Mommy Smackdown - McDonald's Style

Okay

So we weren't exactly in a wrestling ring, but on our weekly trip to McDonald's, Mike and I experienced competetive mommy fighting in its fully glory.

I've been exposed to the competitive mommies many times. You know them and love them. They appear at playgroups, visit drop in centres and lurk at the daycares. They are the ones with the perfectly labelled sippy cups, the tupperware containers with various healthy food options and their children are always perfectly equipped for the weather.

What these women were doing at McDonald's is beyond me. It was an unusual sighting.

Nevertheless ...

I spotted them the moment I sat down. It turns out that Matt chose the seats. And over I came hauling my tray of fattening McDonald's food. I didn't have the gender appropriate happy meal toy nor did I cart along a sippy cup to pour Matt's chocolate milk into. Bad Mommy!!! And, to top it all off, when I opened the chocolate milk it sprayed out and instead of turning it into a lesson I giggled harder than Matt - and licked it off my hand. Bad mommy again! Where were those wipes?

So, as we sat enjoying our food (I got McNuggets people, I did not want McHealthy) the mommies started talking. They drove me crazy. The entire conversation of 10 minutes was pure competition. The first topic of conversation was mitten strings. And they angrily discussed why mittens on strings were better or worse than mittens on clips. Mommy #1 was all about the mittens on strings from Dollarama. Mommy #2 was all about the choking hazard.

Next came stroller accoutrements. Mommy #1 had just spent $75 on her stroller toys. Mommy #2 felt that it was ridiculous to have a cup holder, and didn't think children needed hanging toys.

And, just when I was ready to scream at them (at this point I had explained to Mike what was going on, and he was quite entertained by it) they got on to the topic of Reflux in Babies. Mommy #2 had a baby with reflux. She was tired (though why we all had to hear the sleep patterns of her baby is beyond me) and the Mommy #2 would not shut up about reflux and how it affects babies. Mommy #2 fought her case - why she let her baby sleep in the carrier, why the baby sleeps in her room, what the doctor said, etc etc. Enter mommy #1 telling her she was wrong.

Finally, Mommy #2 said "Oh I didn't know either of your children had reflux." Mommy #1 relented.

Ding ding ding.

Smackdown over. Within seconds Mommy #1 packed up her bag and dragged her children into the playroom.

It made me sooooooo glad that I am not in that wrestling ring any more. I just avoid those conversations. It's not worth it.

A couple minutes later we went to the playland. Matthew climbed the tunnel, got to the very top looked out and started shrieking, just for fun, at the top of his lungs.

I felt inspired by the warring mommies. I thought I should show off some of my stellar parenting skills. I looked up at Matt, smiled, waved, and shouted back

"SCREAM LOUDER MATTY! MOMMY CAN HARDLY HEAR YOU. LOUDER LOUDER!"

I've accepted it. I will never win the mommy wars. But, while I'm fighting the battle I'm gonna have fun :)

The Moment

I think every parent (and grandparent and aunt/uncle, etc) has "the moment" with a child. You know, the one that makes everything worthwhile. No matter what.
That moment for me is every day at daycare.
I pick up Matthew about 90% of the time. And, as soon as I walk in and he sees me, he literally drops everything he is doing and comes running over with a huge hug, a kiss and a big smile. He's usually got a huge smile on his face. Lately he also starts telling me about his day.
I love it.
We've been doing the daycare thing for a little over a year. No matter what goes on in the day. No matter how crappy a start we had to the day, how frustrating his day has been or what crap has gone on at work for me, nothing matters.
At that one moment in the day it's pure love, and I can't get enough of it.

I Got Tagged - So Nine Weird Things about Myself

So, thanks to Jeff from Daddy Diary Tales, I got tagged. So, Here we go ...

NINE WEIRD THINGS ABOUT MYSELF

1) Whenever we get boxes of chocolate, or I am around friends or family with boxes of chocolate, I always bite into a chocolate, decide if I like it, and if I don't I put it back into its original spot pre-bitten. My sister does this too. It's because our grandfather always had Russell Stover chocolates that came with no map. It was just our thing. He would always finish up the chocolates. I really only like the straight chocolate or chocoalte caramel.

2) When I like a song I will buy the cd, but listen to the one favourite song on repeat about 5 million times. I've been known to workout for 45 minutes to the same song.

3) My name is not nicknameable - and that is why when I had a child I came up with a name (Matthew) that had many variations.

4) I always have bizarre dreams. Like, last night I dreamt that we moved to Georgia and went to visit a kangaroo farm where the kangaroos were the size of dinosaurs. Weird! I once asked a psychology teacher if this meant I was mentally unstable. She said that in fact it meant I have a vivid imagination.

