[Laura Jane]  So, as many of our in-store shoppers know, I am one of the full-time faces you will see.  The other….Michelle.  Working with Michelle is….an adventure.  We most definitely have very different styles, which is great for customers to have the resources of two different experiences and approaches to things.

[Michelle] It has recently come to our attention, that some people might take our friendly back and forth, as, well, how should I put it? Perhaps a strong dislike of each other. Well Laura Jane does indeed drive me to the brink, on a daily basis, what with the obsessing, the A.D.D., and the insane self-babbling, I assure you that I do indeed LOVE her!!!! Otherwise I would have disposed of her a long time ago!!!! (insert evil cackle)

[Laura Jane] ….Who gets driven to the brink?  Well, okay, it’s really easy to make Michelle a little crazy (and kind of fun….).  I can honestly say though, I wouldn’t be able to joke around so much with someone I didn’t enjoy working with.  Although our ways of doing things are different, we really do make a good team.  Seriously, humour does make us more productive.  I’ve even got proof that it really does help… http://ezinearticles.com/?Laughter-Makes-the-Workplace-Lighter&id=347935  I wish everyone could have a workplace like Belly Laughs. ([Michelle]…. what a suck up!!!!! [make kissy noises])…

So next time you are in the store, and wonder how we manage to work together everyday, feel free to join in the laughter and fun pokes…just be sure to take my side .

[Michelle] Or mine….cause I’m always right!!!  In all honesty, I can think of no one I would rather spend the better part of my waking hours with. She certainly is entertaining!!!  Hugs to my “work husband”, you certainly are “special”?

So if you happen by someday, ask for Michelle, cause I’m totally more awesome than Laura Jane….hehehehe.

 Hey everybody, it seems like I am the one usually giving out advice, but this time I need some help in a big way. This entry will not be witty , wordy , or funny , just  straightforward and to the point.

 My five year old is a vomiter….. he has been this way since birth , usually vomiting 2 or 3 times a week. Some weeks there will be more, and some weeks we will have none at all. Since he is autistic, the doctors first assumed that this was due to a dislike of certain textures, or tastes, and in some cases I would agree. As he grew, we were diagnosed with Acid Reflux (http://www.healthcentral.com/acid-reflux/symptom-checker.html ) , a diagnoses that I strongly disagreed with and I, therefor refused to medicate him. The diagnoses was based on the frequency with which he swallowed? Very scientific…..

  Now that he is able to communicate pain and discomfort, he claims to have pain right around his belly button immediately before vomiting, and appears fine shortly after. The vomiting  always occurs right in the middle of a meal, and try asI might, I have yet to figure out the cause. We keep a food journal, to track and see what may be causing the “upsets”, but can find no culprits…. except for maybe milk, and chicken. He will be going for allergy testing soon to determine if he has any food allergies.

 So here is where I need your help…. he frequently stops eating because of the vomiting, he is losing weight and I think the doctors think that I am crazy!!! I would appreciate any ideas, or theories that I can research because I am at a loss!!!

 Thanks in advance for all your help!

Deciding to have a second child is joyful and downright SCARY!    How do you suddenly share the love you have given wholly to your first child with another?  Can you?  What if you don’t connect with the new baby as you did your first?  Speaking as a person who cried when she got a second cat in college because I thought the first one felt unloved as a result, making the decision on whether to have another child or not was a difficult one.

Today a person on my mommy board shared a writing that she had found when struggling with being pregnant with  her second child.  I thought I would pass it along too, as it is too beautiful not to share.

‘As I walk along holding your 3-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship. Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited. And I wonder: How could I ever love another child as I love you?

Then she is born, and I watch you. I watch the pain you feel at having to share me as you’ve never shared me before. I hear you telling me in your own way, “Please love only me.” And I hear myself telling you in mine, “I can’t,” Knowing in fact, that I never can again. You cry. I cry with you. I almost see our new baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared. A relationship we can never quite have again.

But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty. I’m afraid to let you see me enjoying her– as though I am betraying you. But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection. More days pass, and we are setting into a new routine. The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast. But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just us two. There are new times — only now, we are three. I watch the look between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other. I watch how she adores you — as I have for so long. I see how excited you are by each of her new accomplishments.

