Well the little people in our house have wised up to the fact that there is going to be an invasion in about 14 weeks.
Linden asked me as we were leaving daycare one day this past week whether there was a baby in my big tummy or maybe I just ate too much lunch. Clearly time to show our cards to the little people. We weren't going to tell them until after their newest niece or nephew is born (in about 2 weeks) - but maybe I should be pleased that they knew that I was getting rotund.
Both boys have put their orders in - only a sister will do thank you very much. When I try to dissuade them by saying that a brother would be nice as well and they could show him how to play with all the Thomas toys they each give me the hairy eye ball. As though only an insane mummy would suggest that sharing toys could be a benefit to having a sibling enter into the house. Maybe only an insane mummy would see that as a bonus.... Clearly it is interpreted as an act of war.....
This does cause a dilemma though - what happens if we do have another boy and there is a mass revolt? Burning of the power ranger costumes, hiding of Thomas toys, purposely developing a love for mustard which would simultaneously destroy all of their clothes... Maybe we should find out what we are having so we can do some prep for the boys....
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Maternal Guilt - the gift that keeps giving
We invited a friend out to the movies on Saturday. This was the first time that we had 'gone' out to a movie since Blades of Glory in the Spring of 2007. This was HUGE for my friend and I. Lame, but huge to actually get out just the two of of without kids for the second time in 10 months.
Third friend invited regretfully declines invite as she had gone running that morning then a haircut and she felt that she needed to spend the night in because of all the time she had been out of the house that day. Fair game. But it got me thinking about whether I had ever heard a dad decline an invite out because they had attended a sporting event & got a haircut that same day and were feeling guilty about being out of the home.
Well those words have yet to be uttered by He Who Shall Not Be Named in my house and I hazard a guess that he is not unique.
I continually feel as though I need to justify my social activities to HWSNBN. Not because he demands it, but because I am so hung up on the fact that if I choose to go out with my friends (second time in 10 months - what the heck is wrong with me? Clearly I am a wanton hedonistic gal getting my social needs met before my kids needs) it means that I am choosing movies or Starbucks conversations over my little buddies. And that had better be a really good caramel machiato to pull me away from the kidlets.
I don't think that I am particular in this as a mom and I believe that it is something that our male parents do not really struggle with. Hockey three nights a week? No big deal. Proof is that the kids don't forget who they are even though they at times don't see them for 1, 2 or 3 days at a time (given that little buddies are only awake from 7am to 7:30pm respectively). So why don't I feel that same freedom to scrapbook or work overtime without incurring hideous and debilitating levels of guilt?
Third friend invited regretfully declines invite as she had gone running that morning then a haircut and she felt that she needed to spend the night in because of all the time she had been out of the house that day. Fair game. But it got me thinking about whether I had ever heard a dad decline an invite out because they had attended a sporting event & got a haircut that same day and were feeling guilty about being out of the home.
Well those words have yet to be uttered by He Who Shall Not Be Named in my house and I hazard a guess that he is not unique.
I continually feel as though I need to justify my social activities to HWSNBN. Not because he demands it, but because I am so hung up on the fact that if I choose to go out with my friends (second time in 10 months - what the heck is wrong with me? Clearly I am a wanton hedonistic gal getting my social needs met before my kids needs) it means that I am choosing movies or Starbucks conversations over my little buddies. And that had better be a really good caramel machiato to pull me away from the kidlets.
I don't think that I am particular in this as a mom and I believe that it is something that our male parents do not really struggle with. Hockey three nights a week? No big deal. Proof is that the kids don't forget who they are even though they at times don't see them for 1, 2 or 3 days at a time (given that little buddies are only awake from 7am to 7:30pm respectively). So why don't I feel that same freedom to scrapbook or work overtime without incurring hideous and debilitating levels of guilt?
Monday, February 11, 2008
A Bridge Too Far
There is a mom at daycare who I really do not like.
She never says hello - yet is inexplicably there sitting in the living room every night I come to get my kids.
She has never attended a birthday party that we have invited her to for the kids - although she does RSVP with the usual vapid - "We can't come to the party." It is especially annoying as it was a pity daycare invite in the first place as her child is odd as well.
Last summer she actually subbed in for the usual daycare provider and had the cajones to reprimand my child in front of me in a nasty tone. It was a good thing that I was not 100 % (just had the D&C) otherwise I would have leapt over the couch and tied her braids together and booted her saggy ass back to her home. But I kept my mouth shut (all the while giving her hairy eye ball) and kindly requested that my d/c provider NEVER ask her to look after my children again.
But despite that huge parenting / daycare I still say hello to her and goodbye to her and her weird kid everyday that I see her. And she is silent. I have thought that maybe she is autistic. But I have come to the conclusion that she is just rude.
