Just when I thought I was done with all my Christmas and birthday shopping (Lovie turns 3 just four days after Christmas), Lovie starts telling me that she’s going to tell Santa that she wants “a new dolly with lots and lots of milk and a doggie.”

Uh, a doll was not something I bought — and for selfish reasons, I admit. I hate dolls. And the color pink. And princess crap. All of which Lovie adores. I couldn’t have a more girly girl if I asked for one. Which I didn’t. Because I hate girly stuff.

So where does she get it from? And why? Why can’t she like LEGOS and soccer and playing with trucks? Why does she have to love dolls and playing dress-up in the frilliest of dresses so much?

Because she’s my Lovie, that’s why. And while I may not like the dolls, the pink, the princess attire, I love my Lovie so much that I’m actually (dare I say it out loud) growing accustomed to the pink, the princess, the dolls. I adore watching her be girly, goofy, sweet, loveable, pink-princess-loving Lovie. And I love watching her believe in the magic of the season, so I’m putting on my mom panties and getting her “a new dolly with lots and lots of milk and a doggie” for her to open from Santa. (Just in case the real Santa forgets!)

Now I just need to figure out which one because apparently there are like 16 thousand varieties of dolls out there.

What are you getting your kids for the holidays? Is it something you hate?

Picking up my three-year-old daughter, Lovie, from school at 3:30 like I do every day, I peeked into the window of her room and saw her sitting right in front of her teacher who read from a book. One of her classmates saw me and feverishly started pointing in my direction while nudging Lovie. She followed the classmates pointed finger, saw me standing there like a goofy madwoman waving and smiling, and frowned. I should’ve known then that the drive home would be hell-like.

After pulling out of the school’s parking lot, Lovie asked for some water so I gave her a bottle of water that was sitting in my cup holder. “It’s broke, Mama,” she said.

“Well, we’ll have to get a new one,” I stupidly said.

So that’s what she wanted: a new bottle of water. Right at that moment.

She proceeded to scream and cry while kicking the back of the passenger seat during the entire 45 minute drive home. I tried ignoring her and the screaming escalated. I tried telling her I understood what she wanted — even repeating it to make sure that’s what she wanted (to go to the store for water) — and that calmed her for three seconds until I stupidly said that she already had water in her hand.

The meltdown, the worst I’ve ever seen from her, became epic when I turned onto the streets leading to our neighborhood and she realized we weren’t going to the store after all. That’s when she started gagging and having a hard time catching her breath from all the screaming and crying… Because I wouldn’t stop at the store for a bottle of water… like the bottle of water she was holding.

I pulled into my spot in the back of the house and Lovie absolutely refused to get out of the car when I tried unbuckling her from her seat. I closed the car door, pressed the alarm button on my key chain to lock the door (locking her in), and walked to the front of the house to get the mail. It was that or I was about to start screaming and crying.

When I returned, Lovie wasn’t in her car seat and I had a mini stroke until I saw her sitting next to it in the middle of the back seat of the car. I opened the door and she screamed, “No I don’t wanna go inside!” I tried not rolling my eyes and screaming back; instead, I showed her a package of leggings that came in the mail for her. She stopped screaming and crying long enough to catch her breath and I continued to softly and calmly talk to her, trying to coax her out of the car.

“Do you want a banana?” I asked.

Lovie looked at me with a wet face, sniffling and licking the snot dripping from her nose, and managed to whimper out a “Yeah.”

I scooped her up, promising her a banana inside the peel all to herself. We got upstairs and I immediately got her the banana.

“I can eat this in the living room by the tee bee?” she asked.

“Yeah, baby.”

“You come wit and watch tee bee?”

“Sure, baby.”

We walked together down the hall and sat on the couch where she devoured half the banana before putting it down and asking for more fruit. Apparently, girlfriend was the definition of hangry because she was normal Lovie the rest of night.

The thing is, I always — always — carry snacks for her with me in my bag. She knows this. She’s almost three and she’s been rummaging through my bag or asking for snacks for two years now.

So why didn’t she just ask me for a snack instead of demanding I stop for water, which she held in her hands?

I will never know.

But I do know that when the tears and screaming start coming, I must offer food to ward off that Hangry monster who I never care to see again.

Does your toddler have meltdowns often? How do you prevent and deal with them?

