canadaeast.com - Breaking News, New Brunswick, Canada

Counting down the minutes till bedtime...

I am literally counting down the minutes-no seconds- until the childrens' bedtime. I have a mental list of all the 6 dozen things I have to do in the smidge of time I have before I myself go to bed, because I've gotten nothing accomplished today other than getting a 14 second shower.

My husband told me today he didn't know how I put in a whole day at home with our almost 2 year old (who is right now climbing on a chair to say "Ta-da!" because I took her off the kitchen table). Hubby is on vacation and is getting a glimpse into my world. The yanging, the fussing, the crying, and the tormenting. The last few days have been particularly hard because our oldest is sick, and I've been tending him and can't get her outside to play. Of course, when she is worked up, she gets her older sister worked up, and all heck breaks loose. She is bored and I'm ready to pull my hair out. I miss the days when she used to actually have a nap.

How do I survive the days without going completely insane? (she is THROWING herself on top of me now). I numb myself to it. I have to or I'd go crazy. I love this age as they are so cute and learning so much, but it's also an age in which you have to have a lot of patience. My oldest, special needs child is a lot of work, but he is by FAR my "easiest" child.

I think moms who have 3 or more children and do it well, are saints.

Almost 8pm, no nap, and she's been up since just after 7am. No signs of crashing yet. Please say a little prayer for me...

April Fools!!!

I decided to play a bit of a trick on my 5 year old today. I decided to do something really mature- I toilet papered her room.

So, last night when she was asleep all snug in her bed, I snuck in and hung some toilet paper streamers that she would wake up to. In the dark, with only the light coming in from the hall, I went to work. At one point, I stood on her bed, and was taping up some t.p. when she half-rose from her sleep. "Mom???" she asked all groggy, squinting at me- probably wondering what the check was going on.

"Hi honey", I replied.

She mumbled something, rolled over and went to sleep. I of course thought the idea of her waking up with me standing over her with toilet paper, and what was probably going through her head at the time was so funny. I was overcome by a case of the giggles, which I had to hold back and get my work done. Shortly after, I went to sleep.

This morning when she woke up she was amazed by the state of her room. Of course, I played dumb, as did my husband. She concluded that it must have been my husband who did it, since I wasn't tall enough to reach (heehee).

The funniest part was when she said something later about the weird dream she had had of someone being in her room- but she wasn't really connecting the two...

Just wait until next year!

Holiday weekends, oh what fun!

Easter night.

How many mommies and daddies around the world do you think are at emergency rooms with their little ones right now because their toddler happened to eat an Easter egg (or several) with the foil wrapper?

I'm thinking quite a few...

A lesson in being prepared...

I don't claim to be the perfect mother by any means, and my organization certainly leaves something to be desired. I'm trying though- its hard to try to maintain a house (notice I said try), be a mother to three young children, do all the extra appointments & paperwork for my son, be a wife, run my own business from home (when I have a spare moment). I get so busy with everything, that there are many things I forget. Like feeding the cats. But luckily, when their food runs out, they get really anxious and let me know.

I definitely need to be more organized around here. One thing I am really good with though is being organized and prepared when leaving the house. And I give my mother all the credit for this- she always taught me to be prepared for the unexpected. My husband is a little "get up and go", but I'd rather make sure I have all the stuff I need, so I don't have to worry about getting back to the house for more clothing, medications, or whatever we might need. And, my mother appreciates my preparation when I send a child (or more) to her house, because she knows that most likely she will have everything she needs for them.

(A pat on the back for me).

So, I've been trying to teach these good habits to my 5 year old. It was really cute because Daddy was taking her out recently and it was a fairly nice day. They were on their way out in the van. Of course, he was saying to her that she probably didn't need her hat and mitts, and she responded by saying that she should have them anyway, in case the van were to break down or something, and that Mommy taught that to her, and Nana taught that to her. (That's my girl!). Off she went with her hat and mitts, all prepared just in case.

Of course, nothing happened that day. But, wasn't it only a few days later that I was taking my son to the hospital for an appointment- the same appointment we had already rescheduled a few times due to snow storms- when the van broke down. I had him and the baby in the van. Motor fried. Motor no more. Kaput. And, were we prepared and warm when we got stranded on the highway? You betcha! It was actually ridiculously sunny out that day, so we could have been in shorts in the van and been warm, but even if not or we had to walk, we had plenty of clothes to keep our heads and fingers warm.

Thanks Nana for keeping me from getting frostbite. Thanks for my sister-in-law for saving our stranded selves!

Note to Self...

Note to self: do NOT wear a black shirt on days when my 1 year old is full of boogers.

I'd make a good Tide commercial right now. Why is it she has to use ME as a tissue?

