I forgot to take my Zoloft over the weekend – three days in a row total – and I started to feel pretty lousy. Not losing-my-mind crazy but irritable and anxious and unfocused. I thought maybe I was overreacting but decided it (probably) wouldn’t kill me to take an extra pill to get back on track. So on Monday I took one at noon and one at bedtime – which is when I usually take it. Oddly, if I take it in the mornings I have really vivid crazy house on fire naked Christmas farm animal Barry Manilow pregnant high school war opening night Hunger Games dreams. And that’s even if I DON’T read dystopian fantasy novels while I fall asleep. So I took two and hoped I wasn’t over medicating myself into a coma or a heart attack or something.

INSTEAD, I did ALL THE THINGS in the past two days. And in a good way, not a “I’M BORED, LETS CUT BANGS” way.  I finally dealt with the mountain of baby clothes in Caroline’s room and organized her summer wardrobe (because yeah, girl has too many outfits). I bought plastic totes and put away craft supplies and decorations from Evan’s birthday party that happened *ahem* more than a month ago. I steam mopped all the floors. But not only is the house clean, I’m competing in an imaginary contest for Mother of the Year Week. We did puzzles (I HATE puzzles) and put on boots to splash outside and blew a billion bubbles and went to the library and read the same books over and over and over and over and over and tracked down all the balls to all the toys and let the kids them jump all over me and sang songs loudly and let them ride the elevators even though we didn’t need to and let them eat the last giant marshmallow. Even when I was annoyed I calmly explained to Evan he needed to listen better or I would have to use my angry voice – and I KNOW, saying stuff like that sounds RIDICULOUS but when my 3 year old says “Mommy, I can’t want you use your angry voice and I can’t want use my angry voice so let’s have hugs and kisses” I dies of cuteness so I don’t care how ridiculous it sounds. Plus, it worked. He now recognizes my angry voice AND his angry voice and knows how to stop them.

(Extra bonus cuteness: Evan had to have a blood draw for his anemia test an he was REALLY sad – although again, I handled it a zillion times better than I normally would have – and afterwards I asked if he wanted a Happy Meal and he said “No Mommy, I need a Sad Meal”.)

(Double extra bonus cuteness: Evan has stopped calling Caroline “Baby Sister” and started calling her “Stinky Pants”…which, oops, but when he yells “COME BACK STINKY PANTS!” across Target I can’t stop laughing long enough to breathe let alone feel bad about the nickname.)

ANDPLUSALSO I gave myself an at-home hair treatment – honey and olive oil, which sounds like a crazy mistake but actually did wash out and made my ends softer – and finally tried no heat curls (my hair says “MEH”) and I’m feeling pretty good about myself in general, despite eating too many ice cream sandwiches.

So now I’m wondering if I should call my doctor and ask to raise my Zoloft dose or just blame my sudden productivity on the domino effect of accomplishment – you know, where you get that happy buzz from seeing an empty kitchen sink so you decide to wipe down the cabinets and then the floors and then BAM you’re suddenly hoping the UPS guy shows up just so you can be proud of your super clean house when you open the door. I don’t think two days is long enough to definitely say my medication is why I’m doing so well but with everything else still as stressful as it was last week (E hasn’t seen the kids since Sunday because he’s working such long hours, rainy days, Evan is still three) I am desperate to keep it up. I LIKE being productive and happy. It’s definitely preferable to anxious, grumpy, shouty and tired.

WHAT SHOULD I DO, INTERNETS? Please come over to discuss, so I can show you my spotless kitchen counters.

p.s. Anyone still interested in a home tour link-up/blog hop/whatever? I should show off this place before it all goes to crap again.

Dear Mr. Sendak, for others, we say rest in peace. For you, we say let the wild rumpus start!  Thank you for everything.

All written and/or illustrated by Maurice Sendak - All well-loved

Evan and Caroline love this book - I'm going to get "Everywhere is music" as part of my tattoo for Caroline

Most of these books are from my own childhood. Some are hand-me-downs from my mother’s. And today I ordered the rest of the Nutshell Library and Higglety Pigglety Pop from Amazon, since there is no such thing as too many Maurice Sendak books in a child’s library.

I should probably make this two separate posts so people Googling to find out what to expect at their kid’s first dentist appointment don’t also have to read about my laser hair removal (and vice versus), but it seems like a waste of space so just skip to the part that’s more interesting to you.

Evan & Caroline’s First Dental Appointments

I took the kids to a pediatric dentist hoping they would be more prepared for possibly difficult children…and they WERE. The paperwork I filled out included spaces to write down stuff like pets and hobbies  so the hygienist talked to Evan about those as a distraction. She sang him little songs and let him touch and look at and work all the tools before she used them. The appointment went tongue depressor/saliva culture, rinse, brush with regular brush, rinse, brush with electric brush, rinse, tarter scraping, flossing, tooth count, fluoride treatment (which was just brushed on), see dentist. Evan LOVED the water squirter and the mouth vacuum and didn’t mind the electric toothbrush but was NOT a fan of the scraper. By the end of the appointment he had to sit in my lap and lean back so I could hold him still but we got through it. The worst part was after his Childrens Dental Cleaning we had to go in and see the dentist so she could count all his teeth again but he was OVER IT by that point. Luckily, the dentist was just as kind and understanding as the hygienist, check them out for an affordable dental check-up.

