A little bit of Friday fun!

Look Dad, I can stand up by myself!!


I want to play outside.



Mom said I could go outside, as long as I wore my cool green hat! I look pretty slick, don't you think?

A weight lifted

I hired a caregiver this morning and I feel like I can finally relax. For the last month or so I was an absolute wreck about going back to work. It's been a mixed bag of emotions -- guilt, sadness, fear for the worst, a sense of longing to stay home just a little bit longer. Three boxes of kleenex later (from many teary moments), I'm feeling much more optomistic. I realise now that it was the uncertaintly about who was going to care for our son that was making me so crazy. When I finally met the right person for the job, I started to feel much better. Part of me (but not all) is actually looking forward to going back to work.

Last week, when I was in crisis mode, I had a heart to heart with my mother-in-law about choosing a caregiver. She's been a daycare worker for many, many years and is able to provide a lot of good insight. There were two things that she said that helped me enormously with my final decision.

1. Go with your gut feeling. If you feel that something isn't quite right, there is a reason why you feel this way. This piece of advice helped me to eliminate one caregiver who, I should add, has a heart of gold. Knowing this, it was difficult for me to strike her off the list. But I couldn't shake this nagging feeling that she just wasn't right for the job. There was never any doubt that she would love our son and provide him with a nurturing environment, but her style of care was so different from ours. I just knew that the little things that bothered me now would evolve into big things. It would only be a matter of time before we would butt heads.

2. A caregiver should offer more than basic care. They should share the things they are passionate about with the children they care for. For example, my mother-in-law is an avid gardener. By teaching the kids how to plant and harvest vegetables, grow flowers etc...she enriches their experience at her daycare. She also loves learning about other cultures and traditions. So, the children take part in Christmas, Chanuka, Chinese New Year, and a whole host of other celebrations. They also learn about music, crafts, dance, cuisine etc...from around the world.

The caregiver I chose is also big into gardening, and she too gets the children involved in her garden. She also loves birds and takes the kids on birdwatching expeditions.

Based on her advice, I think I've made the right choice. My gut said "yes" the second I walked into this caregiver's home. And after speaking to the mom's of other kids in her care, I've been left with the impression that she's second only to mom!

Now that this huge weight has been lifted I can go back to enjoying what's left of my maternity leave.

I've got fall fever

Fall fever is in the air. The squirrels are busy collecting and hiding acorns, the leaves are changing from green to yellow, red, or rusty brown, and the apple harvest is making its way to market.

I love this golden time of year, when the days are warm but not too hot and the mornings are crisp and sunny. It's enough to make me want to rake up a big pile of leaves and jump on in!

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go outside and frolick on this fine, fun, fanciful Friday.

Day 12: the puree strike

He's on strike. It's the little guy versus anything blended, mushy, or otherwise deemed "baby food." So much for all of the pureed meals that line the freezer....

The baby books tell you not to force feed your baby. So, like a good mom, I don't push food down his throat when he clamps his mouth shut and turns his head away in disgust. Those same books tell you to feed your baby a balanced diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and protein. How can you possibly do that when your child only wants to eat Cheerios and blueberries?

I pour over the shelves at the supermarket looking for "finger foods" that might tempt his appetite. Avacado, edamame, tofu burgers, hummus, raisin bread, dates, rice cakes, cottage cheese, pears, watermelon... He likes the rice cakes and tolerates the fruit, but won't look twice at anything else. Arggghhhh!!!

I leave snacks on the coffee table, in his stroller, and on the floor next to his toys. Sometimes he eats them, sometimes he doesn't. I also let him graze off of my plate because he seems to prefer "mommy's" meals over his own. Even though he still breastfeeds regularly, I'm obsessed with making sure he's eating enough.

Tonight my hubby and I tried a new strategy. We put him in his high chair but didn't put any food on his tray. We proceeded to serve ourselves dinner while he watched from across the table. Immediately, he expressed an interest in what we were eating. So, we gave him bites of chicken, rice, vegetables, and cheese. Although he didn't eat a lot, he seemed to enjoy the dining experience.

