Relaxing Weekend

So Friday my employer gave me a surprise project that would necessitate a minimum 10 hours work over the weekend. Yay! Especially last weekend. What a weekend.

Friday at 6 pm Kamryn had a hockey pre-conditioning session.

I raced out of work to get her there on time. (Daniel was in class.) My mother was generous enough to feed both kids an early dinner for me.

We spent an hour at the rink. Kamryn had fun. We get home to a message on the answering machine from Sam’s grandmother that she is coming up for a visit and should be in town around noon on Saturday. Wonderful. Here is was the planned schedule for Saturday:

10:30 -11:30 Kamryn Piano lesson
12:30 – 1:30 Kamryn hockey evaluations
1:00 – 2:00 Sam soccer
4:00 – 5:00 Sam hockey pre-evaluation skate
6:00 dinner guests

Oh and it was cleaning day! Did I mention none of these activities took place even remotely close to one another and that we only have one car. Nothing could go wrong (ha!).

When Daniel got home he had instructions to call Nana and tell her she could come but she wouldn’t see much of Sam. She decided to come on Sunday instead (remember my minimum 10 hour project?).

Got up early on Saturday – pulled together the raw ingredients for supper – chopped veggies etc. Figured we were in good shape.

Daniel got down to cleaning while I took Kamryn to piano. Piano ran late (it’s a group class) – of course. We left early. At 11:45 I dropped Kamryn off at home so she could eat lunch while I ran to the grocery store for some last minute supper supplies. When I got home at 12:10 (remember nothing can go wrong), Daniel is on the phone yelling at the customer service agent from the gas company. Apparently our hot water heater sprung a rather severe leak. They couldn’t send someone out to look at it until Sunday.

I had to get Kamryn to hockey. Sam had to go to soccer. We have one car.

So we left Daniel at home to try to contain the leak and I took both kids to the rink. Daniel was to join us when he could (using pedal power) and then I would take Sam to soccer (he was SOOOOO excited to be going to soccer. He got up and lay out all his soccer clothes including shin pads and shoes). Got Kamryn on the ice on time. Discovered that there is a girls’ hockey league (they were having evaluations on the adjoining rink). I accidentally signed Kamryn up for boys’ hockey. I saw one single solitary girl besides Kamryn among the hundreds of boys I saw this weekend. Oops. She doesn’t care.

Daniel arrived at 1:00 and Sam and I dashed off — late — to soccer practice. Then back at 2:00 ish to pick Daniel and Kamryn up.

Home for 45 minutes. Have lunch. Mmmmm.

Daniel goes back to work to drain the hot water heater. Suit Sam up in his hockey gear so of course now he won’t fit in his car seat. Kamryn wants to come with us so she sits in his car seat and he sits in her booster (he’s big enough for a booster but we prefer him in a car seat; luckily Kamryn at 7 is still small enough for a car seat). Head off like a madwoman towards the rink – the wrong rink. In the complete opposite direction from where we needed to go. I discover this when on arrival at the wrong rink I pull out my blackberry to google local rinks and my appointment reminder indicates my mistake. Wonderful. Flip around and arrive at the new rink with 1 ½ minutes to spare.

Let me tell you this, 5 year olds in hockey gear – hilarious! 7-year olds are much too serious.

Dash home. Run around like a madwoman pulling the house together. Floors got washed. Carpets didn’t get vacuumed. Two out of three bathrooms got cleaned. Stove, neglected.

Start dinner (luckily the menu was REALLY easy – I’m not a complete fool).

Kids both need a bath. No hot water. So we boil giant kettles of water an haul them upstairs. We can only get water in the big roman tub in the master bath. Something with the way the pipes are rooted in the kids bathroom. Bathe both kids – same time in lukewarm water.

Finish dinner.

Guests are late – woohoo!

Guests arrive. We eat. We drink. We put the children to bed and drink some more. Round midnight the guests leave and I collapse exhausted in bed. As much as I like my friends I was looking at the clock forlornly at 9:30 and wishing them gone.

2 am Sam – living in the house without hot water -- wets his bed. Sigh.

Sunday morning, the sound of Church bells wakes me up. They are blessing school bags in church this morning (bizarre! We had nevertheless planned to take the kids). I asked Daniel what time it was – 10! Lol No Church for us.

Remember that 10 hour project; I haven’t started on? Well it had to wait. Kamryn has a poem to present in class on Tuesday. That took precedence. Poem preparation while I ate breakfast. Then I pulled out a stack of reference material and opened up the laptop – in the dining room where I stayed for the remainder or the day (we have an office but I’ve always been a dining room table type of girl.)

I finished after dinner and collapsed into bed to watch old Star Trek episodes in an attempt to be nice to Daniel.

That’s all.

I'm going to pull Kamryn out of school.

And let her grow up ignorant and illiterate. Yes. This will be my plan.

I'm not going to survive second grade. Kamryn has to read for 15 minutes a day - so far that's the only homework she's had. Real homework starts next week. Oh my lord its been a struggle. Total meltdowns on why she has to read and her 5 year old brother does not. Then, when she is reading - if you try to correct her reading - another total meltdown. Heaven help you if you make her sound out a word and she doesn't do it perfectly and you have to have her try again.

Piano practice is the same.

Sobbing uncontrollably about how she isn't good enough; she can't do it; we don't want to help her; that we're not listening to her (implying that she did it right and we missed it); that life is unfair. BIG emphasis on what is fair.

This isn't new behavior - just amplified, by overtiredness, I expect. She goes to bed early enough (8:00 ish; generally earlier) but I can't stop her from staying awake after early morning pees so she's getting up earlier than I would like.

So that's it. We'll hide her in the basement when the truant officers arrive. We'll turn her into the feral girl. It can't be any worse than what we are dealing with now.

In keeping with the "all first day of school" theme...

Today was Sam's first day. The kindergartners go in on a staggered basis (about 6 kids a day) which is why he didn't start two days ago with Kamryn. This morning went well. He's been asking when his turn would be for a week now. Daniel and I met him at the school (he took the bus) but it was so obvious he didn't need us. Although I suspect if we weren't there he wouldn't have gone and found his teacher - content to just run around the school yard.

Here are some pics...

All "first day of school;" all the time.

Spent some time playing with the computer last night.