5) I have had a crush on my hairdresser for 15 years. Yes, he knows. Yes, he is okay with this. We don't have regular conversations about it though.

6) I am obsessed with my bathroom being clean. I clean it at least 3 times a week. Mike and I have serious arguments over the level of bathroom cleanliness. (We each have our own bathroom, it makes for a good marriage).

7) I lie about my baking skills. People think that I am the best brownie baker in the world. In all honesty, all I ever do is buy a package of brownie mix, add the egg and water, and voila. Sorry- did I just burst everyone's bubble?

8) If it were an ideal world, I would go to bed at 8 pm and be up at 6 am every day. I'm a morning person, not a night person.

9) I've saved the best for last: My "celebrity" crushes over the years have included: Kurt Browning, The Rock, Colm Wilkinson (the guy who played the Phantom of the Opera), Jason Priestly, Tom Selleck (shut up people) and most recently Mr. Jay from America's Next Top Model.

Okay - so that, my friends, is my full craziness of the day.

Okay, people I tag ... I'll come back to that. Gotta do some work.

Frustrated ...

This week the incomparable Her Bad Mother posted a couple of times about her frustrations of being a mother. The key quesiton she asked was "am I bad mother."
Of course she didn't really think she was a terrible mother. And she shouldn't.
But, I have to admit that this week, in particular, this weekend, I've been struggling with tsmae same frustration. And asking myself over and over again - what makes a good mother. And, I guess by the same token, a bad one.
For instance, tonight. Mike and I were completly frustrated by a non-napping toddler whom we had dragged through Walmart. (quickly, mind you). We decided to stop and pick up a pizza to go, but learned it was going to take 20 minutes, so went to Shoppers Drug Mart next door to kill time and pick up a few things we needed.
It was a disaster. All of it.
Midway through our shopping trip Matt found a halloween pitchfork and it was all over. He ran screaming through the store sending things flying in his wake. Shampoo bottles flew off the shelves, staff tried to intercept him. And on he ran. Finally we gave up the chase because it was making him more frantic and I snuck up behind him, grabbed the pitchfork and let him wail.
The pharmacist finally came over and asked if there was some problem.
I couldn't help myself. I said "I have a toddler." Like, pull out some lollipops or leave me alone.
In order to get him out of the store I did what most parenting experts (and financial experts - Gail) would say was horrible. I bought him chips to shut him up.
I felt like a bad parent. Mike decreed our child is spoiled.
Maybe he was just hungry?
Yesterday Matthew and I met my mom on Bloor Street. Matthew was fine when he was doing what he wanted - playing with the Thomas table at Indigo, but when we took him to Starbucks (and gave him chocolate milk, yogurt and toys) he of course had a temper tantrum.
He then had a meltdown at the MAC store (which I never get to go to and would have enjoyed browsing in) and then I promplty had a meltdown and my mom walked us to the subway.
Yes ...
The terrible twos are in full swing. And I am not surviving them so well.
I'm grateful that I'm not a drinker. To clarify, I enjoy a cocktail or a beer, but I don't use it as a vice. I use it for fun. If I did use it as a vice I think I'd be drunk daily.
Instead I eat.
I am a sugaraholic. And, by 7pm tonight I had gone down to the convenience store (another financial no no) and bought a bag of skittles, a bag of Mike and Ike's and a bag of oreo cookies. I have made my way through the Mike and Ike's. The skittles are next.
And as I eat I keep wondering what am I doing wrong.
I'm trying here.
I love Matthew to death. But there are days, frequently it seems, where I am ready to lose it. And, sometimes do. Like, how on earth can a child get frustrated over so many things. He wants chocolate milk so I buy him chocolate milk. Then he has a meltdown because I suggest that he holds his chocolate milk.
Ooookay.
So I hold it. Then he has a meltdown that Mommy is holding his chocolate milk.
And on and on it goes. I've had it.
And oh yeah - OUR COFFEE POT BROKE TODAY!!! And, we bought a replacement coffee pot and the carafe that came in it was broken too.
Life is just not pretty around here.
Thank God I bought those oreo cookies.