And to top it all off we are having babies at the same time. She looks like a brown haired Heidi Remake cast off and I still look remotely stylish. Maybe life is fair after all......
She never says hello - yet is inexplicably there sitting in the living room every night I come to get my kids.
She has never attended a birthday party that we have invited her to for the kids - although she does RSVP with the usual vapid - "We can't come to the party." It is especially annoying as it was a pity daycare invite in the first place as her child is odd as well.
Last summer she actually subbed in for the usual daycare provider and had the cajones to reprimand my child in front of me in a nasty tone. It was a good thing that I was not 100 % (just had the D&C) otherwise I would have leapt over the couch and tied her braids together and booted her saggy ass back to her home. But I kept my mouth shut (all the while giving her hairy eye ball) and kindly requested that my d/c provider NEVER ask her to look after my children again.
But despite that huge parenting / daycare I still say hello to her and goodbye to her and her weird kid everyday that I see her. And she is silent. I have thought that maybe she is autistic. But I have come to the conclusion that she is just rude.
And to top it all off we are having babies at the same time. She looks like a brown haired Heidi Remake cast off and I still look remotely stylish. Maybe life is fair after all......
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Be True to Thy Self
I have a confession to make. Most of you who are my friends will already know this confession. But here it is.
I am a bad friend. I rarely return phone calls, I randomly send emails, I make plans and then cancel at the last minute, I sometimes don't cover my mouth when I sneeze, the list could go on and on.
I would like to say that all this bad friend etiquette started when I had kids, but there are too many of you out there who know differently. For a while it was masked because I lived in Victoria and actually sent out Christmas cards to a whole host of people. Little did they know that one Christmas card was me running at full friendship capacity. It just looked good because I didn't live in the same town.
The weird thing is that I genuinely like / treasure all of my friends. I think of you guys often and wonder how you are with your families and careers and lives. If I called or emailed every time I thought about you guys then I would be bordering on stalking..... well maybe not. But there would be more than one or two calls a year.
How did this happen? Am I lazy? Is the Metro Vancouver to blame? Are we simply too thinly spread between working full time, parenting, random acts of exercise and commuting? Throw in a 30 minute drive to the old stomping grounds and it is kaput?
There is no excuse. I am not an artist, I am not involved in any team sports (they would kick me out for lack of participation), I am not actively involved in any sort of time consuming hobbies (scrapbooking 1x a month if I am lucky), I do not have any debilitating illnesses (unless you consider 3rd pregnancy in 5 years incapacitating) and I do not cook very much or bake. There is no reason for me not to eek out some time for my friends.
So here is to you - the friends who have hung in there and call even though I am criminally negligent. I enjoy all of our conversations and I value your input. The emails and random cards brighten my day.
I will do better!
I am a bad friend. I rarely return phone calls, I randomly send emails, I make plans and then cancel at the last minute, I sometimes don't cover my mouth when I sneeze, the list could go on and on.
I would like to say that all this bad friend etiquette started when I had kids, but there are too many of you out there who know differently. For a while it was masked because I lived in Victoria and actually sent out Christmas cards to a whole host of people. Little did they know that one Christmas card was me running at full friendship capacity. It just looked good because I didn't live in the same town.
The weird thing is that I genuinely like / treasure all of my friends. I think of you guys often and wonder how you are with your families and careers and lives. If I called or emailed every time I thought about you guys then I would be bordering on stalking..... well maybe not. But there would be more than one or two calls a year.
How did this happen? Am I lazy? Is the Metro Vancouver to blame? Are we simply too thinly spread between working full time, parenting, random acts of exercise and commuting? Throw in a 30 minute drive to the old stomping grounds and it is kaput?
There is no excuse. I am not an artist, I am not involved in any team sports (they would kick me out for lack of participation), I am not actively involved in any sort of time consuming hobbies (scrapbooking 1x a month if I am lucky), I do not have any debilitating illnesses (unless you consider 3rd pregnancy in 5 years incapacitating) and I do not cook very much or bake. There is no reason for me not to eek out some time for my friends.
So here is to you - the friends who have hung in there and call even though I am criminally negligent. I enjoy all of our conversations and I value your input. The emails and random cards brighten my day.
I will do better!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Wii Mii
She is quite a catch. A nice bob haircut without any fly aways, she has a clear complexion, no need for glasses and seems to always be smiling.
She has a 120 average in bowling. There are no hissy fits when she gets a gutter ball. She doesn't stamp her feet or curse everyone around her. She smiles and picks up another ball. She doesn't do a dance when she beats Wii Mii Colin at bowling. She even smiles as she boxes Wii Mii Rowan (always to a KO - cyber child abuse?).
I would love to be Wii Mii for one day.