Since Caroline is only 16 months, she got her teeth brushed with a regular toothbrush, got to play with all the tools and then freaked the hell out when the hygienist tried to look in her mouth. She also got a fluoride treatment and had a couple of spots that needed to be flossed (turns out you only have to floss the teeth that are really close together and most baby teeth aren’t, so my lack of flossing wasn’t quite as serious of a sin as I thought). Poor baby screamed through the tooth counting from both the hygienist and the dentist but again they were super understanding and kind. They were kind of the same as the professional dentist Vinterbro Tannklinikk. The office had lots of toys and stickers and everyone was very friendly and happy. Also, the building is brand new and extremely fancy and impressive and if anyone local is looking for a dentist let me know and I’ll recommend them.

Truly, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. I think using a pediatric dentist who knows how to work with kids was a big part of the success. And bless them, because dealing with kids like mine (or worse) all day must be EXHAUSTING.

Laser Hair Removal Treatment

I was really worried about pretty much everything surrounding this appointment, but it was not awful. I had been avoiding doing any, uh, grooming on my bikini line (since that’s what I chose to use my Groupon to have lasered) but it turns out that was the wrong decision. The tech explained you’re supposed to shave anywhere you want lasered so she knows what shape you’re looking for. Since no one told me, she just used a little disposable razor to do it after I put on the very sexy disposable underpants. On a scale of people up in your lady business, it fell somewhere between wearing a bathing suit in public and a regular bikini wax. It was nowhere NEAR as personal as an OB exam or a Brazilian wax.

The tech covered the area in ultrasound gel which was cold but I think helped with the pain. The laser was a lot smaller than I imagined – sort of like one of those hotel hair dryers – with two little metal bits about an half an inch apart. People had told me it hurt like a rubberband snapping or a burn, but I thought it felt pretty much exactly like plucking out hairs with tweezers. She zapped me probably 50 times for each side and the whole thing took less than 20 minutes. I’d say about 40% of the zaps were painless, 40% were a little bit stingy, and 20% really hurt. For some reason the left side hurt a lot more than the right side.

The laser sends a super strong beam of heat right down into the hair follicle and kills it. It doesn’t remove the hair that’s there now, so I’m supposed to keep shaving and exfoliating every day until the hair that’s in the shaft under the skin gets pushed out. Hair grows and falls out in cycles (which is why you lose so much hair post-partum – it stops falling out and just grows until after you give birth) so I have to go back 2 more times to get all the hairs but I’m supposed to see 40-80% of the hair fall out in the next 2 weeks. My next appointment is in 6 weeks with a slightly stronger laser and 6 weeks after that I’ll get an even stronger laser and then I should be hairfree. Since I am fair skinned and don’t tan well, I’m an excellent candidate for this kind of removal and probably won’t have any discoloration. My skin is still a tiny bit tender but not anywhere near the pain level of a wax. I already feel like this was the best $99 I’ve ever spent on myself.

And that ends the weirdest combination blog post ever. Any questions?

Here are some ways in which I am extremely uncool:

– I really like the song “Boyfriend” by Justin Bieber. I told people on Twitter I thought it was a Justin Timberlake song and most of them agreed which means I’m not crazy, just lame. Oddly, fifteen years ago I would have been EVEN MORE embarrassed to admit I liked Justin Timberlake than I am to admit I like this song now. I think I am just a lot harder to shame now that I’m a mom and have to do stuff like collect poop samples from my kid.

– I’ve been collecting poop samples from my kid. I have no idea where I should keep them until I turn them in to the doctor.

– I bought the One Direction album on iTunes and listened to it yesterday at the dentist. I lied to the him when he asked what I was listening to and said “NPR”. I sing along – LOUDLY – to that “What makes you beautiful” song anytime it comes on in the car.

– I like Smash even more than I like Glee. I don’t care one tiny bit how improbable and ridiculous any of it is – although I am really, really, enjoying my friend Sara’s snarky recaps on Television Without Pity.

– I am half way through the 3rd book in the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy. I would NOT like to talk about them.

– I have already started planning my outfits for BlogHer in NYC in August. I will try really really hard NOT to mention anything about it again until at least July. Except that I am rooming with these swell gals and I’m super excited.

– Because I am a terrible, neglectful mother Evan hasn’t been to the dentist yet. My office doesn’t see kids until 3 so I was waiting, but they’re a “family” dentist not a pediatric dentist and I’m not sure they’re prepared for what I am sure is going to be a very very angry toddler. Our insurance switched providers on May 1st and I checked with the local pediatric office and they accept it so I scheduled back to back appointments this morning. I cried after I made them because I am SO worried about how it will go/if they have cavities. I am probably crying at the appointments right now.

– This afternoon I am getting laser hair removal. I bought my treatments with a Groupon.

Ok, your turn. I’m going to need a laugh after both kinds of appointments today.

Driving home on Sunday, E and I were talking about what we would do if we won the $130 million Powerball, and I said “You know, I think I’d stay here in our house.” Of course, I’d ALSO buy a fabulous beach mansion so I could skip November-March in New England. But April in Connecticut kind of rocks.

Apologies for the ridiculous number of pictures.

Mystic Seaport:

She INSISTED on wearing this hat all day

An extremely true-to-life family photo

E’s hockey game:

This just cracks me up

Playing on the patio:

Practicing her balance beam skills

I have no idea what she's doing. Weirdo.

Evan learned how to skate:

He did so well for his first time!

It’s supposed to be 85 degrees today, so we’re going to a playdate, taking a nice long nap and then playing in the sprinklers until it’s time to make burgers on the grill. That’ll do, Connecticut, that’ll do.