BFAW's

So …
What is a BFAW?
It’s kind of like a BFF. Do you know what that means? If you don’t – stop reading. Because this is probably way too juvenile for you. Or maybe not.
BFF means Best Friends Forever. You know – like in grade 7 you buy necklaces and bracelets and various other trinkets to denote that the person you hang out with is your BFF.
To be honest, the person who was my best friend in grade 7 is not my best friend now, so the title does not hold up. No matter how many broken heart necklaces we had, no matter how often we split Popsicles, traded clothes, talked on the phone and shared our crushes, the best friendom did not last through the ninth grade division of popularity powers.
I’m okay with that.
I had many friends. I did find a really good best friend near the end of high school – and she still holds that spot. She was my maid of honour and helped deliver my baby. (she’s a midwife though she was not mine she was there).
Anyway, back the BFAW thing.
It struck me as really funny when someone at work called the group of us that e-mail back and forth and occasionally go for lunch her BFAW’s. Or …
Best Friends At Work.
I love it. It’s funny.
And, I think we all need BFAW’s. I totally struggle with whole issue of work friendships. I mean, you want to be social. I need to be social. But there are all sorts of boundaries you don’t want to cross.
Work is work. Social life is social life.
Should they cross.
I say yes. Not completely. Good Lord. The BFAW’s work in legal. I’m in a different department. There’s so much that we can’t talk about – that we’re forced to talk about things completely unrelated to work. I love that.
Besides, who wants to work all day and then talk about work at lunch. Who really cares how many files you sorted? Well, obviously it matters in the work context, but get me out of the office and I just don’t care.
I love that I can talk to people about kids and relationships and arguments and all of that. And part of the juiciness of it all is that they don’t know my family. Would I introduce them? Of course. But, most of the time it’s almost like an anonymous conversation.
And that’s cool.
And they are cool
That doesn’t mean that no one else at work could fall under this category. But, the truth is we’re not in grade 7. The more BFAW’s the BETTER!!!!

Cat Pee

We have a cat named Mojo (or Moj or Momo). She is usually well behaved. Though we call her poopy because she poops a lot. Matthew adores her. So do I. Mike tolerates her.

He also cleans out her litter box often. As do I. Matt is mostly responsible for feeding her. (we prompt him).

On Sunday I asked Mike to change her cat litter. I didn't pay that much attention. I was making dinner. He was dumping the cat litter. I vividly recall him bringing Matt to the garbage chute to dump the litter. Beyond that I wasn't paying much attention.

So this morning. As I am drinking my coffee at 5:30 Mojo starts scratching in the hallway. You know, that pre-pee scratch. Weird. I think to myself she must be affected by us moving. So ... I pick her up and relocate her just outside the litter box. She looks at me. Meows. Walks back to the hallway. Okay. Maybe she was chasing a shadow.

Scratch scratch scratch again. Hmmm.... I walk over. There she is - peeing on the nice tall black boots I was going to wear today. Lovely. Has our cat gone crazy???

So, I get annoyed, but pick her up and bring her to her litter box. I decide that this time I will put her in the litter box to ensure she clearly gets my message that cats go in the litter box.

I was actually concerned. My sister's cat had to go on kitty kat Prozac. She was depressed. I thought maybe my cat was going down the depression road. Which would be sad. But, she seems quite happy most of the time.

So as I am carrying her and trying not to let my anger show I was questionning her actions.

Why? Why did she not use the litter box?

Oh - well that is because Mike did not put more kitty litter in the box. It was just a big plastic box. With nothing in it!!! Not even, since we apparently ran out of cat litter, newspaper.

So, by this time it's 5:45. I wake up Mike. I'm not freaking out. Just calmly tell him that I need to decide on a whole new outfit since that cat peed on my boots. Since there was no kitty litter for her.

So annoyed today. So annoyed. I did fill the litter box with paper. Since I had to leave early. And I didn't know what else to do. I'm sure Mojo will survive. It's my clothing that I'm worried about!!!

PS - BFAW's (you know who you are) Blogging about you guys tomorrow. Because my cat pee story could not wait!

Matty and Mojo - in happier, not peeing on my boots days. And yes, she loves sleeping on my stuff.

On Haircuts, a Night Out and A Major lack of Sleep

Oh Yesterday.

It was fun.

First of all, the much anticipated date with Bill. Oh wait. I mean a haircut. For those of you who don’t know me that well, it’s hard to understand what exactly gets me so freaking excited about my hair cuts.

Okay, so perhaps it is because for the past (almost) 15 years I have known and loved Bill. No, get your minds out of the gutter. He’s gay. He has a partner. I’m married. It’s not like that. In fact, I think that is what makes it so special.

Anyway …

So, the Bill experience. It’s great. I always go in feeling good and leave feeling fantastic. It is about the hair, but it’s also about having someone spend an hour just telling you that you are fabulous, and letting you leave feeling like you really are. There’s no reason behind it. I figured out a long time ago that the money involved – well, I don’t go often enough for him to rely on the price I pay. So, it really is just about feeling good.

And, yesterday in particular was great. I told him I want to look like Stacey on What Not to Wear. I have some growing to do, but basically he said that was possible. And, then he made me like a poofy (in a good way) Stacey which was pretty cool. And then he told me that this was the first time we’d gone this mature with my hair.

Yes, I agreed. Stunning.

The funny part of the afternoon was when we got on the topic of one of my favourite writer who shall remain unnamed. I was like “I LOVE said writer.” Bill, was like “OH MY GOD! I HATE HER!”