More First Day of School News

Kamryn's 2nd grade teacher is an adoptive Mom. She has a 5 year old daughter, who was adopted from China. We've never shared with the school the fact that the children are adopted because I can't see how it's relevant (if it becomes relevant we'll bring it up). All of a sudden though I want to rush in and tell Maya's teacher and become her instant best friend. Technically it's still not relevant but I still want to (not that I'm going to but if it comes up casually ... ;))

First day of school and I'm obsessing over someone else's child.

Ugh! Well at least I'm not worried about my own who went off happily. My neighbour's son – let’s call him Max, started at my children's school today. He's been in a private "bilingual" Montessori school for 4 years. He's a very bright, cheerful and vibrant child with some issues/delays related to ADHD. When his mother called me last night and told me she wasn't going to accompany him on his first day because he asked her not to I told her it was a bad idea not to go (in the end maybe it was a good idea – with his mother there, there may have been some tears -- although I sure do think he could have used his mother this morning). Anyway we told her we would look out for him and make sure he got to the right class etc. He's good friends with my Kamryn but they're in different grades (she's in 2nd and he's in 1st; they are 6 months apart in age) and I don't think he realized he couldn't just stay with her all day. When we got to the school it was so obvious how overwhelmed he was.

The school is a French-language school and only French is allowed to be spoken. Poor kid got on the school bus and before it even pulled away I heard the school bus driver explaining to him how he is not allowed to speak English on the bus. Max’s father is francophone but his mother like me is Anglophone (I don't think I've ever heard her speak French.) They speak English at home, as far as I can tell, exclusively.

Daniel and I have spoken French with our kids since they were infants. Daniel ONLY speaks French with them and the kids flip back and forth from one language to the other with relatively accentless ease. I worried so much in the early years that they would have difficulties in school because of language - neither of them do. They correct my awful French quite regularly. They really are francophone kids – I say this because they think in French. I know this because Kamryn translates obviously in her head when speaking English. She will take a French expression and just change it to English and it doesn’t work – but it’s terribly cute and her evil mother doesn’t correct her (“One chance…” = une chance or in English, “isn’t it lucky”; “It makes nothing…”= Ca fait rien or in English (very loose translation), “it doesn’t matter” oh how I love hearing her say things like that).


Most of the kids at their school come from households where the only language ever spoken is French. I don't think I've ever heard Max speak French; certainly not this morning. Whenever I said anything in French to him he looked at me with this blank uncomprehending look on his little face. He’s had as I said 4 years in a bilingual Montessori but that doesn’t hold up against his classmates who’ve been in class morning and afternoon in French for two years now, who play in French on the playground and who go home and speak French with their parents.

It was so hard to leave him with his class – all of whom knew each other and were chattering away and ignoring the new kid who didn’t speak the language with anywhere near the facility needed. I introduced him to his teacher (a wonderful teacher my daughter had last year and who is fully aware of his situation) and told him to stay with her; he followed me away. I brought him back; he followed me again. Finally his teacher took his hand to make him stay with her.

I hate it that his parents have done this to him (its takes discipline to speak two languages in the home but it’s not hard; he didn't have to start school so far behind). I've been worried about him all day. Our neighbours across the street did the exact same thing (only worse because there was no bilingual school first) to their son. At 4 years old they took this English kid and stuck him in an all French jr. Kindergarten. He lasted until December when they HAD to take him out because he was so miserable.

This isn’t necessary. There are good immersion programs around – everywhere here. You don’t have to subject your kids to this misery just because you as a parent don’t want to do the homework. Yes, they will speak better French in a French-language school rather than in immersion but that’s the trade-off you make when you decide that your pre-schooler really doesn’t need to speak French yet.

Daniel and I were at the school last week helping to set up classrooms (the school moved campuses over the holidays – don’t know if I’ve mentioned this already and I’m too lazy to check.) We were mentioning to some teachers that we know well that our neighbours children were transferring from their private Montessori to the school. When we mentioned that they didn’t speak French at home – the expression on their faces said it all.

I knew Max would have some trouble but until this morning I don’t think I ever realized how little French he actually spoke. His sister is only 4 and will have an easier time of it as she’s had the bilingual Montessori and will have some extra time to pick up the language skills before it matters since she’s only in Jr. K. But poor Max has been dumped into the fast moving waters of grade 1 and I don’t know if he can stay afloat. I’ve worried about him all day. I really hope he had a good day.

P.S. Can you tell I'm back to work? I'm going to make a real effort to continue posting regularly. I enjoyed my little spree this summer. Its a nice stress release (not that I was all that stressed while on vacation lol).

Can I brag just a little?

This really is the worst kind of bragging because I personally haven't done anything. Sam has some God (and birthparent!) given talent none of which I've contributed to. I did, though, go through all the uniforms before distribution to make sure he had the best fitting one.

The other night at soccer I was taking pictures of my little soccer star (the one's where the kids are wearing red) and a grandparent commenting on my little photography session asked me if I'd gotten a shot of the goal Sam had just scored. I hadn't but unfortunately I engaged mouth before brain and responded "no, but that's all right; he does that all the time." It was true but I didn't mean to be that flippant and rude. I try to show (and teach Sam) a little humility. It's hard though. ALL the other parents marvel at his skills. People whisper about him on the sidelines - he's that good! He plays like a kid MUCH older than he really is (as evidenced by the fact that last winter at 4 he was moved to the 5/6 indoor soccer class because the coach said if he didn't move him he'd use the other kids as pylons). I know he's only five but I'm excited to see what comes next.

I want to be a dentist with gloves

Edited to add the photo. Obviously this was written before the blessed event. He is VERY proud of himself.

Sam is about to lose his first tooth (if it doesn't come out today it will most definitely come out tomorrow). He's freaked out about it and started to wail (with no warning) jump up an down and exclaim that his tooth was going to fall out. Ummm... that's what it is supposed to do dear. I asked him if it hurt and he said no. So I asked him what he was wailing about. He paused for a moment and then continued to wail and jump up and down. Based on previous Sam experiences I thought it best to walk away.

Kamryn on the other hand is VERY excited. She's giving advice and directing his wiggling efforts and keeps trying to pull the tooth out herself. I think I've asked her three times to keep her hands out of her brother's mouth. She has a declared desire to be a dentist. She has now informed us she wants to be a dentist with gloves because its so yucky. Ummm... keep your hands out of your brother's mouth!

