I interviewed with an Attorney a little while ago, but things seemed to be dragging a bit with summer vacation schedules, etc. He's a criminal defense (and a bunch of other stuff) attorney, and wants someone to keep his court calendar for him. He wanted to bring someone in to help out, but wasn't sure about going full time. So, instead, we are starting out with some part time work. Two mornings a week, plus some additional hours here and there. He's acknowledged that he'd like to gradually add more hours, and I'd like that, but I'm just glad for the experience even if it stays as it is for a little while.
We started the mornings this week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm currently only supposed to be working 4 days at my In House job -- so instead of having a day off during the week, I instead have two mornings off to go to court for my "second job". I'm still learning, obviously, I can't take his calendar off his hands quite yet, but after doing two days of shadowing, I don't think it's too far off.
I've had so much fun, so far. The cases are serious, as most criminal cases are, and quite a few of his clients are in custody as we move the process of getting them to trial, but it's exciting. I mean, it's a lot more "fly by the seat of your pants" than anything I'm used to, and it's been a great learning experience. We're basically on our feet from 8.30 to 1pm, moving from one court room to another, from one client to another, and it's such a fast pace. This afternoon, as I'm able to actually sit down and look forward to the weekend, my adrenaline has finally let up a bit and I'm feeling exhausted but excited.
I stopped by his office this afternoon on my way back to my In House job, and they handed me a stack of papers about 8 inches high of court transcripts I have to read to write a Criminal Appellate Brief, you know... for my free time. Which is basically non-existent now!
When the Attorney committed to the two mornings, I was thrilled. But quickly, I realized that I had accepted a second job without cutting any responsibility at my current job. So, these next few weeks should be exciting!
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Monday, July 13, 2015
Potty Training: Tackling Nighttime
I seriously cannot BELIEVE we've waited this long to start potty training Mia overnight. Every month, I still dutifully add a pack of training pants to my Honest Company order, and every month, I tell myself that this is the last time we are spending that extra $14, or whatever it is. It's starting to get a little ridiculous that my completely verbal and communicative 4 year old wakes me up on weekend mornings telling me that her diaper is "melting". A couple of weeks ago, Mia and Lucy went to a babysitter's house and I had to include Mia's overnight diaper in the instructions -- while the babysitter's 2 year old was completely diaper-free.
I've had a million reasons not to start. First, because Mia has never, not once, woken up with a dry training diaper. I keep reading that night training is physiological, that the kid's bladder capacity will be the indicator that she is ready to go all night without going. Well, I think I'll be waiting forever if I do that. And, it's impossible to know when she actually goes... does she hold it for most of the night and then just go in the morning when she wakes up? I have no idea. Second, because Mia has historically been a terrible sleeper. Mia didn't regularly sleep through the night until she was at least 18 months old, and even then, bedtime itself was a nightmare until recently. So, I've been dreading rocking the boat.
So, it was perfect timing when I was asked whether I was interested in reviewing Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki with the promise that there was a whole chapter on nighttime training. I mean, when I started potty training Mia a few months after she turned 2, I had a self-imposed deadline of her 3rd birthday to start nighttime training, and that year came and went with a few meager attempts, during which Mia wet the bed within an hour of falling asleep.
So, now we're doing it. I've read the chapter (and a couple of others) and am going to start putting things into practice. Jamie says, right off the bat, that there are two things you have to do to night time train: 1) limit water intake and 2) wake them up to pee. So, OK. We're forging ahead. We're up at least once every night with Lucy anyway, so we (by WE I mean B, since I'm the one doing the feeding) might as well wake Mia while we're at it. Anyway, I've liked reading the parts of the book that I've read so far. I don't usually find Potty Training books terribly helpful; I've checked a few out of the library, but I've liked the instructions she's given so far! Her writing style is straight to the point, simple, but funny!
