- my iParenting

- quick clicks
- moms today articles
- moms today q&a
- message boards
- research baby names
- prepare a birth plan
- content channels
- ip channel rss feeds
- read birth stories
- read parenting stories
- recommended books
- e-newsletters
- safety recalls
- ip diaries
- ip store
- mom of the month
- dad of the month
- editor's letter
- letters to the editor
- e-newsletters
- Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters
- award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.

Donna's Diary EntriesDiary Navigation: |
10/31/06 - Happy Halloween and daylight savings early bird
November 1, 2006
Justin dressed as Superman and had a party and parade at school. I left my camera so the teacher could take pictures, but haven't had a chance to download them yet, so I'll include a picture of Justin's class from last week. It was that teacher's last day, so she wanted a picture with the class and I thought it came out nice. Anyway, Justin loved dressing up and had fun at the Halloween celebrations at school. He has never been trick or treating yet, and we had decided not to go this year either. We don't feel he is ready and doesn't know what trick or treating is yet, and evenings during the week are pretty hectic at our house as it is. As it turned out this year, I am so glad we didn't go. Justin was tired from getting up early and over-stimulated from all the fun at school, and had a total meltdown when we got home. We had no sooner given him dinner (which he didn't eat much of) and a bath, and he was just miserable all evening, crying and throwing toys around. He was yawning and rubbing his eyes, clearly tired but fought going to bed. We will see how he is next Halloween, and maybe my husband can pick him up from school early and take him trick or treating, since it will still be on a weekday. All in all though, he had a great time at school and we had gone to the Halloween party last week, so that was enough.
Although Justin now sleeps at night, any little thing can disrupt it. One of those things has been the daylight savings time change. So far every spring he has had trouble going to sleep at night, and every fall he wakes up way too early. The springtime one only lasts a week or so, but once he starts the early rising thing in the fall, it usually takes him months to get back to a normal routine. Because he naturally wakes up early anyway, this one has definitely been harder for us. Thankfully it is not as bad this year as it has been before. We were up to about a 6-6:30 wake up time in the morning, and now he is awake at 5. But last year, he started waking up between 3-4 every morning and it continued for three or four months. It was not fun! So 5 I can handle, although it slows my getting ready for work process a bit. I normally get up at 5 anyway and get ready before he wakes up, so now he is awake at that time and takes a shower with me. No matter what time he goes to bed, his body thinks it is time to get up early, and if he goes to bed too late he just ends up grouchy the next day.
Challenge update: Last week was about finances. I set up a budget, which I haven't done in years. It is scary that we have just enough with both of our incomes to pay all the bills. There is a little extra, but I think it usually goes toward extra on some payment or other or gets spent in some other way. It reminded me that I should be using extra to put away for savings each month. Every little bit helps, and it's easy to forget that sometimes. There was also information about getting life insurance and wills. We already have life insurance, but our last will was done before Justin, so we need to think about getting a new one done.
Since I am getting organized in other areas of my life, I decided to start getting ready for Christmas so I am not doing a last minute rush in December. Last year I made cards on the computer with Justin's picture that I took by the Christmas tree. So this year I made the card slightly different and I want to try a new stamp set I have. I tested the stamp set on photo paper and it works great. Also I made a spreadsheet of all the people I am sending cards to.
Thanks for reading!
Donna and Justin

![]() | ![]() |
![]() | |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting? Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start... |