Meanwhile, I'm frantically searching online for a store near here that stocks "tooth fairy books" because in our home on the first visit the tooth fairy leaves a book about herself. With Kamryn I had weeks of warning. Sam has kind of taken me by surprise. I think I've found a good one and will run out and get it when (ironically) I get back from taking Sam to the dentist this afternoon. He has an appointment today because at his last appointment a month ago, he refused to open his mouth. Definitely a boy with oral issues.

I still owe you 13 more things about me.

13. I'm a good cook (not perfect by far and have had some real train wrecks). I like to plan elaborate meals. I'd like to take some real cooking classes one day. Maybe this winter.

14. I love the card game euchre and am really good at it. I miss playing but I don't have a group of friends who are equally enamored of the game. The neighbours around here once chatted about having a little neighbourhood tourney but kids and obligations got in the way. I'm equally maniacal regarding scrabble but have found an online outlet for that obsession. Online euchre doesn't cut it - the social aspect just isn't there.

15. I hate not knowing something - anything. Google was invented for me. Cracks Daniel up.

16. I'm not a physically demonstrative individual. Hugging etc. freaks me out a little and I hate that that is what social conventions (i.e. on reconnecting with good friends) demand. I have no problem being affectionate with my children and my husband but anything beyond that (including extended family) and I'm kind of lost.

17. I'm also terrible at goodbyes. I just feel ackward and socially backward. I much prefer hiding out and pretending that it isn't happening to goodbye lunches, dinners, parties etc. When I was a kid at the end of summer camp I just needed to be somewhere else as everyone had their tearful goodbyes. Again I wonder if I'm somehow abnormal.

18. I have a number of serious allergies (and a ton of more boring ones). I'm reckless about them (within reason). It annoys me a little when people fuss. If I'm not freaking out; others (my husband, my parents, my friends) shouldn't be. I do believe people with allergies need to be responsible for themselves (there was more to this but I deleted it because I started to rant).

19. I consciously go out of my way to admit when I am wrong. I don't think people notice because I don't think I'm wrong very often. ;)

20. I have never really gotten over the infertility thing. I enjoy being a mother to my kids more than anything but I still question my worth as a woman because of infertility.

21. People I can't remember from high school are always finding me. Its a constant embarrassment to have to continually admit (or work hard at faking otherwise) that I have no flipping idea who they are.

22. I often don't have breakfast or lunch not because I'm not hungry but because I cannot for the life of me think of what I want to eat. Today is one of those days.

23. If I could pick any super power it would be the ability to fly. I've always wanted to be able to fly.

24. I really love musicals and fondly remember all that I've seen from my very first (Annie Get Your Gun performed by the local middle school when I was in elementary school) to the last (Spamalot, last winter).

25. Pre-kids Daniel and I had gotten into a nice routine of "hanging-out" with my parents on a regular basis as adults. The dynamic completely changed when the kids got out of the baby-stage (as babies they were just along for the ride and not really participants so no real change) because my parents focus swivelled completely to the grandkids they had waited so long for (my kids will be their only grandchildren). They have no interest in activities that don't include the kids. I miss the pre-kid adult interaction.

I'm bored

Who would have thought I'd had enough of "nothing." I've been sitting reading on the couch for an hour and I don't want to do that anymore. Can you believe that? Pretty much what I did all day yesterday though. Daniel went to help an out-of-town friend's daughter find and apartment for university and I stayed home trapped (read: carless) with the kids. It was a wonderfully hot day and I set a new kiddy pool up for them on the front lawn. I then sat in the cool of the living room and read, did a puzzle, played Sims on my laptop while they had a whale of a time in the water. Today I guess I could do more of the same but I so don't want to. I just don't know where to start.

After 5 weeks of vacation we've done A LOT. The house looks as good and put together as its going to be. I'm sitting in my freshly painted and organized family room right now. We've visited Museums, zoos, parks and libraries. We've ridden bikes and roller bladed. We've swam and we've picnicked.

A bike ride might be nice but its a little warm (oh how wonderful!) for the kids (let the whinning commence!). I guess with adequate water we should just go for it but maybe that's a smarter activity for after dinner when it cools a little. Kamryn wants to have a friend over. I can't emphasize how much I hate watching other people's kids. Despite that I believe we've fufilled our social obligations to her school friends and its their parents turn to watch my kid for a bit. We owe a few neighbours a reciprocal visit but the neighbourhood is pretty quiet today - many friends are away.

I guess, its going to be a quiet day. In a few weeks I'll be begging for this I know. Right now though I want to be busy.

"I want to be a walking noodle!"

Summer has finally arrived. Alleluia! I had given up. It’s been improving SLOWLY but I can’t remember the last time we went a day without rain. Even yesterday, which was pretty perfect was not without an errant sprinkle. It seems though that everything is coming together – temperature, precipitation, sun. And it only took the entire summer to get there. Ah well.

Yesterday we spent a splendid day at Mont Cascades, a water park that is normally about a half hour from home. It took us over an hour to get there due to construction. The kids were impatient. Daniel was grumpy. All of this made me stressed. Before even leaving home I was dreading it – the crowds, the over-excited out-of-control children and the trifecta, the grumpy husband who forgets what its like to be an excited child.

In the end though we all had fun. The weather was perfect. Not too hot that waiting in endless lines was onerous (and there were endless lines!), not too cool that you were cold when wet. Because of the traffic we didn’t get there until noon and all the picnic tables were taken (people dump their things on a picnic table and take off to enjoy the park.) We found a group (sitting in beach chairs NEXT to their table) that was willing to let us use their table to eat lunch – had a quick picnic lunch, stowed our stuff under another “unused” table and then hit the park. The quote of the day had to be Kamryn who declared “I want to be a walking noodle!” She was referencing the long lines of people obscured by the giant inner tubes they were carrying up the mountain. It really did look like the inner tubes were walking up the mountain unassisted.