We've done 2 nights so far -- night 1 went well, completely dry. Granted, it was a Saturday night so we were up late and super vigilant. We woke Mia up 3 times, and she went twice. The second night... didn't go as well. Despite waking her up twice, and having her go twice, she wet the bed, twice. Once within 10 minutes of her being in bed -- I'm not sure she was even asleep so I'm a bit puzzled on that one. But the second time was in the morning. Again, I'm not sure if she was even asleep when it happened, since she came into my bedroom to alert me to the fact that her bed had "melted". I honestly think she might have forgotten she was sans-diaper and followed her usual habit of going first thing. Bumps in the road, for sure, but we aren't getting discouraged just yet.
Oh, and let me share this one trick I found on Pinterest or something to make middle of the night sheet changes easier: cover the mattress with a water proof protector under the fitted sheet, natch. BUT then, put a couple of puppy training pads down, and cover with another fitted sheet (and repeat as many times as you like). If there's an accident, remove the fitted sheet, and hopefully your puppy pads will have caught the "wet" and kept the next layer of sheet dry!
Like I said, I was sent a copy of Oh Crap! Potty Training for no charge if I was interested in writing a review - which I was! Opinions and execution is my own.
I've had a million reasons not to start. First, because Mia has never, not once, woken up with a dry training diaper. I keep reading that night training is physiological, that the kid's bladder capacity will be the indicator that she is ready to go all night without going. Well, I think I'll be waiting forever if I do that. And, it's impossible to know when she actually goes... does she hold it for most of the night and then just go in the morning when she wakes up? I have no idea. Second, because Mia has historically been a terrible sleeper. Mia didn't regularly sleep through the night until she was at least 18 months old, and even then, bedtime itself was a nightmare until recently. So, I've been dreading rocking the boat.
So, it was perfect timing when I was asked whether I was interested in reviewing Oh Crap! Potty Training by Jamie Glowacki with the promise that there was a whole chapter on nighttime training. I mean, when I started potty training Mia a few months after she turned 2, I had a self-imposed deadline of her 3rd birthday to start nighttime training, and that year came and went with a few meager attempts, during which Mia wet the bed within an hour of falling asleep.
So, now we're doing it. I've read the chapter (and a couple of others) and am going to start putting things into practice. Jamie says, right off the bat, that there are two things you have to do to night time train: 1) limit water intake and 2) wake them up to pee. So, OK. We're forging ahead. We're up at least once every night with Lucy anyway, so we (by WE I mean B, since I'm the one doing the feeding) might as well wake Mia while we're at it. Anyway, I've liked reading the parts of the book that I've read so far. I don't usually find Potty Training books terribly helpful; I've checked a few out of the library, but I've liked the instructions she's given so far! Her writing style is straight to the point, simple, but funny!
We've done 2 nights so far -- night 1 went well, completely dry. Granted, it was a Saturday night so we were up late and super vigilant. We woke Mia up 3 times, and she went twice. The second night... didn't go as well. Despite waking her up twice, and having her go twice, she wet the bed, twice. Once within 10 minutes of her being in bed -- I'm not sure she was even asleep so I'm a bit puzzled on that one. But the second time was in the morning. Again, I'm not sure if she was even asleep when it happened, since she came into my bedroom to alert me to the fact that her bed had "melted". I honestly think she might have forgotten she was sans-diaper and followed her usual habit of going first thing. Bumps in the road, for sure, but we aren't getting discouraged just yet.
Oh, and let me share this one trick I found on Pinterest or something to make middle of the night sheet changes easier: cover the mattress with a water proof protector under the fitted sheet, natch. BUT then, put a couple of puppy training pads down, and cover with another fitted sheet (and repeat as many times as you like). If there's an accident, remove the fitted sheet, and hopefully your puppy pads will have caught the "wet" and kept the next layer of sheet dry!
Like I said, I was sent a copy of Oh Crap! Potty Training for no charge if I was interested in writing a review - which I was! Opinions and execution is my own.
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