East-coasters who’ve  been cooped up at home for the storm: I feel your pain. It was barely even nap time at our home and I was almost ready to tear my hair out. So far, we’ve put on a pot of chicken chili, played trains, read what feels like a hundred books, dealt with several tantrums and had two, um, “time-outs.” There’s a lot of contained energy here in this little apartment! We’ve also taped up the windows and gone on the last “essentials” run (batteries, water, munchies) and are hunkering down to be here what could be much, much longer. So I was wondering, what are other families doing to pass the time — and prep for the worst (which I’m hoping doesn’t happen) during Hurricane Sandy? Here’s what a few others said:

“After naps, we’ll carve the pumpkin.” – Reb825sbaby

“Baking, cartoons and painting and carving pumpkins!” – Hopestweety

“Crafts, floor hockey, puzzles, books, video games. And it’s only been half a day! I’m exhausted.” — Abby

“We bathed the kids before the storm hit (so we could stretch it out if power goes out and we don’t have hot water). Filled the refrigerator with containers full of water. Got out all the board and card games and books. I’ve spent most of today cleaning and doing laundry ‘just in case’ we are without power for days. Now I just need to keep the kids from playing with the flash lights and wasting the batteries!” – Meghan

“We did mess-less finger paint, puzzles and Wii. I’m exhausted [too].” – Alyssa

Looking for more ideas? Check out these cool things to do with baby indoors. Whatever you’re doing, here’s hoping you’re safe and happy (and don’t go too crazy!).

What are you doing at home during the storm? How have you prepared your family for potential disaster?

Plus, more from The Bump:

25 Things to Do With a Baby or Toddler

Toddler Craft Ideas (That Won’t Stress You Out)

10 Annoying Toddler Habits (and How to Deal)

“They need to be potty trained for Pre-K 3.” Those words, spoken by a teacher during my son’s school tour back in the spring, stung. You see, I had read a thing or two about potty training, and the gist I’d gotten was this: Wait until your child is ready — don’t force it. And my kid was turning three after the first day of school — he’d still be pretty young in the fall. What if he wasn’t ready, and I couldn’t manage to train him? Would he get kicked out of preschool? I was freaked out.

And it was probably because I was so nervous that, I’ll admit, I put potty training off. Spring turned into summer and our weekends quickly filled up with weddings, family gatherings, trips to the beach and soccer games. We were busy! Suddenly it seemed, there were just two weekends left until preschool and — because I know a thing or two about deadlines — I quickly got myself and my family in gear and started a weekend-long potty training boot camp. (If it didn’t work that weekend, it better work the next right?) I put all plans and errands aside and decided to hole up at home (despite the nice, fleeting summer weather), and devote the entire weekend to my son and the potty — I didn’t go anywhere and I didn’t let my son out of my sight. Somehow it did work that weekend, and this is my best advice for recreating my success:

Splurge on the character undies

Disposable training pants are diapers. I knew I had to get my kid out of them to get him trained. But I had to get him to like underwear — and how do you compete with the Cars and Disney princesses? With more of your kid’s favorite characters. I took my son to the store and showed him the full display of underwear and let him choose his favorites (Thomas & Friends were his choice). I didn’t say “no” to anything he asked for. Besides, I needed a lot of pairs.

Make the goal clear

Over the course of the potty training weekend, my husband and I repeated the goal to my son what felt like hundreds of times — and it wasn’t just “poop and pee in the potty” — he’d known he was supposed to do that for months now and that hadn’t motivated him. The goal now was to keep his underwear clean and dry. We reminded him constantly that to do that, he’d have to tell us when we had to go. Trust your child to do that even if you think they won’t — kids this age don’t like to be forced to do anything.

Prepare for a ridiculous number of messes

If you’re going to ditch the training pants, you can’t expect your child to get it right away. Or even after a few accidents. It will take what feels like a million accidents. I handwashed my son’s underwear in the sink until the entire bathroom was filled with hanging, drying undies. I was sick and tired of cleaning pee puddles. Yet, I still kept handing my son sippy cups of juice and water — as much as he’d drink. The more accidents the better, really. Each one is a step toward learning. Just pick up all the area rugs and arm yourself with plenty of floor and carpet cleaner.

Do what works best for your kid — and your family

I did a little bit of research, and some people think you should get rid of diapers completely when you potty train — even at night. But I knew my son wasn’t ready since his diaper is pretty wet in the mornings, so I just focused on daytime and that was the right choice for us.

Use rewards but not bribes

Every time I said to my kid, “Go to the potty and you’ll get a sticker” or “You can’t have an M&M until you pee in the potty,” he’d just throw a fit over the stickers or the M&Ms. So I didn’t promise anything. When he got it right though, I did usually offer a reward and always a ton of praise, and he loved that.

