Friday, January 24, 2020

The Fish in the Toilet Story

** This is an incident that happened at our house last January. It showed up in my memories today, and I realized I wanted to share it here. **

It's story time folks. 

  Last Thursday night one of our Betta fish passed away. I was up most of the night with a sick kid and didn't bother to do anything with it until the next day. 
It was Alex's fish, so I had him and Emma flush it down the toilet. In typical preteen/teen fashion they started goofing off, being silly and absolutely ridiculous about it. Alex kept saying he didn't want to flush it, then Emma was joking that it didn't go down. Which then morphed into them continually 'pranking' each other about it coming back up in the toilet, bathtub, bathroom sink etc. 
Low and behold, who was watching them? Their newly potty trained, now traumatized baby sister, Anna. 

  Yep. She went from being all but 100% potty trained to absolutely positively NOT potty trained in about thirty seconds flat. She was also afraid to wash her hands and take a bath because the fish might come back up the drain and 'bite her on the butt'.
  
  I started pulling out all the tricks trying to remedy the situation. Lies, candy, bribery. At one point in time I tried to just place her on the toilet and it looked much like the old cartoons, when they try to bathe a cat! 😂🐈🚿 It. Was. Bad. 

  We finally got her to go number one on the potty again, but she refused to go number 2 because the fish might see. 🤷🤦‍♀️
We tried to tell her that we took the fish back out, but she wanted proof. 
We told her the fish was never really flushed, bit we had no fish to prove the fact. 

  After many days of discussion and many more accidents, we collectively decided (through three year old reasoning.) That the best approach was to 'remove' the fish from the pipes under the toilet, take it to the vet, (the same vet that our dog sees, per Anna's instructions.) And bring it back home after it is 'all better', as proof that it's 'all better'. Super Dad to the rescue. 

  I'lll be the first to say that I'm not one to play along with little kids' whims, but this was fear. Real fear. 
She gave her daddy special instructions on the pipe that she thought the fish was hiding in, the 'little baby pipe' in case anyone wanted to know. As well as gave him a description of the fish in case any other fishes were in the pipes as well, 'Him's has black hair.'

  My husband just sent me this picture asking if it is close enough to the original fish, and is on his way home with our now revived miracle fish. While we all pray that this is enough proof for her to get past the toilet fear. 😌

Myself, my close friend and the kids have been laying the ground work all day to make this as smooth of a transition as possible. I also may have promised to buy her a new baby doll if she starts going number two in the potty again. Desparate times my friends, desperate times. 

  
  We have learned three things this week.

1. Older kids are fun, yet highly overrated.

2. There isn't much that two desperate parents won't do to help potty train their kiddo. Especially their last one. 

3. To never underestimate the determination of a strong willed and frightened child.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Debt Free Chicken Wings

 Let's talk about debt for a minute.
 We have made our fair share of mistakes with money in the past; from owning too much house for our income, credit cards, not budgeting, multiple vehicle payments, the list goes on. We even did the really dumb things like financing meat and fitness equipment. We have joked that the only debt mistakes we didn't make were student loans and time shares.
  When we started on our debt free journey and worked to change our habits, and dig ourselves out of the debt we had created for ourselves, we all had to make some sacrafices. 

  One thing that hit my husband hard was chicken wings. 
  Yes, really.
  He loves chicken wings, always has and probably always will. During baby step 2, he decided to give up chicken wings. This was not an easy thing for him to do. However, when he saw how expensive they were, and how fast it adds up, he was usually happy to skip them. He still had his moments though, one Friday evening a little over half way through our journey, he proclaimed 'When we are debt free, I'm ordering wings whenever I want.'
And I said. "So basically you want 'debt free chicken wings?'"
To which he replied. 'Yes, when we are done, I will have my debt free chicken wings whenever I want and I won't feel bad. Because it's a luxury, and we will have earned it. 

  Guys, he takes his chicken wings very seriously. The very day we paid off our last date we ordered pizza to celebrate and he brought home three kinds of wings! 
  
  It's been almost three years since we finished baby step 2, and he almost always orders chicken wings. He proudly brings them home and chows them down. I have not once ever said a word about him ordering wings since finishing step 2. Because everyone needs that one thing that they can just have after finishing that big step. Now, I just secretly smile remembering that conversation every single time I see him add wings to our pizza order. It's a good memory, of days and debt that have 'gone bye'. 
*See what I did there?*

  Friends, temporarily giving something up to reach a goal that will forever change your life will always be 100% worth it in the end. 

  So tell me, what is you one thing you are giving up to make your life better in the long run? 

What's your 'debt free chicken wing'?

Happy Saturday!
-Lyndsay