Quick Rant About Kids Pajamas and Sewing Machines

Okay, so as of recently, I have been trying to do more projects at home because I get so bored. I've knitted an afghan, made a couple of creepy cute creatures, and even started making a sweater. Some of them are cute, some of them are definitely not. The one that I have been having the most trouble with is my sewing machine. Funnily enough, everyone has the same advice, I do it, and it solves nothing.
To make matters worse, I was making pajama bottoms for my son when I noticed that the fabric said not to be used for children's sleepwear on it. Apparently, it's very different from his sweats. He does sleep in his sweats by the way. They are comfy beyond all belief. So I googled this and found out there is a huge debate about whether or not I should have flame retardant stuff in my son's clothes and sheets. This really sucks. This doesn't really bother me at all, but I don't want there to be a fire for some reason and for him to be badly injured because I didn't prepare.
Who in the world decided it was okay to sell the most famous kids fabrics without putting flame retardant in it already so mothers could make awesome pj's without having to worry? I already know that if I make the pj's (that is if my sewing machine cooperates) that I won't buy and use stuff to make it a low flame hazard (which doesn't make it fire-proof by the way).
Also, who makes pj's tight fitting? I wear comfy loose pj's all the time, usually all day long, because it's nice and comfy. My son recently adopted this habit and refuses to wear normal shorts or jeans unless we are going somewhere. Sometimes even then he'll protest.
Thanks for letting me rant. I already know that I can take my sewing machine in to the lady who sold it to me and she'll show me what I am doing wrong. I figure that I'll go ahead and make the pj bottoms. If my husband feels worried about fires, he can buy the fabric stuff and fix it or ask me to fix it after he buys it. Next time I'll just get fabric to make my son a doctor's jacket or something.

Children, Charts, and Chores

Okay, so I just read an article about setting up children for success when it comes to chores. Now, my son will throw something away if you ask him, put his dishes in the sink if you ask him, help with dinner sometimes, and may pick up some of his toys. He used to be much better about the trash and toys, but I stopped making sure they were picked up every night. Now I just start picking them up at night if there are too many all over or if his room really looks like a disaster.
After reading the first article, I read a couple more. I would quote what they put on here, but there are hundreds of articles on this subject and they are all very similar. Kids who do chores (age appropriate) are more aware of others and work harder as they grow older. You can Google it online and find all the same ones.
I just thought it was interesting. I've seen the cute charts you can buy at the store that are just way too cute, but I have only one child and it's a little crazy to buy a chart made for around four kids for just the one. I also saw a mom on Wife-Swap who gave the kids in the other house a rock (they had jars) every time they did something well and for every so many rocks they got something (their toys back). It worked pretty well.
I did something similar for potty training. I made a chart with the days of the week on the side and several boxes all along. For every time my son used the toilet, he got a sticker. For every time he had an accident, he got an "x." On the days that he got only stickers, he got a fake dollar. Then, he could trade them in for things.
Now, I am excited and want to make a chart with possible chores and fake dollars. Who knows, maybe I'll even start paying my son in spare change (he gets it all for free now) and let him spend it at the store. Honestly, I probably won't do that because we never keep cash on us anymore.
I'll try to fix my printer and get that working. If I can, then I will post pics later and my son's progress. I'm sure he'll do okay at the very least because he loves stickers and chores aren't really chores yet.

Knights in Shining Armor

People say the knight in shining armor is too much of an expectation. They say he isn't real. They say that fairy tales don't come true.
I think they are wrong. Yes, some girls need to lower some expectations (both the knight and the prince are only humans) but others need to raise them quite a bit. I am a firm believer that there should be a day or an hour or even just fifteen minutes of "me" time in a person's life. Sometimes the lady of the house will only need one once a month (and I think she's a superhero) and other times (like me) you just have to walk into another room and shut the door for a couple of minutes to de-stress or gather your thoughts. If I had the money to go to a spa once a month and get a pedicure, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Honestly, all these people are looking at the picture the wrong way. It's like looking at the Mona Lisa and wondering why she was smiling. It doesn't matter why she was smiling, it matters that she was willing to let the world know how she was feeling.
The knights of today are the ones who put everyone else before themselves to keep civilians safe. This includes the police, the firefighters, and those who joined the military service. And it doesn't matter whether they are peeling potatoes, pushing paperwork, or fighting on the front lines. Though, I must admit, I am partial to the Grunts and the FMF Corpsman because I see them all the time.
These are the men and women who find out they are deploying and for months are scared out of their mind but are willing to push those fears back so their families can sleep happier. They are the ones who answer emergency calls never really knowing what to expect. They are the ones who are at major disasters first, even if they aren't in our own country. They are the ones willing to walk into fire just to pull out some one's dog. They are the ones who know they won't be able to go to reunions and see everyone they care about. They are the ones who come back only to find out some people not only don't care about what they did, but are protesting them around the United States.
It really annoys me when people say they don't like the police. They are just enforcing the law that should be followed even if police weren't around. It pushes my buttons when someone puts down a military service. Obviously, they don't know that they should be grateful in so many ways. It makes me downright angry when someone or some group decides that it's God's Will to protest funerals of the men and women who could not come home. There is no explanation for that.
The next time you try to think of a modern day knight, think of the people who join a service, any service. It doesn't matter whether they will deploy overseas or stay in their own neighborhood. It may even be the wife at home who lives in fear that her husband won't come home that day. Don't stop telling those fairy tales either, because they haven't died away yet.

