It is so funny how a person’s life changes once having children.  You don’t even realize it at first.  It changes right away, but over time your whole way of thinking is altered.

Way Of Thinking Before:

What am I going to do on the weekend?, Where is my vacation going to be this year?, I need to go shopping for myself, Lets go for some drinks after work, Lets go to dinner and a movie, I’m bored, I’m going to sleep in.

Way Of Thinking After Kids:

When was her last poo?, When did she eat last?, Where’s the diaper bag?, You’re going in a timeout, When did I eat last?, I would love a nap, I would love to sleep in,  When was the last time we went out on a date?, I have to pack away the clothes that don’t fit anymore, I have to catch up on chores on the weekend, What is the happy meal toy at McDonalds?,  She needs her nap.

Before you even realize it you are thinking about your child’s bowel routine, new behaviours, and new achievements of the week.  The things you used to hold so important before kids, now seem so minute in comparison.  This is the way it should be.  You have to be totally ready for children, because children need to be put first and you have to put your own needs on the backburner.

Look into your child’s eyes, and realize how lucky you are.  You are blessed.

My life is pretty good most of the time, but certain days, by the time the evening rolls around, I am tense with a captial T.  What do I do to decrease my stress levels?

1.  Take a nice, long hot bath with my bath and bodyworks products.  I love that company!  Complete with a glass of wine and candles along side the tub.  Ahhhh….please nobody bug me.

2.  I get into my car with nobody else, blast my favourite music as high as I can without hurting my ears, and go for a nice, long drive.

3.  I eat.  The saltier the better.  I always told my husband that food was the way to my heart, and when I am stress its the same.  When I am sad, or under a lot of stress, eating something tasty just seems to make me happier.

4.  I watch TV.  What better way to forget your worries?  I vegetate in front of the television and soak myself into my favourite shows.

5.  I go for a walk.  It seems to clear my mind of the various thoughts that are causing my stress in the first place.

6.  I vent to my husband.  My poor husband…having to listen to all of my stress.  Talking to someone is always a good way to relieve stress.  Often they will have something to say to help you decrease your stress.  They can give you a different perspective on things.

Whatever the cause of your stress, everyone has it at some point in their life.  Its important that you don’t let it get you down, and you channel your energy into something more productive. 

Take sometime for yourself, decrease the negative stress from your mind today!

I never really liked much about being pregnant.  Many women just love it, and they have that “glow” people talk about, but that wasn’t really me.  There were certain aspects that I enjoyed about being pregnant.  The biggest…no period!

It was great, no supplies to buy, no terrible pains like someone is sticking a knife through your abdomen to come out the back.  No terrible mood swings, no need to pop ibuprofen like they are tic tacs.  No relentless fatigue. 

Then after the inital postpartum flow, if you strictly breastfeed you don’t get a period right away.  Great!  One incentive to breastfeed.

Six months later, heaven comes crashing down and I get my first period back with avengence.  After not having one for 15 months, it is pure torture.  Being totally exhausted, in pain, moody, and feeling like a big, fat blob is just not what I am used to anymore.  I was spoiled for so long.  Why is it that when the big “P” hits, I want chocolate, and salty chips, or anything bad.  My pants feel tighter, and I feel so bloated, I could be called Blow Fish.  Luckily, it doesn’t last too long, and then I am back to the normal way of life.  Its tough to be a woman!

We put up with periods, go through pregnancy, go through childbirth, and menopause.  If men are scared of having a little Vasectomy, remind them of these things.

When I used to live at my old house, my old neighbour used to swear by garage sales.  I used to roll my eyes and laugh to myself a bit.  I thought it was funny that someone could be so into garage sales.  I bought stuff on consignment but never really thought about garage sales.  Then I went to one with her and I was astonished.  I got so many great kid toys, clothes, books for cheap!!!!  I was thrilled.  Every since then, I try to go every year. 

Last year I got some great toys for outside in the summer.  Little tikes doll strollers, a kitchen with dishes, trucks, etc.  I also got some great clothes for playtime for 25-50 cents a piece.  Who cares if they get stained?  Last week I got a disney princess dress-up dress for $2, clothes for $1, and little people play sets for $2. 

