Pica

Listening to: Lorde

Mood: Tired, frustrated, tired, tired, tired.

As a baby, Sam was every mother's dream come true when it came to eating. He was my kale baby! He ate every vegetable (and more!) you could put in front of him and he ate A LOT. Like, wayyyyy more than any other kid I knew. 

I was so proud. 

Shortly after we started him on solids, he began the 

"put-everything-in-your-mouth" stage. 

We thought it would end at some point. Surely he wouldn't continue to put everything in his mouth forever, right? 

Right?

Wrong. 

What started as typical phase in every child's life has quickly spun out of control. At 22 months old, my sweet Sammy appears to have developed Pica. 

His favourite item? Books. 

What used to be his favourite activity (reading) has now become his favourite activity for another reason (eating). 

Some of you might be laughing thinking, "Oh, Courtney. How you must be exaggerating. All children eat non-food things now and again. Such an amateur..." 

I would then chuckle at your comment and invite you into my library. There you would find DOZENS of books with missing pages, covers, and spines. All eaten by my little boy. Some suggest only letting him read board books. 

No good. He already ate them all. 

The good news is that I'm not alone. Google told me that lots of parents have dealt with this problem. 

The bad news is there is no real solution. 

Any of you dealt with this? Let me know your thoughts. 

technology

(starting him young)

from the moment i laid eyes on that humongous desktop computer my parents bought back in 1994, i fell in love with technology. 

i never "wrote" letters, i typed them. i spent my lunch break in the library reading junk e-mail just because the idea of having any e-mail was wonderful. i was 19 years old when i happily signed the next two years of my life away for that beautiful nokia cell phone. 

technology was amazing. 

and with each year, something more incredible was introduced! things became faster, smarter, sleeker, shinier, smaller, bigger, and prettier. and then came social media: MySpace, Tumblr, Flickr, Vine, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, Instagram, Reddit, Google+, Pinterest, etc.

it was a technology lovers dream come true!

well, at first. 

it seemed the thing i once loved no longer held the same value. with each hour i spent on Facebook, one less hour was spent reading a book. with each hour i spent playing Words with Friends, one less hour was spent playing Ring-Around-The-Rosie with Sam. with each hour i spent watching YouTube videos, one less hour was spent playing a board game with my husband. 

i was examining my bucket list one night and dreaming of all the things i wanted to accomplish before i died: milk a cow (done!), learn Portuguese, knit a scarf, plant a garden, etc. I then realized that all the hours i spent online, on my phone, watching TV, were replacing moments i could be having with my family, creating memories, or learning new skills. 

i no longer held technology to the same esteem. 

this isn't to say that technology is bad. it isn't. i still love typing letters. i love taking pictures and sharing them online with friends. i love being able to Skype with my friend in Germany. i just want to use technology in a better way. 

where is this bringing me? well, sometimes the best way to break a bad habit is to remove it from your life. for me, it's saying goodbye to Facebook. yes, that first week will be hard, but in the end i know that i will benefit greatly from it. 

that being said, i would LOVE to keep in contact with all my wonderful friends and family, however on a greater level (writing letters, Skype, TALKING on the phone are all great ways). 

luckily, because i am obsessed with taking pictures of my children, sharing funny articles, and writing long journal entries about nothing, you can still find me on instagram, twitter, and my awesome blog. haha, no way could i eliminate myself entirely from the great world wide web.  :)

in case you want to follow me...

instagram: rainbow_zoe

twitter: @courtroskelley

email: courtneyroskelley@gmail.com

blog: croskelley.blogspot.com