Growing Up Too Fast!

As parents, we know its our job to raise successfully independent children.  We want them to be self-sufficient, and not always rely on us to do things for them.

As babies, we wait on them hand and foot, doing everything for them, and then one day, they surprise us by rolling over, sitting up, crawling, standing, walking, talking, those special milestones!

And then...one day, we realize, that all that hard work of raising our children pays off and they really are growing up!  The emotions associated with these milestones are so contrasting!

My son, who just turned 6 now wants to go to the bathroom at restaurants on his own, make his own breakfast, build his own lego, and now dresses and undresses himself at hockey.  While I am so happy for him, there is a very large, not small part of me that is very sad.  Sad with the realization that every day my little ones are growing, becoming more independent, not needing Mommy or Daddy to help them.

 

Aiden unlacing skates himself for the first time.

These little milestones are a stark reminder for me, that one day, a lot sooner than I would like, my babies will require less and less of my help, and will venture out on their own :(

Maybe I'll enjoy those rare occasions where they ask me to zipper their coats or help them get dressed (even though I know they are more than capable on their own), because very soon, I know those days too will come to an end.

The Best Aspect of My Life?

Today's Prompt for the Blog Dare 2012 from Bloggy Mom is to write about the Best Aspect of My Life...

Fortunately for me, this did not require any thought at all!  The best aspect of my life is that I get to be at home with my children!  I don't have to wake up early every morning, rushing to get ready for work, dragging the kids out of their slumber, and rushing them out the door, so that some other person can enjoy the pleasure of spending more time with my children than I do.

I love that I get to be there with them first thing in the morning, throughout the day and to pick them up at the end of the school day.

Don't get me wrong, I have my days where I find myself daydreaming of what it was like to be in the presence of adults, but those moments pass, and I enjoy the fact that I get to be with my children.

I love that if we want to stay in our PJ's all morning we can, if we want to cuddle and watch movies on a rainy day, we can.  We can craft, bake, build forts, go on hikes, take trips to the zoo, beach or library...we can be whoever and whatever our hearts feel like any given day.

I don't have to worry about calling in sick when a child is sick, or handing over one and a bit of a pay-check to daycare.  I don't have to drive in rush hour traffic, and I don't have to miss important school and sporting events.

The best aspect of my life is being a stay-at-home mom!

Enemy #1

Borrowed from hulu.com

I am my own worst enemy...

I have the best of intentions when it comes to life . . . 

My head is a constant battlefield, full of competing ideas, dreams and to-do lists. I am a marketing and advertising companies dream!  If only I could figure out how to organize all of these wonderful thoughts and dreams.

As a child or teenager, we are often asked what we want to be when we grow up...well, here I am, all grown up, and I still ask myself this question every day!

There are so many things that I am passionate about, its just so hard to figure it out.  For now, I LOVE my job as Stay-at-Home Mom, but soon, both my children will be in school full-time, and then what?  I know I want, no make that NEED to return to the outside world.  I thrive off of other people's energy and ideas.

I love working with people! 

I was and still am a certified elementary school teacher, on a very extended maternity leave (5 yrs and counting).  I love working with kids, and perhaps I will go back to teaching, but there are so many other career possibilities that I am so interested in.

If only I could figure out which one? 


I am my own worst enemy...

I love change!  I thrive on it.  When things stay the same, I get bored! 

I change rooms around more than some people change their underwear!  We've moved houses 3 times since my son was born, and I still look at houses, even though we are in an amazing home.

We have 2 beautiful children, 1 boy and 1 girl, and still, I wonder if maybe there is room for a third child in our life?

It's not that I'm not happy or appreciative of the people and things I already have in my life, I just love change.  Change is good right?

Join the Blog Dare Challenge http://ow.ly/9mqTz from Bloggy Mom

If Only there was more time...

Time!

How many times have I found myself wishing for just a few more hours in the day!  It seems no matter how organized, or how early I start to prepare for an outing, there is just never enough time to be on time!  Rushing to eat lunch, rushing to get to school, rushing to get to sports....rushing, rushing, rushing...Well, its TIME TO STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES!

I've come to the realization that I don't need more time in a day!  More time for what?  More dishes, more laundry,  more vacuuming, more kid's extra-curricular activities, more sibling rivalry?  No more time please!

