Say What? As we are driving today, my son requests a song.  Typically he asks to hear the “spider song” – a song from his sister’s preschool cd. Today, however, he said “Mommy, I want to hear the Justin Bieber song”. WHAT? Did I mention that he is 2? How does he know about Justin Bieber? I tried to explain that Mommy doesn’t have any Justin Bieber music. That didn’t go over well…

A Lighter Side of Things.  Lately after my husband has put my daughter to bed I like to sneak in to her room and lay beside her and have a little chat. I find it’s a great time for her to open up about things that are on her mind and gives us a few minutes of uninterrupted Mommy-Daughter time.  The last few days, the discussion has been pretty serious. As I mentioned in my blog yesterday, cancer has  been the big topic of discussion as of late. I always let her lead the conversation since the point is to let her open up. When I laid down with her last night I was preparing myself for another heart wrenching talk discussion. But last night she wanted to talk about her loose tooth. It’s been loose for a week now but has yet to fall out. During our conversation she told me that she “keeps forgetting to wiggle it” and wanted to know “what would happen if she lost all her teeth at once?” Our talk was full of giggles and left me (and hopefully her) with a heart full of joy and grateful for our time together.

Until I write again…

Shay

A Tough One

It is with a heavy heart that I write this blog post. I’ve been thinking about this one for two days and it’s still sitting with me so I thought I would share.

Monday after school my six-year old daughter came home from school and started to cry. Upon taking to her I found out that the mom, of a boy in her class, had died from cancer over the weekend. We ended up having a long discussion as I did my best to explain that it was ok to be sad and to cry. That she shouldn’t worry about me getting cancer or dying even though the mom of her best friend also has cancer. That some people get better after they are sick for what seems like a long time.

We talked about it more yesterday after she sneezed and got worried that it might mean she had cancer. At bedtime she asked God to take her classmate’s sadness away so he didn’t have to cry anymore and to stop her friend’s mom from being in pain so her friend didn’t have to be sad anymore either.

It’s hard to know what the right thing to say is in these situations. I don’t know that there is a right answer. But I’m glad that she was comfortable talking to me about her feelings and hope that we continue to have an open and honest relationship as she grows up.

For now my heart is breaking for her classmate and his family. That’s a tough one to swallow. I’m not sure I even have any words.

Hug your littles ones a little tighter tonight and pray for those who are left behind.

Until I write again…
Shay

A Little Loose Tooth

My six year old daughter has her first loose tooth. This is a HuGe deal when you are six. When she first discovered it was wiggly, a couple of days ago, she spent a great deal of time in front of the mirror checking it out. It’s been three days and it has yet to fall out. The issue is she REALLY wants it to fall out at school. If your tooth falls out at school you get to pick a friend and go get a tooth necklace. She told me that no one has ever picked her to go get a tooth necklace. She said that makes her feel sad so she is going to pick someone who also has not been picked before so they won’t feel sad. Seriously proud moment for me. Touched my heart. She then told me that when it is your turn to be the special helper in class you get to pick a friend to take the attendance down to the office. She said some kids always pick their best friends but that she tries to pick a different person every time. There many moments when I’m parenting and it feels like I’m failing. But at this moment I think I must be doing something right.

Until I write again…

Shay

The New Healthy Me

Question: How would you feel if you accepted your body exactly as it is today. Size. Shape. Wrinkles and all.

That is a question I asked myself one year ago today. My answer? Freeing! I’ve spent the last year loving myself. The scars, stretch marks, wrinkles, weight I see on the scale, hairs that grow out of my chin (ok maybe not those) and all. It’s been a year of loving who I am and being a strong, confident and healthy example for my daughter.

How I Got Here. Let me explain how I got here. A year ago today I reached weight loss goal of 68 pounds. Weight that I had gained over my two pregnancies. My decision to lose the weight started after I read a book called The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. It was a launching pad for me to make several changes in my life to lead me to a much happier existence.

Losing It. I am very proud of how I lost the weight. I didn’t go on any crazy diet or starve myself. I just made some very positive lifestyle choices which is why I believe I’ve been successful in keep the weight off. The big secret to my success? Eat less, more often; and move more.

Today. Today it’s been a year and I’ve maintained that weight loss and more importantly a healthy and loving mind set. I read that approximately 70% of people who lose weight gain it all back within three years.

The Future. For me the last year has been all about being happy with who I am. That’s a hard thing for women to do. To just accept yourself the way you look and be happy with that. But if I’m not happy with the person I see in the mirror what is my daughter learning from me. I want her to grow up confident and healthy and to make informed decisions about food and exercise. She used to see me skipping meals and eating junk food. I’m happy that now she watches me make a healthy smoothie for breakfast and sees me eating my veggies at dinner. We also love to dance together, play at the park and go for walks. I love the new healthier me and I hope that she’s sees that and grows up to love herself and all her imperfections.