I think we might be heading in the right direction. I sure hope so, because this strike has gone on long enough. I'm ready to negotiate!

Late adopters get the worm

I bought a laptop this weekend and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was significantly less expensive than my old one, and could do fancier tricks! It's also a lot prettier (I bought a shiny, white MacBook).

Home electronics are one of the few things that go down in price over time. I remember paying $2000+ for my first computer in university. A computer that, by today's standards, would be worth absolutely nothing. I probably couldn't even give it away, on account of its slow speed and lack of RAM (or whatever the heck it's called). I find this hilarious because, at the time of purchase, that computer was state-of-the-art! It was the cat's meow. The envy of the neighbourhood. It remained that way for exactly two weeks when something better came on the market. That something better is also worth nothing today.

We bought a fantastic digital camera when I was pregnant. I don't regret it. It takes fantastic pictures. But I can't help cringing every time I see its price go down. And in a few years we'll probably have to buy a new one because this one will be insignificant (just like the ghosts of my computers past).

Think about how much wealthier we would be if we would only sit back and wait. If we were late adopter, we would be laughing all the way to the bank. We could travel around the world with the money I'd save!

My parents are the latest of the late adopters (and world travellers!). They clung on to their VCR until the bitter end. I remember my dad complaining endlessly about the dwindling selection of VHS rentals. So, I bought him a DVD player for his birthday a few years ago. It cost $99. I could probably get it for even less today. Those poor suckers who bought the original DVD players for over $1000. It's lucky for them that the DVD didn't go belly up like the Beta.

My hubby would like a flat screen plasma TVs. Much to his chagrin, this is one purchase for which I plan to join my parents on the late adopters team. Why get rid of our antique television until it officially kicks the bucket? Besides, the television doubles as a change table.... By then time we need a new television, those flat screens will be a dime a dozen!

Good things come to those who wait!

Fun at the farm

Last weekend we took the little guy to the farm. He was very impressed, as you can see!

There's no turning back....

Of all days that my laptop had to die, it happened on my birthday. Happy birthday!!! Grrrrr.... Until I get a new one, I'm stuck sharing my hubby's computer. I know, I know. I shouldn't complain. After all, how many people own two computers? We can justify it because we don't have cable, and our television is older than I am. A friend once joked, "That's the same television my grandparents watched the first moon landing on." We may be behind in television technology, but we're leading edge with our computers.

I don't think we could last very long in a one computer household. We use our computers for everything! Teleworking, downloading pictures, emailing, surfing the web, blogging etc...

I should have never bought a laptop in the first place. They're expensive, and now that I've owned one I can never go back. After experiencing the freedom a laptop allows, I can't (and won't) consider buying a big, clunky, non-portable machine. As a writer I enjoy carting my laptop around from room to room, finding inspiration wherever I can -- in a nest of pillows, outside on the deck,in a ray of sunshine pouring through a window. Sometimes I sit next to the radio, letting the stories of the day influence my creative direction.

A laptop allows me to hide if I need privacy. I can take it to the park, to a coffee shop, or even into the bathroom. It's true that other computers would be cheaper, but can you really put a price tag on freedom?

My heart sank when my laptop drew it's last breath. And apparently, so will my bank account when it comes time to find its replacement.

Never a dull moment

So many people told me that my life would get much harder once the little guy started crawling. Boy, they weren’t kidding! Much of my day is spent chasing him around the house, keeping him out of harm’s way. I feel like a broken record the way I’m always saying, “no touch,” “ahhh-ahhh,” “where are you going?” and “be careful, that can hurt baby.”

I try not to be too much of a killjoy. After all, he needs to have the freedom to explore and learn from his environment. So I let him go crazy pulling clothes out of the closet, and books off of the low shelves. He also has free reign over the Tupperware cupboard. Unless something is a hazard (cords, plants, hot coffee, stairs etc…), I try not to get in the way of his fun.

He recently discovered that doorstops make a pleasing “twannnng” noise when you pull on them. Now, every morning when I’m trying to get him dressed, he wriggles away to his favourite spot behind the door. It was really cute until one day he managed to pry the little white rubber cap off the end. Can you say choking hazard? I tell you, I can’t let my guard down for a second. There are so many "hidden" hazards out there. Sigh….