And I begin to realize that I haven’t taken something from you, I’ve given something to you. I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you. I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong. And my question is finally answered, to my amazement. Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you — only differently. And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I now know you’ll never share my love. There’s enough of that for both of you — you each have your own supply. I love you — both. And I thank you both for blessing my life. ‘

So, apparently love is not divided, but multiplied by another child.  I guess you can’t fully grasp it until you live it though.  Hopefully one day, I’ll find out for myself.

KidsHealth has a wonderful article on the birth of a second child, which includes what to expect, how to help your first child adjust, and coping tips.  http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/second_child.html

So, it’s early in the morning and I am ankle deep in poop in my kitchen, when I have an epiphany…. I HATE POOP!!!! I don’t just hate it, I loathe it. It is not my friend,my bestie, my compadre. We do not share warm and fuzzy memories. We have a past littered with trauma and anxiety ( and lots of Rockin Green Shake It Up!!!). Perhaps I should explain.

Typically when people come into the store for toileting issues, they end up with me, although if they knew how long it actually took us to do it, they might rethink my advice. My son took 3 long years to toilet train! We did have extenuating circumstances, but really, three years, really? I began to train when he was just over 2 years old, and started showing interest in others going to the bathroom. I took him out and let him pick a potty which then spent the next  year in a lonely corner of the bathroom collecting bathroom dust (you know, the stuff that you can’t just wipe off, you kind of have to scrub …). By this time we had advice coming out the wazoo from “friendly” neighbours and relatives, sprinkled with veiled comments about how so and so was trained by 12 months. Clearly THEY were MUCH better parents than I was….

We had tried everything, stickers, rewards, treats, nothing seemed to work and we had NO successes to praise so I wasn’t even sure he understood what he was supposed to be doing. Then it dawned on me, that this was all related to anxiety, and perhaps he COULDN’ T use the toilet.  He was suffering from Encopresis, a disorder which results in soiling of the underpants when toilet trained, and occurs in boys more frequently than in girls. There are varying causes, from a phobia of toileting (that was us), to constipation issues, up to  and including behavioral issues.For more info please visit http://www.indiaparenting.com/babyhealth/data/bhealth20.shtml 

Now that I knew what the issue was, you would think that it would be easier to solve, well, you would be wrong. Even after figuring out what was going on, I still had no idea how to progress. So my “Supermommy” senses told me to take all of the pressure off  ( when everyone else was telling me to put more on!!!)  and establish toileting as part of our everyday routine. The idea was to desensitize him slowly and in small ( seconds) increments, gently working our way up to sitting happily on the toilet, and eventually using the toilet. Well, we did it!!! It took us three years but we accomplished it, and now at the age of 5 we are mostly toilet trained!!! ( barring accidents caused by illness on my kitchen floor)

So needless to say, you may understand why I am not a fan of the poop. Although thank God I found the Starbunz Superundies http://www.bellylaughs.ca/item.php?item_id=829&category_id=82 with the snaps, they may well have saved my sanity!!   Nothing however, could save my kitchen floor!!!!

Finally, most of you will sleep better this evening knowing that we have not forgotten to update  you on our ” weight loss challenge”.  When we started, let’s just say that all of us together in an elevator might have been both challenging  AND dangerous. Not to mention that all of us in a car together might cause a trip to the mechanic for new shocks. But that was five long weeks ago, and we are now more comfortable taking different forms of transportation…hehehehe. We have suffered through frustrations, ups and downs, adapting to whole grains (physically and mentally),  forays in the kitchen, hunger pangs (just kidding), and regular diet disasters.

All kidding aside we have lost a grand total of  85 lbs. collectively, that is a loss on average of 6.32 % per person. So, congratulations to us, and we hope to keep the momentum going for 11 more weeks. If at all interested in one staffers details, please check out Laura Jane’s blog at www.tumbletoonderland.wordpress.com. Be aware, she is a little bit of a delinquent blogger…. feel free to harass at will.

Please let us know how well you are all doing, or not doing, as it may be.

    Fresh year, fresh look, right?   We decided that it was high time for a little store makeover, no big changes, just a little “freshening up”. It seemed  like a great idea, we’ll move some shelves around, buy a few more, and give the front window a little overhaul in the process . Easy Peasy right? Uhhh, how wrong could I be? So very wrong. So wrong, that I felt a little like what my “better half” must feel on a daily basis (hehehehe).