It was hilarious.

We have never disagreed on something so vehemently. It was not brutal. I was just as gushing about my love for her writing as he was about his hate. Though I relented. He won when he said “I would pay someone to cut her columns out of my paper.”

To that I had no come back. And, he said “Is this the first chink in our relationship.”

Ummmm … yeah.

But let’s be honest.

Even my favourite writer could not compete with Bill.

So after the hair cut (which ended with Bill saying, “You’ve changed, you’re happy and whatever is going on you’re working it” – side note, Angela, that is such a Tyra line) I met up with some friends and went for drinks.

It was LOVELY. It was just a lot of fun. Laughing and joking. It was a couple of old friends me and I introduced them to a new friend. And, of course since one of the old friends there was Stef she got recognized from Mean Girls. And because I’d had a couple of drinks it was extra funny.
Too fun.

And, I actually got home at a decent hour. After a bizarre subway ride where the driver kept singing the subway stops. At one point the guy across from me looked up caught my eye and imitated her. It was so ridiculous that I started to giggle. Funny!

So anyway, I got home and went to bed. And man was I tired and ready to sleep. And since I felt a cold coming on I even took a couple of NyQuils.

And then 2:30 came. And Matt woke up shrieking. Poor little monkey’s diaper rash came back. But, we had no idea. So for an hour he cried intermittently while I tried cuddling, soothing, offering a bottle, soother and his hippo. Finally I thought about chaning his diaper. (He usually is dry all night). And, it was gross. And he had a really bad diaper rash. It was awful. I put the special cream on and thankfully he went back to sleep.

I did not.

I think I fell asleep at 4:30.

My alarm goes off at 5:21.

The good news is that Matt’s feeling way better.

The bad news is that I am one tired mommy. With good hair!!!

Green Beans anyone?

For reasons unknown to Mike and I, our child is in love with health food.
We try to be healthy in our house, but we do tend to enjoy the junk food. There's nothing Mike and I enjoy more than a night on the couch with chips and dip. (yum). I know we don't do this often anymore. But that's not by choice. It's because we were getting fat.
However, if you were to put, for instance, a potato and a brownie in front of either of us, the likely choice would be a brownie.
Like tonight. We made brownies yesterday and after dinner I pulled them out and gave one to each of us. Matt looked at the brownie (as Mike and I were filling our mouths) and decided to eat more potatoes followed by more corn.
we have tried buying Matt various kinds of cereal. We even bought Fruit loops cause we think they are yummy. He said no and asked for an apple.
And this weekend ... this was the clincher.
For 15 minutes Matthew kept walking around asking for green beans. I tried offering everything: cheese, apples, carrots, etc. Finally in frustration I said
"Matt we don't have green beans. Have some candy!!!"
Nice - I'm a great parent.
And then he went into our panty and pulled out a can of green bean. He looked up at me, gave me a huge smile and said
"Look, Mom, Green Beans!!!"
He was right.
What mother offers her child candy over vegetables. Me, I guess.

Bugs! - A Science Centre Adventure

So we went to the Science Centre today.
It's a good thing we are members because I was ready to kill someone today. It was Telus Family day. I'm sorry if anyone was there that is reading this - but all the Telus employees are idiots. Seriously.
We often go to the Science Centre on Sundays. It's usually nice and fairly quiet. At the KidSpark area Matt can run around, we wander, it's nice. Today it was crazy. We had to wait for an elevator and we didn't even bother with KidSpark because there was a huge Lineup. The people were rude. We got pushed when we were on the elevators. Even at the Sports Arcade (whch was unusually busy) people pushed, tried to get ahead. It was ridiculous.
Seriously. The people were such idiots that if I hadn't already cancelled my Telus phone I would go home and do so I was so annoyed.
So, to combat the crowds we decided to take Matt to Bugs! at the Imax Theatre. Someone suggested to me that Matt may be old enough for a movie. He did well for about half an hour. Then he got stir crazy and started to run up and down our row. No biggie cause it was relatively quiet, but when he started to climb the chairs we decided that it was time to go.
Honestly, the movie was boring. I mean, it was interesting, but by the time he lost interest so did I. Mike seemed a little more into it, but even he admitted that ti was a tad boring by the end.
So, all in all it was pretty good.
And, because we get a discount on the tickets it was a cheap movie.
I think next time we'll go to a good Disney movie and see how he does. Oh and candy would help, I think (the Imax doesn't allow it)

Sleepover!