Until I write again…

Secret Option (C)

Secret Option (C).  Today I made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch for myself and my two-year old son. It’s one of the few things he, most often, is willing to eat. If it was up to him he would live on peanut butter sandwiches but I do like to try to throw in a little variety. So after I prepared our glamorous lunch, I cut his sandwich into little tiny squares (because that’s the ONLY way he will eat them) and then presented him with his lunch. He took one look at his lunch and proceeded to yell, scream, cry and generally put up a big complaint about the grilled cheese. In the end, he decided that the was NOT going to eat his sandwich. I informed him that he had a choice, he could chose to (a) eat the grilled cheese or (b) he could go hungry but I wasn’t making him anything else. So he chose secret option (c). If you are not aware of secret option (c), it’s the option that my kids always come up with when I give them a choice. A secret option that I had not presented them. In this case secret option (c) refers to MY grilled cheese sandwich. That’s right, my grilled cheese was much more appealing than his….hmph. Apparently cutting my sandwich in half was the key to making him happy today. Who knew. Fine, I offered to trade him. He was happy. I was happy – until he licked the entire outside of my sandwich and then asked to trade back. Yeah, I don’t think so. He has now torn my sandwich into a million small pieces and is eating both our sandwiches. You know when I signed up to be a parent, I imagined a lot of things. But not moments like this, lol. I guess I am off to the kitchen to make myself another sandwich. 

Until I write again…

Shay

Actually…

“Actually…” No I am not quoting Oscar from the Office, I’m actually quoting my two-year old son Jack. 

Me “Jack would you like some peanut butter toast?”

Jack “Actually, I want a peanut butter sandwich”

Me “Jack, can you please put on our winter boots”

Jack “Actually I want to wear my rubber boots”

I’m not sure where he picked this up as I don’t think either myself or my husband say “actually” very often but who knows. It’s pretty funny and cute and just another reason he makes me smile every day.

Good Reads. There is something so wonderful about reading a good book. Getting swept up in the story. Losing track of time as you read through page after page. Reading a quick as you can at the beginning of a book because you are dying to find out what happens and then reading ever so slowly at the end, taking in every word because you don’t want it to end. Staying up so late that you find yourself re-reading the same sentence over and over again as the words begin to blur together. I just finished reading “Love Anthony” by Lisa Genova. It was one of those books. A beautiful story that touched my heart. Books like this are the reasons I often put down and don’t finish books. I just can’t read a book that doesn’t capture my interest right away because I feel like I am missing out on so many others. I currently have a pile of books beside my bed waiting to read. Since having kids I find I can only get through a few pages before my eyelids are heavy and I’m off to sleep. But I still make sure to crack open a book every night and every once in awhile I find a gem that has me huddled in the corner, trying to read a few more pages while the kids are cleaning up their toys or brushing teeth.

Until I write again…

Shay

Ultrasound Adventures with a Two-Year Old

This afternoon I had to take my son to have an ultrasound. He was quite worried before the test asking me over and over if he was going to get a poke (aka needle). As he was gowned up and we sat in our little stall waiting for his name to be called, he grew less and less anxious and more yand more bored and curious. At first he was being goofy, dancing and singing and stuff but then he started to explore his tiny surroundings. It was all could do to stop him from crawling into the stall next to us let alone peaking in on the poor person changing in the next stall. When it was finally our turn he again got that worried and a panicked look on his face. But the technician was great and within minutes he was calm and relaxed. So relaxed in fact that he fell asleep! Sound asleep. Snoring loudly asleep. The technician had a good laugh and said she’s never had someone fall asleep on her before. It took two of us to get him dressed afterwards and I barely managed to carry him to the car. Always an adventure with my bay boy.

Until I write again…
Shay

Tales of a Bouncy Ball

So tonight my son was playing with his bouncy ball. Why is it that when he plays with it I spend more time on the floor, shoving a mop under my couch, trying to retrieve the darn thing than he does playing with it? Anyways, so he’s playing with his ball when I hear him say “oh no, it fell in and I can get it out”. And to my dismay his little voice is coming from the bathroom. All I can imagine is him with his hands in the toilet trying to retrieve the bouncy ball and me having to do the same thing. Neither of which is appealing in the slightest. So bravely and cautiously I enter the bathroom. Only I don’t see him hunched over the toilet. I see him at the sink. And at least half a box of Kleenex all over the counter. Apparently the ball somehow bounced into the Kleenex box and he couldn’t get it out, despite his best efforts. I have never been so happy to clean up a mess of Kleenex in all my life!

