September 3rd can't come soon enough.....

.....or can it ?? I know what you're thinking. All of my teacher friends are cursing me right now as they read this headline. Hear me out!!!....I've heard, since June 28th or so..."mum...I'm booooored!" . Yes, the never ending boredom battle. Does it end? I remember it well from when I was a child...but I swear, I really WAS bored...what, with the pool, hot tub, horses, dogs, acres of land to explore, ample area to build secret forts and passageways, discover "new species", rescue injured animals...etc. You get the picture...I remember the boredom well and I remember what my parents would say. "it must be so hard being you. When I was a kid, I didn't have any of the things you have and I managed to make it through". I stop myself from saying this , as I'm itching with irritation hearing my (now) 7 year old whine these words, often through clenched teeth and a rag-doll hunch.

We have been to the park, splash pads, swimming, farms, the cottage, had multiple playdates, dinners out, picnics, I taught him to ride his bike, etc. Never are we not doing anything, but yet...the child remains bored. I'm convinced, kids just say it...to say it. So- this means I put September 3rd on the calendar, with hearts and stars and circles and excitement....when I get my calendar, in December!

Although I'm very excited and ready for September 3rd to happen...I sort of want to slow it down, too. As of September 3rd, I'll have a 2nd grader, an SK'er and a JK'er....and the very next day, my baby turns 2. When did this all happen?? I didn't give them permission to get older. I didn't. I'd like it to stop.

~Em.


***unrelated....but remember when I said I wanted to zip line?! Well we did it. this past weekend, and it was AMAH-ZING. loved it, and I loved that I survived (albeit with a few profanities...but I would like to point out, I apologized BEFORE taking the plunge, for any language that may spew out of my mouth) a 40ft drop on a ROPE, free fall, 40 feet....holy mother of pearl....I did it, and it was glorious. ****

Exclusive Mommyhood

What the whaaaat? Ya you heard me. I'm sure there are people reading this who know what I'm talking about. It seems women can't escape their teenaged girl phase...like...ever ;-) I've been pretty good at avoiding the exclusive mom's clubs but they're everywhere. Secret clubs, secret groups, secret playgroups. You have to be approve by so-and-so to get in, and nobody's allowed to actually talk about the group openly, you have to be 'invited' into a conversation about it. Are you following me? Yes, there are hoops to jump through, simply to be social with "like-minded" mothers.

So what's the deal? Why can't we all just play nicely together? Why do we need to be secretive and exclusive, instead of encouraging INCLUSIVE habits like we preach to our children everyday. I'm not against these exclusive groups entirely, sometimes depending on what the group is about, it need to be exclusive in order to keep numbers down {like dinner clubs, wine groups, poker clubs} based on who's hosting and how much space they have in their house. But so keep numbers down...why do people need to be 'approved' to get in one week?

Why can't mother's get out of that teenaged girl phase...like, as if. I mean, idk why there has to be one ring leader and who actually decides on the ring leader? It all seems really silly to me.

New chapter!

It's official... I'm going to become a runner. I'm not running from the law, or running the border or running from children....I'm going to RUN. I've been contemplating for a while now, but just wasn't sure if I was ready for it. A friend of mine helped nudge me in the right direction when he shared a link to an upcoming 5k race in Toronto....I'm signing up! It looks amazing. AND it's not a timed race so I figure it's a good starting point. Color Me Rad is coming to Toronto! It's also the day before my 6th anniversary with my husband, so I figure running from him....is great irony for the day. If my wedding dress didn't weigh so much, it'd be even funnier to run wearing that.

So this is me admitting to the world, that I'm going to start running. Hold me accountable, and ask if I've run every Monday night (I'm signing up with a clinic) . 30 is all about doing things I've always been too scared to do before. Here I go.....watch me run! ;-)

look at me go!

Two posts in one night. Phew.

Just wanted to post a little something saying, I'm applying for a big-girl job after many years of simply doing my own thing (which I enjoy very much and am continuing to do lol) but yes... applying to a real life big girl job. It's in social media/online/blogging kinda stuff. I think it's up my ally...no?

Cheers!

This is how I feel. Though I wish I had those rainboots...they'd be great for my interview. Thanks to this random cute little blog I stumbled upon, for this picture.

My best advice for parents.

Best advice ? Don't listen to other people's advice. Seriously! Stop consulting "experts" , stop paying people big money to tell you logical solutions to your problems in child rearing.

Every baby and child is different. Just like every pregnancy is different, so are the babies we grow in our wombs. What worked for baby A isn't necessarily going to work for baby B. Of course I'm not saying to shut your brain off to any and all information you can get regarding child rearing, but don't assume that Suzie who lives down the street and had a baby 4 months ago, knows anymore about baby sleep patterns than you do, as you look at your sweet little 2 week old asleep in her swing- finally.

Even after 4 kids, I'm still learning new tips and tricks just simply through observation or talking to friends. Of course I still get ideas and tips from friends, I'm not saying turn your ears and mind off to any advice offered but please don't assume that one parent knows everything and that you should follow their every tip and instruction.

I see people paying other mothers to show them how to get their baby to sleep. I know there are people who are specifically trained in this....I think. I mean, there are 'sleep doulas' and I assume they have special training to be considered a sleep doula, as opposed to a birthing doula but I'm not sure. Babies will sleep when they're tired. It's so wonderful to get them on a schedule, it's nice to have a baby who sleeps from 8pm until 3am , eats, then goes back to sleep until 9am. In a perfect world we would all have newborns like that. And then as they get older, sleep from 8pm until 8am, then 6pm until 8am {yes....sometimes my children will do this for me! without cough sirup haha} . But they don't just do that. It does take work, it does take patience and it does take strategy. It's not so much about scheduling I think, it's more the routine. Get your night time routine down and everything will fall into place when your baby is ready. People who insist they'll get your baby sleeping on a schedule in 2 days are either going to make your baby scream and cry for hours until they pass out, and advise you not to go into see them OR they're lying to you.

