Moms of Boys: I Need Your Help!

Let me begin this post by confessing that I'm about to break a hardcore blogging commandment of mine:  To never use my blog as a sounding board to complain about my children, husband, or family.  But desperate times call for desperate measures, right?  I'm genuinely asking for any and all advice here, because this mama is about to go nuts.  

NUTS,I'm telling ya!

For the past four weeks or so, my almost-two-year-old son has been crying.  Not just fussing... CRYING.  And it seems to never end.  I don't understand at all what's going on with him.  Therefore, I have no clue how to help him.

There's no fever.  There are no symptoms of any illness.  He sleeps a sound twelve hours each night.  He begins the morning happy, which causes me to have false hope, thinking, "Happy, Happy!  Joy, Joy!  Today's the day he's not going to cry!"  Only to have my hopes shattered about an hour or so into the day.

My daughter never went through a stage such as this one.  She did have her own share of strong separation anxiety, but easily transitioned out of it around 19-20 months.  My little sad boy will be two years old in December.

He wants his mama.  He wants his mama to carry him constantly.  If he doesn't get every little thing he wants, he wails.  We've tried ignoring him.  We've tried coddling him.  We've tried a balance of both.  Nothing is bringing this to an end.

Yes, I am a VERY hands-on mother.  I reserve blogging and other personal activities for when the kids are asleep or outside playing with their father.  There's no way my son isn't getting PLENTY of attention from me.  Ironically, the crying honestly makes me NOT want to be around him at times.  Instead of responding tenderly and sensitively, the sound of his crying is becoming as pleasant as fingernails scraping down a chalkboard. 

So, my question to all of you is... What the heck do I do?!  I've read my share of parenting material by Sears, Dobson, etc.  I understand that boys struggle more than females to detach from their mothers.  Could this be an internal struggle that he's going through?  Is he learning so much, so fast, that he can't handle it emotionally?  Arghhhhhh!  This psycho-analytical mother needs answers.  Even incorrect answers would do at this point.  Having the slightest explanation would probably help a tiny bit.  At least I think so... *Sigh*

Did any of you have this experience with a growing toddler boy?  

Losing it slowly-

I ♥ New Followers!

Note to self:  Don't ever choose to do "housekeeping" on blog while participating in a hop.

A big welcome to my new followers who found me today from the Tuesday hops!  I apologize if you saw my site in a mess today as I goofed around reorganized my layout a bit.

And as I promised, I will visit your sites and follow each of you back.  If for some reason I overlook anyone, do me a big favor and email me so that I'll know that I missed your blog.

Okay... back to blogging for real tomorrow.  See you then!

Giveaway Winners!

A big  thank you  to all who participated in my recent DVD giveaways!

Winners chosen by random.org are:

• "Trusting in the Shepherd"- Melody

• "Upside"- Jeska

I plan to host another DVD giveaway later this week, plus an extra giveaway when I reach 200 followers.  Stay tuned and thanks ALWAYS for reading...

Happy November!

Giveaway Ending Tomorrow 10/31

A little over 24 hours left on the "Trusting in the Shepherd" DVD Giveaway...  Just leave a comment for a chance to win!

Click on the button below to "Show Some Saturday Love" to a few bloggers.  Hope everyone has a FUN Halloween weekend!

Healthy Lips to Happy Skin

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Carmex®. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the popular little round tin of lip balm known as Carmex, right?  That’s because it’s a great product which has been around for over 70 years and still delivers its promise of healthy lips.  So many people that I know use it and carry it around in their purse/pocket on a daily basis, especially during the winter months.  If you’re one of those Carmex addicts-- I mean, users-- that I’m speaking of, then I’m quite confident you’re going to love these:

The Carmex brand that you know and love in lip protection is now available for your skin!

I recently was given the opportunity to “test drive” the two new skin care products from Carmex.  I’ve always been a fan of their lip balm, so I was more than willing to give the skin care line a go.  I received a bottle of the new Healing Lotion, a bottle of the Healing Cream, and a small sample size of the healing lotion (which has conveniently already found a permanent home in my handbag).

Here’s what I loved:

• With the very first use, I knew I was pleased with the products.  Both left a light, soft, silky feeling on my hands... not heavy, thick, or greasy.
• It only takes a small amount for each use.  This helps me to know that the products will last a while.
• After applied, the Healing Lotion absorbs itself pretty quickly, so that you’re not leaving oily/greasy tracks on everything you touch afterwards.
• For people with tough dry spots, such as eczema breakouts, the Healing Cream is a more concentrated formula that covers well, yet still absorbs quickly without an oily residue.
• The packaging on the bottles is clean, attractive, and still portrays the well-trusted, “Carmex” look.

Here’s what I didn’t love (but still relatively like):

• Both products have that very familiar “Carmex” smell.  If you’ve ever used the lip balm before, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.  The good news is that the scent is not very strong or overbearing.  Yes, it’s very light... but definitely there.  It certainly wouldn’t prevent me from purchasing the products.

Overall, I’m very pleased with both products and am glad I chose to participate in the review campaign.  Now it’s your turn to give them a try! The Carmex® Healing Lotion and Carmex® Healing Cream are both available now for purchase ($5.99 each) at Walgreens, Walgreens.com, and drugstore.com.