Today I went out as part of my regular saturday routine.  I hit another diamond in the rough.  I got 50 items of kids clothing for $30.  Wow!  And the best part is, it was all name brand.  I am talking Osh Gosh, Please Mum, Children’s Place, etc.  I got dresses, jeans, shirts, everything.  Broken down it worked out to 60 cents per item of clothing.  You can’t beat that.  And it was such good quality, no stains or anything.  They only used them for one child. 

I love saving money wherever I can, especially on clothes.  My daughters grow like weeds, and kids can be especially hard on clothing.  If you don’t treat clothing immediately, it can stain.  This is why I buy stuff super cheap so that I don’t really care if something happens to it.  This leaves me more money to spend on my children in other places.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

For as long as I can remember, I have always detested having to go in a public washroom.  I am not sure if there was a specific incident, or I just never liked them from the start.  Now that I have kids, I am afraid of them even more.  Unfortunately, now that I have had 2 children, my bladder capacity isn’t exactly state of the art.

What don’t I like about public washrooms?  Hmmmm…well the disgusting germs for one thing.  Some of those bathrooms aren’t exactly cleaned on a regular basis.  The smell of a public washroom leaves a lot to be desired.  And what I hate the most?  I just think it is totally unnatural for somebody to be in a stall next to you like a horse and listen to you do your business like an animal.  Its barbaric!  When I went to Europe, I was surprised to see that many places make you pay to use the restrooms, they have no toilet seats, and some even have a washroom lady handing out toilet paper.  And let me tell you, she only hands out ONE square at a time….and this is at a restaurant you pay to eat at.  Thats a little extreme.

Today my morning coffee hit me and I needed to pee fast!  I had the double stroller with me so I went to use the family washroom (I was in the mall).  I waited, and waited , and waited.  Then I went to the wheelchair stall in the bathroom, and waited and waited.  Both washrooms were taken for 10 minutes as I am doing a little dance and seeing yellow.  Still, no openings.  There is no way I am taking my baby out of the stroller and putting her on the germ infested floor in there, and I am not leaving her outside of the stall because I don’t trust that some crazy person won’t take her.  This leaves me no options.

I ran to the department store, and then I had to wait for the elevator to go up to the washroom.  I went in and finally got the larger washroom to fit the stroller.  YUK!!!!  I look in the  toilet and their was some hazardous waste if I ever saw some.  Then I thought to myself, surely the flush mechanism must be broken.  Nope!  I pressed flushed and wow….guess what happened?  Hazardous waste gone.  I see this so often.  What is wrong with people?  Do they do this at home?  Are they trying to conserve water?  With a pee maybe….but something much more hazardous?  Or are we so lazy as a society that we cannot even hit the flush. 

Always be sure to wash you and your children’s hands thoroughly with soap and water, because bringing them in a place like this, they will need the protection from bacteria and viruses.  Handwashing is the BEST way to prevent the spread of germs.

One thing I like to do when summer arrives is to go on a picnic with the family on a regular basis.  We had our first picnic of the season yesterday, and it was so nice.  We have a place that we like to go to that is in a park with beautiful trees and a short walk from beautiful public gardens.  During the week, it is surprising that it isn’t more busy.  There are many picnic tables for people to use, but they are rarely used.

We arrived there with our sandwiches in tow, and pasta ofcourse too.  I put the baby in the bumbo and we all sat down as a family to eat our picnic.  My oldest daughter just loves it because its something a little different than usual.

After the picnic is over, we have a walk in the park, Natara runs around and blows off some steam.  We then walk to the gardens to look at the various flowers and plants.  During this time,  I always have my camera with me and I take lots of pictures of the family by the beautiful flowers and trees.  Pictures are eternal.

Go out today and do something special as a family.  It doesn’t have to cost a lot, or anything at all.  The pay off will be priceless.

Now I know why women are always being called “nags”.  It is because we have to think for everyone in the family, and it gets tiring.  We have to delegate tasks to be done, otherwise they don’t get done.  I am not trying to be sexist, but most men don’t see what needs to be done.  Maybe single dads are different because they don’t have a woman to lean on for guidance.

