Last week I got some of the best advice from two of my mom friends, Jane and Roxanne. It’s in reference to raising children:

Don’t do anything once unless you are willing to do it FOREVER!”

So true!

My son has become infatuated with “Thomas. Tank. Engine.” So, the other night (big parenting mistake coming, take note) after a house full of family left for the night, family we haven’t seen in over a year, family that is loving on my son, kissing, playing and hugging on him all night, after they left. After he was totally wound up. After all that, we thought it was a good idea to let him — enter bad parenting mistake — watch TV.

“Thomas the Tank Engine” was recorded (love TiVo) so I let him watch one episode. Against my better judgment. It is already way past his bedtime. He is already worked up. For some crazy reason I think TV will calm him down. Well, I am right on that. It does calm him down. Right up until the point when Mommy turns the TV off because Thomas went “nite-nite.”

Enter toddler meltdown.

My husband and I look at each other. “Don’t do it,” he says to me as I hold the remote. (background: **CRYING, CRYING, CRYING**) I think for a moment, the best one can think during all that crying. Of course the easy thing is to put “Thomas” back on. After all, it is a DVR, but he doesn’t know that. I explain that Thomas went nite-nite. That his Aunt, Uncle and cousins went nite-nite. That Mommy and Daddy WANT to go nite-nite.

No dice.

We decide the best thing is to hold our ground as parents and let him cry it out. This is why I hate “Thomas the Tank Engine” right now. If I had never heard of this show, I would have never let him watch it tonight. I would have read books, or played with his Little People, his cars … anything but let him watch 15 minutes of some show on TV. Lesson learned.

It takes about an hour (maybe longer) to get him to calm down, but he finally does after some major distractions and about three time outs. He is exhausted, we are exhausted.

Next time we watch “Thomas,” or any TV, it won’t be right before bed, that’s for sure.

So I know TV isn’t always a bad thing and I don’t hate “Thomas” because of it. We do use TV at times for entertainment and on occasion for parental relief, but tonight is an example of when I think we’re better off not watching and doing other things together as a family.

I finally got certified in Infant and Child CPR and First Aid this past weekend. It’s two years overdue, but better late than never. Why I waited I’ll never know, but thanks to my friend Andrea, I finally went. She and I have children the same age and kept on each other to finally get certified. If we hadn’t talked about it, I’m not sure I would have ever made it to the class. Having a friend to go with makes it easier too.

We learned complete CPR, including the differences between adult, child and infant cases. We also learned about burns, poisonings, fractures and other ailments so that we are prepared for calamities that we surely will be faced with as our children age. I feel better knowing how to deal with serious issues now.

As I’m sitting in class I’m wondering why more people don’t get certified. with all of the disasters we have in this country, we need people to be trained properly to assist in emergency situations. Not just rely on the Red Cross to fix things. How many more people could we save if more civilians like you and me were certified?

Find a location near you.

The art of letter writing is dead; you practically have to go on “Survivor” or “Big Brother” to get letters from home. Recently I learned of a teen retreat where the kids would be given letters written by family members, telling him/her how much he/she is loved. They were deemed, “love notes” for the teens.

It’s easy to tell a baby or a toddler how much you love him/her, but teens are tricky. You don’t want to embarrass them, or feel rejected if they don’t return the sentiments — but a letter is the perfect way to connect.

I was asked to participate in one of these letter-writing “campaigns” and jotted down some words of inspiration for the teen. At first, you think:

What should I say?

Will it be too sappy?

Will I stare at a blank page for hours not able to put words to paper?

I can’t write.

Don’t over think it. Just write down a few thoughts and give it to your teen. I have to remember this for when my son is a teenager. I’ll file the idea away in the “great idea” category.

The other night as I was putting my son to bed he wanted to take the strangest items to bed with him — magnets. He’s formed a new friendship with these old, colored button-shaped magnets that have been on our refrigerator since before he was born.

The first night I almost (read, ALMOST) let him take them to bed. I didn’t want to deal with taking something away from him right before bed, causing a tantrum which could result in me loosing my evening “free time,” or worse, sleep. But, I thought twice about it (actually, my husband thought for me, but I am sure I would have had this same second thought if he hadn’t been home) and realized that it could be horrible if he swallowed them. Especially if he swallowed two of them. So, we took them from him and he went to bed.

Last night I didn’t have to think twice. I knew immediately to take them away, but that is soooo much easier to say than to do. It was like not letting him take his stuffed teddy to bed. I made him put the magnet (earlier, I had sneakingly, narrowed the group of magnets down to one, kitty-shaped magnet) and asked him to leave it on the dresser. Then, I put him in bed and left the room.

Crying begins.

Crying continues as I jump on the computer and write an email to a friend.

Cut the email short because he’s still crying; back into the room I go.

He’s standing up, pointing to the dresser. I get him out of the crib, discretely steal the kitty-shaped magnet and take him out of the room. He quickly became more interested in what was going on in the living room that he forgot about the magnet. After about 10 minutes he went back to bed — this time with three extra stuffed animals. And, THAT I don’t have to think twice about!