Mom Stuff
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It’s Not Cool to be Cold*
Dear children and youth, It snowed last night. It’s -14°C with the wind chill this morning. …and I just had a fight with my almost 10 year old daughter because she says she is the ONLY kid who is “forced” to wear snow pants to school. I’m 100% positive that was likely a wee exaggeration on her part. But in the off chance it wasn’t, I have a few pearls of wisdom for you, dear kids, gained from my many years of experience of, you know, life: Snow pants are cool.Warm hats see cool.Warm hands inside of warm gloves are cool.(Actually, they are just plain warm, which is even better.)Zippers…
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A Day with H*
Operation “Not a Fun Mom” continues. A few weeks ago, I told you how I snuck S home for a day so she could have a bit of a break from school. Today was H’s special day. The transition back into school at a NEW school impacted each of my kids so differently. H is my sweet, sensitive child. He so bravely took on this new challenge, and has not shed a tear going into his class even once… even though I know it’s been hard. I think he quietly carries everything inside as he gets through each day, and often those emotions get unloaded at night once he’s home.…
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I am not a “fun mom”.
I have a few good ideas now and again, but I’m not always great at letting loose and just being spontaneous. I like to have fun, but it’s usually planned… I am someone who likes structure and routine. It’s how I survive life with four kids. It’s just who I am, and I’m okay with that. ❤️ I also grew up in a family that takes pride in doing things well. We had a lot of fun as kids, but we also had responsibilities and chores, and my parents had reasonable expectations for us and of us. My grandfather’s motto was, “if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing…
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A little bit of advice.
“Enjoy every minute. It all goes so fast.” I think this is one of the hardest things to hear as a parent, particularly in the early days. You know the days I mean: the ones that feel never ending and the lack of sleep makes 60 minutes in each hour feel more like 6 million. If I had a nickel for every time some well meaning person offered this sage advice to me as I was out juggling a newborn + kids + whatever errand I was attempting at the time, I’d be a rich woman. Those words often induced so much guilt for me. I love being a mom.…
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Real is Better than Perfect*
This was a good reminder for me. I have moles. And scars. And cellulite. And stretch marks. Ohhhh the stretch marks. I have a stomach that is still soft and wiggly from birth. I still have a lot of “baby weight” to lose. …or do I? My body is real. It’s not perfect, and it probably never will be. …but it’s done some pretty incredible things. I have five babies worth of stretch marks across my body. I can choose to see them as imperfections and feel ashamed of marks they have made on my body… or I can choose differently. I can choose to see them as a mosaic,…