She has a 120 average in bowling. There are no hissy fits when she gets a gutter ball. She doesn't stamp her feet or curse everyone around her. She smiles and picks up another ball. She doesn't do a dance when she beats Wii Mii Colin at bowling. She even smiles as she boxes Wii Mii Rowan (always to a KO - cyber child abuse?).
I would love to be Wii Mii for one day.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
I want Nunavut!
All this time I was saying "I want None of It", but clearly after seeing the Jobs section of the Vancouver Sun this weekend, what I really meant was "I want Nunavut!"
I have reached the top of my pay scale as a social worker in BC. This is a livable wage and it generally keeps me in the way in which I have been accustomed. Sure the merlot is sometimes in a box - but I really have no complaints.
Until now. Turns out that if I was plying my trade in Nunavut I would be making $65,228.00 per annum with a $25,030.00 pre annum northern allowance. Or should I make it as a supervisor the wage would be $73,398.00 per annum plus the northern allowance. To me this would mean, without a lot of thought into why the northern allowance is so high, farewell boxed merlot, hello fresh from France merlot.
$90K to be a social worker in Nunavut....... $98K to be a supervisor. Now depending on how much money I would need to make a comparably lifestyle up there.... this could be very tempting. Even if it meant mail order Lululemon for two years and months of snowmobiling training in order to make it work.
I am clearly not a Nunavut Land Claim beneficiary... which could be detrimental to my success of panelling for the position. There is the distinct possibility that my children could be lost in a snow drift. And of course I can not ignore the massive amount of education I would require in order to learn about the North and the distinctive cultures of the people who live there. Safe to assume that my limited knowledge of first nations people is seriously lacking. But for $90K plus a year (and that is the starting wage!) I would be a fast learner.
Just something to ponder on a Sunday before the beginning of a long work week....
I have reached the top of my pay scale as a social worker in BC. This is a livable wage and it generally keeps me in the way in which I have been accustomed. Sure the merlot is sometimes in a box - but I really have no complaints.
Until now. Turns out that if I was plying my trade in Nunavut I would be making $65,228.00 per annum with a $25,030.00 pre annum northern allowance. Or should I make it as a supervisor the wage would be $73,398.00 per annum plus the northern allowance. To me this would mean, without a lot of thought into why the northern allowance is so high, farewell boxed merlot, hello fresh from France merlot.
$90K to be a social worker in Nunavut....... $98K to be a supervisor. Now depending on how much money I would need to make a comparably lifestyle up there.... this could be very tempting. Even if it meant mail order Lululemon for two years and months of snowmobiling training in order to make it work.
I am clearly not a Nunavut Land Claim beneficiary... which could be detrimental to my success of panelling for the position. There is the distinct possibility that my children could be lost in a snow drift. And of course I can not ignore the massive amount of education I would require in order to learn about the North and the distinctive cultures of the people who live there. Safe to assume that my limited knowledge of first nations people is seriously lacking. But for $90K plus a year (and that is the starting wage!) I would be a fast learner.
Just something to ponder on a Sunday before the beginning of a long work week....
Thursday, January 3, 2008
The BEST job EVER!
After much deliberation and many years of questioning peers about the attributes of the best job ever, I have decided which job is the BEST. Sadly it is not my job. But I know someone who works in this employment and he gets 8 weeks of vacation and is off every day between 2 - 3pm.
The job is..... Canada Post Mailperson!
Sure they have to work in the rain sometimes - but they get standard issued uniforms complete with rain slickers and matching short outfits for summer. All in navy blue! My favourite!
Sometimes my mailperson has their own mini golf cart type vehicle which they drive on my lawn and leave idle while they deliver their wares. Rarely does a parcel weigh more than a few pounds and my mailperson has wicked muscle tone in the leg.
I am not the first to 'discover' this dream job. A good friend who is currently a teacher in Delta first claimed this to be the best job ever while we were still in university. Why she never pursued this dream is unknown to me. Instead she spends her days with cheeky elementary school kids.
If I could do it all over again, I may have taken a different route.
The job is..... Canada Post Mailperson!
Sure they have to work in the rain sometimes - but they get standard issued uniforms complete with rain slickers and matching short outfits for summer. All in navy blue! My favourite!
Sometimes my mailperson has their own mini golf cart type vehicle which they drive on my lawn and leave idle while they deliver their wares. Rarely does a parcel weigh more than a few pounds and my mailperson has wicked muscle tone in the leg.
I am not the first to 'discover' this dream job. A good friend who is currently a teacher in Delta first claimed this to be the best job ever while we were still in university. Why she never pursued this dream is unknown to me. Instead she spends her days with cheeky elementary school kids.
If I could do it all over again, I may have taken a different route.
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