My Parents

It has only been 9 days since the last post, however it feels longer …

I was a bit busy with my parents’ 40^th anniversary celebration. It was a 2-day event. Celebrating my parents and their life together brought back memories. I wasn’t always the perfect child; however my parents have always been kind and generous with me. Of course, my mom does say some choice words to me once in a while and I believe that one should cleanse oneself of all negative feelings! It is cheap therapy J I will dedicate a post or 2 to my mom sometime in the near future. She is quite a fascinating person.

My dad, on the other hand, has never said anything negative to me till I became a mom. His grandchildren are the centre of his universe. As my dad’s daughter I could make mistakes and was forgiven umpteen times, however as the mother of my dad’s grandchildren, I am not allowed to make any mistakes! Parents!!

However, through all the ups and downs, my parents have been fantastic and I am very fortunate to be their daughter.

An aside: Dear boys, momley’s life is not this perfect and she is not always this positive and happy. You live with her, so you know! She just seems to pick really good days to blog about her life!!

I am NOT an Island

Today, I finally watched the movie Julie and Julia! I cried and laughed through the movie. While I watched, I also felt the intense urge to call Craigley at work and say to him, “You are the butter to my bread”! Hope I quoted that accurately.

Wanting to stay home and take care of the kids is not an easy decision for any couple to make … I am glad Craigley supported me. There are days there is resentment. We could do this if we had two incomes! There are days there is gratitude. I am glad you are the one staying home and dealing with all this. There are days there is jealousy. You are so lucky you get to spend all this time with the kids. There are days of joy. Thank you!

Through all the emotions and ups and downs, I feel lucky. I want my boys to know that their dad loves their momley. And I couldn’t have done it without him!

Thanksgiving ...

On October 2, 2012, I celebrated (mentally) 20 heartwarming years in Canada. I can officially say that I have lived more than half my life here!

On this special 20^th Anniversary Thanksgiving weekend, I am most thankful for my family and my friends. Everyone has contributed to my growth as an individual … daughter, sister, wife, friend, and most importantly, mom!

Recently, my oldest wrote his autobiography for a school assignment and I quote the following excerpts from his work:

I’m really not sure what makes me a worthwhile friend, but friendship means a lot to me.

I don’t really know how to describe my character. But I would say my physical appearance is okay, but not so great, normal, regular and fine.  

This is the same kid, who at 5 years of age was worried about not looking like a “Canadian”! 6 years later, his writing reflects how Canadian he is!

I am so thankful for him and so proud of him.

My youngest, on the other hand, has this tendency to invite everyone to our home. He doesn’t write yet, however this one trait of his reflects his being Canadian J Always welcoming!

While I am on a roll here mentioning the great Canadians in my life, I will also add a few excerpts from my friend K’s comments in response to My Family post from August 21, 2012.

I have a few friends … who used to get asked where they were from a lot. I think people ask in the hopes of starting a conversation or curiosity.

Canada is a multi-cultural place. Being Canadian means having the privilege to understand all cultures which makes us more informed and inevitably smarter and nicer!

On that note, Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Brothers from the same mother

People often comment that both my boys look very much alike. They probably do, however I don’t see it! It could be because I am so aware of their differences.

My first born started reading at the age of 2 and hasn’t stopped since. He will choose to read a good book over TV, computer or any gadget if given an option. My second one, at the age of 4, still doesn’t recognize the 26 letters of the alphabet!

My first born barely eats 2 fruits and 4 vegetables, whereas the second one devours most fruits and vegetables. My little one loves to pop his head into the fridge to check out what treasures are hiding in there J He lets me know when he is hungry and will grab a snack if need be. His older brother needs to be reminded to eat!

There are always questions/reflections … Did I do everything I could do to prepare them for life?

Am I doing everything I could do to prepare them for life?

I find that parenting has been “trial and error” sometimes. I mean, I learned to be a parent with my children. There are days I got it right and there are days I got it wrong. Today, I just want my boys to know that their mom tried her best and she is not perfect. And it is OK to make mistakes.

I am still learning and I am sure there will be few more mistakes … There will be days I will get it wrong and then, there will be days I will get it right!

To Be is To Pee

René Descartes’ “I think therefore I am” is a well-known philosophical statement. I am no philosopher or a wise person; however I do believe that “Peeing is Being”. And I say that in all humility and from personal experience.

