Fruit in my dessert

Vroom Vroom

Vroom has two meanings in my life as a mom:

1. H often says, "vroom" or a version of it, when he's playing with his cars and trucks, particularly when he lines them up in order, bumper to bumper, on the tv stand in the living room.
2. I no longer have to touch the dry, wet, or somewhere-in-between (most of it falls into this category) toddler leftovers that wind up in H's seat, on the floor beneath his seat, in his stroller, or anywhere else within a 20 foot radius of my Vroom vacuum.

As a member of Mommies Clique, I was recently given the opportunity to try the Vroom Solo out in my home.

 

H-P Products, the maker of the Vroom, has a long history of making vacuums, and also has a version of the Vroom available for use with central vacuum systems at $199.

I installed the Solo under my kitchen sink. It only took about 15 minutes and most of my stuff fit back in on top of and around it. The Vroom even includes a small piece of lining to make it easier to use its surface as a shelf. The instructions say NOT to use the outlet that is associated with your garbage disposal, but that was my only choice without rewiring, so I unplugged the disposal and flipped the switch. And vroom, Vroom. My first test of the Vroom convinced me to relocate our family's (read: my toddler's) eating location to take advantage of the Vroom's capabilities. Some highlights:

• This is a STRONG vacuum. It was able to "unstick" food items from the table and the floor and H's seat. I did love the strength for the most part. My only challenge was that with all of its sucking power, it actually sucked on to my son's seat, making it a little harder to get the actual garbage out of his seat. It is also very LOUD, which I assume is directly related to its strength, not a huge inconvenience, but I definitely don't receommend using it during nap time.

• The hose has a 24 foot radius. This was great. I was able to clean around my entire island, up to the edges of the kitchen, and on the counter tops themselves with ease. The hose was a bit tight with the first several uses, but did loosen up over time.

• It turns on and off withOUT the push of a button, and the hose retracts easily. You can just pull the end of the hose out of its holder to turn it on, and put it back in to turn it off. The holder does need to be in the right position for the auto on/off to work...I think this is a safety feature, and is accomplished with a flick of the wrist as you take the hose in and out.

• Vroom comes with simple instructions for installation, with the suggestion that you actually mount it into your cabinet. Because I wasn't sure of the best place for it in our house (and now, we're actually planning a move), I didn't do any of the mounting and it still worked like a charm.

I would recommend the Vroom to friends with children and friends who spend a lot of time and effort in the kitchen with or without children. It is not a cheap product, but I think it makes a lot of sense for people who spend a lot of time making a lot of mess in the kitchen (or other targeted area(s) in your home). I could also see the Vroom being hugely helpful to people with crafting rooms or areas.

Go to the Vroom web site to see a video of the Vroom in action and to register to win your own Vroom!

Communication Techniques

B often has a tendency to start conversations with me while he's sleeping. Okay, to be fair, he's likely not actually speaking to me, but I am usually the only one in the room when he speaks. When we were first together, I found this frustrating because I actually thought he was talking to me and there was something I was missing. Over time I came to realize that he was asleep, and wouldn't it be fun to see how long I could keep the conversation going. What could I gleam from his seemingly random commentary? Most often my attempts are thwarted by additional interruptions in his sleep activity, but occasionally I get some good stuff worth sharing. I tweeted this last night, but I thought it was blog worthy too:

B: He's going to push us up the hill.

Me: Who's going to push us up the hill?

B: Mr. Berenstain.

Me (knowing full well who Mr. Berenstain is): Who is Mr. Berenstain?

B: Isn't that the name of the bear on the cover of the book who is going to help us push the garbage out of the way so we can get on our plane and go home?

Me: Yeah.

************

I believe his brain must have been processing part of our weekend in combination with things on his to-do list. We did take a plane, we did go up hills, we did watch a mom reading The Berenstain Bears to her sons at the rehearsal dinner of the wedding we were attending - and I even remarked to him about it, and last night was garbage night. Of course, my dreams later that night included Natalie Portman acting too cool for school (I love her in real life), her little sister who I befriended (she does not have a little sister in real life), Brian cheating on me with a friend whose pictures I had looked at before bed (no need to psychoanalyze this one, I know my issues here), and a bunch of bugs in a bag of fruit eating away while making horrendous sawing noises. Where are my Berenstain Bears?

Definitions

For the last 18 months, I've been calling the individual and collective women that I've met and become friends with because we are moms, my "mom friends." But it's been bothering me for some time that some of these ladies have really just become friends. They're not just my friends because we're moms, but because they care about me and my life and my circumstances. And I, theirs. Sure, they love my H and I love their O, and Z, and H too, and we likely wouldn't have met otherwise, but I've been feeling like it's time to get rid of the "mom" part of the definition of our friendship.

Today is that day. You want to know why? One of the moms found this cool "art" class for toddlers to take at a local center and sent it around to the others. I was delinquent on email for a few days and in the meantime, they picked a class and a time and all signed up. When I went to sign up, the class was full. I let them know but there was a fee for changing and the time they had already picked was likely better for the kids' schedules. Within 24 hours, they all changed to the other class so I could take it with them, without even batting an eyelash (the nicest detail of all).

Thanks, Ladies. I'm proud and lucky to call you all friend.

Great Expectations

Today, B and I decided to withdraw our offer on an apartment in New York. We are still moving to New York and I can now say that we are excited. We did love this place. But it was too much. I know it was the right decision because the minute we made it - or communicated it to the "officials" - the tightening, heavy feeling that I have had in my chest for the last couple of weeks started to dissipate. As mentioned earlier, I have discussed, ad nauseum, my thoughts, concerns, fears, and excitements about moving, but at the end of the day, it's really about what it's all WORTH to me, to B, to our family. We had some really great and thoughtful conversations over the weekend about what we wanted, who we are as individuals, as a couple, as a family, and what we want our life to look like - no matter where we live. It was delightedly reaffirming to find out that after nine years, a few cities, several jobs, and a child, we believe in the same things. We come at almost every issue from a different angle, but in the end, we most often come to the same conclusion (and no, it's not always my original conclusion).

We are not the same people we were when we met, but we are too. And I think we both have great expectations for our future. I kind of can't wait to see what happens.