Kamryn continues to be a daredevil wanting to try anything and everything which means I have to be a daredevil to as I’m not going to allow my 7 year-old to risk her life unaccompanied (and it seems she always asks it be me that goes with her – flattering but still... The same was true at the fair last week. Oh look another ride that you normally wouldn't be able to drag me on blindfolded and gagged. Yippy!) One of the slides shot you down this tube at breakneck speed, on reaching the bottom you spiral around a bowl until you shoot out the bottom. Its completely disorientating and then you literally SHOOT out the bottom (I expected it to be more of a plop) so you end up at the bottom of a 8 foot deep pool. My first thought on hitting the water was “oh my Lord how did Kamryn handle this?!?” (I had sent her first) My second thought was “I’m about to drown” (I’m not the strongest of swimmers). As I struggled to the edge of the pool the bored and unenthused life guard asked if I was all right. Only my pride, only my pride ... Kamryn didn’t want to go again... Alleluia!

Sam was like barely controlled raw electricity all day but – with fun things to do all around – there were no timeouts so I guess a good day there too. It helped that at 2:30 pm a good 700 patrons piled on to the school busses that had delivered them from various day camps and left. The lines contracted considerably. Even Daniel (yes, even the adult) didn’t have any real tantrums – ‘cept for traffic on the way home, which really was AWFUL (in the end though our GPS saved us). Thanks to traffic we got home much later than we expected and there was dinner to be had (take-out) and showers to be taken (wash off the icky park water). When I climbed into bed at 8, I was weary to the bone. And sore! (the park is on a ski hill; much climbing involved).

Right now – I’m washing swimsuits (was too tired to even think about that last night) so I can put the kids back into them for our own private and much less exciting home water park today. After the jets and shoots of Mont Cascades I’m not sure the sprinkler and kiddy pool will cut it today but it’s all I have on offer. ;)

Well they only pick up trash ONCE a year you know.

Today is Garbage Day so last night Daniel put out the garbage.

I came downstairs this morning and found a little pile of roasted salted almonds sitting on the counter in the kitchen - not in a bowl or on a napkin or anything, just sitting on the counter.

Odd, I thought. So I asked Daniel what was up with the almonds. "Oh I put the container in the recycling," he explains. Uh hunh, so he thought it was appropriate ot simply leave the remaining almonds (about 10) just sitting in a pile on the counter?!?

Yes my brow is still wrinkled in confusion over this one.

Three Cheers for Customer Service

So today was a day of contrasts.

FIrst - Sock-gate! The kids need VERY little for school. They wear uniforms and school uniforms were bought back in April (except socks which we don't have to buy through the school - this is important; you'll see in a sec.). Their supply list was short and I took care of that a week ago. Today we just wanted to kill some time so we headed to the mall. I thought perhaps the sock supply from last year needed stocking up a bit. Did you know that navy blue socks are impossible to find in mid-August? Impossible.

Gymboree has a waiting list! The saleslady offered to put me on it and I told her not to bother. It was too incredulous. A waiting list for socks?!? Children's Place was sold out. Gap had a pair or two but I don't like the quality of their dress socks. I guess I should have bought them in April. I think I'll just get some from Land's End (edited to add: guess who is also out of blue socks?).

Speaking of Land's End. I called to have Sam's backpack from last year replaced because the bottom wore out (it had help!). The customer service rep pointed out that if it was dragged the warranty didn't really apply but that she could replace it as a courtesy. Big cheer for a reliable company. She could have fought me on it. I would have folded easily - she had a valid point but the next knapsack I purchased would probably come from LLBean (also a good company) but her attitude (fair - they didn't owe me ANYTHING - but generous) means I will likely come back to Lands End next year and buy Kamryn (who will need a bigger bag than she has now) one of their more high end bags.

Okay, back on track with my day of contrasts. There aren't a lot of places to go in this town to buy kids shoes. If you don't want to hit a big department store - Sears, Walmart, the Bay, Zellars - there are few independent stores that sell children's shoes. Kiddy Kobbler though has been around since I was a child. They tend to be a little more expensive than other options (generally the shoes they stock will run you > $60) but their selection is extensive and their staff are well trained. They give good advice and will just as soon tell you not to buy a pair of shoes as talk you into a pair. This is important for us. Kamryn has "difficult" feet. Sam can get his shoes anywhere but Kamryn really does need expensive shoes.

Get to the point you're saying? This year rather than our normal Columbia sandals Kamryn convinced me to buy her crocs. We got her Mary-Jane style. It took them 6 weeks to completely fall apart. The back-strap broke. Then the buttons that hold them together fell off (and were lost in the grass). I was not impressed. We didn't buy them from Kiddy Kobbler because Crocs are crocs are crocs whereever you buy them but walking by a Kiddy Kobbler (there are several in town but they are independently owned) I mentioned they had fallen apart and asked if they could help. The clerk told me she could replace the buttons but that the back strap wasn't replaceable because Crocs sold the straps seperately. Today we headed to a different Kiddy Kobbler to get the new buttons. The clerk looked at Kamryn's shoes (all I asked for was new buttons) and replaced them with a completely new pair. No questions asked. I'm still a little dumbfounded.

And once again - customer for life! Going back to his store next week to buy > $60 school shoes. I think they too may sell blue socks.

The most boring, short, and depressing post ever.

So I wrote this post about six times. It wasn't short when I started. Basically I just wanted to register my frustration. I have come to the realization I don't have to write a lot to do that. Thus I guess the brilliance of Twitter.

Irresponsiblity and Painting

It's a holiday (nothing to celebrate just a generic holiday in the middle of summer because we deserve one!) The kids are at my parents house (until Friday morning. Woohoo!). I'm in my Pjs -- at noon. I've been out of bed for about an hour. I've only had coffee and yogurt for breakfast because I can't decide what to feed myself.

I've moved the couch two feet forward in our family room to facilitate Daniel and I playing video games (Raving Rabbits) without having to stand up to get closer to the TV. Did I mention in a previous post that we weren't teenagers? LOL

Today is about total irresponsiblity. See I can be fun too. To be honest it's really nice to be able to think only about me for a little while (between work and homelife I've been feeling a little overwhelmed - buy a plane ticket for Fiji without telling anyone overwhelmed -- for the past 8 months or so. If I hadn't had 5 weeks vacation coming I would have taken some stress leave.). Although I also have to admit that I spoke to my parents 3 times this morning (baby steps).

Daniel is completing the levels in Raving Rabbits that I can't so I will blog while he rides a Warthog around a rain filled course.