Last night Mike went out with some friends, so Matthew and I had an evening to ourselves.
And, one of the highlights of putting Matt to bed on my own - and knowing Mike is coming home late is that I get to change up the bedroom routine.
Mike is pretty regimented when it comes to the bedtime routine.
It's always at a set time, we have a little routine and Matt is in bed by 8pm.
I'm fully supportive. The longer this routine has gone on the better the results have been. We have a child who actually goes to bed and we get a full night's sleep. I'm not complaining.
But last night was different.
Matt had expended all of his energy at McDonalds (and a totally cute aside, he was hanging out with an adorable group of five year olds who were amazing with him). We came home and watched an episode of Dora and then he was off to bed. I tucked him in and kissed him goodnight and then went to watch tv.
The only thing was, I was tired, my eyes were shutting, and I knew Matt was still awake.
So I went and asked if he would like to cuddle in mommy and daddy's bed.
"Oh yes!" he said, and went running. I set the ground rules.
He had to be quiet.
He was not allowed to play with his diaper (because he often ends up peeing all over his bed - and his mattress is plastic so no biggie - I didn't want to change sheets); and
This was a special treat!

I've gotta say, things went really well.
I'm not opposed to co-sleeping, but it doesn't work well for us on a regular basis. Matt is squirmy and Mike snores, so when I have them both in bed I don't sleep. Plus, it is too crowded. But, some nights a good cuddle is pretty fun. And, last night was just such a night.
To be honest, we didn't fall asleep right away. Matty wanted to hear stories, so I told him all sorts of stories about when I was a little girl.
Matt told me stories about daycare and even tried to teach me a song.
It was a good old fashioned sleepover. And I loved it!!!
I don't actually know what time Mike got home last night. But when I woke up this morning Matt was in his own bed, cuddling with his stuffed animals and really happy.

I know this won't happen a lot, but as life changes and Matty grows up, it's nice to relish just a few extra cuddles!

Matthew the Builder

It's Friday - and for some Friday fun some pics of my little construction worker.
And, oh the elephant costume. It a hit. Matt loves it. And, it's adorable on him albeit a little girly. But those pictures will not appear before Halloween!!!

Movin' On

Today we found out for sure that there's a spot in Matthew's old daycare.
There was some uncertainty because of the number of toddlers moving up to the preschool program. The problem that daycares encounter is that there always have to have a certain amount of children per teacher (or adult) in the classroom at all times. In this case they will either have to move one of the toddler teachers up to the preschool room or hire a new teacher.
It's not really our problem. But it kind of is because we need Matt to have a space. Which, as it turns out, he now does.
Thank God!
And, he's officially back at the old daycare as of the first Monday in December.
I've gotta say - I'm excited.
So, today I had to go into our current daycare and tell them that we are moving and Matthew will be leaving the daycare.
I was a little worried because I'm not good at this kind of stuff. I was a complete wreck when we left the old place. I cried when I told them, and on Matt's last day - well, I made my mom come with me because I didn't think I could handle saying goodbye.
But today I was totally totally fine.
In fact, I could hardly wipe the smile off my face. It was pathetic. The daycare supervisor was like "I can tell you are excited!" Ummm ... yeah.
The one sicky thing is that my favourite teacher at the old place is no longer there. I loved her, and she was the toddler teacher. But she went back to school. Part of me thinks this is good. I'm happy for her. And Matthew wouldn't be in her class anyway. So, that would be weird for him. I did like lots of the other teachers, so I'm still happy.
Plus, I love Cindy who runs the place. She's about my age and she's pretty cool. When we had initially switched Matt to a crappy daycare I called her in tears. She totally talked me through it, helped me make the decision to choose a different daycare and then had Matt and I come back for his birthday and threw him a party (there were streamers, toddlers saying happy birthday, etc - and of course I cried!!!)
So, I'm moving on. And ready to go back.
I'm now stressing - do I give them a goodbye gift? What do I do????
Help.
I'm thinking a big box of chocolate and a homemade card.

America's Next Top Model - the commentary

One of my friends, who wishes to remain anonymous, admitted to me that she is a big fan of America's Next Top Model.
So, we sit weekly and send e-mails to each other commenting on the show. (That's what blackberries are for, right?)
And, so, to make everyone's Thursday that much more exciting, I have pasted below our e-mail commentary. If you have taped the show - don't read this. We will spoil it for you.

----

Anchal vs. Melrose
--------------------------

Catfight! Catfight!
EVERYONE vs Melrose "the motor mouth" model

----- Original Message -----

They always encourage them to talk about themselves and each other, then they get slammed for it. So, weird!!! SHUT UP ANCHAL!!!

----
Subject: Must concentrate ...

Tyra is getting deep!!
--------------------------

Love AJ. Isn't that strange that Meg hasn't seen herself with a beard, I know I have....

--------------------------
Oh the drama
I love all y'all!!!
It is SO hard being beautiful
I looked at my stunning self in the mirror and sobbed - I'm just way too hot
--------------------------

They always encourage them to talk about themselves and each other, then they get slammed for it. So, weird!!! SHUT UP ANCHAL!!!