Here is what I am going to do with my time:

1. Enjoy it!
2. Savour it!
3. Follow my children's lead and enjoy every minute on the walk to school!
4. Sing with them in the car.
5. Dance while we do chores.
6. Stop cramming so much "extra" into every day.
7. Stop and smell the flowers, literally.
8. Stop and make a snowman.
9. Dance in the puddles.
10. Snuggle on the couch.
11. Jump in the leaves.
12. Swim with the fish.
13. Bask in the sunshine.
14. Have picnics.
15. Build Forts.
16. Go for walks in the woods.
17. Enjoy doing absolutely nothing some days.
18. Stop wishing I had more time.

Because really, what would we do with more time?  Just try to cram more onto that damn "To-Do" list, and feel even crummier when we don't get it all done.  We all know that the chores have to eventually get done, and they will. 

How about starting a new tradition and making a "To-Do" list each night before bed with the kids on ONE thing each child wants to do the next day, and one thing each parent wants to do!

Now that is a "To-Do" list that EVERYONE will want to finish!

The Urge to Purge

I'm a collector!  Not of stamps, or coins or spoons, but of my children's art work, school work, every sketch, scribble, colouring sheet, school sheet.  I keep it all!  No piece is too small or too large!

However, after 6 years, there's simply no room for it all!  I have such a hard time parting with it, or deciding which piece to keep and which to toss, that I came up with a solution our whole family can live with!  Photos!

I keep everything in a large folder made out of 2 pieces of bristle board, duct taped together on the ends and bottom.  I date everything that is made on the front right corner and place it into this folder.  Then, at the end of the year/beginning of the new year, I photograph the items from each child's portfolio, upload the photos to my computer and then pick a site that I can make photo-books with (I usually use Shutterfly because of the quality paper and design choices).

This way, instead of keeping all of my children's art and school work, I just have 1 photo-book with all of their work!

I look forward to when my children are older and I can pass on the photo-books as keepsakes instead of old, faded and beat-up pieces of paper and artwork.

I get a keepsake of everything they have done, and I don't have to feel the guilt of tossing it away!

Just Dance!

I LOVE my coffee!  I need my coffee, but lately, the coffee just doesn't cut it.  I find myself needing cup after cup of coffee or tea, and I can just see my doctor shaking his head in disapproval.  I needed to find something to get me through the unrelenting requests from my kids to "look at this," or "I'm hungry, can I have a snack?" or "Mom, he/she hit me!" not to mention the laundry, sweeping, dusting, vacuuming....you get the picture.

But luckily, I have found a new caffeine to get me going in the morning!  I still enjoy my large coffee first thing, but then I open up all the curtains in the house and let the sunshine in, open a few windows just a crack for the fresh air, and then I play the music, LOUD!   I have my "happy" music that I have preselected and edited for little-ears.  My children love it too!  They dance with me as we put away the clothes, dance with the brooms and vacuum, dance with the feather duster, and just dance! 

The added benefit to this, is that I burn calories and tire out my little ones that are stuck inside while I attempt to regain control of the clutter, chores and dust.

Even on my walks to and from dropping off my son, or walking to someone's house for a playdate, I just pop in the ear buds and listen to my "happy music."  Again, added bonus...when the kids start to bicker and fight I just turn up the tunes...what bickering? 

Music soothes the soul...and in some cases the beasts, I mean kids :)

McDonald's vs. Burger King

My husband and I have a long outstanding joke between ourselves . . . I'm McDonald's and he's Burger King.  Let me explain . . .

At any time, and in any situation,  my children ALWAYS  default to me, their mother!  It doesn't matter that their father is sitting right beside them and I am attempting to go to the washroom in peace, they will hunt me down and ask me to wipe their noses, get them a drink, grab them a snack.  It baffles me that their father is right there, and yet still, they just HAVE to ask me.

Finally, one day I asked my husband "Why me? Why when you are sitting right there do they not ask you?"  He replied, "Why have Burger King when you can have McDonald's?  Everyone prefers McDonald's, but if McDonald's is not available, then, when they have no other choice, they will settle for Burger King." 

Well, I say it's time "Burger King" worked on its marketing campaign and get to know its' customers a little better, because pretty soon, this McDonald's location is going to need to close for some much needed restoration and remodeling :)