threebythirty: *fun* at the doctor's office

I'm reaching the point in parenting when I'm realizing I need to start seeking out some resources for how to handle *those* situations that my pregnancy/baby/early years books never told me about. I like to think I have a pretty good head on my shoulders, have some common sense about my parenting skills, am pretty quick on my feet when answering 'why' and among other questions, and am pretty clever in some of the ways I solve the little things life can sometimes throw our way.

For example, I came up with the idea of the 'diaper fairy' when potty training Gavin...we left the diapers in a basket; and in the morning, the 'fairy' replaced them with big boy underpants for daytime, pull-ups for nighttime, and a slew of Matchbox cars as rewards. The result? Potty trained in a weekend. Of course, there are always glitches in a seemingly 'perfect' system. (In terms of potty training, we'll call that glitch 'Brynn's.attitude')

I'm quickly realizing, however, that potty training is a cakewalk compared to what we've got coming our way in the near future (yeah, yeah...I know...childhood has nothing on the *fun* of teenage years! Give us time to get there, though!)

The kids accompanied me to my 30 week check up for baby today. That's not anything new to them, as they've been with me many times before and each time they hear the doppler picking up baby's heartbeat, they debate whether it sounds like a helicopter or a fart (don't you just love kids). Being well adjusted to this whole 'mommyhood' thing, I came prepared with snacks and juice as well as a whole variety of 'Simon Says' movements that were sure to keep them entertained.

As I said though, there are always glitches that get in the way of what is usually a 'perfect' system. Today's glitch happened to be a longer wait than usual for my doctor. The exam room is only so big, and my kids happened to only have patience for about 6 minutes of 'Simon Says' with snack rewards for the winner. Ok, so Brynn would have played forever (especially since the reward was Fruit Loops), but Gavin is a Simon Says expert compared to his flighty, yet adorable, younger sister. He outsmarted her every time and soon began to seek out other things to keep him occupied.

He knew games on the iPhone were out of the question, as there were two of them and just one phone. I had a few pens and paper in my purse, but he informed me he 'wrote too much' at school and his 'hand needed a rest'. There weren't any books to read, or magazines for that matter. So, he did what any four year old little boy would do in a similar situation. He explored.

He opened the drawers and cabinets (thankfully they were pretty barren). He stood on the scale and weighed himself a few times. He checked his height. He investigated the light switch. He flipped through the pages of the calendar on the wall, commenting on each of the cute, fuzzy animals on each of the months. Then, naturally, he started to 'read' the other things hanging on the wall and standing on the counter. Think about it. I'm at the OB/GYN office. The posters...*informative*. The diagrams...*complete*. The 3-D models...*interesting*. The questions...plenty. Parenting.just.got.*fun*.