Going somewhere with kids is such a hassle.  If you forget one thing, it can set off your day.  You have to replenish the diaper bag with enough diapers, wipes, bum cream, change of outfit for those messy incidents, recieving blankets, sunscreen and so on.  Then you need to bring toys that are age appropriate for the baby.  Then if you are going someplace that is not kid friendly, you have to bring toys and books for the older child to be entertained also.  Then you need to bring snacks for the older kid, a drink, some facecloths.  Then if its over mealtime, you will need to bring a bib, facecloths and baby food for the baby, along with baby utensils.  And don’t forget the booster seat also to feed the baby.  If they are going to be outside in the sun, you need to bring their sun hats and sunglasses, if its in the winter then you need snow pants and extra mitts etc.

I feel sometimes that I have to pack everything except for the kitchen sink.  One little outing causes us to pack the van so high it looks like we are going on a trip somewhere.  By the end of the day I am mentally exhausted from all the thinking I have to do.  Gone are the days where I just went somewhere and brought myself.  Now I am bringing myself, my family, toys r us, the grocery store, and 1/4 of walmart.

Invest in a van, it is one of the greatest things ever invented for a family.

 What is my beef?  People who allow their children to ride in cars with either outdated car seats, or no carseats at all.  I was out with my family this past weekend and was horrified by a family of 3 adults and 5 children that piled out of a 5 seat vehicle.  Three of the children were under the age of 3.  The other two were under the age of 6-7 years of age.  Now you tell me how those kids can be properly in a car seat?  They can’t.  The third adult drove the car away before I was able to get the plate number.  The next time I see this, I will be reporting it to the police station.  You may think this is harsh.  I however, don’t think its harsh enough.  This is child endangerment!  Those children can’t speak up for themselves so somebody should.  The law should really buckle down on people who don’t put their children’s safety first.

Also, I was driving around on Saturday, and at two different garage sales I saw people trying to sell car seats.  I saw one infant car seat that looked like it was at least 10 years old.  Luckily nobody had bought it, but I am sure that some people do.  PLEASE…look at the expiry date.  Also, many of the reputable consignment stores do not sell car seats or cribs because of safety concerns.  This is because you don’t know the history of the car seat.  What if the previous owner was in an accident with that car seat?  Think of your child’s safety.  Be sure your car seat is installed properly, it is not expired, they have not outgrown it, and know the history of your car seat.

Below is a chart taken from Transport Canada’s website that outlines the expiry of the car seats.  If you look at the bottom of the seat/base, there will be a manufacturer’s date on it.

My Mother’s Day started out very nice indeed.  I had a nice cup of Tim Horton’s coffee, then I proceeded to brunch where I had a nice glass of champagne and orange juice.  The brunch was filled with wonderful foods such as roast beef, salmon, potatoes, different cheeses, and omelettes made fresh to order.  The place was surrounded by beautiful water fountains and gardens to stroll in.  Very nice indeed.

Then we get home and my oldest daughter decides to wipe out on the pavement.  We ask her if she was okay, and she said “yes”.    The rest of the day Natara couldn’t bare weight on her leg.  Nothing looked displaced, and she could still bend her knee and rotate her feet.  I finally made my husband take her into emergency.  The rest of my Mother’s Day was spent puttting a crying baby down to sleep (twice), emptying the dishwasher, filling the dishwasher, folding laundry, cleaning the house and waiting helplessly by the phone. 

Everything turned out just fine.  Xrays were done and there was nothing wrong.  When Natara woke up today she was baring weight no problem.  Thank goodness for that.  One thing about Mother’s Day that I loved was my daughter saying “Happy Mother’s Day”.  She saw it made me smile so I think she must have said it about 500 times yesterday, and she even said it today too.  That was the best part of all, just to feel appreciated! 

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs… since the payment is pure love.
- Mildred B. Vermont

A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. – Peter De Vries

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.”
- quote Abraham Lincoln

Mother is the name for god on the lips and hearts of all children
- Brandon Lee

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.
- Marion C. Garretty

We never know the love of the parent until we become parents ourselves.
- quote by Henry Ward Beecher