#momblogger – Two Cents Worth of Mom Life

“Three More Minutes, Mom”

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Carly Caracciolo

My son is nearing his third birthday and I’m struggling to accept how fast time really moves when you have a kid.

Everyone tells you it moves fast. We know this, but then you blink and there goes another year.

I know there are many moments as parents we struggle to push through saying, “oh my gosh, when does this end?!” for whatever reason. Then we guilt ourselves wondering why we wished time away.

I hate wishing time away, I do.

However, back to me sitting on the bedroom thinking about time with our children. I’ve realized how much time he gives me to sit with him, even if it is in silence while he falls asleep after I’ve read him his bedtime stories.

His recent quote to us is, “three more minutes, mom, okay?”

He has no real concept of what time is and how long those 3 minutes are. He got that from us always preparing him for what’s happening next. We always tell him, “Hey, we’re leaving in 10 minutes.” Or “bedtime is in 5 minutes!” If he knows something is coming, the tantrums and meltdowns are much more minimal than if we spring something on him.

It’s our way to prepare and plan for him so he can understand and accept the next thing to happen. We like a plan as adults too so why shouldn’t we provide that to him as well?

Every night when I take my son to bed, we have our routine. We read a book of his choice, say our quick prayer, and go to sleep while I hold his hand. The moment we finish that prayer, he always says to me, “stay in my room three more minutes, mom, okay?”

Instant moment to melt into the floor as his sweet voice asks that.

But I do sit there and wait for him to fall asleep. Of course, we have the days he springs up and realizes I’m leaving and freaks out. Other moments, I can sneak out quietly and shut the door without being detected.

What I realized though, is even if I’m in his room for only 15 minutes every night, just me and him, alone in the quiet, we get almost 4 total days a year of simply time together.

Obviously, there are nights it is much more than those 15 minutes, and some are much less. However, the point I’m making is to stay for those “three more minutes.” They add up.

That gives me almost 4 entire days of time with solely me and my son in 1 year. That may not seem like much to some but as they grow and time flies on by us, those 4 days of time stay with us as we watch them sleep, giggle when you read their favorite book, or simply cry for you to stay a moment longer.

Stay three more minutes moms and dads. That time adds up. You won’t regret it.

Bomb Squad

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Carly Caracciolo

I’ve come to the conclusion parents of toddlers could all be viable candidates for the bomb squad. Parents of any age kid actually. All phases bring new tactics.

If you know, you know.

If not, let me explain my thoughts.

These tiny humans are elite explosive devices. They can be triggered at any second. At times they appear to be no harm and an innocent matter. But always destructive when they implode.

From the moment they’re born we treat them as a very delicate bundle so we do not break them. That is absolutely expected and rightfully should be how every parent is with the tiny babes.

We have found every creek and crack in our wood floors in our home since he has been born. Truly, since our son was tiny he was a great sleeper. The sleep regressions have all come and gone in their due time. They are pretty spot on with the timing!

This recent one is a doozy.

I have had a lot of time sitting on his bedroom floor to think while he falls asleep. That is when I determined a parent could be a bomb squad member.

The patience we have waiting for them to calm and fall asleep is amazing, most nights. Sitting so still and speaking so softly to them.

When holding their hand, you have to move so incredibly slow to not wake them from the feeling of your hand leaving theirs. That is tactical. I have had some nights I literally lift one single finger at a time ensuring he won’t wake at each movement.

Exiting their room in a stealth like fashion so you do not step on a creeky piece of floor to wake them. We have to move slow and steady as if we are tip toeing around landmines because that’s what they are.

Parenting takes skill and tactical moves. Like when I crawled out on all fours the other night and my husband was laughing so hard once he caught me. No video evidence because I silently threatened him as he laughed.

In reality, our real bomb squad members are amazing at what they do and for good reason. I’m not knocking anyone’s job.

As a mom who overthinks while awake during the trying times, I think of ways to lighten the stress of the situation.

Nights are tough right now for us. It is a phase, I hope, like the others we will soon have behind us. Until that time comes, we will see what other fun thoughts I can come up with!

Mom life, Two Cents Worth of...

It’s Time for School!

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Carly Caracciolo

Every ad is for back to school. Every insta-story is a kiddo visiting classrooms, trying on new clothes for the school year, or first day photos. School starts this week or next week for lots of kids and teachers. 😄

I’m here hugging and snuggling my 2-year-old as tight as I can for our weekly movie night hoping to freeze time and not have the next few years fly by me when I am the one sending him to school.

I’m so very thankful I’m not yet in the shoes of parents sending them off to school in our world right now. I believe every generation has moments of “this world is scary.” Our current world is certainly not the first pandemic, but it is what we’re living in here in 2021.