Until I write again…

Shay

A Few of my Favourite Things

A Few of my Favourite Things. One of my favourite things about being a Mom are the moments when my kids do something that total surprises me and makes me laugh, smile or just shake my head. My son will often make goofy faces for no other reason than to make us  laugh. It’s one of my favourite things about him. Right now my daughter is really into super heroes. The other night I sent her to put on her pajamas. Just when I was about to get annoyed because she was taking so long she appeared she wearing her pjs…and a super hero mask and then proceeded to show me her best “moves”.  Reason number 2013 that I lover her so much!

What it Means to be Six. My daughter turned six a couple of weeks ago. What does it mean to be six? It means you eat your lunch at school. Every day. I am seriously shocked to open her lunch bag now. I used to be lucky to find one bite of a granola bar eaten. I had been so concerned about it I actually had a meeting with her teachers.  Suddenly her lunch bag is coming home empty.

Turning six also mean you have a sudden urge to try new foods. I don’t consider my daughter a picky eater by any means, she doesn’t like food mixed together, but she eats a good variety including veggies. However, asking her to try new foods never goes over well. She will reluctantly take one bite and sometimes even like it but she is never one to get excited about the prospect of trying something new. But apparently turning six changes everything. We were eating super the other day and she reached over and stole a piece of spinach off my plate. I was so shocked I wasn’t sure what to think. She not only ate it, she said it was good and asked for more and then ate the rest of the week.  Who is this strange child? And does this mean there is hope for my son in three years?

Can Superman Really Fly? This morning as we were waiting for my daughter’s bell to ring at school, I was watching my son on the swings. He is too little to sit on them like the big kids but he loves to lay on his stomach and pretend to “fly like Superman”. This morning it was a bit nippy out and I guess the swing was a bit slippery because one minute he was pretending to fly like Superman and the next minute he was flying…face first into the rocks. Yikes! A face full of blood but luckily it resulted in nothing more than a little cut on his lip and a few scratches on his face. Of course within minutes of me cleaning him up he asked if he could go back on the swings. Boys!

Then there’s my daughter. First day of Kindergarten she mastered the rings. Soon after it was the monkey bars. The last month she has been trying to figure out these spinning circle things. There are three circles high up in the air that spin and you have to swing from one to the next. Hard to describe, but even harder for a six-year old to conquer. Today after another failed attempt she stomped over to me and declared “all the boys in grade one can do it and I just can’t figure out why I can’t” I reminded her that she was in Kindergarten and that after some practice she had conquered everything else on the playground so it was likely only a matter of time before she figured these out too. Well wouldn’t you know it, her next attempt (which I just happened to video tape) and bam. She did it. She was just beaming!

Hooked on Phonics.  My daughter has taken to reading her own story at bedtime. Although her reading skills are quite remarkable, she does read slowly and it can take her quite awhile to get through a story. Which is fine if you are Mom or Dad because you are proud and want to encourage the reading. But when you are her two-year old brother who has almost no attention span, it turns story time into a rather long drawn-out and perhaps painful experience. After one too many nights of Jack simply giving up and either asking to go to bed or going off to play by himself, we’ve figured out that it might be better to read them both a story and then put Jack to bed before letting Katie read a story herself. 

Speaking of Katie reading, the other day she declared (seemingly out of nowhere) that she was going to read Jack “Green Eggs and Ham” because it is a story about a guy who does not like to eat food but by the end of the book he likes food, so if she reads the story to Jack, then it will make him start to like new foods too! So she sat down and tried to read it to him. Even followed him into the bathroom and into the car (it’s a long book). So cute. If only it were that simple.

Until I write again…

Shay

Slam, Click…Uh-Oh!

My day started off like this. Just as we were about to run out the door to take my daughter to school, my two year old son locked himself in the bathroom. Have you ever successfully talked a two year old thru unlocking the door. Yeah me neither. Next step was to try various instruments in an effort to pop the lock open. Last resort was calling the fire department. Thankfully a meat thermometer saved me some embarrassment and freed Jack from the bathroom.

My day pretty much continued along that path but I am currently choosing to not dwell or write about such tales and instead focus on the good parts of the day. I am currently sitting at the park where my kids are participating in a giant game of tag with their friends. There is something so joyful about watching your kids run around and just be kids. I am just going to sit back and smile and try not to focus on the fact that my son’s boots are on the wrong feet and my daughter is running around without a coat on. I am just going to be grateful that I am fortunate enough to live somewhere that the grass is green and the kids are playing outside in January. Not sure how the rest of the day will unfold but if needed I may indulge in a glass of wine…or two, while I enjoy the company of my friends at book club tonight.

Until I write again…
Shay