My hubby and I were going to buy a Temperpedic Mattress ($4400) and started saving. We saw a memory foam mattress at Costco for $700 and one of our married friends bought it and LOVED it. We found the same one, on craigslist NEW, UNOPENED for $400 – It is WONDERFUL and after 5 years of a horrible mattress I wake up and tell my hubby “I love you…..and our matress” HAHA Its a steal at Costco for $700!

I am saddened that you say you watch The Bachelor but admit that it is smut. I believe so many problems in our country/world could be fixed if children were raised properly in a home with one woman and one man that have built their marriage on The One True Foundation of Jesus Christ. Maybe you would benefit better from Beth Moore’s study When Godly People Do Ungodly Things. Such an eyeopener to all the sins that godly people commit and justify for one reason or another. God does not want us filling our hearts and minds with with filth and it saddens me that you hurt your witness by admitting to not just watching this show but watching it while you know it is wrong. Sad.

I just found your blog via pintrest ( got to love pintrest and all of it’s randomness) I just love your blog it is so me:)
On the bed issue: I thought we were going to have to shell out for a new mattress about 2 years ago, but my wonderful mom surprised us with a new foam mattress topper from Costco (about $99.00) it is AMAZING!!! And the best part if it doesn’t work out for you Costco has a wonderful return policy!
Good luck!

also a Bach watcher and I do love it. I think Ben is super boring though and Courtney is the only thing keepng this season alive for me. Looking forward to the Emily season though… We bought a new mattress last year and it is a ridiculous business. Makes used cars look good. Here’s my post with the blow-by-blow…
http://www.houseography.net/2011/01/gift-of-sleep-lessons-in-mattress.html

You need to try out a temper medic bed. By far the best choice ever made when my boyfriend bought a new bed. He was waking up with an achy back and not sleeping well. He has had it for over a year now and no back aches. Also you don’t feel movement like with a traditional bed, I am a light sleeper and this has been amazing! I definitely suggest going to check them out. They also had the best life expectancy over a traditional mattress! My mom has a sleep number, and while it is a nice bed, I hate the two chamber bed, you can’t sleep in the middle because of the support down the middle which makes it uncomfortable. Good luck!

Great random post…My days seem like that alot!

Good luck on the potty mouth! lol I just know that it’s the reactions they crave. If there is no reaction then it’s no big deal…..but since it already got loads of giggles and time-outs its still a “reaction” thing. I think the advice some of the gals gave on doing it in the bathroom is a great idea.

On mattresses. Whatever you do…don’t get one of those mattresses where you adjust the controlls for the 2 of you ( sleep number type ones). unless it’s a king and the 2 of you never stray from your sides of the bed. The sides around the bed have one level your side has another, his side has a level and the middle section that seperates the individual “beds” in the mattress has it’s own level to keep it from sagging in the middle. We had one and hated it cause you can’t snuggle or anything without being at all different “levels”. Just my advice- don’t do it! lol

I did part of the Beth Morre’s Esther study and absolutely loved it ( with the workbook and videos). Had emergency surgery and couldn’t finish the rest ( they were someone elses videos). I hope to be able to finish it one day! She is just awesome and gifted!

Thanks for sharing the song!

So glad I checked in today. I had no idea Beth had a new Bible study! Looks perfect for a summer small group. Thanks for the encouragement this provided me today!

This post was fantastic. The picture of your son with the words coming out of his mouth had me laughing so hard it hurt, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!! Love the randomness and the great book and song suggestion. LOVE IT! Tons of great info in your randomness. Thank you Emily!

On the mattress hunt… If you are willing to step out on faith that this is the best mattress ever made…then I recommend: the mattress that The Broadmoor Hotel uses and sells on their website. I know…crazy right. But absolutely fantastic. Of course, you could always use it as an excuse to go on vacation…just to try it before you buy it!

Funny enough; as a mother of four we never have had a problem with potty talk . I wonder if this is because we (adults) never use those words even close to, or is it because siblings never started, or is it because we read them a lot and they have wide vocabulary. I know they hear and learn them a lot from school and kindergarten; youngest, (without ability to pronounce ‘r’ )asked me this morning: ‘mommy, pelse (=ass) is a bad word isn’t it?’ ‘Yes it is a very bad word, please do not use it my ears and heart hurts!’. (It is Finnish so maybe you would not recognise the word anyway )

Maybe we just did not get the kid with that character; as someone commented God loves variety.

Anyway; what I think would help is trust. Let them know you trust them and let them know they are trustworthy. F ex I always keep candies and money around the house. They know that, they know they can have if they ask, also they know candies will disappear if they eat them without asking. They feel like ‘big and responsible’. This may sound irrational and maybe it is, but worth trying more than sprays and soap…

My suggestion on potty talk is to talk to your son about the type of person you want him to be. Focus on his good qualities. From early on we’ve stressed the importance of being a gentleman, especially when women (girls, mommies and sisters, too!) are around. Even at 4 my son was holding doors for strangers. Let him know how helpful he is at other times (being the perfect gentleman and part of the household), and explain in very certain terms that potty talk is not part of the gentleman’s bag of tricks. Get your older boys on-board with this one, and the trickle down effect may be what you want it to be. I think that our children have very little doubt about our expectations. Please know that I’m always still learning and have absolutely no authority on this, but I always find that focusing on the bad behavior is the wrong road ultimately…it just emphasizes it. Spend a lot of time talking about and praising the positive behavior, and hopefully that will come out on top. Good luck!