Try to be positive — as much as you can, at least

Anyone who’s ever taken a psychology class knows that positive reinforcement works better than negative reinforcement — so I knew praise for a job well done would work much better than scolding for mess-ups. I put on my enthusiastic hat and went crazy with the “Oh that’s okay. You can do it next time!”s. But, I’m a little embarrassed to admit, by the morning of day two, my enthusiasm was beginning to run out. My son was starting to feel cooped up and cranky and so was I. I caught myself sighing a lot and getting a little dramatic about yet another pair of dirty underwear. Later I worried that my negativity might hurt the process but, luckily, things were okay in the end. Cut yourself some slack if you don’t do everything perfectly.

Brag about the big kids you know

Looking back, I think the turning point happened toward the end of day two. My husband came home from the grocery store and we were chatting while my son was in the room. Somehow, I got the idea to start talking about his friends from school who are potty trained. “You know what?” I said to my husband, pretending like I didn’t realize my son was listening. “Justin goes pee and poop on the potty. Isn’t that so great? He wears underwear and keeps it clean and dry all day.” “Yes, that’s so awesome!” my husband replied. “What a big kid!” I looked at my son, who was wide-eyed, listening to our every word — I just knew it was sinking in. “And Mariah,” he said. “She goes to the potty too.”

Before I knew it, it was Monday morning, and I was hopeful my son had learned a few things, but pretty sure he wasn’t potty trained. At that point, he had only gone successfully on the potty a handful of times — and it definitely wasn’t consistent. All I knew was that going back to diapers (in the daytime) would feel like a huge setback and I didn’t want to do it.

So I got him up, asked him if he wanted to sit on the potty. He said yes, sat down, and got every single drop where it was supposed to be. I packed his backpack for day care with a change of clothes, five pairs of underwear (yes, five) and a package of M&Ms. I reminded him about 40 times in the 10 minute drive to daycare not to pee in the car. Then I walked into the center, crossing my fingers that they’d accept a not-quite potty trained child in underwear and thankfully they did. The teacher said she’d take him to the bathroom often and I kept my fingers crossed. I expected the worst. But he kept his underwear clean and dry all day long — and week long. I never thought it would happen.

Plus, more from The Bump:

How to Potty Train a Toddler

Get Tips on Potty Training

Alyson Hannigan’s Craziest Potty Training Moment

Most of my friends’ kids started school today, but I’ve still got another week until my son’s first day of preschool. (So all that shopping I did over the weekend can’t be considered last-minute — for once I’m actually slightly ahead of the game!). Here are a few cute things I picked up — and I few I wished I’d gotten him. If you’re still back-to-school shopping, I hope this gives you inspiration.

What were some of your favorite school supplies you bought for your child this year?

Like (probably a lot of) other parents out there, I haven’t seen a fireworks display since my son was born and that’s not a coincidence. The whole fireworks thing never really seemed baby-friendly to me. Now that he’s two (almost three), I debated making this July 4th my son’s first fireworks experience — but when I weighed all the pros and cons of taking him, I came up with a ton more cons than pros:

1. They start past bedtime

Never get between a two-year-old and his sleep. My kid skipped his nap a few days last week and all heck broke loose (calling it crankiness would be an extreme understatement — these were full-on meltdowns), so I’m not willing to risk pushing back bedtime an extra hour or two right now.

2. They’re super loud

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) says that noise from exploding fireworks can top 155 decibels (dB) — that’s louder than a military jet taking off — and recommends sitting at least 500 feet away from the action. Still, the idea that there’s a potential for hearing loss is worrisome. The ASHA and an expert for TheBump.com recommend covering your child’s ears with earmuffs (or earplugs, if they’re old enough), but has anyone ever seen someone do that?

3. They might be awesome — but could be scary

My kid went through a phase earlier this year where loud noises really freaked him out. Just walking past a car-wash set him into panic mode. He seems to be getting that all loud sounds aren’t scary, but this isn’t something I want to test out on a crowded lawn where we can’t easily escape without tripping over people’s picnic baskets and lawn chairs.

4. The crowds can be crazy

And speaking of the picnic baskets and lawn chairs, I’m imagining blanket-to-blanket crowds and parking lots that take an hour to get out of — maybe even a few wild drunks. (Like I said, I haven’t been to a fireworks show in a while, so I could be wrong, but this is what I envision.) That pushes back bedtime even later and ups the aggravation factor. Two things that don’t mix with two-year-olds.

5. He won’t miss them

My kid is still too young to know that fireworks are a 4th of July tradition — so he’s not going to hold it against me that we’re not going. And I think about it this way: He’s much more likely to enjoy that hot dog we grill than a fireworks show, so I’m choosing junk food instead (hey, it’s a holiday). Ah well, maybe next year. Enjoy your 4th everyone!

Are you taking your child to see fireworks this year? Why or why not?

Plus, more from The Bump:

Are fireworks bad for baby?

Is it okay to bribe my toddler?

Patriotic Swimsuits for the 4th of July