Tomorrow the fun ends (well slows anyway; there will still be sleeping in and unhealthy meals). We need to buy paint. The family room needs some serious help. When Sam was about 18 months old he took immense pleasure in taking a small hard dinosaur toy and hacking at the wall - destrying the paint AND the plaster. Kamryn thought his actions delightful and cheered him on the whole way - nothing like sibling support. The wall was wrecked before Daniel (I wasn't home) noticed what was happening. It's stayed that way for over 3 years because this was their playroom and we expected (and were not disappointed!) more damage. In April, we gave them a whole new room to wreck and the family room is more of an adult den/media room now.

So three of the four walls in the room are FINE - protected by furniture as they were. The question of the day is: do we stay with the current red and only paint the wall the kids destroyed or do we go with a whole new colour (I'm thinking a light green) which will mean a whole lot of work (covering the red won't be easy - oh and did I mention that we have 14 foot walls in this room). Daniel is concerned that our olive green couches won't match. Truth is I don't care whether our ten-year-old, need-to-be-replaced, ratty-looking-couches match or not. At some point we will have the money to buy nice new brown leather couches and whether the couches match right now or not they look universally terrible. I'm a little tired of the red (the room is open to the kitchen and the contrasting walls in the kitchen are a café au lait colour. My only worry is that the green won't be enough of a contrast. I should ask my brillant interior designer neighbour.

Anyway - new level on Raving Rabbits to conquer, more jevenile activities await me.

Laundry

So its 4 am and I've given up on trying to get back to sleep -- something I have been working on hard since about 1:30 am. Now I'm doing laundry and considering making cookies and of course blogging. I was truly wiped out when I went to sleep at around 11:00 and then I woke up (the first time; it was 12:30 or so) and Daniel was not in bed (when I fell asleep he was watching the news next to me). This is not unusual. He often gets up and out of bed when I pass out and heads downstairs to watch TV, play video games, surf etc. It annoys me but just because I'm tired doesn't mean he needs to be. So at 12:30, trying to be adult and not be an annoying wife, I rolled over and went back to sleep. At 1:30 when I woke again and noticed he wasn't in bed it wasn't as easy to roll over and go back to sleep.

I lay there and thought about how the kids would be up at 8:00 and good kids as they are they would amuse themselves and wait for us to get up for an hour or so... so 9:00 and then they would amuse themselves some more. I have good kids. But after 9:00 there is no way they should be amusing themselves. Its not fair to them for their parents to sleep until noon - we're not teenagers. We have responsibilities.

Its also not fair to me to have to get up with the kids while my husband sleep til noon either. He always does this; if we drag him out of bed he is moody and resentful for the rest of the day. It drives me nuts. And that got me annoyed that he is jobless and apparently not doing much about it (he is going back to school in the fall using magical money that will fall from heaven to pay his tuition. What he is not doing is finding a part-time job to help with expenses.). And then I started thinking that the ceiling in the basement is still lacking a coat of paint. And that I had to nag him to cut the grass this week. And that while the kids are with my parents this week I would like to paint the family room and he's already dragging his feet about that. And well there went sleep for the night. I was just laying in bed being mad.

So then I told him I was mad/annoyed and that it was preventing me from sleeping (this was some sort of therapy for me that I hoped would bring on sleep). It probably would have worked if we could have had an arguement but we've never had an arguement because Daniel doesn't argue. In this case he mumbled a half hearted apology and rolled over and went to sleep. I'm sure you can understand how infuriating it is to have the cause of your insomnia snore contentedly next to you. So I just got more and more angry and more and more awake. May I mention that almost nothing keeps me up at night except being angry with Daniel (infertility heartache was the only other thing - I would get up in the middle of the night to cry - good grief).

So here I am. 4:30 am. Doing laundry.

Let's worry over nothing

I'm so used to reassuring parents worried that their child is in x percentile that percentiles don't mean anything compared to anyone else (that percentiles only matter when compared to your child's own growth). I never expected to have a problem with one of my kids.

We just got back from Kamryn's physical.

You know in hindsight I did notice that something was up but if you're not looking for trouble you don't really see it. It seems to me that while Kamryn was one of the bigger kids when she started school at 4 - her classmates grew and she did not. Seriously she went from the back row to the front in the photos. I thought it was a quirky aside.

Her doctor doesn't think its that quirky. She reassured me that Kamryn is growing just not as fast as she was in the past and this is cause for some concern. Seems Kamryn has dropped from the 67 percentile for weight to the 53! She gained 3 lbs over the year (I thought this was normal - and was stunned to realize its not). Her height is marginally better - only having dropped off the curve by about 8 points (63 to 55).

The doctor isn't panicking - she wants us to make snacks more readily available and to see that Kamryn drinks less milk (so she's not filling up on milk which I'm pretty certain she isn't). We need to go back in 6 months for a height/weight check. She also took blood to check her thyroid. Really, I look at Kamryn and I don't see any real change (duh! that's cause there hasn't been any!) We've always attributed the fact that Sam is rapidly catching up to her size wise to the fact that he's so tall; never thought her own growth could be suspect. She's not a skinny kid (but then again she never has been) nor is she a particularly fluffy one but that's not the point.

I'm just trying not to worry.

25 things about me

I'm bored and there is nothing on TV so I figured I'd make a list that I've been too lazy to do before now. I only go halfway done because I've been very honest and its actually rather hard. I'll finish it another day... maybe.

1. I hate the telephone. I get anxious when I have to call someone. I don’t like answering the phone and avoid it at all costs. I know this is weird.

2. I’m a rule follower – to my detriment. I’m just not a go with the flow kind of gal. People who are not annoy me (I feel like they are somehow cheating me).

3. I really like to play golf. I don’t care in the slightest if I suck. This is good because I do indeed suck.

4. I love thunderstorms – BIG ones. I’m always disappointed when we get a thunderstorm weather warning without the storm. Rain though – sucks.

5. I spend a great deal of time wondering if I’m “good” enough ... at EVERYTHING (and feeling inadequate). Perhaps I should be in therapy.

6. I’m a planner. I love planning activities: doing research making lists, schedules etc.

7. I’m a medical junkie. With a bigger brain I think I would have been a physician. I like to read/learn about diseases and medical conditions. I remember what I read.

8. I hate it when a good book comes to an end. I’m also a rather quick reader no matter how hard I try to slow down to savour a good story. I know it’s not great literature but the end of the Harry Potter series made me sad. I did not feel equally saddened by the end of Twilight. lol I wish Audrey Niffenegger would write another book.