    It started out simply enough, with tearing down a few displays and transferring some shelving to the front of the store. Well, it was simple enough for the one of us in the back working on the computer. I, on the other hand, hauled a bunch of stuff out to the dumpster to make room for the new units. When said “other person” decided to join me, (just kidding L.J. you worked just as hard as I did **cough cough choke choke**) we merchandised the shelves with the bath products, and did a thoroughly beautiful job, if I might say so myself (patting myself on the back). We felt accomplished, we were beaming with pride, we were ready for the next task…. one million shelves from Ikea.

     Now I’m sure you are all familiar with the “demon” products from a store I can only describe as wretched. At the risk of offending feminists everywhere, let me just say, that there is a good reason I have a man. Besides being easy to look at, he does this stuff, you know, putting things together, taking out the garbage, changing light bulbs. It’s not that I can’t do these things, let’s just be honest, I don’t want to. Besides, it makes him feel needed. Anyways, there were shelves to be put together, and clearly I was the one to do it, as the attempt that L.J. made was weak, to say the least. If shelves were supposed to be at a 45 degree angle, then she would be the one you wanted to assemble said shelves!!!! Seven units, and a couple of tables later, we were good to go, although we were now well into day two of our “adventure”.

     As the day progressed, we noticed that the shelves at the front of the store,were having their backs put on their fronts. No , big deal, we just removed all of the bath products that we so carefully placed the day before, and turned the units around. We then attentively replaced all the product, and moved on to the next task.

    Enter day three. Now at this point I would like to add that we started this project with great enthusiasm, and a little naivete. I don’t think anyone thought that this undertaking would last three long days, nor that L.J. and I would both still be alive and speaking to each other come the end. But alas, a light at the end of the tunnel… only the toy section left to merchandise. Until someone noticed that the front units were in fact, upside down, and needed to be flipped over, YET AGAIN!!! Off came the bath products, with a little less gusto than the first two times, and over went the shelves. By now, the sight of these products incited severe anxiety in me. They were not my friends, and I don’t think we will ever share the fond memories we once did. Finally replaced, we spent the remainder of the day fiddling around in the toy section, and although this may sound enjoyable, it, in fact, was not.

      So, the end result is a fresh looking store, which I think we are all proud of. As self  involved as this entry is, the task could not have been accomplished without the help of many of the staff, so thanks all around. And I guess it wasn’t as bad as I made it out to be, now that it is all done anyways…..

The Belly Laughers are down a collective of nearly 17lbs. Hurray for us!!!!!

     This morning I “ironed” my shirt with my blowdryer…. while wearing it!

     If you have read any of my other posts, you know by now that I have a child with special needs,  and therefore require copious amounts of both patience, and organization. These, to me, are a lot like bread and butter…. one is pointless without the other.

     As the parent of a child with autism, I have become accustomed to a certain amount of regulation in our day to day activities, and I am a firm believer that all children would benefit from a regulated  routine to their day. This is something  we start when our children are infants, but  kind of falls by the wayside as our infants grow into toddlers , and then pre-schoolers. Not only is establishing a solid routine beneficial, but allowing the children to visualize and participate in the routine  promotes feelings of comfort ( knowing what is coming next), and self reliance. This is something that is easy to do, and  makes  the day run a little more smoothly.

    With small children, the key is to take pictures of what is going to happen in their day and mount them in  sequence, where the child has access to them. As the task is completed, the child would remove the picture from the sequence, and view what is happening next. If this sounds like to much to do for a busy parent, there is always the option of puchasing  a product that falls along similar lines. One we have available at the store is “Easy Daysies Magnetic Fold and Go Calendar”. It is portable, and has different “kits” to purchase, so you can personalize your routine.   With older children ( 3+) , there are plenty of products available to help in this endeavour. I am fond of  the ”2 Fish Kids”  magnetic calendar. It allows Aidan, (my son) to see what is going on for that week. It has 58 different magnets (  useful ones too!!! ) that allow us to schedule the week together on Sunday morning, that way he knows what is happening all week.  Also popular are the “Melissa and Doug” monthly calendar, which allows you to schedule the whole month, and their “Magnetic Responsibility Chart”, which shows kids what needs to be done for the day, and rewards them for doing it!!!

     I applaud any product on the market that makes my life just a little bit easier, and these are a few.  Less questions, less tantrums, less frustation!!! And a little more time for me! ( HA HA HA)…..