The Poppy

Sometimes I wonder if the conversations I have with the kids actually sink in.

I'm not talking about the standard "don't fart on your sisters head", "5 is an unacceptable time to get up", or even "if your mittens are dripping water everywhere, then yes - they are indeed WET". Those scripts are already on rewind and repeat and seem to have little impact.

No, I'm referring to the important conversations. Things like the significance of wearing the poppy, Remembrance Day, and honouring the contribution made by our current and past armed forces to ensure we have the rights/freedoms we often take for granted.  Admittedly, this is a concept that is difficult for a 6 year old to process.

Image from www.warmuseum.ca

The other day my children were fortunate to participate in a Remembrance Day ceremony at their school. When they returned home that evening, all were very excited to tell me about the ceremony - and especially proud of the poppies they had pinned to their jackets. Except B. His coat was missing his poppy.

"B - what happened to your poppy? Did it fall off on the way home?" I asked.

"No. I buried it in the snow!" he stated excitedly. He then ran off to play.

At first I was mortified - why on earth would my child bury a symbol of Remembrance in the snow, and I secretly hoped he did this in our yard and not at the school.

At bedtime that evening, as I rubbed his back, I asked "Why would you bury your poppy, B?"

"So we could have poppies in the spring of course. Why should we only remember when snow is on the ground?" he replied, looking at me as if I was daft.

Perhaps I'm doing something right after all.


If you are interested in hearing the stories of our veterans, I encourage you to check out Veterans Voices of Canada  . This is an amazing project dedicated to ensuring our veterans can share their stories with generations to come. We must never forget.

DST - The Aftermath

After almost a week straight of 5 a.m. wake up calls, I have officially decided Daylight Savings Time can go to a place a heck of a lot warmer than it is here.

My kids have always been early risers - and are pretty consistent in their 6 a.m. 'rise and fight' routine regardless of the time they went to bed the night before. So when DST hits, we usually have a couple days before their internal clocks get adjusted.

Now we are 7 days in, and I have almost resigned myself to the fact that 5 is the new 6. Also, there is not enough coffee in the world to get me through this.

Or by screaming children … 

This morning, in sheer desperation, I wrote the following message on the stove:

Clearly I am in a stupor, otherwise I would have scribed this on something that other people in the house actually look at … but no, I chose the stove. I may as well have scribbled it in the leftover lint that dusts the top of the dryer … no one else looks at it either.

Sigh. I'm gonna grab me a Gin and have me a pity party today. Anyone want to take my kids for a sleepover?

It's The Little Things

I am a very happy girl tonight.

No, it's not just because I successfully pulled off the switcheroo of the century by replacing the Fruit Loops with Fruity Loops and getting my kids to actually eat them.

It's not even because I stumped them during the argument over whether or not Pluto is actually a planet or a micro-planet. I maintain Pluto is a dog - apparently a very unpopular position indeed.

It isn't because it is once again raining - giving our earth the much needed moisture so my grass will grow and my trees will not require my hauling the hose around 4 acres to water them.

No, it's the little things.

Today, a cousin who I had lost touch with found and commented on my blog. I haven't spoken to him for probably 15 years, and although I had kind of kept up with how he was doing through my Mom who is in touch with his Dad, I wasn't even sure where he was living anymore.

So the fact that he made time in his busy life to find and reconnect with me totally made my day - and I am so looking forward to catching up.

This got me to thinking.

Life gets busy.

We get caught up in kids activities, household chores, work, school, our health ... the list goes on and on. Things start to fall by the wayside.

It might be that one (or 3!!) room in the house that we need to hide - the door closed so others can't see how we just toss things into it to sort through/deal with later because for whatever reason we just can't get our poop in a group.

It might be that time with friends is sacrificed so that we can attend soccer games or support our kids in whatever activity/hobby they enjoy.

It might be letting relationships with our family - particularly those we may not see very often - simply drift away ... our times together becoming a fond memory rather than a living, growing relationship.

Today I am thankful for my cousin. He has reminded me that even though things get busy, and we may have lost touch, we are still family - and it is never too late to pick up where we left off. It's never too late to change the course we are on, or who is walking the path with us. Yes indeed, I am thankful.

Well, for that, and Gin. I'm always thankful for Gin, but particularly so after that whole intense Pluto discussion. Definitely needed a drink after THAT one.

Image from memejelly.com
It's our last life, so let's live and be awesome!

A Case for Quality Control

Last Wednesday there was a flurry of activity in our house as we madly completed making our Valentine's for school. Somehow I missed the memo that Valentine's was actually THIS week, and I'm feeling a little 'out of sorts' without the pressure of last minute Valentine writing to contend with today.