9. Although I love reading with my kids (and will continue to do so... bring on the Hobbit), I’m really looking forward to the day when I can ask the kids to grab a book and sit and read quietly while I do the same. We’re getting there. Slowly.

10. I wish I were a better athlete. I like the endorphins brought about by exercise but I can’t handle the pain you need to endure to experience them. I would really like to be a runner. It’s not going to happen.

11. I don’t know how to make friends. I freak out and hide. I think its all tied to the “good enough” thing. If you want to be friends with me you have to work really hard initially because when you’re not looking I’m secretly panicking that I’m messing things up.

12. I prattle on WAY too much. People probably don’t realize this but I know this (and that its not a desirable character trait). I have tried to change since I was a small child (and used to get regularly punished for it). I’ve given up.

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

I wonder how much lumber it would take to build an ark and if the credit limit on our Home Depot card would cover it.

I'm going to talk about the weather. Oscar Wilde may have dismissed talk about the weather as "the last refuge of the unimaginative," so call me unimaginative but this really sucks.

I l know there are parts of the world dealing with real weather problems and this is by no means a real problem (for me a non-farmer, the farmers here are in deep trouble). That doesn't stop it from being a major drag. More so if you're 7 and 5 and supposed to be outdoors 24/7 having the summer of your life. The kids are in the basement right now. In the heart of summer vacation and as nice a basement as it is, how depressing is that?

It is not raining at this very moment - alleluia! However, we began the day with thunderstorms and it is dark enough right now that all the lights in the house need to be on so more rain isn't far off. Oops I lied. It is indeed pouring - I just didn't realize it.

It rains every bleeping day. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. Normally a lot. It's always "about to rain." Which makes activities difficult to schedule and disappointments (as promised excursions get cancelled when the heavens open up) many. On Friday the city took the rare measure (further research shows its not all that rare - they've done it 4 times this season; it just never affected us before this weekend) of closing all sports fields until further notice. The hope is to open them tomorrow but when they were shut down on Friday they were supposed to open today. But the rain hasn't stopped. Nor is it expected to. We're not a city that normally has big flooding problems but that was until the non-stop deluges started.

Sigh.

At least it has warmed up (although we are still on track to post the coldest July since they started record keeping in the 1930s). The beginning of the month was downright frigid. Now at least we're sitting in the mid-20s temperature wise. The unfortunate effect of the that though is that outside weather still sucks but we have to run the air conditioning to say comfortable indoors.

In an effort to make lemons out of lemonade - I'm considering starting an earwig raising business since my backyard now seems to be full of the little dampness loving creatures (ick!).

P.S. You see how in the forecast above it promises sun on Thursday and Saturday - it lies. When I got up this morning it promised sun tomorrow. Yesterday - that promise was for today. They are just playing with our minds. It's an illusion, a mirage. As we get close to the real day they move the sun just out of our reach. Gentle reader, you're not mistaken. I am having a weather breakdown. The rain is causing a psychosis.

Party Planning

So Sunday is my darling daughter's seventh birthday. Appropriately Kamryn is in 7th heaven. Party is tomorrow. It's got a Webkinz theme and she couldn't be more excited if she tried. Her mother? Less so. Somehow my seven-year old daughter is having a birthday party where there will be 4 boys in attendance and 3 girls (including her!).

Okay boys are a lot of work. They are VERY cute but they truly make me believe that cold fusion is possible. Something must keep them in energy. Little girls are so much easier. Even tomboys like mine. But we've never been a Princess Party single sex (well girl sex anyway) party kind of family though. The ratio of boys to girls would be even more lopsided but I had encouraged the invitation of a few excluded girls (more to reciprocate other invitations than because I wanted to influence who should be invited)

I'm proud of her. We got her a bicycle a few weeks ago as an early birthday present. It's red. I asked if she would prefer one that was pink or purple instead. She told me "I know I'm supposed to want a pink or purple one because I'm a girl but I want the red one. Is that all right?" This warms my mommy heart - one because she is her own person and secondly (conflictingly) because my bicycle is red and I think a little of it is that she wants to be like me.

I've told her how proud of her I am for not following the crowd but she just gives me this "you're nuts mom" look that I've come to expect whenever I tell her anything.

Meanwhile, however, I've got a party to plan - and little boys to entertain at a little girl's party (oh I hope they don't freak out when I suggest making braclets - they can give them to their Moms).

Pray for me. ;)

8 litres of Jam

What in the world am I going to do with 8 litres of jam? Oh and I STILL have raspberries left.

A raspberry story

So today we went strawberry, I mean raspberry picking. The intention was to pick strawberries but it seems the season ended without telling us. I'm good with raspberries though.

Let me preface the rest of this post with the point that I've never picked berries before.

So a little of this...

And some of this...

And I'm sure too much of this (look closely at Sam's mouth)...

And you end up with WAY to many of these.

I don't know what we were thinking when we picked that many. Well actually I do. It seemed criminal to leave tempting berries on the vine and walk away.

So I did a little of this...

And a little of this ...

And now we have a whole bunch of this...

As you can see we still have 4 litres left. I'll get to them tomorrow morning. Next time we will leave more berries behind for the birds.

I have a new backyard.

Cost me $658.00 -- the cost of a commercial grade gate for the chain link fence behind my house.

We have a typically tiny surburban backyard (at least for here/now. My parents yard is massive compared to this). Now the yard is a reasonable sized yard for a 41 year old. It's big enough for entertaining, hanging out, a nice little kitchen garden and its certainly enough lawn mowing but it's not so great when you're 5 and 7 and want to spread your wings a little. I'd estimate it's 40 x 60. However, just on the other side of our fence is a sizable school playground (3 or 4 acres). It includes a play structure, tennis courts, soccer field, baseball field, community centre, ice rink (in the winter) - kid heaven. We have access to the park/school via two paved paths each about five or six houses from ours. Not a far walk but not one we are willing to let the kids make on their own. Actually, I'd let them make it but once on the other side of the fence, if something happens, I'm too far away to get to them so I can't let them go on their own.

Friday we got a gate installed.

