Concessions

Since having Hurricane, I've had to make certain concessions that I hadn't made with Girl X.
With her, it was so easy (or at least that's how I remember it until I actually look back on the journal I kept for her and realize that she did not, in fact, cure cancer while baking me that perfect triple chocolate cake at the age of 6 months). She slept (never mind that from the time she was 14 months old until she was 2 and half I had to drive her around to get her to fall asleep. Once she was out that was it), she ate everything you gave her (except fruit. Fruit was evil), she let me change her diaper (I'm totally ignoring the fact that it was often after she had already thrown her full diaper at my head).

With Hurricane.... well.....

1) I've come to realize that ketchup? It's a vegetable. And the only one he will eat.
I accepted this as fact as I watched him use his grilled cheese sandwich to shovel the ketchup into his mouth and then 'mmmmmm'ed at me as though he'd just had his first taste of those homeade peanut butter eggs I've been salivating over.
Vegetables. Have I mentioned that they are the devil according to Hurricane? Yes. I thought so.
I'm no longer able to hide them in his other food as he will simply spit out the offending bits and continue with the 'good' stuff.
His eating habits make me grind my teeth. And just when I think he will live on pancakes, grilled cheese and cookies? He decides he likes something reasonably healthy (hummus) and I get my hopes up.

2) Sleep. With Girl X, I never would have dreamed of letting her sleep anywhere but her bed or, out of desperation, she could maybe nap on the couch with me.

Hurricane? He has slept the last 5 nights on the floor in front of his door.
Sleep training my ass.
I finally started putting a blanket down in front of the door so at least he wouldn't be directly on the floor. And the gate meant to keep him from wandering the house all night?
When he gets bored with my 'sleep-training', he simply throws his body into the gate thereby knocking it over.

3) Clothing optional.

When Girl X was young, she was always dressed. It didn't matter whether we were leaving the house or not. She was dressed (with the exception of when we'd go to the grocery store and she'd strip naked because nothing says naked like the produce department).

Hurricane. If we're not leaving the house? There are days where it's just not worth it. He hates wearing clothes. It gets in the way of his climbing (which? I am so going to get into. Another day) and peeing on Cat. And I just don't see the point in spending an hour getting him dressed when he's going to strip himself within 20 minutes.

Still, there are some things that are hard and fast rules in this house:

1)Barney is evil and shall never grace the tv screen.

2) Teletubbies are bastards and after spending nearly 2 years watching my brain cells die while Girl X learned to walk the way they do? Funk that.

3) If you're ever not sure if you should do something (this goes for Mr X too) just ask yourself.... How pissed will mom be when this breaks/ gets ruined/ forces her to spend the evening in the emergency room?
That counts for using antique linen as an oil rag, or being the playground daredevil.