----------------------------------

Why does Melrose always act as if everyone is there to meet and see her?

----- Original Message -----

LOL!!!! You are killing me....and it's also very true. Who do you think is heading home?

----- Original Message -----

My money is on jaeda since melrose rocked the photo shoot Loving the twins Can't wait to see the pics My crush on mr.jay increases every week. He is so cute
--------------------------


Did you notice that even after makeup was removed meg still had a 5 o clock shadow?
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld


Its bye bye Anchal (I hope)
--------------------------


Bye Jaeda

----- Original Message -----

Fee fi fo fum thank god???
--------------------------

I second that motion.... I feel bad for Jaeda I think she's too forcused on her lack of hair

----- Original Message -----

Let's kick off the 17 editor
--------------------------


You never know it might be Anchal as her photo wasn't that good

----- Original Message -----

I think u r right but I still want ugly anchal to go!!!
--------------------------


----- Original Message -----

I think that the bottom two will be Jaeda and Meg


----------
Poor Meg

I want to be ???? for Hallowe'en

Matthew has been talking about Halloween for awhile now.
I like Halloween; in fact I plan to take a vacation day to spend halloween with my monkey like I did last year (the year before I was on mat leave).
And, we have of course started to talk about.
Thanks to daycare, his cousin and Mike and I Matt totally understands that Halloween is all about dressing up.
So the other day I said to him "what do you want to be for Halloween?"
He said "I want to be an elephant for Halloween."
I had planned to make him a cowboy, but I'm discovering that 2 year olds have their own opinions on stuff, and he most certainly does not want to be a cowboy.
Ok.
So every day I have asked him what he wants to be. And every day he has said "I want to be an elephant."
I have looked all over the place for an elephant costume. I have looked everywhere - with no avail.
But tonight I FOUND IT!!!
When I ran into the Superstore for a few groceries and some diapers I found a toddler's elephant costume. So excited.
I ran through the store, hopped in the car and said to Matt: "So ... what do you want to be for Halloween?"
His response:
"I want to be a Monkey!!!!"

Thansgiving Already ...

As I write this it's Saturday morning. Our dinner with my in-laws is tonight, and I volunteered to make dinner.
I love making Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner. I feel like the total domestic goddess that I am not most days of the year. I love the cooking and the baking and just gernally being in control of the kitchen.
Except ...
I left myself a little short this year.
This past week was - extremely busy. The good news is that there's lots for usto be grateful for after this past week. But, grateful or not, it left me little time to prepare.
So here we are at 8:30 on Saturday morning with a whole ton of stuff to do before dinner at 5 today.
We already made the pumpkin cheesecake. But it's a 45 minute recipe that has been baking for about an hour and 15 minutes. Matthew and I have, in the meantime, made 2 pumpkin pies - about ready to go in the oven and prepared the cranberries.
Once that stuff goes in the oven (who knew you could bake cranberry sauce? My mom taught me the stove top method) I will get the turkey going, make the stuffing, etc etc.
Thank goodness I thought to thaw the turkey!
Last year at Thanksgiving I also made dinner. Except Matthew was younger, and wasn't exactly that helpful. We were also living in a crappy apartment with a bad oven and very little counter space. The condo isn't huge - but there is a lot more counter space the oven works way better and we have a dishwasher. So, lots to be thankful for.


My turkey turned out beautifully - and bonus - I made delicious cranberry auce that my father in law couldn't get enough of - apparently this was the first time he ever enjoyed cranberry sauce


PS The pumpkin cheesecake was gross!!!

While I was cooking Matt decided to try on my glasses. I know it's really unsafe, but I had to take a picture. It was cute!!!

It's just a rash

Today, in the middle of a crazy day at work, I got a heart stopping phone call.
Matt's teacher called me to ask me to come pick up Matthew.
"Don't worry, Matthew's okay," were her first words. That was reassuring, until she added, "But you should come and pick him up because he's not well, he has a rash and asked me to call you."
I pretty much got up, walked across to my co-worker and told her I had to go.
Thankfully she said "Go. I can turn off your computer, just go."
I took a breath, went to tell my boss who had the same reaction, and left. I think I was out of there in about 4 minutes. En route to the bus I bumped into another work friend who managed to tell me that Matt was fine.
I made it all the way to the daycare without freaking out.
It turned out that the rash was actually a really bad diaper rash. I know diaper rash is normal in kids, but this was brutal. Kayla, his teacher, said he was hysterical whenever she had to change him. They actually had to bring in an extra staff member to help change him. It was not fun.
But, then he had some spots on his face too. They thought it may have been chicken pox.
So, Mike, who also left work early, and I took Matt to the doctor.
The diaper rash was bad. We got a prescription. He should be okay.
The chicken pox.
Well ... those would be mosquito bites. Yep. Mosquito bites.
You never know.