So here I sit, under a tree inside the gate watching the kids play outside the gate. I can see them well almost whereever they go - very few obstructions in the way. Kamryn has a walkie-talkie so I don't have to yell like a crazy woman to get her attention (Yelling would work but the neighbours would eventually get annoyed). Sam is NEVER far from Kamryn (he's glued to her). They've been riding their bikes without me having to panic that a car will come around the corner and cream them. They've been playing ball without me having to ask the neighbours to retrieve their ball a gazzillion times. In fact Sam has discovered the joys of a rubber ball and a brick wall. We've been flying kites (well I tried but I'm a disaster). We played with air rockets. I'm liking this.

Best $658.00 I ever spent.

P.S. There is on downside I just realized - significantly dirtier kids.

Good news

This evening eager to read a new book Kamryn exclaimed how she "loved to read" and proceeded to read it to me and her brother. It was in french not english but hey at 7 I couldn't have read to you in two languages so who am I kidding?

P.S. I'm hormonal and my family should probably go and stay at a hotel this week for their own safety.

Making some changes

As you can see.

Biggest change coming is that I'm changing the address. I hope to use www.onthewaytoafamily.blogspot.com if it's available in a week. I changed it tonight and then realized that any friends who do read won't be able to find me again and I would be sad. Since I don't know who actually is still around after my prolonged absences, I changed it back and then provided this warning.

So if you're reading and can't find me next week... or the week after ... give the new/old address a try.

You’ve got to be kidding me

I thought there was nothing I would hate more than toilet training. In a gazillion years I certainly never thought it would be teaching my kids to read. It is infuriating. I'm not blessed with those kids that everyone I come across seems to have " oh one day he just popped off the breast and picked up War and Peace and that was that." I'm pulling my hair out here.

I just gave up with Kamryn and sent her away (yes, I know my mother of the year award is in the mail). Our Waterloo: the word "glasses," which she insisted must be "gu-lay-sea". This followed a struggle with "legs." which had to be "l-ee-n-g" (where the "n" came from is beyond me). To top it off (in the middle of our 10 minute struggle with "glasses" I asked Sam for a word starting with and A (so we could at least get the "a" sound right) and he had no idea. Bad mom that I am I sent him away to (not really; I told him to go and ask his father. He did know he just couldn't be bothered. Arghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!)

I hate this. I took such joy in reading as a kid. This is sucking all the joy right out of it. Kamyrn can read just fine if she takes her time and thinks about how things sound but she doesn't. She sees the first letter of a word, thinks about what words could start with that letter and guesses; it doesn't matter a smidgen what the other letters in the word might be.

She does better in French (marginally) – definitely one of the weakest readers in her class at the end of 1^st grade (and unfortunately she knew it). Sam just couldn't care less. We've been working hard at reading and writing since school ended (she doesn't know we're working hard. It's my secret. I can see the progress in French; not so much in English which we've worked less on so I don't know what I'm so frustrated) but I'm not having any fun! Oddly the kids seem to still be enjoying themselves somewhat.

Okay maybe at the end of an active day is not the time to practice reading. It will get better when I'm off work (5 week vacation starts Friday!) and we can read mid-morning rather than late evening. Barring that, I'm sure there are some excellent vocational schools around (kidding of course ;)).

Cleaning Day

About 6 weeks ago I fired our cleaning service. Well not quite. I told them I wouldn't need them for the summer and I would call again in the Fall IF I needed them (this is because I'm a chicken).

It was a combination of factors – lack of money being the biggest one but in general I`ve been annoyed with the service I`ve been getting. At the end of May they were due to come for the bi-weekly cleaning. They didn't show. They didn't call. We just got home to a still dirty house. It was about the tenth time this had happened (sometimes we do got a call to apologize). They ALWAYS had an excuse and normally gave us some sort of discount for the inconvenience (at first this was spontaneous but more and more I had to ask to get any recompense). That last time they offered to come on the following Monday. I reluctantly said okay. Over the weekend my Father-in-law (who had been very ill for a very long time) took a turn for the worse and Daniel flew home. Cleaning crew came on Monday and cleaned. My Father-in-law died Monday afternoon. So that Thursday morning SUPER early the kids and I flew to join Daniel and stayed for 6 days. Since we hadn't really been in the house since it was cleaned I cancelled the regular cleaning the following Friday.

A week passed and the house was looking grubby so I cleaned. It wasn't that bad. The kids helped some. I KNOW I did a better job than the cleaning company on their best day. I contemplated how much we pay them. I contemplated what I could do with that cash. And I picked up the phone and fired them!

Okay so my plan quickly went south.

I had some utopian idea that my stay-at-home-Dad husband would clean a little everyday and we would live in spotless Nirvana. Un hunh. I cleaned like a madwoman every night after work. No one helped and I resented the hell out of both kids and husband. Hmmm... wasn`t this the reason we got the cleaning service in the first place? So ya – 2 weeks in and I wanted out. But I wasn't going to give up that easily. Time for my best passive-aggressive tactics. I made up worksheets (really I did!) listing what needed to be cleaned inside a two week period. I put a due date on the list and posted it on the fridge for all (read my darling husband) to read (and feel guilty as all the jobs were checked off by someone other than him). So two weeks went by and again I did everything by myself.

So I upped the aggressive and turned down the passive. I told him that I resented doing the job all on my own. He nodded and mumbled something. Two weeks went by ... I hired a divorce attorney – kidding. ;)

I changed tactics. Last Saturday we had "cleaning day." It was wonderful.

The WHOLE family contributed even the kids. It didn't take us a lot longer than the "professionals" I paid so dearly for (better even, the time I normally spent cleaning for the cleaning ladies folded into the overall clean).

The house is a gazillion times cleaner:

- I did all sorts of things they wouldn't normally do (things I didn't expect them to do - i.e. pulling out the stove to mop and sweep behind it).
- When dusting I tossed a bunch of clutter that I otherwise wouldn't even have noticed.
- I saw dirt that I normally wouldn't have noticed

The best thing is I think I taught my kids something. Yes, they have chores but Saturday I really put them to work. We're normally not at home when the cleaning crew comes - they truly had no idea what it takes to keep this place clean. If nothing else the lessons they are learning make the hassle worthwhile and have convinced me (at least for now) to stick it out (yes, my resolve was slipping). Daniel was grumpy by the end but its not like he could sit on the couch and read the paper while I cleaned around him. I was so much happier not having to do everything on my own.

Kamryn declared "cleaning day" boring but was soothed by the trip to MacDonald's for a post-cleaning feast. Yesterday she asked when it would be cleaning day again.

