Friday's Random Thoughts

Happy Friday!  I had a very busy week and will be spending all day today dealing with all the little things I need to take care of to get us back on track!

- I have already bought a Christmas present.  For the same person I bought for in the summer last year!  I have also picked out a few other things I know they would love which puts this person a the top of my 'Easiest To Shop For' list!

- It's amazing where life has taken me...suddenly I am very interested in what the top toys are for Christmas this year and making sure I get them now before I have to fight a pack of wild, last minute moms at the mall.  I used to feel this way about shoes.  Okay, I still do...but who knew a toy would be so important!  I called Tarjay, had them put the toy at customer service and then called my mom, who was in Florida at the time, and told her to go get it for me.  She said she was told Tarjay doesn't normally do that sort of thing so I must be quite persuasive!

- Thanksgiving was a success!  Thank you all for the warm holiday wishes!  I managed to get a few photos so I will post them soon!

-We had a provincial election here - the Liberals won again but this time with a minority government.  They wont 53 seats and the other two parties won 54 seats combined.  This means they can vote together to outnumber the Liberal government.  We had this on a federal level for quite a long time and they Governor General approved the dissolution of the government a couple of times and finally the ruling party won the majority and now things can be accomplished!

- I am planning to attend the Rotary conference in 2 weeks.  I wasn't going to go because I just wanted to go for one day but it's 3 or 4 hours away but...one of our members has a private plane.  Mmm hmm.  I will be flown there and back.  Just the way life is meant to be!  I was born for this!

- The divorcing neighbours are at it again.  The police were there one day this week and MrsDivorce was sitting in her car sobbing.  It was noonish so I went over to see if she wanted me to take her kids and give them lunch...no one heard or saw me walking up (not that I was trying to be stealthy wearing a hot pink polo shirt) so I heard the police telling her 'It will get easier' which makes me think MrDivorce called the police this time to get her to leave.  I know they let their housekeeper go...and MrDivorce was seen taking photos of his car like he was selling it or something.  The plot thickens. 

- The Little Prince still comes up with wacky sayings...this week he has been prancing about the house like he is riding a horse yelling 'Yippee-ky-yay!'  Errrrrr, ok little one!

- I finally finished reading The Help and loved it!  I thought the end was perfect!

- We are invited to a wedding tomorrow and I have no desire to go.  It's 3 hours away and the bride has had nothing to do with me for the entire relationship she has had with my friend.  She got pregnant 5 minutes into their dating life which happens, but she is a nurse and 40 years old so she has a clue about where babies come from.  Also, what woman in this day and age has $ex with a man without any protection all the while telling him she cant get pregnant???  Oh right, a man trapper.  Anyhoo, I suspect she hasn't wanted him speaking much to me as the only time I ever hear from him is when she is at work or if he is driving somewhere.  I sent them a present when their baby was born and she didn't even say a word to me.  I got a texted thank you from him so I am thinking they will get a texted 'Best Wishes' from me tomorrow.  It's not like we were planning on staying for the dinner (which is 5 hours after the ceremony!!) and 6 hours on the road seems like a lot for a wedding ceremony. 

- Is texted the correct past tense of text?


Have a fabulous day!

How children learn their value

 

Sometimes images stick with us our whole lives.  I have kept this photo of Diana and her boys in my memory from the first time I saw it.  I believe they were in Canada at the time and Diana had spent the day away from her children.  Look at how happy she is to see them and how they are rushing to her.  I remember seeing the video of this moment on the news when I was a teenager and my subconscious tucked it away until the moment my own son would need his mommy to teach him what his value is.

Children learn value by how we look at them.  How we speak to them.  Whether we are happy to see them or not.  Look at those boys in this photo - do we think they feel their mother valued them?

I get very upset when I see children being spoken to like they are garbage and so often I want to say something to the parents, give them something to chew on, take home and mull over.  Make them see they are damaging these amazing little people who come into the world full of hope, blank slates we can mold to our own liking.  A kind word goes a long way.  But, we know WT doesn't often respond well to being told they might be less than perfect so I tend to keep quiet and smile at the children.  Hoping they see there is more out there for them.  

Toni Morrison summed it up when she told Oprah...

