I Don't Know How I Do It...Correction: I Am Not Doing It

I am now working both inside and outside the house every day (did you see how I phrased that?).  I have been part-time since our first child was born, but now all of our children are in school every day.  So it's back to work for me.

So far, so terrible.

It's like when you have your first child.  You think you were busy before, but then you realize that actually, you had all the time in the world and you completely and utterly took it for granted.  You had absolutely tons of time on your hands that you thoughtlessly and uselessly squandered.

Then you have another child.  And you realize that with one child you had loads of free time... and on it goes.

I thought I was busy before.

And let's clarify.  Of course it is busy for moms working outside and inside the home.  But I think we can agree that when all the children are in school all day, it is a completely different kettle of fish.  Or ball of wax.

(Hmmmm.  Neither of those sayings mean anything to me at all.  I can't relate in any way, so why do I use them?  Let's just say that it is a book of a completely different genre.  That's better.)

The point is that I would be ecstatic to have 7 hours every day on my own.  Alone.  Free from distractions.  Able to do errands!  Read labels and make decisions!  It would be a beautiful thing.

I could organize my house.  I could decorate it.  Heck, I could BUILD it.

Right now I am either at work or I have three children with me.  Yes, I have a husband.  But I think because I worked part-time for so long, and because I am a mom and it means the most to me, I have taken over all the kid-related things (except for hockey).

I do homework.  I set out clothes for them that I have bought.  I shop for toiletries.  I buy birthday presents for their friends.  I take them to all medical appointments.  You see where I'm going with this.

It doesn't help that all three children have activities and that my husband and I also have our own activities so it is a very busy household.

I find that little things can send me right over the edge.  Like the other day when I was trying to find socks for the entire family so we could go on a hike.  I couldn't find any that matched and didn't have holes.  I practically lost my mind.  I should have just said, "We're all going sock-less, and we're going to LIKE it."  These are the things I have to learn now that I am working every day outside the house.

I'm going to do groceries at 9:00 p.m. at night.  I'm going to be on close intimate terms with my crock pot.  And I am going to have to do things like stockpile birthday presents so I don't have to go out every time a child is invited to a birthday party.  And I'm going to spend enormous sums on groceries (last time I almost fainted dead away in front of the cashier when she told me the total).  But I will do it again.  Why?  Because I don't have time to do groceries more than once a week.  So I will buy extra bagels and milk and chicken that is already cooked.

I will absolutely cherish P.A. days and holidays.

And I will buy socks.  Lots and lots of socks.

 

Ancaster Fair Fun!

We went to the Ancaster Fair this past weekend.  We had a great time.  My children are all at good ages for the fair at 5, 7, and 9.  Ella went on the merry-go-round, the tea cups, and a 'fun slide' that she said was too fast and 'freaked her out'. 

The boys went on a roller coaster, the Sky Drop, and (above) the Zero Gravity. I thought for sure that ride would make them puke up their hot dogs.  It spins them around and then tilts up and down while spinning.  They're not even held in very tightly.  The ride operator said, "They're held in by centrifugal force."  Centrifugal force?  That's good enough?  They can't throw on a seat belt?  The entire ride I was saying to myself, "Bad Mom Award to you!  How can you even let your children ride this thing?  IF they survive, they'll get off all nauseous and sick and the Fair will be wrecked for them forever!"  (They had begged me for hours to let them do it.)   They got off the ride, eyes wide, and yelled, "MOM!  That was the most awesome ride ever!  LET'S DO IT AGAIN!"  Whew.   Dodged a bullet there.

It really made me notice again the differences between boys and girls.  And not that one is better than the other; of course not.  It's just interesting.

So all three did the fish pond, and got to pick out an inflatable.  My oldest son picked out a large sword.  My middle son picked out an even bigger 'Super Bat'.  (Like a baseball bat.)  My daughter picked out a 'My Little Pony'. 

Then, while we were waiting for something, the boys started whacking each other with the inflatables.  (Of course I had just told them NOT to whack each other, but they couldn't help themselves.)  Another little boy walked by and saw them.  He was holding an inflatable Spiderman.  He didn't know them at all, but suddenly he walked right into the middle of the whacking and joined in.  These three boys were all happily whacking each other while my daughter was sitting on the grass quietly petting her pony.  (She also fed it and put her brother's sweater on it because it was 'cold'.)

We also went to the Demolition Derby.  Again, I thought - boys:  driving falling apart cars around and banging into each other for fun; girls: a Fair 'ambassador' wearing a tiara.

Hmmmmm.  We sure do complement each other!

 

Supercrawl Hamilton 2012 - Hollerado!

I went to Supercrawl for the first time last night.  It's a street festival all about art and music.  A main street was completely closed to cars and there were vendors, open houses, music venues and art galleries everywhere.  It was amazing!

The atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly.  There was a mix of all ages and people.

I saw the Hollerado show.  It was so high-energy and crowd-friendly; I loved it.