Mommy's a What ?!

Friday fun on the TTC.
We were on the 2nd leg of daily journey - the part where we cram on to the bus, hope for seats and pray that Matt behaves on the 20 minute bus ride.
We were doing well until the midway point. Since I'd forgotten a snack, I bought Matty a bag of chips which he ate happily much of the trip. He only talked to a few people. He was particularly friendly with the two guys behind us.
And then his nose started to run.
Good mommies keep little packs of kleenex in their purses. Mine is crammed with lipsticks, my book, my blackberry and my cell phone - there's usually no room.
So he wiped his nose on my jacket. Instead of just saying no, I decided to be funny and say "do you think Mommy is a Kleenex?"
Matt thought this was hilarious - probably because he misheard the word Kleenex. He heard Penis.
So, there, on the rush hour crowded he started yelling, yes yelling ...
"Mommy is a Penis! Mommy is a big strong Penis."
The more I blushed and asked him to stop the more he yelled, delighted in the fact that he had the entire back section of the bus laughing. I alternated between laughing and being horrified.
Parenting. So fun!

So much going on ... where to start?

It's been busy lately. You can probably tell from my lack of blogging activity. It's just been one of those weeks when you just don't seem to have the time ...

The big thing in Matt's life this week has been the transition to preschool. This is the first time he has transitioned to an older age group. I know that he changed daycares, but he's always been in a toddler room. So, it's pretty much the same. Preschool is a whole different ball game.

The big thing for him is that it is much more structured. My child is not terribly structured. Consistency is a good thing for him. He likes nap time at the same time, lunch and dinner at the same time, etc. But, being asked to sit in one place and all of that is kind of tough for him. So, the preschool teacher has noticied he's struggling to get into the routine of sitting still for circle time (it's longer than in the toddler room). I get that. And, I've seen him maturing and growing. So, I know he will adjust pretty quickly. But still.

And, in about 2 weeks he will start all out toilet training. They think he's ready for underwear (yay?) but because he's changing his routine they don't want to push it. Okay. But at the same time tonight we got him and I said it was time for a fresh diaper and Matt said "No Potty."

Sure. whatever. Works for me.

Another thing with this whole transition is what you do for the teachers. I bought cards. I know it's not the best thing. But, truthfullly we were going to get gifts, but these are women who are not easy to buy for. I'm debating buying them a box of chocolate, but I don't know. I just feel like I hardly know them anymore.

At the last daycare I agonized over the teacher gifts at Christmas and when we moved. But, his teachers were young and cool. And, they hadn't gotten all of the mugs and stuff. For the record, at Christmas I went a little overboard. I got nice gift certificates from the Gap, and then some teas and chocolate and stuff and put them in nice cellophane wrapped boxes. It was very Martha Stewart of me - and I am so not crafty. I even had Matt paint ornaments that had a place for his picture. It was impressive. When we moved, we were pretty upset. So, we had Matt paint a mug at the ceramics places (very cool if you've never done it). And we gave that to Christine. She cried. It was cute. But, she was young and hadn't gotten gifts like this before so it was meaningful.

Anyway, we're sticking with cards.

Bye Bye Toddler room. My big boy is moving on.

And, yay! His new teacher - so cool!

Cleanse ...