So long for talking in code...

So much for being able to "talk freely" in front of the kids and have them not know what I'm talking about. For awhile now, I've been spelling words I don't want my 5 year old daughter to necessarily know. However, she is getting better and better with her spelling. Apparently now she can visualize some words in her head, and knows what I'm spelling.

Darn-it!

What do I do next Moms & Dads? Sign language? Pig Latin? Morse code?

What is it with men and colds???

I dedicate this blog today to someone in particular. You know who you are!

I don't know what it is with men, but I'm tired of hearing the whining when they have a cold! Women manage to live through morning sickness, 9 months of pregnancy, give birth, and deal with breastfeeding issues, and they whine less than many men that have the sniffles and are tired.

The men I know- they get a cold, and they're knocked on their butts for the next few days, unable to function around the house. What woman gets to take 3 days off from house/children duties?

I think we women need to take a stand and put an end to this behaviour. Let them know we absolutely won't tolerate it.

Are you with me, ladies???

Next time my hubby gets a cold, I'm giving him some caffeine pills or something in place of a decongestant, to try to bump up his energy.

:)

Hi Kids- here is your babysitter.... the TV

I was a bad mama today. I had a lot of work to do today, and I knew it was coming...

I was out in the morning for my son for school (100th day celebration) and had my 20 month old with me. Upon coming home, we had lunch together, then (being the great mom that I was today) I put on the tv for the afternoon for the kids. Oh dear...

I remember the days before I had kids when I said I wouldn't let my kids watch much tv. Well, the kids came and reality set in. Sometimes you just have to do something. This particular project I'm working on has a strict deadline though- it's a freelance writing job, and I'm rewriting 20 rather poorly written articles within 2 days. I use 'rewriting' in the loose sense- they just want it reworded some. (I'm glad my name will not be attached to this writing as my own- I am NOT pleased with the quality of the originals). They're all on the same topic (yikes), and I am completely bored out of my mind and can no longer see straight. As a business owner, I am disgusted that a company would consider using this content (and this other writing) on their site. I would demand better if I were looking for site content (although I believe they're just selling off the articles cheap).

Once I made it to article #15 this afternoon, I had to crack open a beer. I figure the originals sound like they were written when someone was drunk anyway, so it can't possibly hurt.

Luckily daddy came home early so he can entertain the children and free them from the evil ways of the television set...

Two gloomy articles left to go. Wish me luck!

To Immersion or not to Immersion, that is the question...

I went to the parent information session for French immersion for my kindergarten-aged child a few days ago. Now I have to decide whether or not she will be going into the early immersion program, and I need to tell them this week. Wow, what a decision. Is this a difficult decision for most parents?

I've asked several people who are in the same situation as me what choice they are making, and am getting varied responses. I really think she would do well in French- I think she has the desire for it, and she is keen and doing well with her learning and reading so far.

I like the idea of her learning another language and it opening doors in her future.

I dislike the idea that I might be the only parent doing homework for the next 12 years. How far will my husband be able to go with her on the French? How far will I be able to go? Will I be living a nightmare later when she is needing help with school work and I'm not understanding the language?

If I leave it up to her, she'd be taking Spanish. She told me she "wants to do Dora's language". But, since it's not available, she said French would do...

Mommy, I'm gonna live with you forever...

"Mommy, I'm gonna live with you forever..."

How many of us with young children have heard that? I'm thinking probably a lot of us. The talks I have now with my 5 year old daughter about her future, take me back to when I was a teenager and I regularly babysat a sweet little girl with the most amazing big blue eyes. I remember lengthy conversations when I would tuck her into bed at night- when she would ask me questions, and tell me her plans for the future, and I would give her my "big sister" advice Her plans were to get married and have kids and live with her mom and dad forever. Ah... how innocent and naive- her intentions were so cute. Of course, she is all grown up now (sniff, sniff), and although her looks have changed, she still has those beautiful eyes. She is happily in a relationship- I wonder- does he know when they marry that they and their children are living with her parents forever? :)

My daughter, on the other hand, doesn't want to limit herself to just one man. She had 2 "boyfriends" for awhile (you know- when they are 5 and they have a boyfriend, but the "boyfriend" doesn't know it?) But, the other day, she informed us that she has one more boyfriend, for a total of 3. She has the one picked out that she is going to marry, and the other 2 are going to remain her boyfriends. Um... since she's never leaving home, are they ALL going to live with us???

This just sounds like a big mess. I hope they have enough room on the Springer set, because I foresee all of us being on there...

I'm ok for now- there's no kissing between these "boyfriends" going on. Right now she seems to think the first kiss between a couple is that first kiss when a couple is married, so we'll just let her think that for awhile :)