kids has been good practice for me. (Don't get excited there Grandparents!) But this weather! Oh this weather. For one, I don't have the heart to take Aimee out when it's 1 degree outside. Secondly, Brian and the neighbor on the corner of Medford and Village Green have revoked my driving privileges when there is snow. Did I ever tell you about the time when I got the car stuck in the snow and Brian had to come home from work to dig me out? Did I tell you how I called him right after his boss found out about a very BIG mistake he made? And did I tell you about the time when Brian told me to not go out because it was icy and I didn't listen to him? About how I ended up crashing into a neighbor's mailbox? Yeah. That's why I can't drive in the snow anymore.

After a full week of not leaving the house for any meaningful recreation, combining that with the five hours I spent trying to do our taxes (We have to itemize because I worked from home we both had unreimbursed work expenses), I half jokingly declared to Brian that I just wanted to die.

That little declaration of mine prompted the decision that no matter how cold it would be, we'd pack up the minivan and go on a family date. He came home a little early and we bundled up Aimee and took her to our friendly neighborhood Chinese Buffet. We had a blast. (How my life has changed since the days when having a blast meant $80 on dinner followed by Ballet or Theater). Aimee was excited to wear her new mittens. She ate like she hasn't eaten in weeks. And Brian and I were able to actually have a conversation, although most of it was about how much Jello and grapes Aimee could stuff in her mouth at once. The crowning event of the evening was when for the first time ever, Aimee held my hand and WALKED all the way to the van. She didn't even think of asking to be carried. It was a great moment for me. My back was so happy that it almost went into a fit of spasms...or maybe that's from months of carrying a 27 lb toddler everywhere I go. After that, we stopped at the CVS and turned what was supposed to be a quick $5 stop into a half hour long $60 trip. Those sales can really get to you!
Aimee rode in one of those carts that have a little car in the front and she loved it.

When we got home, Brian gave her a bath while I got her jammies ready for bed. Since she goes to sleep pretty early, he tries to get as much time with her as he can by being the one who usually gives her her bath and gets her ready for bed. He towel dries her hair and spends a really long time combing it so that the part is a perfectly straight line. He doesn't care that in 5 minutes she'll be laying in her crib and it's going to be messed up. The machinist/engineer in him comes out and he can't bear to see his daughter with a crooked line in her hair! He gets her dressed while I get her room ready and we sing to her, pray for her, and make sure she has a baby doll or stuffed doggie in her crib. She went down without a fight last night. It was the perfect night in suburbia.