Before I delve into a lengthy recollection of a personal experience, I would like to share that on Day 7 the little guy peed at school. Thank you Ms. F, the ECE (Early Childhood Educator) in his classroom. I can quit worrying now J So, why was I so worried?

Flashback …

About 11 years and a few days ago, a doctor decided to do an episiotomy to help me deliver my first born. After that (un)necessary procedure, my bladder quit on me. I wasn’t really aware of this drama going on in my own body as it didn’t feel like my body at that time. I will save some reading time and will just share these few words … Urologist, Catheter and UTI!! Nightmares to last a lifetime J

It is amazing how women go back and have that 2^nd, that 3^rd or that next child!

End of Flashback.

Enough said for this post. Have a good day all and please don’t forget to pee.

To Pee OR Not To Pee

[Couldn’t resist a shout out to Shakespeare J]

The dilemma that my 4 year old is facing in school currently is just that, “To pee or not to pee”! So far, he has attended 6 full days of JK and each of those days, he did not pee at school. How would I know for sure? Well, when he gets home … it is Niagara Falls (if you know what I mean) … that’s about 8 hours of voluntary water retention!! And of course, his own confession of “I did NOT pee at school!”.

“Why?”
“I don’t know”
“What do you mean by I don’t know?”
“I don’t know”

That was our conversation from Day 1.

On Day 2, as I walked him to school, I told him that he should pee when he needs to. So, did he? NO. Before we walked back home, I requested his teacher if I could take him to the washroom. I thought if he got familiar with the amenities, he might be more comfortable. Turns out, he knew exactly where the “Boys” washroom was. I was a bit shocked to see it … there was pee everywhere! First instinct was to walk out of there …

“OK”, I told him, “Take some tissue and clean the toilet. Then wash your hands. Then you can pee; clean up again if there is a mess and wash your hands again! Got that?”

“What?”, he said, “Why 2 times?”

We got through that somehow and I hoped that I got through to him. I informed his teacher about the little issue and requested to remind the little guy to go to the washroom.

Day 3

“Why NOT?”
“Because the teacher did NOT tell me to!”

Day 4

“Come on dude! This is NOT good for your bladder!!”
“What is a bladder?”
“It holds your pee and it is getting tired!”
“NO! It is in my tummy and my tummy is OK!”

Day 5

I am thinking TGIF (Thank God, It’s Friday!). I can work with him on the weekend. One of the moms suggested that I offer him a small reward like a lollipop or something. She actually had a few in her handbag and gave me one.

As soon as I saw my little one, I asked him, “Did you go to the washroom?”. He beamed and nodded. I felt so relieved. I gave him a hug and the lollipop; thanked the mom and started walking home with a happy smile on my face.

As soon as we got home …

“I have to go pee! My tummy is hurting!”
“You peed at school today, right?”
“No”
“But you went to the washroom?”
“Yes”

I so badly wanted to scream.

Over the weekend, I was talking about it with my brother. The first thing he told me was that I have too much time on my hands. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t spend this much time thinking about my child not peeing at school. Right!

So, I decided to talk to my son one last time and not make such a big deal of it.

Day 6

Half way to home, he says, “My tummy is hurting!”

We walked home as quickly as we could.

 

Baby Steps to Fame

This post is in honour of my friend, KPF, who is from the beautiful Newfoundland and has an awesome sense of humour J KPF has always encouraged me to write and has always shown an interest in my children’s lives. It is his birthday in a couple of days and I thought I could gift him a wee bit of laughter!

I am going down memory lane today.

My first serious attempt to write something and have it published was in 2004. Here is the joke I sent to Reader’s Digest!

My friend, Zion, likes to visit with my 3-year-old son as much as she can. On one such visit, she decided to test his knowledge of colours. She asked him what her hair colour was and he replied, “Black”. Her next question was: “What colour are your eyes?” His prompt response: “Black and white”.

Of course, I did NOT get any response. What I thought of as the funniest observation by my child was/is probably the most common and oft repeated response by many children around the world! Although I continued to think of my child(ren)’s observations as special, I decided to NOT push them for publishing.

Following is one of those observations:

A few weeks after my second child was born, his older brother duly noted that I put the baby in daycare! I was a little concerned, however very relieved when he mentioned that I need to take some time for myself. Just as I was thinking how considerate he is at just 7 years of age, he followed it up with, “I have noticed that the dishes haven’t been washed in 2 days. If the baby is in daycare, you will have time to wash them”.

Happy birthday K!