Snow Day

A Winter storm blew in late last night, leaving about 10 centimetres of the white stuff on everything and wrecking havoc on everyone's morning work commute. We've been lucky here in Calgary, as tomorrow it will be December and this is the first real sign of the start of Winter. Usually it will rear it's ugly frosty head closer to October.

Even though R's play school is literally a five minute drive (15 minute walk) away, there was no way I was going to bundle up both kids to trek out in the slippery roads today.

So today is our first Snow Day of the season.

But that also means I have to find a way to (quietly) occupy a 3 year old for a few hours while her baby sister naps. Enter cotton balls to the rescue.

This is literally the easiest craft, aside from drawing or painting, and leaves very little to clean up when it ends (or when the kids moves on). It's something I recalled doing in Kindergarten, and if it's good enough for Kindergarten...

Materials needed:
- paper (we have a stack of blank letter/computer paper we got for cheap)
- white glue
- paintbrush
- cotton balls
- markers or crayons or paint

I began by quickly drawing a picture of a snowman on the paper (this can be done by your child, but I just wanted to get the ball rolling before R tired of the instructions), then I mixed about a tablespoon of glue with a dash of water in a small bowl.
I then "painted" the glue mixture over the snowman and handed a bunch of cotton balls to R to stick on. The results? Fluffy, snowy snowmen to show off to Daddy when he gets home (and 15 minutes of busy quiet time per picture)!

I toyed with the idea of letting R dip the cotton balls into the glue mixture, but then thought of the potential for glue on fingers, the table, the floor, her hair, etc., and decided painting it on beforehand was the way to go. Because the glue has been thinned a bit with the water, it makes the paper tacky without being thick and gloppy with glue. After a while I also cut up the cotton into smaller pieces to make it easier to handle and stick (and to use up less cotton balls).

After the snowman we continued on our snowball-gluing streak and made pictures of a snowy tree, a snowy winter scene with a house and fluffy clouds, as well as a fluffy rabbit, before finally petering out and moving on to reading books, instead. Fine by me.

All the cotton ball-gluing gave me a chance to start a pot of chicken soup with the leftovers of our chicken dinner a couple days ago, the spoils of which R is enjoying for lunch.

How cozy is that?

Date Night

I know I said this blog would be all rainbows and sunshine (wait... did I say that?), but I just have to say... I hate Hockey.

No... I don't hate it. I enjoy the Play Offs. When our Home team is in them. Otherwise, sigh... no.

This week I actually suggested to my husband that we take advantage of some free tickets to a game and go, with the idea that it would be 'Date Night', which we haven't had in eons. I actually just want to get out of the house, sans kids, with my husband, and as is obvious from my previous statements I'M SO DESPERATE THAT I WILL CALL HOCKEY A "DATE".

My husband has been out a few times with friends, and a few of those times they've ended up in places getting their beer on in places that I used to hang out. Can you read the jealousy oozing out from that previous sentence? Then he will often text me, the texts getting harder and harder to understand the more beer they consume and the more autocorrect takes over... and often I am already in bed. Not asleep, mind you. I'm most likely awake because my 10 month old has either just been up for the 2nd or 3rd time to nurse and I'm just waiting it out until the next baby cry or text. So, yeah. I'm jealous.

I don't want it to turn into resentment. I love my husband. Looooove him. He's a great dad, and a great husband, and just an all around great person. But lately, I've been getting really annoyed at tiny things. Things I should just let go. And he is I think sensing that and being less affectionate. I'm not talking about sex, I mean things like kisses on the way out the door. Of course, it could be that I'm just sleep-deprived and I'm actually hallucinating this, but either way, we've got to nip it in the bud.

Fast forward to after our hockey "date"; two heroin beers, one bag of popcorn and two packs of beef jerky later, and the thing I realized is that a packed hockey area isn't really the best spot to have a relationship talk. If you think your husband gets annoyed when you try to bring things up in the middle of a televised hockey game, wait until the hockey is in 4D! Not. So, we didn't get much resolved, although I will admit that being at an actual game is more interesting than watching on tv. I kept referring to it as being like a "Broadway show!" (eg. the lights, the music, the costumes, er... uniforms), which you would think would irk a hockey-loving guy, but I think he was just happy I was getting into it. Plus, he's seen Billy Eliot. Same thing, right?

Even though we didn't get to hash out any issues that night, I did have an epiphone. During and after the game I saw how happy my husband was, and because he was happy, he was in turn affectionate. He was actually just happy to be spending time with me, which in the end is what I wanted. All that being said, we still planned another Date Night (this time with a romantic meal with wine and a movie afterwards) that was more in tuned to what I usually consider Good Times. And it was! So I guess this post was about the good stuff, afterall.

Naps...

Why is it that when it's one of those days where I have a lot to get done at home, the kids barely nap (or nap at all), and yet when we have plans OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE suddenly they go through a magic growth spurt and need to sleep forever?

Then I have to be the Bad Guy and wake them up.

From a nap that I would've given anything for just the day prior.

Note to Self: Schedule Fake Important Things outside of the house on days you need to do laundry and/or clean the bathroom.

A Parent's Tips & Tricks

I thought seeing as I have a todder and a baby, a lot of friends with young kids and friends about to have babies, that I would share, humbly, some of the things I've learned thus far in my parenting journey. I'm sorry I just used the phrase "parenting journey", but there you go. These are meant to be practical tips for day-to-day stuff and for preparing New Parents (specifically new Moms).


