Happy Mother's Day

When I was an infant, I relied on my mother. As a small child, I loved my mother. When I became a teenager, I hated my mother. As I grew up in my 20s, I questioned my mother. As I became a mother, I seeked out my mother. And now that I am a mother, I appreciate my mother more then ever. With all her imperfections, bountifully flawed, I choose to only recall the good. She, despite the bad, has helped me become the person, the woman I am today.

Her actions as a mom, both positive and negative, taught me resilience and strength. Power of faith and of ones own resolve. I was not the perfect child, I rebelled in ways that people would be surprised to know. Nevertheless, I came out the other side, stronger, wiser, full of empathy and love. These lessons I bring into my parenting.

Now with three kids of my own, I try to do better. There are days as a mom I feel defeated and question my "mom skills". I wonder if I am doing any of it right.  I've learned that only a good mom would ask herself that because it means we care about our kids, that they matter. When I find myself saying "oh, that mom makes it look so easy." I recall a Ms. Sallie, when i told her, "I just don't want to mess them up." and she simply replied "Oh honey, you are going to one way or another. We can't be perfect." Motherhood comes with no book all though there are a million that will tell us one way or another how to be with our kids. In the end, we all write our own books. So I just do the best I can.

I'm taking the time to know my kids as individuals and am allowing them to teach me as I teach them. I am doing my best to raise them with love and compassion. They teach me to practise patience and understanding. Most importantly they remind me the importance of breathing! When the madness of scheduling for a family of five can seem endless or the kids all screaming for me at once puts me at the edge, I breathe. The crazy passes and then I can tend to the next task or child.

A short note of thanks to my second mother, my sister. She was always there to pick up the pieces where my mom perhaps slipped. She protected me from others and myself. She tried her best to keep me safe. Even in the worst of times as sisters, she always was there for me. She has always been the warm jacket on a blustery winters day. Thanks M for not letting me go out in the snow in high waters.

So Happy Mother's Day, to all mothers out there, new and experienced. For the dads, who have the job of mom as well. Keep it up, your doing great! We have the best salary-less job in the world. We get paid with hugs, kisses and with the bright smiles of our children. For me, that is payment enough.

Enjoy your Mother's Day!

And as always, Be Blessed, Be Healthy and Be Beautiful!

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Diaper ouchies!

Motherhood once again has taken over. The birth of the twins hasn't allotted me much free time to write or research any new products. Mostly all baby, all the time.

However, I did get to try a variety of diaper rash ointments recently on the twins and I have the best one I found to treat the rash once it rears it's ugly head (get it, rears?).

So my newest of two babies developed a diaper rash while using a "prevention" cream. I was using a popular product called Butt Paste. I normally find that this works very well, however, this time around,  it wasn't and the rash got worse. Rashes are bad enough on infants but even worse with preemies. So off I went to the store to find a better product.

 

If you ask a mom, what A&D ointment is, she is sure to respond "butt cream" or "rash ointment". The original A&D is for prevention of diaper rash. I don't use it because it creates heat on the skin which I find unnecessary. My son was past the point of prevention. His diaper rash had small spots of raw skin and I knew the original A&D wouldn't help this situation. I purchased Triple Paste but that didn't help either and dried out the skin on my fingers from application. They used it at the hospital but it didn't seem to work for him at all.

When I can, I prefer to use the most natural products I can find. In my search for a cream to heal what ailed my son, I came across an A&D product, Treat cream, that I was not familiar with. It was new to me. Two of the ingredients listed were Aloe and Zinc Oxide. We know that aloe is great for helping repair damaged/injured skin.  Zinc oxide is a skin protectant often found in creams, lotions and ointments used to prevent or treat minor skin burns and irritation. So I purchased it because I felt the Aloe alone would be effective.

Final review:

A&D Treat cream works and works well! My sons rash was bad and in one days use, it was almost gone. By morning, it had completely disappeared. I can't say enough about it. Should I see their skin getting the slightest pink, I use it for a quick fix. Neither of the babies have had a rash since that second week after they were born. 

Other rash preventatives:

This may sound crazy but for me it works and if you can deal with the clean up, Ido recommend. When cleaning the babies up, I stopped using wipes and went back to using cotton balls or rounds to cleanse skin with simple water. Then I follow with a dry wash cloth to dry skin prior to putting another diaper on. There has been no need for ointment and they are doing very well. Also, I don't always use disposable diapers. Using cloth diapers more often helps the skin breathe better. My only issue is that you have to change these diapers more often and wash them regularly with a special detergent.

As always, Be Blessed, Be Happy, Be Beautiful!