"When my children used to walk in the room, when they were little, I looked at them to see if they had buckled their trousers or if their hair was combed or if their socks were up, you think your affection and your deep love is on display because you're caring for them. It's not. When they see you, they see the critical face. But if you let your face speak what's in your heart...because when they walked in the room, I was glad to see them. It's just as small as that, you see."

My in-laws were babysitting a few months ago and they brought stickers and coloured paper for the Little Prince to play with.  When we came home my mother-in-law told me one of the stickers is a happy face and the Little Prince kept saying 'That's mommy!'.  She said she was impressed he associates a happy face with his mommy when most children would think their mommies are always unhappy, critical, grumpy.  I make a conscious effort to smile and look happy when the Little Prince walks in the room, comes to me with a drawing, asks a question or any other little thing he does four. thousand. times a day, no matter how I am feeling, what I am thinking or what he might be interrupting.  Because of the picture of Diana.  I wish my mother had ever looked so happy to see me.  I wish I had ever felt the love oozing out of this photo.  I make sure my son feels that every single day

The Little Prince has taken to throwing his arms around my legs exclaiming, 'I love my mommy!!!'.

I consider that the best performance review I have ever had.

Have a fabulous day!

My love of Cassis started young...The champagne came later

My childhood smelled like black currants.  My parents immigrated so everything here was new and unfamiliar.  They had no idea what kool-aid is and anything familiar was embraced and carted home to the small apartment we lived in.

Ribena was familiar as black currant products were and are very popular in Scotland.  While my little Canadian  friends had strawberry kool-aid and Tang, I had black currant juice in my lunch box.  You know the little jelly babies candies?  In Scotland the black ones are actually black currant flavour!  YUM!  Guess which little blondie was digging through the bag looking for the black ones?  Guess which little blondie got quite the shock when she bit into a North American black jelly bean?

My in-laws used to have a huge house on a huge property and the gardens included several black currant bushes....my pantry always had a couple of jars of black currant jam waiting for scones and clotted cream to make their appearance.

When my in-laws were moving we took the opportunity to dig up some of the black currant bushes and transfer them to our house - we planted them here and hoped for the best!

2 years later and this is what I found the other day when I checked on them!  We have 3 bushes and they were all full of beautiful, ripe currants!

I found a Siamese conjoined currant!

Relaxing in their bath!

Drying before going into the freezer!

To be made into my own homemade Cassis.

(Which we all know is best when champagne is poured over it!)

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Have a fabulous day!

Very important child safety information - Please Read!

As most of North America is experiencing high tempertaures it is very important to put the safety of our children first.  Another blogger posted about yet another small child who died because they were forgotten in a car in hot weather.  This is happening too often!

Here are two ways to ensure you remember your child is with you - we are all busy and it is all too easy to walk away from the car forgetting a child is with us.  This is especially important if you share child transportation with another adult.

1.  Keep a stuffed animal in the carseat and when the child is put in the seat place the animal in the front with the driver.  Make it a rule to put the animal back in the car seat before leaving the car - this will ensure you know your child is there.

2.  Place your purse or briefcase in the back seat as a reminder that you have your child in the car.  I always put my purse under the car seat so I actually have to open the back door to get it.  I have to come face to face with my child in order to get my purse.

I found this alarm system that fits on the harness of your car seat.  A keyring comes with it that will alarm if it is taken more than 15 feet from the car alerting you to a child still strapped in the car.  I think this is a great idea and will be looking into getting one for myself.
 
Please feel free to blog/facebook/twitter/email this post to all of your contacts.

Let's refrain from posting negative comments - we have no idea what is going on in anyone's head when they walk away from their car.  If you have ever forgotten your purse in your car it could be just as easy to forget a child.

If there was a park like this near my house I would go out more!

Greetings blogger friends

I feel like I haven't been posting much in the last few days - we have been very busy with ummm hmmm well...just life I guess! I have been working like crazy to get my craft room/office all ready to go (yes I know, 21 months since it was painted - pictures will be posted when it is all finished) and getting caught up with all of the mundane household chores like the never ending pile of laundry (can someone please tell me why the Suburban Prince needs to wear 4 outfits in one day?!) and getting ready for Autumn!

Please be sure to enter my giveaway! The winner will be announced on Monday! Also, please visit my friend Pacokeco who made the adorable tags I have up for grabs!