I stopped myself at 11; Number 12 could be "Don't forget to love your kids, yadda yadda yadda"... but I'm assuming you already do ; )


Please feel free to add on any of your own useful tips and tricks! In no particular order...

1. Good haircut - This is for you New Moms out there. I get my hair cut about three times a year. It should probably be more (my hair is extremely thick), but often I just don't have the time, and sometimes the money. Thankfully, I have an amazing hairstylist who manages to give me a cut that can grow out and still look somewhat like it was meant to look the way it does. Which segues into my next piece of advice...



2. Dry Shampoo - Like I said, I have a toddler and an baby. They have very different personal schedules which don't always (most often not) jibe with the overall schedule for the day, such as getting to that doctor appointment or Gymboree on time. Or just getting out the door for a walk before lunchtime. If I haven't had a sweaty work-out day, a little shake of dry shampoo gives me at least an extra day before needing to re-wash and dry my hair. Smells good, too!



3. Gripe Water - This was like a magic cure-all for my toddler when she was going through her more intense teething. Whether it was in the middle of the night teething, or indigestion after trying new foods, a shot of Gripe water calmed her down in 2 minutes flat. Be sure to get the non-alcohol version.



4. Bibs with sleeves - There are loads of cute bibs out there, some useful, some altogether useless. The best ones I've found are machine-washable/hang to dry, have a pocket at the bottom, and attach with velcro. You can roll up a child's shirt sleeves all you want, but without sleeves on the bib that pureed spinach/watermelon/birthday cake is going to get all over your kid's arms and shirt sleeves and down the sides of their shirt. Get the sleeves.



5. Good infant carrier - There are lots of these on the market, but make it sure it offers lower-back support! Some carriers allow you to carry baby on your front either facing in (a nice option if baby is sleepy) or out (a nice option when you're out for a walk), while others give you the option of wearing baby on your front or back. I have one of each; I've found the back-carrier particularly helpful when I need to do housework, and the front-carrier is great on walks. I often go out for walks with my baby in the carrier while pushing my toddler in the stroller.



6. Make your own baby food - It's super easy, way tastier, often much cheaper, and you know exactly what's in it. Bonus: home-made purees can be used in pasta sauces, soups, and smoothies if not eaten by your child. All you need is fresh produce, a good mini food processor and an ice cube tray.



7. Try to listen to your own music when at home and travelling in your car with the kids. Preferably something with a good beat and/or baseline and a good melody. A repeating chorus is a bonus. This will really help to broaden your child's musical horizons and won't drive you crazy, like listening to The Wiggles all day would. Classical music is great for calming kids down in the car and can help to hone their listening skills ("Is the music fast, or slow? Is it sad music, or happy music?")



8. Try to avoid introducing a new food or drink with the preface, "You might not like it...". Everyone has different tastes, and there's no reason your toddler can't decide for herself whether or not she loves eggplant, etc. Also, try to avoid any grimacing right before your child tries it; I try to eat/drink a little of whatever it is first and say, "YUMMY!" before I even offer it (they always want what you have, anyways!)



9. When changing a diaper, always put an open, new diaper under the child's bum BEFORE unfastening the dirty one. This makes clean-up MUCH easier, especially if your child has one of those days when they seem to have a never-ending amount of poop exiting their system; the new diaper will be in place to catch any over-flow. Trust me.



10. If you're nursing, get a good electric breast pump. You can get a single or double pump; I personally have a single that works great, but if you're strapped for time I've heard the double can be useful. Only freeze 2-4 ounces of milk in a bag (split up the product of your pumping, if necessary), so that less milk goes to waste. Let someone else try feeding the baby from a bottle once in a while; it's a great bonding experience for them, and it will give you a rest. Its also useful to have an "emergency stash" of frozen breastmilk at another caregiver's house if you visit them often, or if they babysit often (grandparents, for example).



11. If onesies get stained by your breast-fed baby, try laying them out (or hang them) in the sun for a day or two, indoors or outdoors. The sunlight neutralises the bilirubin in the stain (the yellow colour), and it should fade away!

Any more tips out there...?

So I begin...

Well, it seems everyone is doing it. Starting a blog, that is.

My sister just started one, at the request of her publishers (she's recently written a couple books... the subject of these books is a whole 'nother post); my MOM, a screenwriter, even has one. Acquaintances-of-friends that I meet at gatherings often manage to slip it into their conversations: "...yeah, I blogged about that place last month. On my BLOG...".

Yeah. I get it.

I suppose I've blogged a few times before (remember Diaryland?), and I often subject my friends over on facebook to my opinions on a regular basis, so this could really be seen as a natural progression... whatever. I'm already bored of myself.

The truth is, whether or not someone reads and/or responds to my posts is not really the point; the point of starting this is so that I have somewhere to write down all the stuff I'd like to pass on:

• food-related things like recipes, restaurant reviews, etc.,
• child-rearing tips and tricks and tribulations (I have loads of these),
• day-to-day things I find that are interesting that I'd like to pass on.

Pretty much all the good stuff I'd like to happen upon if I had accidentally stumbled across someone else's blog. We'll see how long I can hang in there.

For more info about Me, check out my profile. Ugh... that sounded like a dating site.