Now that he’s mobile, doing chores is also getting trickier. While working in the kitchen I try to keep him occupied with wooden spoons, measuring cups and other interesting kitchen gadgets. But, alas, getting into the garbage, knocking over the bench, and rummaging through the recycling are much more exciting! Laundry is a little easier because he loves playing inside the laundry basket, and hasn’t figured out how to crawl out of it yet.

As exhausting as it is to have a crawler in the house, I really do take pleasure in watching him make new discoveries. When he’s truly delighted with himself, I share in his joy. And that goofy grin of his never fails to make my heart melt!

Life might be harder now, but it also just got more interesting.

A wildlife warrior to the end

I was shocked to hear of Steve Irwin’s (AKA the Crocodile Hunter) death earlier this week. He seemed to be invincible, the way he always manhandled the world’s deadliest of creatures with such ease and comfort.

I was a big fan of the lovable lunatic. No matter how many times I watched him wrestle a crocodile or poisonous snake to the ground, he never ceased to amaze me. And I always laughed really hard when he would proclaim, “What a beaut!” or "Crikey" in his delightful Australian accent.

Steve Irwin truly lived up to his “wildlife warrior” image, committing his life to protecting the animals he loved – furry, scaly, creepy-crawly and otherwise.

In the end it was a stingray that killed him – stabbing him in the heart with its poisonous barb. At least he died doing what he loved best – frolicking up close with nature. I’ll miss you mate!

And now there are eight…

I was sad when Pluto lost its planetary status earlier this week. I had been rooting for the little guy. But I guess size really does matter in our big old solar system. It was pointed out over and over again in the media how tiny Pluto is – only one-fifth of the size of Earth. Which is one of the reasons why the International Astronomical Union demoted to the lesser category of “dwarf planet”. Is it just me, or does the word dwarf sound kind of demeaning? Talk about making Pluto stand out as a have-not planet. Couldn’t they have called it a “big at heart” or an “honourary” planet? Something a little more respectable? After all, Pluto has been a beloved member of the planetary family since 1930.

Just think about how this news is going to turn science classrooms upside down. Text books will need updating, children will have to be reconditioned to name only eight planets, teachers will have to create lessons on dwarf planets….It’s going to be messy for a while.

When I was a kid, I had two verses that I used as memory aids for the nine planets. I guess these will have to be updated too!

Verse 1: Mary Very Easily Made Jam Sitting Under Nanny’s Porch
Proposed adaptation: Mary Very Easily Made Jam Sitting Under Nanny (no, that’s too weird).

How about: Mary Very Easily Manufactured Jumbo Sized Underwear

Verse 2: Mary’s Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets
Proposed adaptation: Mary’s Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nucleuses

If you have any ideas for tricks to remember the eight planets, feel free to post your comments.

Moms aren’t allowed to be sick

It’s been awhile since my last entry. I’ve been sick. Really, really sick with a sinus infection. After finally kicking a four-day fever, (not exaggerating!) and the worst sinus headache of my life, I developed a hacking cough that keeps me (and everyone else) up at night. I’m on antibiotics and my health is gradually improving but I’m still not myself.

One thing I’ve learned over this last week is that motherhood and illness don’t mix. No matter how much I long to retreat to my bed, there is still a mouth to feed, a bum to change, and a pile of dirty laundry to attend to. And now that the little guy is crawling and getting into everything, I need to be on my toes -- not laid out flat on my back.

It’s not the type of job where I can call in sick. I’m on call to read books, sing songs, hose things down after meals, provide cuddles, buy groceries, make baby food etc...

So, I'm doing my best to keep my head up high and think healthy thoughts!

The "skinny" on Canadian children

Love is blind. This appears to be true in the case of many Canadian parents. As part of the Canadian Medical Association’s Sixth Annual National Report Card on Health Care in Canada, parents were asked to grade the overall health of Canadian children, including their own children. Only 9% of those surveyed reported that their own child was overweight even though Statistics Canada findings show that 26% of children under the age of 18 are overweight or obese.