Unsolicited advice is the worst, in my opinion. And it's usually a bunch of crazy talk. I've had a few random strangers offer unsolicited advice and I've tried not laughing everytime. My favourite was when we were at an outdoor festival and my now 3yr old was maybe about 14months. He was a late bloomer so had just started sitting up {at 13months} and wanted to sit on the grass. I sat down with him on the grass and we had a little snack. This old woman, with firery red hair {...she wasn't fooling anyone} and lips as red as a candy apple came over to me and said " you shouldn't let your baby sit on the grass. He's going to suffer from kidney damage". I had to look around, and see if there was anyone else she was talking to. She just came up to me, and said that as her opening line. I smiled and said, thank you but I think we'll be ok. She stood there with a disapproving look on her face staring at us, waiting for me to pick him up. Instead I had my other 2 children sit on the grass next to us, while I smiled at her. She came over and said something else to me, about how it was bad for his health , yadda yadda yadda. I assured her we were safe and knew what we were doing. He's wearing a cloth diaper, sitting on the warm grass and nobody has gotten kidney damage from sitting on the lovely soft grass before...as far as I knew. I actually did start to giggle, as she kept going on her rant over how I was being rude and setting my baby up for health problems {if only she had known what we were dealing with on a daily basis..} Sitting on grass in the sunshine was the least of my worries. 

Anyway here I go, giving stupid advice after I said not to listen to it. So readers-do you like unsolicited advice, requested advice, or do you prefer learning tips along the way just from other people's stories/experience? I love when friends are telling me something and not realizing they're actually giving a tip. Brilliant. :)

dropped the ball on that one!!

Well here we are...2 days after I turned 30 and my last blog post was in January. Sorry folks...I'm not perfect. (but pssssst...neither are you ;-)   )

So yes here we are, I'm 30 now. THIRTY. I think when I was about 10 or so , I thought 30 was SOOOOO OLD. People who were 30 were ancient in my mind and I'd never be one of those 30 somethings..like..ever.

Well, here I am- I'm one of those 30 somethings and you know what? It feels pretty great. I've accomplished a lot in my 30 years and I'm proud of every one of those accomplishments.

This song sort of sums it up : my next 30 years

Anyway- here I am at 30 and I realized something. All the things I used to think I knew so well, I really didn't. Everything is a learning experience, every friend I make , every friend I walk away from - or who walks away from me, every little tiny thing that I used to take for granted- everything MATTERS in the grande scheme of my life. What is the most important thing to remember? That all of the little things, whether positive or negative, it's about how they make me feel and how I respond to them. What I learn from them, how I move forward.
Sitting among my friends on my birthday I got a big smile. I realized why the world is so small. You know how you meet people and realize that somehow, somewhere you've connected before? Well lately I'm realizing my world keeps getting smaller and smaller. New people I meet- somehow they're friends with my pre-existing friends. I think that speaks wonders about my people reading skills and personality. I like good people. When good people already know and like each other..it just makes sense for us all to be friends. I say this because two of my newer friends, showed up to my party and knew my pre-existing friend and her husband. Her husband also looked at my husband and said " hey, we had class together in University! " . I love that. I love how our world turns and continues to surprise me.

Nothing has to be perfect. Of course we can dream of perfection, and strive for perfection- but really...perfection isn't what defines who we are. It's not how we measure success, it's not how we measure love. People aren't perfect, and nobody should expect them to be. Over the last year I've learned to embrace, me. I've learned to accept everything about me that I might have been self conscious about, all the little quirks and little things that make me who I am.

                                               this is what 30 looks like. {...after only one coffee..}

New Years Resolutions- Welcome 2013.

I , like many in this world, make resolutions every year. I keep them simple because I never have any habits to kick or weight to lose. They're usually like " budget" or "drive less to save on gas" or something earthy {which is easy since we cloth diaper ,etc. lol} so they're not really resolutions, they're more like....encouragement to keep doing what I'm doing.

This year, I'm making a few new resolutions.

#1: Connect more with my family in Essex County, ON. I don't see them enough, and love them all dearly. I miss my sister Sarah and my mum and dad - and now I'm losing my other sister Rachel to that city again, too!

#2: Make a household check list- I love keeping on top of my house, all the kids rooms ,etc. But with 4 little ones , a big shedding dog and a shedding cat- it can get pretty crazy. I find I'm cursing in happy words when I step on transparent, miniscule lego pieces {WTF are they even for?!!} and barbie's milkshake {you know those curse words don't you? " OUCH MOTHER OF HEN!".... or " HOLY JEEPER CREEPER!" ...yeah..I get creative}

#3: Get a killer bikini bod {...yeah ok...so I'm not that boring- I'm going to set myself a fitness goal.} Though....a fitness goal usually means you need to do some physical fitness to achieve that...so I have to find something that's not going to kill me {I think I might be allergic to 'working out' ;-)  } but with my knee issues which are STILL undiagnosed, I have to be careful....I should also stop eating the bag of Ghirardelli chocolates sitting here beside me.

#4: last but definitely not least- take more pictures. I want to be able to put some albums together of the kids- I need more and more pictures. I have many but I find they get stuck in digital format. I need to print them! I gave my parents a photo box for Christmas, it has about 60 photos of the kids and our family- they love it! I need to do that more often.

So, what resolutions did you make for yourself or your family this year?