This weekend Mike and I decided to do a cleanse. The basic premise is that you drink a crappy drink (lemons, maple syrup and cayenne pepper) and cleanse your system. Beyonce did it and lost a ton of weight. So, I thought maybe it would work for Mike and I. Okay, really I thought it would work for me and dragged Mike along for moral support.
It sucked.
First of all - why spend a weekend cleansing? Why? Why not make your work week crappier and then enjoy the weekend. Hmmm....
Here's the thing. I keep going back to the same weight. And I hate that weight. I want to lose - and I'm stuck.
Yes, if I did the weightwatchers thing properly I would, but I lost incentive at the same time I had to lower my points and gained a little back.
I wanted to cleanse because I had a doctor's appointment today and I wanted to be at a very specific number.
The cleanse - it didn't work so well becasue we got hungry and ate salad (one a chicken caesar another a greek salad). And I don't think I drnak enough of the drink.
But still - it was a salad weekend.
And I GAINED A POUND!!!
Seriously.
Who gains weight when they cleanse? me!!!!
But I did have a doctor's appointment today (where, incidentally, I brought the wrong health card - oops) so among other things I asked her about this.
She laughed. Yep. Laughed.
Actually, first she told me that she was really proud of my weight loss. She told me to lose another 20 lbs and she will be happy. I am okay with that. I want to do that.
And, then she told me not to sweat it. This, she explained, is water weight. But, she also pointed out that my body may also be settling a bit, sticking at one weight but making adjustments. I think this is true because I feel like skirts and pants are fitting me better - even at the same weight. She said this may be from the exercise too. Who knows.
And speaking of exercise ...
Tonight our building had a fire alarm. It was pretty funny. Matt was soooo excited that he wanted to see the trucks. But, thanks to the lesson he learned from our neighbours he decided he should wear his fire hat. And then he took it to the next level and wanted to bring his fire truck.
So, off we went. Since we are on the 12th floor, and I wasn't sure if it actually was a fire (once there actually was a fire, so I am always cautious - not to mention I am a FIRE WARDEN at work) I insisted on the stairs. So, I had Matt in one arm and a ride on fire truck in the other arm, plus a plastic fire hat in my mouth and we ran down the stairs.
When we got downstairs Matt was thrilled. fzor some reason 3 fire trucks and the fire van showed up. Matt immediately went up to the firefighters (who by this time had determined it was a false alarm) and said "Hi firefighter man".
The firemen were so cute with him. They kept calling him chief and were having him show them the various different noises his truck made. Matt was totally in his element.
The funniest part was when the firefighters were in a little group talking. Matt wheeled right over and looked up at them, just like he was one of them.
It melted my heart.
Before we left the fire chief came up to me and said "That's one cute kid you've got there. Hang on to him."
I refrained from hugging the guy.
I just said thank you.
I refrained from mentioning that I am a fire warden (I've done the training people. I know about crossover floors and how to use a fire fighters phone).
Honestly, some days parenting is so rewarding.
And ... this is Matt's last week in the toddler room at daycare. I think he's spending half days in the preschool room. He talks about his new teacher constantly. I don't know who is more excited.

Buses, McDonald's and my Karate Skills

My comments on America’s Next Top Model are forthcoming – I promise. Because there was a ton of fun e-mailing back and forth throughout the show. But, my ANTM mindset has been somewhat put on the backburner. Because ...

The other day I got thinking about parenting. More precisely, someone challenged me on the topic of spending time with my child – what is important, how much time I spent, and what exactly constituted quality time.

Is it doing a child specific activity or is it just the actual time you spend together doing something, anything, together that really matters?

I didn’t quite have an answer. The question came from someone who, by circumstance, does not have an opportunity to spend as with their child as I do with mine. And it made me realize something – I need to start appreciating my time just a little more than I do.

Case in point – commuting.

I whine about it constantly. I whine on my blog. I whine to my husband. I whine to my friends. I whine to my family. Generally speaking, taking my toddler on the bus is not fun. Okay. I know you all get it.

But, I realized that it’s stuff like this that I should make fun or try to make fun.

Last night, since it’s been a busy week at work and Mike was working late, I decided to take Matty to McDonald’s. I told him that we were taking a special bus – the McDonald’s bus!

There was nothing special about this bus. Well, except my attitude; I decided that I would make commuting FUN. And, it was a blast! We looked out the window, we chatted, we discussed McDonald’s. And, surprise surprise the trip was enjoyable. In fact, I may even go so far as to say it was fun.

Shockingly, because it started off on the right foot, McDonald’s was fun too. Matthew listened to me. He waited in line with me when I ordered, he sat and ate his dinner and then when he was done he asked me if it was time to play. I was impressed. At the end of playtime, while still waiting for Daddy to pick us up, I asked Matt if he wanted ice cream.

Of course he said yes.

And, despite the fact that it was a kind of chilly evening we sat outside on the McDonald’s patio and had strawberry sundaes. The whole time we talked, and laughed and giggled and had fun. And I realized that part of it was because I was making the effort – not to be super mom. But, to just enjoy myself. Which I did.

So …

When we got home we were still in good moods. Mike wanted to walk down to see the Teluscape at the Science Centre. Which we did. It’s not quite ready yet, but it was a fun adventure.

And then it was bedtime. I don’t know what got into me, but Matt brought me an empty paper towel roll.

Perhaps it was the ice cream, or the fun of the evening. But, I decided to demonstrate my karate skills! (wait, have I taken karate. Nope. I did take Wen-Do where you learn to break a board, as well as numerous self defense/aerobics classes).

So, I made Mike hold the paper towel role while I yelled “Hi-YAH!” and broke the role. I know – impressive.

Matthew thought this was the most hilarious thing in the world. So, we spent the next 20 minutes laughing and screaming “Hi-Yah” while trying to break things. Eventually we discovered that karate chopping diapers was great fun.

Truthfully, I don’t know who enjoyed it more – me or Matt. At one point we were both on the floor giggling. It was pretty funny!

And at the end of the evening I figured out the answer to the question. It's not the activity you do with your child that is important - it's the quality of it.