Why are some parents in such a state of denial?

Let’s face it -- it’s a hard pill to swallow. What parent wants to admit that their perfect little angel has a weight problem? Besides, the world around them is telling them a very different story. Have you gone clothes shopping lately? Recently, I tried on a pair of size 6 pants that fell down around my ankles. I ended up buying a size 2. There is no way that I’m that small, especially right after having a baby! If you take a teenager who is actually a size 12 but fits into a size 8, therein lies one of the problems. Labels can mislead parents and children alike into a false sense of reality.

On the bright side, the majority of parents surveyed were supportive of proposed initiatives such as mandatory physical education, removing junk food from school vending machines, and getting tax breaks on the purchase of healthy foods. They are all great ideas, but parents have to remember that good health starts at home. Parents themselves need to lead by example by swearing off junk food and exercising regularly. If they don’t, they could be setting their children up for disaster in the form of diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, joint problems and a whole host of other problems later in life.

Friday fun in the sun

For this week's edition of Fun Friday, here are a few pictures from our vacation last week. As you can see, the little guy very much enjoyed his first-ever boat and beach adventures!

A picture is worth a thousand words

Or perhaps more than a thousand words, in the case of the photos taken at my family’s reunion last week.

It was like herding cats, trying to get 29 of us to line up for a group shot. Ten of the subjects were between the ages of 8 months and 7 years and couldn’t for the life of them understand why us old people were making them stand still for so long. As you can imagine, it was impossible to get everyone to look in the same direction, smile, and say “cheese”. Instead, we have pictures of kids who are either madly trying to escape from their parents clutches, or making eyes at one another or at the water pistols littering the ground. The parents all have desperate “hurry up and take the picture” looks on their faces. Only the grandparents were actually looking where they were supposed to, wearing slightly amused expressions while watching the chaos out of the corners of their eyes.

The “kids only” photo was ever more hilarious. It took several takes, because parents were leaping in and out of the frame like border collies trying to round up sheep. Between the clicks, I was pulling grass out of my little guy’s mouth. In most of the photos, his cousin is patting his head while his mom hollers from the sideline, “Be gentle with the baby.” The little boys appear desperate to run away and play, and the girls, only slightly more composed, can’t wait to join in the game.

These photos tell the real family story.

Fab Friday!

It's the long weekend at last, which means we're leaving on vacation. Yay!!! We are going to a big family reunion at the cottage. All of my cousins (lovingly called the Group of Seven) will be attending with their families. It should be a rockin' good time!

This will be my last post until the week of August 14. I hope you all have a great long weekend in the sun.

The cup is half empty

I’m in need of some positive energy right now to counter the whirlwind of negative thoughts in my head, including:

- wanting to throw a rock at the blaring boom box outside my window that the construction workers left on while they buggered off for two hours and counting.
- dreading the looks I’m going to get on the airplane when I get on board with a baby on Saturday. The “you better not be sitting next to me” look.
- please don't wake up four times again tonight because I don’t know how I can make it through another day of this!
- I can't believe that the house is already a disaster and the cleaning lady just left!
- Blueberries were a great hit. Too bad most of them landed on the white outfit that I just pulled out of the dryer.
- Is that another milk puke stain on the couch?
- Another 4 Canadian soldiers dead in Afghanistan. Sigh…
- Will they ever finish the deck so we can use our new BBQ?
- There is something soggy in the vegetable crisper. I think it's a cucumber, but I can't be sure.
- What’s that smell?

Oh good, the workers just came back. They turned off the radio and are leaving. I guess that’s one positive thing.

Please send me some positive thoughts. Or, even better, come babysit so I can get some sleep. Now that’s a positive thought!

No junk mail please!

This blog is only a couple of weeks old and already it’s been targeted by an advertiser (or maybe a scammer – it’s hard to say). In the comment section of one of my articles, I found a comment (anonymous of course) about how I could make $900 a week in easy money. I promptly deleted it. Then, later today, the same comment popped up again in the exact same spot! I have now changed the settings in the comment section to make it harder for spam to get through.