Now before you start bowing at my feet and praising me for having the kids 'make' their valentines, please understand that I simply used my paper cutter to make card sized squares and then gave the kids some puffy stickers to put on the front. There isn't none of that Pinterest craziness happening in this house (at least when it comes to Valentine's Day).

For the most part the cards turned out great - and aside from having to remove a couple of hearts and re-place them so they were not hanging over the edge of the card, the decorating part went pretty smoothly. As you can imagine, with three enthusiastic children fighting over puffy stickers, the scene was rather chaotic, so I was unable to check each and every card made at the time.

Later that evening as I was cross checking names to be sure everyone had been made a card, I came across this beauty . . .

Ummmmmmm . . . yeah. You can call me a pervert, but my mind DID NOT scream valentine when I saw this. Needless to say, I took the liberty of re-arranging the placement of these stickers before putting them in the bag. I can only imagine what would have happened if this had been inadvertently sent to school - and my son may have never lived it down. He'd be in Grade 12 and someone would say, 'remember when you gave that girl a valentine with stickers shaped like a penis in Kindergarten?!?' and then laugh hysterically. Ok, who am I kidding - it'll probably be me saying it and showing everyone the picture. You know, cause I'm a nice loving mother like that.

In the end, our Valentine's project was fairly painless - perhaps we will try to do it again next year. Who knows what might end up on a card next time ... 

Escape to Mom Island

This week is Mental Health Awareness week. In an effort to create ongoing discussion and awareness of Mental Health throughout the month of May, my sister over at Champions for Community Wellness has created a blog challenge called #Blog4MH, and I have decided to participate. I wrote this post three years ago; however it continues to be relevant to me (and I believe other parents) today. How does it relate to Mental Health? I believe parenting is one of the most challenging adventures we can embark upon - and I believe supporting one another through the struggles, successes, and difficult days is critical to our own mental health. A girly drink doesn't hurt either ;) 

Escape to Mom Island

I love my children . . . they are kind, considerate, well mannered, and thoughtful little beings that genuinely love and care for others. Then they come home. And turn into demons. I'm not sure why, but sometimes I feel having me as a mother might have something to do with it.

These past few weeks have resulted in a full on desire to take a Mommy Vacation. Please don't misunderstand - it isn't that I don't want to be around my kids. I just want a short break from the responsibility of the day to day joy of raising them. Time to reflect on who I am as a person, who I want to be as a wife and mother, and for goodness sake, just get some sleep already!

The other day I got a text from my friend asking if I was at home. My response was something like this:

Sadly, I am. I would prefer to be relaxing poolside being served some yummy girly drinks by cute dudes in towels; however I am here instead.

Image from Shoeboxblog.com

And I was. Making Kraft Dinner and hot dogs for the third time that week. Listening to the kids fight about who used the markers last and let them all dry out, whining about why they were given a particular kind of juice box in their lunch, and complaining that their Dad wasn't home - you know, because I'm so mean.






Yes, on Mom Island (thanks for this term @FoodieandFamily), things will be different. Someone will be cooking for me - and Kraft Dinner, hot dogs, and fish sticks will NOT be on the menu. Someone will be serving me a beverage of my choice. I can lay by the pool in my bikini (ha! you're welcome for THAT visual!), read a book or drift off for a nap. When I return to my room, it will be clean and there will be little chocolates (wrapped of course) on my pillow to snack on while I indulge in some reality tv that is too inappropriate for my children to see.

The best part of all? It's Mom Island. There's a ton of other Mom's there to talk to, share experiences with, laugh, and embrace the joys of being a mother. We will celebrate our children, and the gifts they give us. We will express our thanks to our husbands/parents/friends for taking on the responsibility of caring for our children and making it possible for our little escape.

We will talk about our hopes, our dreams, our interests, our experiences. We will celebrate being women, our resilience, and our tenacity. We will renew friendships, and cultivate relationships with others who we have never met before. We will laugh, we will cry, and yes, we will miss our children a great deal. They are, after all, a huge part of our world.

And then, I will return home. Refreshed, refuelled, and ready to take on the next round of "Who Used That Marker Anyways?". Confident in my ability as a woman, wife, and mother. Secure in the knowledge that I am not alone on this journey - even though at times I may feel like it. And hopefully, the kids will have missed me - even if it is only just a little bit. Because I know I will have missed them to the moon and back.

Having the opportunity to be a Mom to my kids is the greatest gift I have ever been given. I am so very thankful each and every day that I was chosen to be their mother. It is my responsibility to be as healthy as I can be - both physically and emotionally - so I can be worthy of the honour of being their mother. Because a tired, stressed out, crabby mother is not the kind of woman I want to be - nor is it a woman they deserve.

I'm going to start planning a trip to Mommy Island soon. It probably won't turn out exactly like I have envisioned, but I'm ok with that - as long as hot dogs aren't on the menu. Anyone care to join me? I promise, I won't wear my bikini ;)



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