It’s a matter of what each generation had to deal with at the time they’re currently in.

I love watching my son grow and see his personality develop. I am wondering where the last 2 years went though. We transitioned him to a “big boy bed” this week and my mama heart is really struggling with him growing too fast! 😥

I commend so many of you with the worry and stress on your shoulders as we near this school year so fast with so much uncertainty.

The last 17 months has been a whirlwind of a life for any of us let alone parents of school aged students and the teachers they have.

Kids absolutely adapt quickly and tend to go with the flow in most cases. It’s us as their parents who struggle with the new things and changes and uncertainty of our world.

We only want the very best for our kids and what they have to see and deal with each day. Of course, we worry! If you didn’t, I’d question that.

I hope you’re all understanding, calm, rational, and kind to everyone around you during this coming year. Not a single person can say this past year has been easy or knows what is ahead. But we can all work towards making sure our kids are safe, healthy and we are all kind, not only our kids.

While I hold onto my toddler hoping to pause time, I commend you moms and dads out there preparing to send your children onto the bus and into a new school year soon. I also want to hug and give major high fives to the teachers prepping for another year ahead while you help teach and mold our children!

Whatever is coming for the plans of this awfully weird world we are in, keep your head up, stay flexible, remember to have fun, and take all the pictures. You made it through 2020 and most of 2021.

You got this and will handle this school year even better!

Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and memorable school year ahead!

Mom life, Two Cents Worth of...

Boys = Boo-boos

Posted on August 5, 2021August 5, 2021 by Carly Caracciolo

Welcome to my world of #boymom life where boo-boo’s are a regular occurrence, band-aids are the devil, and fear doesn’t exist inside my son.

I adore the fact that my child doesn’t have fear but my nerves and heart do not.

I love it because I miss those days for myself of not being afraid of anything and taking all the risks without any fear behind them. It allows kids to try so many things and experience life! Now I worry about what kind of pain I’ll be in the next few days if I choose to do something.

We joke that my son is a walking accident.

It’s not much of a joke when he truly does have scrapped knees, a busted lip or some other cut or bruise from his own actions on a regular basis.

Do not go calling the child services on me.

He is always barefoot, wanting to be “ahht-side,” playing in the dirt or mud, and always playing rough.

We allow him to take the risks he chooses, with watchful eyes. But if you’re a boy mom, you know damn well that those eyes and hands can be on them at all times, and they will still injure themselves.

It’s part of who they are!

He took a spill last Thanksgiving on concrete steps, while my husband was holding his hand, and has a tiny scar from his teeth busting through his lip. That’s our best example of holding his hand and an accident still happening. BOYS!

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want him having scars or bruises, but I also do not want to hold him back and make him afraid of anything.

Any fall he has we both are quick to tell him, “Brush it off!” and he is so good about it. It really is how you react to their situation on how they then react themselves.

This is a judgement call of knowing just how bad the situation is. If it is bad enough, mom is always there to scoop him up and hold him tight to make it better. Don’t worry, I definitely love on that little one all I can!

There’s other times he wants to jump on top of me at any given moment as if we’re in the WWE ring.

I’ll be minding my own business and he attacks me from behind screaming, “GOT YOU!” This will be interesting as he grows and gets bigger.

He will climb to the top of the couch while I’m laying on it and slide down onto me with, “yaaaah!” And other times while horsing around on the couch he’ll tumble right off of it onto the floor but hop right back up on to it again.

And my personal favorite, he will grab a bucket that fits his melon head and pull it down once he acknowledges his target and walk right into things to then pick it up and laugh.

What my point is here today is that boys always equal boo-boos. If you have a little girl who fits this mold, high five her for me!

That was me as a kid. 😊 I’m obviously only telling stories about my boy because that’s the child I have.

With every boo-boo he gets, it becomes show and tell. The pride of his fearless attitude shows.

“Mama… boo-boo.”

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaad! …boo-boo”

If you’re a stranger in the store and you say Hi to him, “wook, boo-boo”

It doesn’t matter how long those last, he loves to show them to us and let us know he had something happen.

They’re a trophy and I assume this “stage” will last a while in a boy’s world.

I don’t want that to fade, the fearlessness in his soul.

When it comes to dangerous things as he gets older, I may throw back a strong shot of whiskey to ease my nerves, but I hope he doesn’t hold himself back.

Part of being a boy and having all those boo-boos is experiencing life with the fun that surrounds the boo-boos you get.

Let’s see if I can keep up with him and try things again with him. 😉

Mom life, Two Cents Worth of...

Two Infinity & Beyond Birthday Party

Posted on July 15, 2021July 15, 2021 by Carly Caracciolo

Two months ago, was our little guy’s birthday party with our family and friends. Uh, where did those 2 months go?! Yet, let me rephrase that, where did the last 2 years go?!

