Mommy Validation

I finally resolved a couple of mommy issues that have been hanging over me for a while now. It feels so good to put a check in those boxes. They involve solving drinking cup dilemmas for both of the girls.  It may sound silly, but they have really been bugging me. My baby Lillian just turned a year and she has a tendency to sling her cup everywhere while she eats. I partially resolved the issue by attaching a tether cord to her current sippy cup which also attaches to her highchair. I thought that was all I needed to do but since most baby sippy cups have soft spouts that can easily drip out liquids when they are completely upside down, my wood floor was becoming a disaster. Did I mention that I have also been very stubborn about putting any kind of mat on the floor to catch the spillage? I just want my kitchen to look as normal as possible. We have gotten rid of most of the baby gear and I am so itchy for my old house back it almost hurts. The ironic thing is that one day I know I will miss all the baby gear and the messes but we won’t go there now because at this current moment in time I want neat and clean. Frankly, I crave it as it is in my genes. Ask anyone in my family. It  just can’t  be helped.

So I put out the word to my Mommy friends that I needed to find a baby sippy cup that does not leak even when hanging upside down off of a highchair and it must be AWESOME. They delivered with answers and the funny thing is most of them agreed on the Playtex line of sippy cups. I must say that Playtex has a very informative website complete with a search feature that will customize what you need based on the age of your child. Due to Lillian’s age I tried the Playtex Lil Gripper Spout Cup. I admit the first day she was a little annoyed by it as it is more difficult to suck from I’m sure. I had my four year old use the extra one though so Lillian had an example of how to do it and that seemed to help. After a few days there were no issues. Problem solved!

The second drinking cup dilemma involved my four year old Riley. She has been drinking out of sippy cups primarily. She can drink out of regular cups, but I admit I am lazy in this department and I don’t want to think about the possibility of spills during dinner or snack times. I just don’t want to deal with it. I have enough to deal with as it is and this is one way to simplify things for my sanity. Anyway, when I have bought her the more expensive cups with straws she chews the straws up. A more apt description would be to say that she actually shreds them. They become unusable and I am tired of paying something like $4 a piece for a cup that won’t last long because she can’t control her need to bite them and destroy them like she is some sort of wild animal.  Can you tell I’m a little aggravated?

While researching the baby sippy cups one of my Mommy friends had mentioned those cheap “Take and Toss” cups that come with straws. She had told me that her kids had transitioned to them easily and the best part is that they are easy to clean and if you lose the straws for them you can use the basic store bought kind that come in large packs. Honestly, she had me at five cups in a pack for around $3.  Plus they are super colorful and that really makes a difference when I am cleaning them.  Anything bright and cheery makes me happier all the way around. So we tried them out and they are working out great! It looks so much better to see Riley drinking from a straw rather than a sippy cup. I had been feeling like I was holding her back developmentally and so the guilt had been piling up. She has been much happier as well. We made a big deal out of the fact that drinking from a straw is what big girls do. Would you believe that she is already chewing on these straws too? But no worries this time as I am well stocked with the regular straws that can easily be bought from the store. So onto the next Mommy challenge. There are so many.