Yesterday we went to visit the Suburban Prince's parents. They live in a small town about an hour north of us so we got to enjoy a nice drive through the country and had a chance to scope out more places to visit when the leaves are all in full colour

There is a fabulous playground where my in-laws live and to be honest if I was house hunting now, with a small child, this would be a HUGE factor in deciding where we would live. The town we live in now is mostly retired types and teenage moms (a new phenomenon). We moved here for the golf and the marinas - after 3 years and no baby I had pretty much given up so a child-friendly place wasn't high on my list - in fact when I saw no children live on this street I was sold! Fast forward 3 years, some stretch marks, a c-section and lots of sleepless nights I find myself wishing we lived somewhere with more kid/mommy culture. When I see other moms posting on the mommy boards and blogs about their experiences at the playground (other moms who don't watch their kids, kids who take other kids toys etc) I feel like I am missing out on something. When we take the Little Prince to the park we are usually the only people there. That's right, just us. Imagine taking your little one to the park and there are no other children, no other moms. All the time.

Yesterday when we got to the park I was floored! There were at least 5 moms and lots of kids running around! The moms were even *gasp* talking to each other!!! I couldn't help but feel very, very, very jealous. After all this time struggling to have some sort of social life while keeping my child entertained in a town where most of the babies go to school with their mommies I saw what I have been so isolated from.

Don't get me wrong...I have a very full social life. I have no problem filling our house when we have a party and I/we get invited out several times a month but what is missing is somewhere to go with my Little Prince. Somewhere the other mommies might go to as well. I only have 1 friend with a child the same age as my child. Weird eh!

Anyhoooo back to my original story...so we go to the local playground close to my in-laws' house and the Little Prince had a great time! There is a splash pad, swings and lots of big structures to climb on for hours of make-believe fun! To top it off, the park is right on the lake! The scenery is beautiful! Standing facing the lake puts the main street of town right behind me. There are lots of nice little shops to spend time and money in.

(Nice view eh! Apparently the park is full of kids all summer!)

(Can you guess how I found out the splash pad is motion activated?)

(Lots of slides and climb-y things!)

(Check out the crazy swing! It closes up and locks the child in - for safety of course!)

After we played in the park and walked around the town we went for dinner. My in-laws kept telling us about a fabulous Japanese restaurant they went to and how shocked they were by it! It looks like a little hole-in-the-wall greasy spoon diner in the middle of nowhere! What a difference on the inside! This is a serious lesson in not judging a book by it's cover - inside is a beautiful Japanese experience! Even the hostess/waitress was wearing a kimono! I didn't even think to bring my camera in since I wasn't expecting much - next time for sure!

We sat in a little enclosed booth which was perfect since we had the Little Prince with us. He settled himself on the banquette between us to nibble on the snacks I brought for him. He has always been a bit hard to predict when it comes to food - sometimes he will eat tandoori chicken and roasted brussell sprouts and sometimes he refuses anything but Cheerios...mealtime has always been a bit of a guessing game.

We ordered Bentos and I couldn't believe how big there were! They were twice the size of any Bento I had ever had before! At this point the Little Prince decided standing on the banquette would give him a better view (he is only 17 months so height isn't his strong suit) and the adults all dug in! Hot and spicy chicken, rice, salad, sea veggies and tempura veggies and shrimp...which is what caught the Little Prince's eye! Suddenly he reached over and grabbed a HUGE tempura shrimp from the Suburban Prince's Bento and plunked himself down to get to work on it! All we could do was stare at him as he ate the whole thing - we did manage to wrestle the tail from him though! All this time I have been trying to offer the Little Prince toast with butter and jam when I really should've been trying something higher up the food chain! Japanese food!

If you are looking for some fun ideas for school lunches google 'bento' and click on 'images'. There are some absolutely amazing ones! Some moms put a LOT of work into lunches for their kids based on the Bento style!

So that was our adventure yesterday. Today we are staying home to keep plugging along with the house. Tomorrow we are going out with 2 other couples for dinner to celebrate all of our anniversaries - we all live on the same small street and all got married in September! One couple has been married for 32 years, one for 20 and we have been married for 6! We are trying a new restaurant in town so I will take my camera in case something interesting happens!

Have a fabulous day!