Test Results

Okay, since the last time I came on here I talked about doctors and how they usually annoy me (they still do, even though my husband wants to be one), I am really glad that I have the doctor I have now.
We waited forever in the waiting room though it was a nurses fault because she didn't want to take a few extra minutes to schedule us in for an appointment and told us to just drop by for a walk-in. The nurse who was working when we got there was awesome though.
My son was on his best behavior (he wasn't all week while I was sick with a headcold and just wanted to sit and watch tv or take naps). I was extremely grateful for this because he has been horrible at other times while we try to see the doctor. I chalk it up to our prior planning on bringing several snacks, a water bottle, and his Nintendo DS for while we were in the doctor's office.
The doctor came in and told us what he thought would be extremely horrible news. My son is apparently allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, and ham. For those who don't understand, this doesn't just mean that he has to avoid dairy products, but everything that is made with milk. This extends to breads, cookies, and even some soups.
Well, because my head cold has not gone away, I haven't really wanted to cook. While we were at the store yesterday, I asked my husband if he could check the ramen noodles to see if they had any allergens in them. He told me they did not. Yet, after I started cooking them today, I realized they had eggs in them. I'm not sure if this is because of the type of ramen we bought or if it's because of the noodles themselves.

Curing the Boredom

I have been so bored lately that I honestly haven't had anything to write about. Instead, I set about to learn new things to do to pass the time that might actually come in handy later. Knitting and crocheting weren't so bad, I just am really picky about everything. I have what my husband and dad like to call "skater-girl/punk" type of taste. I like things to be comfy but have a sort of edge and a little bit darker than others. I have also been trying to learn to sew, but it seems like that is going to be a lot harder than I thought and I thought it was going to be pretty hard.
Right now, my newest obsession is these dolls called creepy cute. There's a book you can buy to show you how to make them. So far, I have only made two of the dolls, but that is because my husband decided to be cheap and buy the cheapest yarn he could find. Unlucky for me because the cheapest yarn is a little hard to handle and comes out a lot bigger than it's supposed to.
For those of you who are wondering and aren't wanting to Google it, someone figured out how to crochet tiny beanie people without legs are arms. I was originally attracted to it because there are aliens, robots, and vampires in the book. The person even has their own blog called needle noodles if you want to check it out.
But, I figured out pretty quick if you are willing to mess with the yarn a little bit, you can create your own creepy cutes once you have the basic pattern down. I was able to make a little elephant. Albeit, the ears are lopsided, but I think that adds to the cuteness of the doll.
I've even decided to make little creepy cutes (not monsters of course) for my son's birthday coming up as part of the party favors. I figure only eight kids max will show up and I have a couple of months to master this new obsession, so by then I'll be able to make all sorts of little things.
Soon, once I plan on making little punk sweaters for my son as well. He's also into the punkish clothes and even when he picks out what would normally be "preppy" he somehow still looks like a little punk. I think it's so adorable, of course.

Update

Don't you just love doctors? Sometimes you just have to stop and think that they paid all that money to go to school to lose their common sense.
I really don't hate doctors. My husband wants to be one. I have had some wonderful doctors who listened to what I was saying and solved issues. I've heard about some terrible doctors that I wish no one would ever have like a sister of mine who was giving birth and the doctor left the hospital while the baby was crowning without waiting for the replacement doctor.
The newest doctor my son is seeing is okay. He's sort of in between. He gets these ideas in his head and runs with them. So, for the last month, he was adamant that my son had a virus and allergies to milk. So, we have been avoiding milk to the best of our ability, first buying nothing that had milk in it at all (like flavored chips, most cookies, and even some breads) on to getting things that have dairy but no lactose as the doctor kept changing his mind as to what my son was allergic to specifically.
Last week, we finally got him in for the test. All they did was draw blood, so I was happy. I was not looking forward to possibly trying to hold my son down as they scratched him or anything. My little boy was very brave and didn't cry at all. The person drawing the blood was very good at her job and she was done very quickly.
The doctor told me that he would call me and let me know the results if they matched what he was thinking which meant that if my son was allergic to milk and/or soy I would get a call from the doctor so I wouldn't have to go back in. He said that if the tests came back negetive, we were going to have to go back in to do more tests because then there would be something seriously wrong.
The nurse calls me the other day and tells me that I need to go in for an appointment to discuss the test results. I know she's not allowed to tell me the results, but I ask her if I should be worried. She told me that she never looked at the file, so she wasn't sure. She did say that the doctor normally tells her to say not to worry to the patients that she has to call back in, but he did not tell her to say that to me.
Now I am worried. I was hoping that he wasn't allergic to milk because we love food in general and so many foods have dairy in them that makes it taste that much better. But now, after talking to the nurse, I am very worried. Now I am just hoping that he's allergic to something the doctor never thought of, but something that wouldn't be hard to get out of our house or to take out of our diet.