I let the Pinterest mindset get the best of me and I’m not sorry about it. His little party turned out great! The weather chose not to cooperate with us, but that didn’t defeat the fun of his day.

Below are some of my tips or simply what I did for his day that maybe another parent can use to plan for their kiddo’s special day!

There were decorations I did that were cost efficient and other things that were not. I am a mom that loves to plan and someone who loves a good party. I can’t help myself when it comes to things like this and can get carried away.

I will admit I put more pressure on myself for a two-year old’s birthday than someone should. I don’t recommend it for everyone to go as far as I did but there are others who go further. I like to think I was the middle of the road with the decorations! Some might even say I took shortcuts and didn’t do what they would. It’s all about preference.

We went with a TWO Infinity and Beyond theme since he loves all of the Toy Story movies and Buzz Lightyear is his favorite character. Obviously, it’s been around a long time, so the ideas were not hard to find.

My biggest suggestion to anyone is to go to the Dollar Tree for your decoration needs first! They have much more than people think. I always make sure we go there first for anything, then get what you still need elsewhere. It saves you money in the long run!

Decorations we used for his party:

Letter board that we owned already. I have used this same letterboard through my pregnancy with him and as a decoration in our home.
- I put the saying on it, “Houston, We have a Two Year Old”
  If it seems like I have my life together, that saying is still on the board hanging on our wall. 🙃

Toy Story toys we owned became the party decorations. Set them up around the food. We had Mr. Potato Head, Buzz, Woody, and Bo Peep. Each one had a part to play with the set up and food themes.
Food Labels. I have a Cricut Joy and made labels for the foods that were themed to the movies. I used cardstock paper from the Dollar Tree. These could easily be done by hand too! Below are the ones we used for the food we had. There are many other ideas out there for additional foods!
- Space Ranger Cake
- Mr. Potato Head Chips
- Slinky Dog Hot Dogs
- “Bow” Peeps Pasta Salad
- Bullseye’s Carrot Salad (horses like carrots, duh)
- T-Rex Broccoli Salad

Pizza Planet labels inside the pizza boxes. This is where I’m not fancy and I found the logo online to print and simply taped it inside the pizza boxes.
- We ordered our favorite local pizza, Brenda’s Pizza! They have a half-priced day that I was able to snag their take-n-bakes early and freeze them for the day of. Cost savings and something everyone likes!
- We did the take-n-bakes too so that we made the pizza fresh as it was being consumed. It worked well for us!

Dollar Tree Finds:
- Balloons. I found the colors we wanted and bought a few bags. You can order helium ones as well and they always last a long while when I’ve got them there!
  - They even had a neat strip to buy to make a balloon banner that we hung from our ceiling fans. It took time, sure, but remember I’m the one who likes this kind of stuff and made that banner the day before during my son’s nap.
- Birthday Candle – The Dollar Tree is where they’re at! They have an array of colors to choose from and all kinds of fun ones too. Don’t break the bank at the local grocery store for something you’ll use once, maybe twice.
- Favors for the other kids who come. I found puzzles, pencils, chalk, and buckets for the kids! No parent wants the junk, but you can find a few nice items to put in their favors that the kids will enjoy!
Cake & Balloons themed with the movies – obviously not from the Dollar Tree!
- This is based on your budget and who you can find to make these.
- We went with who made our wedding cake 4 years ago and she did not disappoint! Mountain Flour Bakery
  She absolutely nailed his cake and the taste was amazing too!

A Template with facts about the birthday kiddo! They do have templates you can buy but I didn’t find one I liked so I made one for him!
- Another thing that proves I’m not as put together as I seem…
  I 100% forgot to put this template out for the party *Face palm*
Some of the additional things we found were from Party City
- Toy Story Table Cloths
- Toy Story Happy Birthday Banner
- Toy Story wrapping paper for his gifts

Will I do this much again? Maybe. Maybe not depending on how busy life gets.

I did say to my husband that I can’t wait for when he’s older with friends so we can go to a facility and pay them to do it all so I only have to show up with the kids and watch them have fun. It was said with love, of course. But there are things that go with planning anything that are more stressful than they need to be.

It’s up to you as their parents to make it what you want.

Don’t use me as your example to follow. Don’t use someone else either.

Set your own expectations and limitations to what you want in an event to celebrate your little ones.

Believe me, I did both of those. I had expectations, yet full limitations I plan to stick to for years to come. Because at the end of the day, what matters is that my son is the star of the show and he has fun. No one or nothing will stand in the way of that being the goal and end result of his special days.

“TWO” INFINITY & BEYOND, SPACE RANGERS!