I’ve also started filtering my email. Now, spam lands directly in my deleted folder. Everyday this folder fills up with unsolicited advertisements for erectile dysfunction medications, fad diets, porn... Obviously the people behind these operations haven’t done any market research. From what I can tell, they blanket email every address they can swipe from the worldwide web. Enough already!!!

At least I’ve managed to put a stop to most of the junk mail landing at my doorstep. We now have a sticker that says “No junk mail please.” Even still, from time to time, flyers still manage to make their way into our mailbox. The senders really aren’t doing themselves a favour by disregarding this sign. I can pretty much guarantee that I will NOT support any business that advertises their products or services to me after I’ve plainly asked to be left alone. In fact, I will go out of my way to complain loudly about them to anyone who will listen. The same applies to companies that call me time and time again, even after I’ve repeatedly asked to be removed from their phone list.

I’d love to hear how other people deal with unsolicited advertising. You are invited with open arms to share your comments on this blog (unless of course you are trying to sell me something!!!)

My latest "song" and dance

There are so many rhymes and songs that get passed down from generation to generation, becoming more and more embedded in childhood culture. I had all but forgotten many of them until I became a mother and, now, I hear them being sung all around me at playgroups and at the park. It’s amazing how the words come flooding back after so many years – just naturally rolling off the tongue. I never used to give the lyrics any thought at all. My childhood innocence must be all but lost because now I can't help but analyze the words very closely. While most of them are silly and harmless, there are many that are quite disturbing on one level or another.

Just the other day I started singing the nursery rhyme “It’s raining, it’s pouring” at the water park. It seemed like a natural thing to do. When I got to the part about the old man bonking his head and not being able to get up in the morning I thought to myself, “Wait a minute. This rhyme is really troubling! Why didn’t someone call 9-1-1?”

This occurrence reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a Francophone friend about the song Alouette. It’s a song that I remember very fondly from my own childhood. I remember learning the tune in elementary school in French class (“sans” translation). My friend told me that Alouette had very little appeal in Quebec because it’s so violent and disgusting. I had no idea! Like most of the French songs I sang as a child, I didn’t actually know what the words meant. I just sang along because it was a catchy little tune. If I had known the song was about plucking feathers out of a friendly little bird’s head, I might not have thought it was so wonderful.

And don’t even get me started talking about what’s wrong with “Ladybug Ladybug.” It’s horrific!

Even some of the seemingly innocent nursery rhymes have gory roots. Did you know that the "Jack and Jill" poem is said to have origins in the beheading of King Louis XVI?

The funny thing is, I still really enjoy singing all of these songs for nostalgic reasons. I can analyze them all I want, but they still rattle off my tongue just as easily as they did when I was a kid. I guess that's how they've stood the test of time.

News "bite"

Big excitement! The little guy finally cut his first tooth this week. The only problem is that daddy and I are getting no sleep because teething pain is keeping him up at night. Last night was the worst yet. No word of a lie -- he was up (and crying) every hour on the hour!!! The Tempra just wasn't doing the trick. Mommy's milk is the only thing that seems to soothe those sore gums. Sigh...I guess that's one down....how many more to go??? If anyone has any words of encouragement, I'd love to hear them.

That's all today. I'm too tired to write anything more.

It's another fun Friday!

Last weekend on our country adventure we came across this sign, written on the back of a cracker box. We thought it was pretty hilarious, and a little baffling at the same time. If you are having trouble seeing the words, it says:

Einstein and Wolfy
Private Investigators
(We also walk dogs)

For this week’s edition of Fun Friday, me and the little guy have made some of our own signs.

Beeker and Mousy
Pirates of the 7 seas
(We also babysit)

Brainy and Sunshine
Mad scientists
(We also walk ferrets)

Smarty and Hooch
Escape artists
(We also paint portraits)

Charlie and Angel
Superheros
(We also mow lawns)

Magnum and Poochy
Stunt doubles
(We also teach yoga)

If you have any good ones to add, let me know!