Adventures in Hair Cutting

So my very good friend wanted to have Jessica and Rachel over for a playdate last Sunday. "Great!" I said. "We're having a dinner party and it would be nice to have them out of the house for a couple of hours." Oh my. Did I know what I was in for?

It was about 45 minutes later when I got the call. Jessica and her friend Alex have snuck a pair of scissors and cut their own hair.... Ack!! No one cut an ear off or blinded themselves, thank God. Not too big a deal, until I see her hair. Or no hair!!! She's almost bald!!!! Our little girl has almost no hair. She spent the entire afternoon in her room.

The worst part was trying to "fix it." All they could do was shave it. So not only does she have a crazy hair cut - it is a buzz cut. So now it looks like she is undergoing chemo or has lice. I feel this need to explain to everyone I meet. I bought 9 hats at Zellers.

This Wednesday, a very concerned Mom came up to me at the school yard. "Is Jessica OK?" she said. "Oh yes," I said. "Just a little exuberant with the scissors."

Adventures in potty training

Carrie: "Rachel, wouldn't you like to pee on the potty? Jessica pees on the potty. Mommy pees on the potty. Wouldn't you like to pee on the potty too?"

Grandma: "Grandma pees on the potty. So does Grandpa. Wouldn't you like to pee on the potty like a big girl? Everyone else pees on the potty."

Rachel: "My Daddy pees on the wall."

And I bet you didn't think she'd notice a urinal....

Adventures in keeping my blog up to date

So apparently I wasn't cut out for blogging. I just can't seem to get my act together to actually post something more than once a month. So what's happened since my last post? Valentine's Day, duty days at nursery school, a couple of weekends without kids (woohoo!) and our "date-iversary." It's been 15 years of dating (including some of those marriage years...)! And it's nice to still feel like we're dating. We have the crazy day-to-day things that are definitely "marriage" stuff, but nonetheless, we still have the dating feel to our relationship. I'm not sure how we've done it, but I can honestly say I look forward to our time spent alone as the best part of the day.

Now this isn't to say that I don't find our children the most amazing people! Quite the opposite - they are certainly the fabric that holds our lives together. However, we were a couple first and a couple we remain. And I am so lucky to have him as my partner. So there you go! Another blog full of romantic dribble. Grin. What can I say?

Adventures in rambling

So it's been a long time! Apparently I am not doing a great job of keeping this up to date. It's been an eventful month and a half. Christmas (complete with our annual Christmas Eve shindig), New Year's, my Dad's 65th birthday, and just this weekend, Rachel's third birthday.

Jonathan was home during the holidays from December 22nd to January 2nd, which was amazing. The girls loved having him around every day, and we had a lots of great family time. Christmas was extremely busy, with the party here Christmas Eve, then Christmas Day at my parents' and Boxing Day at Jonathan's parents'. So we spent the entire day on the 27th in our pajamas...very nice. We also had a chance to visit the ROM, which was insanely packed but a lot of fun. The wait in line to get in was 30 to 40 minutes! But as members, you could bypass the line... Talk about a fabulous membership drive. So of course, we are now members. Waiting in line with a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old in the cold was not going to happen. Neither was leaving, since we'd been talking about it all day. I guess we'll be going a few more times this year! Lots of fun for the girls, especially with the subway ride.

As for the first few weeks of January, it's been just as busy. Planning my Dad's birthday dinner and then Rachel's party has kept me running. Plus school, nursery school, playdates etc. I can't believe my littlest girl is 3 years old!

Today we are conducting Potty Training Boot Camp. Not going too well. Sigh. Perhaps she's not ready. We've been building up the "when you're 3, you can have big girl pants and go on the potty" tactic. She was all for it, until it actually happened. So far today, we've gone through three pairs of pants and undies. And apparently no amount of bribery helps!! Doesn't this kid want a Smartie??? Perhaps we'll have to switch to pull-ups for a while....

Adventures in gift giving and receiving

Christmas time just seems to get crazier every year. More parties, more events, more school projects, more everything. I'm trying to keep the focus on the real reason for Christmas, as opposed to the Santa-fication of the holiday. Sadly, it's hard to do. Everywhere children are bombarded with images of Santa, asked about their "lists" and primed to expect gifts. This situation is breeding greed in our children.

As a society, we seem to have fostered a reality where gift-giving and receiving is no longer appreciated, but expected. How can a child be truly grateful, when they receive so much? Instead they are overwhelmed and have trouble processing the generosity that has been bestowed on them. Why can't we turn around and give to those who are truly in need - of water, of food, of clothing, of shelter? Our lives are so rich, so full of everything we need. It is time to start sharing some of our prosperity. Think of what it would be like this Christmas without your home, your bed, safe water to drink or sufficient food to eat. If we all just gave one gift to a child who truly has nothing this year, what a difference that would make.

http://www2.worldvision.ca/gifts/app?mc=3221603

Adventures in fundraising

So I'm organising our church's fall fundraiser. Yep, I know what you're thinking; "Well, it's about time. That woman just sits around all day and does nothing. It's about time she did something useful." That's me! Good thing I've found something useful to do with my days...

We've decided to put on a pub night for the fundraiser, putting the "fun" in fundraising. Lol. Such an old joke, and still a bad one. For the evening, I managed to convince 'the band' to reunite for another gig! And I have to say, they are amazing. They will be doing two sets while our parishioners puruse the silent auction, buy some beer and make some merriment. I'm so grateful that I have such wonderful people in my life who would agree to help out in this manner. These are all very busy men, yet here they are, performing for our church fundraiser.

Which brings me to the reason I felt the need to write this evening - my wonderful hubby. Jonathan is such a rock, such a wonderful person, such a loving and generous soul. I'm sure I don't tell him enough how fabulous he is, but I wanted to make sure that I wrote down just how much I love him. Given the chance, I would marry him a thousand times over. So how about it Jonathan? We've already been married twice, are you up for another 998?

Adventures in candy hangovers

The day after Halloween. My kids have a hangover. Not the traditonal type obviously, but one that involves too much sugar, not enough sleep and way too much excitement. Not to mention the fact that Halloween seemed to stretch on for about two weeks this year! Is this a sign of things to come? Does Halloween just get longer each year, until the girls are too old to revel in the pure craziness of this self-indulgent holiday?

Sometimes I feel like I am losing myself in this whirlwind of childhood. Where is the career-oriented woman that used to work 12-hour days? I now work longer hours, with less pay. What a stereotype! My favourite are the blank looks I receive when I am asked what I do. I'm a stay-at-home-Mom, I say. Yes, I try to stay mostly barefoot, and a good majority of my time is spent in the kitchen (and no, I'm not pregnant). Two kids is a lot, but thanks for asking.

Guess I'll just get back to eating bon-bons and lazing around in my pajamas. I must have tons of time - here I am blogging.