Could our 4 year old boys have been twins separated at birth? Mine does not have a “potty mouth” but he says some pretty naughty things all of the time. His favorite, “you’re stupid!” even though my 2 older boys have been taught that is a bad word. He talks back and LOVES to tell me NO all of the time! I think being the youngest of 3 boys he wants to be big like his brothers and so one way he can do that is to talk big. I think he sees his brothers going to school and doing all of these things he wants to do, but can’t, and so he finds ways to let me know that he’s feeling left out and that maybe he needs a little bit of attention. I must admit that I’ve babied him, but I’ve got to put a stop to this! He’s great when we are out and about or at church, but at home he’s sometimes pretty horrible. I think it’s a phase. When he says something nice, praise him, when he has a potty mouth, tell him you won’t listen to him when he talks like that and walk away. The more attention you give him the more he’ll want to do it. And just want to let you know my 3 boys share a room because I saw that yours did! I love it that they are all together and WANT to be together.

Mattress: The Tempurpedic Mattress is the best. 20 year warranty… pricey but hey, 20 years is a long time to like a mattress!

Bachelor: I love Jesus too and I admit I like watching the Bachelor too!! Some people have BIG opinions about it but who cares. It’s fun to watch!!!

Farty Fart: Read ‘Loving Our Kids of Purpose’ by Danny Silk. Lots of great tools to help your kids choose great behavior!! Author also has a dvd or audio set and we did a parenting group at our church with it. It’s been AWESOME for all the families that went through it. It’s taken all the fear out of being a parent for me. And it’s really a great read/listen/watch.

Emily, I can tell you are good parents I thought it was so cute and in comparison with the way kids talk today farty fart fart is nothing to worry about kids will let it go if you dont make a big deal out of it ,my kids didnt really do that but they did other things I have been a mom and now grandma for 29 years, as long as they respect you and others it will be a small hurdle. I think your blog and home are so amazing I am in awe of your imagination I really look up to you and I am 49 years old ha never too old to learn thank you for your honesty I know real christians and they dont judge others it really makes me sad when I read a negative comment on one of the blogs because you are using your god given talent to help others God bless you and your family. thanks ,Karen

My son from time to time has said some things that were along the strains of potty talk. Guess what he got? Potty Duty. Yep, he had to clean the bathroom. If your son is too young to do the bathroom – straight vinegar in the mouth. Works great and can’t hurt him but he might grow up with a aversion to oil and water .

I loved Unbroken, too. Definitely one of the best nonfiction books that I read last year.

My husband actually came up with the solution to Potty Mouth in our house. When I would be gone on an errand or out at girls night he and our sons would sit on the couch and it would be “Potty Talk Time!!” The rules were that they could say potty words (age appropriate…pee, poop, gas, toot, fart…and so on) for 5 minutes. They’d giggle and giggle but then it was done. The boys knew that the could only say the words only on the couch only with Daddy during “Potty Talk TIme”. IT WORKED! They needed an outlet and at least once a week they’d do this. If I caught the boys using potty words other times rather than appropriately they had to confess to their Dad and tell him where and when they could say the words. Good Luck ! P.S…love the boot socks! I can’t seem to find any around here and am going to get some!

love your bachelor rationale! lol!!! and i also loved.. really loved.. unbroken. i recommend it to everyone!

I just had to laugh with your comparison of the Bachelor to the book of Esther!!! I absolutely LOVED Beth Moore’s study…I learned things that I never knew/noticed before. it’s amazing how we can read the Bible over and over and yet still get so much out of it every time we read it.

Best potty talk remedy (from my pediatrician): Tell your child, “That’s bathroom talk. You can use those words in the bathroom as much as you want.” Every time he wants to use potty words he must go say them in the bathroom. It’s worked well for us!

Hi Emily! My husband works at Sleep Country, and he’s found there is no best mattress- each person/couple will find different preferences that make one mattress more comfortable than another. And while a mattress topper will make the top layer more comfortable, if your current bed isn’t properly supporting your body, a mattress topper won’t add support. If you are ever in Issaquah, you should buy from my hubby- he is really good at finding the perfect bed for his customers!
Oh, and I watch The Bachelor shamelessly

Great post! I have three boys and a baby on the way. All under 5 and it’s crazy around here!!!

My boys are the same way about what they say. Most of the time we are good at catching it but every once in a while they totally catch us off guard … Which results in laughter.

The only thing that has worked for us is soap in the month. Mind you we only did it once and it was all natural/no harm if swallowed but it was enough to get their attention. I simply said, “if your mouth is dirty we should wash it out.” Now all it takes is the simple suggesting and the potty mouth stops. Kids are simple!

HAV

Ugh. The potty mouth! I had it with all three kids and here’s how we dealt with it. Every time you hear a “bathroom word” ask him to spend a few minutes in the bathroom because that’s where bathroom words belong. When he is done using all his bathroom words he can come out. At first they think it’s funny and spew bathroom words in the bathroom but it gets old quickly and they get tired of spending so much time in the bathroom. It’s how we got rid of our three potty mouths.
Good luck!

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