Perhaps because everyone worked so hard to clean the stupid house there seems to be a little extra effort being put forth to keep it clean (I've caught Daniel doing dishes twice now!)
I'm just revelling in a clean house that I didn't have to clean by myself. Hopefully we can keep this up.

I am super-Mom!

I can cure any illness with a phone call to the doctor!

Sam has had a minor cough for about a week now. Yesterday he started complaining of a headache and when I took his temp it was 102.

He stayed home from school and was fine all day (his temp stayed at around 100). Normal self really until around 3:30 when the Ibuprofen wore off and his temp started to climb once again. More Ibuprofen - VERY short nap = happy kid.

His temp started to climb again (around 10 pm) before he was due for more Ibuprofen so I gave him Tylenol and again he was fine. Took his temp around 4 am and it was 100.

At 6 am he woke me crying about a headache. He was burning up. I took his temp and it was 104 - that wakes you up REALLY fast. He was crying about his stomach, head and throat hurting.

Daniel who is away (his Dad passed away last week; kids and I went for the funeral but left Daniel behind for a few more days to help his Mom out) was treated for strep last week. So I thought it prudent to make an appointment for Sam to be seen just in case.

Of course - with Ibuprofen on board he is his happy self again: no complaints whatsoever (except that he wants to go to school).

My doctor is going to think I'm a moron.

Okay he's a little young for all this. Isn't he?

So Sam comes home from school yesterday and informs me that his teacher told him not to refer to women as "hot girls" because, as he explains it, "hot girls" is not proper french (they are only allowed to speak french at school) and he should instead refer to women as "hot babes." I find it hard to believe that was the alternative the teacher offered or that that was her reason for telling him not to use the word. Although having seen his teacher -- a "hot babe" who works at it -- I could be wrong.

He's also started to ask me to wear dresses to work rather than slacks because I look prettier in dresses he says.

I think I'm somehow raising a chauvinist. How did this happen?

New School!

Kamryn and Sam go to an alternative school. It is a public Catholic Montessori school. It was started by parents in the area and is one of three such schools. While it was a grassroots initiative it is one of the ways their school board (French Catholic) is trying to lure students away from the other three school boards in the area (yes there are too many boards; all in competition with each other). The school has been a phenominal success and is ranked number 1 (it's tied with about 30 other schools) out of something like 1700 schools in the province. The building the school is in though is crap with a capital C.

The school campus consists of a temporary structure errected 25 years ago (designed to last 20) as an annex to a neighbouring school. Three portable classrooms one of which functions as the library. And about an acre of asphalt. The miniscule "gym" has no changerooms. The classrooms have no cloakrooms - which in a Canadian climate is a real challenge. The classrooms are also claustiphobically small. It's cold in the winter and hot in the summer. There is no grass in the school yard. There is no parking.

When we enrolled Kamryn in Jr. K in 2006 we were told that they planned to be in a new school by Fall 2008. Sam started Jr. K in the Fall of 2008 in the same pathetic building. Last spring the board turned down a proposal for the construction of a new school. Lord knows why?!? The whole - alternative - thing gets in the way. Because it's not a neighbourhood school it's hard to get standing for anything - we don't do charter schools here.

But Providence smiled. At the same time the Board was saying no to a new school two things happened. The Minister of Education came for a visit and was shocked at the conditions. At the same time the English Public School Board was being forced to shut a nearby neighbourhood school because of falling enrollment. Long story long - Wednesday night we had a parent meeting with school board reps where they announced that our little school would be moving into the "previously loved" (built in 1969) school in the Fall. There is a bunch of money for renovation AND this school was always intended to be a school. It's not a "portapak" which is what they are in now (one of the board members last night pointed out that they current school is rated for 0 occupancy since it wasn't a permanent structure. There are 284 students enrolled.)

The teachers are soooooooooo excited. The kids won't stop going on about the school yard (new school sits on aprox. 3 acres of land).

I had honestly given up on my kids ever having the chance of being in a decent school building. I think I'm still in a little bit of shock.

Look what we're testing!

Trés cool to say the very least. It will not be available in stores until August.  Over the summer months we test toys for the Canadian Toy Testing Council.  We get to test a series of toys for about 6 weeks at a time.  At the end of 6 weeks we give the toys back and I have to fill out a report.  It's going to be VERY hard to give this one back I suspect (there is a big sale in October and testing families are offered the opportunity to buy the gently played with toys at a reduced cost).  The kids are going to flip.  Daniel and I spent an hour and half this evening putting everything together (we also got a secondary accesory to go with it that needed fiddling to).  This toy is full of all sorts of Indiana Jones like booby traps.  I've hidden the actual toy because I need to see their reaction when they first get to pl ay with it for my report and they get up before I do in the morning.  But I've left the boxes out - I know what noises I will be woken up to tomorrow. 

Bonus Photo - Easter

The are both smiling.  Both looking at the camera.  Don't know how that happened.

Why didn't I tell her it was so easy?

Two years ago when Kamryn was 5 we took her training wheels off her bike and tried to teach her how to ride without them. She wasn't ready.

Last summer, we took her training wheels off her bike and tried to teach her. She wasn't ready. We put the training wheels back on and waited a few weeks. We tried again. She wasn't ready. Well she was (she could do it), but she refused to admit she was. We put the training wheels back on and waited a few weeks. We tried again. She wasn't ready and my back could take no more.

A few weeks ago I tried and concluded that she must have some sort of inner ear imbalance. I admitted that this was not a reflection on my ability to parent. I admitted that it would be all right if she graduated to one of those adult tricycles in a few years and we left it at that. 

Then last week I watched the neighbour working with his son who's a few months younger than Kamryn.  He didn't run alongside like a crippled hunchback and then let go once his son got going he just gave him a push and off the little guy went. Hmmmm.... This happened to coincide with another neighbour giving us a bike for Sam that didn't have training wheels. It was a bit smaller than Kamryn's bike but not ridiculously small. Yesterday, I insisted Kamryn learn (I was so tired of hearing her complain about how everyone was riding a two-wheeler but her but then refusing to even try).  I gave her the hand-me-down bike. Set her up at the top of our driveway and had her roll to the bottom. By the time she had done that half a dozen times she could ride a two-wheeler. No hunched back. NO miserable middle-aged Mom huffing and puffing down the street. Just an excited happy kid who won't get off her bike now. :)