Cheating, Winning and Playing Games

My daughter is a cheater. Yup, whenever we play a game, she cheats. When we play UNO and she gets a Draw 4 card, she will draw only 3. When she deals in a card game, she chooses her cards VERY CAREFULLY, if you know what I mean. When we play Feed the Kitty, she does not admit it when she has ran out of mice. She even cheats at Pretty, Pretty Princess! So, here is my question; when you play games with your kids, do you let them win? Am I wrong for calling her out on her cheating? More importantly, does anyone else HATE the game of LIFE as much as I do?! I am thinking about hiding it from her...

stuff I found in my washer

Here you see one of several silly bands, candy wrappers, a penny, a bouncy ball, a sticker, pink rubber hair bands and a yo-yo shaped like a hamburger. There was also an orbee and a piece of gum stuck to the inside of the washer. I guess I need to start checking my kid's pockets before washing her clothes! I also guess I should have purchased the extended warranty on the washer and dryer, oh well!

You'll Eat it and You'll Freakin' Like It!!!!

My kid is the pickiest eater in the world! Of course this could be some sort of karma coming back to me from when I was a kid and would only eat hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, or mashed potatoes without lumps, but COME ON! My brother and I did not hold a candle to this girl! My daughter will not eat any vegetables except tomatoes. And I think that a tomato is actually a fruit and does not count. She will only eat noodles without sauce. Sandwiches without crust- forget it, she doesn't even eat sandwiches- not even PB&J. What is wrong with this kid?! Breakfast for dinner is a nearly every day occurrence in our household, because believe it or not, in addition to sugar laden cereal, she will actually consume eggs. Even when I take her to the dreaded McDonald's, she STILL won't eat all four chicken nuggets or finish her fries. Although she will drink an entire milkshake- she is human after all. Once in a while, I can talk her into eating a "crabby patty", but you can't use that trick every day- only about once a week. I even tried that Jessica Seinfeld book where you trick the kids into eating healthy by serving them chicken nuggets coated in broccoli puree ("why is there GREEN stuff on my chicken nuggets, I am NOT eating them") and disguising cauliflower as mashed potatoes ("these mashed potatoes SMELL FUNNY, I am NOT eating this"). I have tried bribing her ("I will give you a yummy dessert if you eat your dinner"), tricking her (see above), and threatening her ("fine, then you will not get ANYTHING to eat for the rest of the day!) She does not care and has a will of steel. So, lately my strategy is to cook what I want for dinner and if she won't eat it, give her a bowl of cereal. Any ideas for how to make a picky kid eat besides screaming "YOU'LL EAT IT AND YOU'LL LIKE IT! at her?

Middle Schoolers and Crooked Spines

Remember the whole scoliosis screening from back in middle school? Today I had to take my class to get theirs. Middle school is apparently a good time to check kids for scoliosis because if they can notice it while they are still growing, it is easier to fix it. Plus, kids carry those HEAVY backpacks which can make the problem worse.
I remember back in middle school having to take the letter about the scoliosis screening to my parents, begging them to write me a note so I would not have to do it, being told no, then forgetting about it until the day of the screening. Where I promptly FREAKED because I had forgotten to wear a swimsuit under my shirt, and was COMPLETELY embarrassed over having to take off my shirt to let the school nurse see my spine. I don't remember what happened after that, so it must not have been as bad as I thought it would be.
Now, my class could not walk in a straight quiet line, even if I paid them a dollar apiece, but on the way to the screening today, they were in a silent, straight albeit VERY slow moving line. When we arrived outside of the screening room, one little girl looked at me with very large eyes and said "my mom said I didn't have to do this". I said "do you have a note?" She said no, so I told her sorry. So, they all went in the room and then I ran up to the office for a few minutes. When I came back to pick them up, they were all standing there laughing, and told me that they didn't even have to take off their shirts. They also said that it felt like a massage and tried to convince me to go get one too!

TAKE YOUR MEDICINE!!!!

My daughter is so bad about taking medicine! I guess she comes by it honestly, because when I was little I remember my mom having to call her brother, who is a pharmacist, to order a special grape flavored cough medicine for me- that I still threw up. But, I think that my daughter has me beat. First of all, she throws up cough medicine and pretty much any liquid medication I try to give to her. I have tried having it flavored, giving her a popsicle to freeze her taste buds, and threatening to spank her if she does not SWALLOW IT NOW!!! A few years ago I tried to get her a flu shot, and my doctor ended up having to chase her around the room trying to stick her with the needle. The next year, my doctor suggested I either look into the one that just sprays up their nose, or just take our chances, but she was NOT going to give her another shot. I even had her speak to a pharmacist, her doctor and my mom about why it is important to take her medicine. So, do any of you moms have any tricks up your sleeve for how you get your kids to take their medicine?

What a good number one will do for you...

I had a boy in my class today that I noticed was sort of clutching his stomach. I asked him if he was OK and he said that his stomach hurt. So, I went through the typical teacher interrogation: did you eat lunch? what did you eat? do you have to use the bathroom? would you like to go see the nurse? He tells me "No, I am sure it will pass". So I said "why don't you go walk out to the bathroom and get a drink of water, maybe if you walk around a little it will feel better". Well, he was gone for a few minutes, and he comes back, and on his way to his seat he tells me "well, I guess all I needed was a number one- I feel much better now!" Fabulous!

A sick day will wear you out

My daughter and I have both been sick for two weekends now. We have been coughing sneezing with fevers and she has a confirmed case of the flu. Even though she is sick, she never slows down- not even with a 104 degree fever! I think I probably could have gotten more rest if I had gone in to work and taught 120 middle schoolers. Seriously. Here is a sampling of what we did yesterday: woke up at 7:30, played some games, watched some tv, built fairy houses with acorns, leaves, mini-bird houses and hot glue, had lunch, watched a little more tv, snuck into the library for 10 minutes to switch out our library books and went through the McDonalds drive through for ice cream (I swear we did not breathe on anyone!), took naps, made some crafts, painted each other's nails, cooked dinner that she wouldn't eat, watched a little more tv, colored pictures, took bubble baths, watched a little more tv, read some books and FINALLY went to bed! I am exhausted just typing this! What do you do when your kids are sick to entertain them?