I was able to explore all these great spaces in Hamilton that I didn't even know existed.  We were able to tour the beautiful cathedral with intricate woodwork and stained glass windows.  Everything was free.

We ate fabulous samosas, enjoyed a decadent peanut-butter pop (PB covered in chocolate and skor bits), and had a taste of yummy green smoothie.

James Street - you'll see me again soon!

 

Cape Hatteras - Pamlico Sound

We were just in Cape Hatteras, a place I'd never been before.  It's in North Carolina, in the United States.  We stayed in a big house on stilts with another family.  It was amazing!  It's a beautiful place.

Our house was on the Pamlico Sound, but you could walk to the beach.  I was glad we were on the Sound, because it was much calmer and shallow for ages which was great for the kids.

The Sound is great for windsurfing.  Our friends are big windsurfers.  My husband and I tried it and I liked it!  Once you got the sail up and in the right direction (which is harder than it sounds) the wind would take you and it was like a fun ride.

It was great to be by the water and under the big sky.  At night it seemed that we could see thousands of stars.  One night we did a midnight kayak.  You just have to do this to understand.  It's a great experience.

I've never seen so many crabs in my life!  We also went to the beach at night and there were lines of crabs standing there on the beach, staring at us.  Not something you see everyday.

The drive was long to get there - 15 hours.  There was a low point.  There always is, right?  As long as you have good moments to balance out the bad, that's really all you can hope for.

Anyway, one of my sons was whining because I told him to do something other than stare at a screen.  This was a huge problem, apparently.  I launched into a huge speech.  My voice rose.  I exclaimed, "When I was young we didn't even have DS's!  Or DVD players!  We played word games in the car!  We sang songs!  And played hang man!"  I warmed to my theme.  "We didn't have screens in the car and"  - I paused for the grand finale - "LIFE WENT ON!"

I sounded about a million years old.  And that's probably how long it will take before anyone listens to any of my speeches again!

That Voice in Your Head

I recently read an article on 'Daily Burst of Energy' about that little voice in your head.  Is it positive or negative?  Does it help you along or bring you down?

Sometimes we just take the voice in our head for granted and don't question it.

This article talks about how we often focus on what we've haven't done or haven't achieved yet, instead of focusing on the positive things that we have done and how far we have already come.

This was a good nudge for me.  Maybe it will be for you too.

Although telling yourself to shut up isn't really being very nice to yourself, so ... can't really condone that... but you get the point!

http://www.dailyburstofenergy.com/index.php/entry/tell-yourself-to-shut-up

Fifty Shades of Embarrassment!

I was in The Sweet Shop in Tobermory.  This is a very large candy and ice cream store filled with every possible kind of sweet thing imaginable.  And it is always very, very crowded.

My kids love picking out candy.  They always want different things, so I usually give them a dollar limit so it will be fair.

On this day I was occupied in the far corner of the store, checking out the many different options of salt water taffy they have now.  Lemon Meringue Pie and Root Beer Float - who knew?

Anyway, one of my kids approached me with a ton of candy in his hands.  I said that was too much.

I yelled, "The limit is $3.00, kids! $3.00!  And that's a HARD LIMIT!  A HARD LIMIT!"

As I was shouting this, I was wondering why that phrase sounded so familiar.

And then it hit me, as I was yelling it across a room full of children.

Yes.  It was from Fifty Shades.

Fifty Shades of....embarrassment!

Awenda Provincial Park - Camping!

We just returned from camping at Awenda in Penetanguishene.  It's a beautiful park.  Our campsite was surrounded by forest and was very private.  There is 30K of trails in the park.  There is a very long beach, sandy and with rocks.  It is a very interesting land formation.  There is also a lake that would be great to canoe or kayak around.  It's a beautiful, peaceful lake. 

The kids especially loved the camping.  The boys had their bikes so they could be very independent.  They made friends with other kids there and then spent most of their time together, biking around and going to the park.  It was great!  I mean, I'm not trying to say that it was great that they were hardly ever at the campsite!  That would be ridiculous.  Of course not.  It's just that they were occupied, and busy playing outdoors, so when we were busy making meals and so on, it all worked out.  (You know what I mean.)

Honestly, though, it was really good family bonding time.  We taught the kids some card games and had fun hiking and biking together.

There was one problem though: our air mattress.  The only way you can possibly be comfortable on this mattress is if all the people sleeping on it are the exact same weight.  And how often does that happen?  The heaviest person would sink the lowest and then the others would roll toward them.  Trust me, this is not good for a sound sleep.  Also, my head was heavier than my feet, so my head would sink lower than my legs, even with my pillow.  I don't know about anyone else, but I did not find this comfortable at all.  On one night when two of our children snuck onto the mattress in the middle of the night, I ended up sleeping with two kids right on top of me.  I kept trying to heave them off, but they would just roll right back on. 

I wasn't being melodramatic at all when I informed my husband that I would never, ever sleep on that air mattress again.  Give me a nice foam mat anytime.  Preferably alone.  In a separate tent.  Far, far away.  Excuse me while I go burn the air mattress.