Okay, so today’s blog is nothing more than a rant.  I am so angry that I need to unload.  As you all know, as a mom it is very draining at times.  You put yourself last, making sure that your kids are cared for.  You run around ragged, your clothes filled with food splattered on you, or a kid wiping their nose on you.  You barely have a chance to shave your legs in a given week.  As a result, you let yourself go a bit, and possibly sport the “pony tail look”. 

Twice or three times a year I like to treat myself to highlights in my hair to make myself feel a little better about myself.  Today was that day that comes along so seldom.  I go to the salon wanting to be pampered.  You could tell the girl was a little impatient with my hair type (my hair is very thick) because it takes awhile.  However, I thought…..”Yes, I am sure I am a pain in the butt”.  I told her I wanted some highlights and low lights but that I wanted to be predominantly blonde (which is my natural).  When it was all done I had GREY hair.  I told the girl my concerns and she said “oh no, you just aren’t used to it because its darker than what you usually are”.  I asked the other two hair dressers, “Oh no, it looks good”.  I leave thinking maybe its all in my head, however I still am not feeling happy about the way that I look.  I am especially not happy with the fact that I just paid $150 for grey hair. 

I go home and my husband says “Wow, you look older than me, you definitely have grey in your hair”.  MAN!!!!!  I was so angry.  I was angry at the fact that they screwed up, but I was even more angry that nobody told me the truth when I asked them.  I made it clear I wasn’t happy and I didn’t like it, and they made me feel like it was all in my head.  I guess they just didn’t want the iconvenience of fixing it, but wouldn’t it be better to be honest with your customers than give them false hope?

Now I have to return to them tomorrow to get them to fix it.  I am a little apprehensive because I don’t want to see that hair dresser again.  My regular hair dresser is on maternity leave and my back up hairdresser was too busy.  I really don’t like confrontation but I certainly can’t walk around like this.  I am embarrassed to be seen in public.

“When your world seems grey around you, find the sunshine and make it better”.

Okay, so I know that I haven’t written on here in ages.  I guess I just let life get in the way.  I am like any other mom, I go all day and then by the time the evening rolls around, I am dead to the world.  Talia went through a phase where we would have to let her “cry ” when going to sleep otherwise we would be up there all night.  It eventually happened, but it is really heart wrenching listening ot your baby cry.

After that, we went on vacation in the States.  Ofcourse,  both kids got sick.  My oldest would say, “I just want to go home to my Dora bed” and my youngest came down with a fever and started vomitting nine hours from home.  Needless to say, it was a holiday from )(*&&^ and we are still paying it off.  I think the next holiday will be just that…..time away with just my hubby in Vegas or something.

We came back and I got into some issues with my daycare.  I won’t go into details because I don’t want to get charged with slander.  However, I will say that she was over the legal limit with children and she wanted her husband to watch my kids, and she wanted to keep my $500 deposit after she was the one who quit on me.  After having 3 bad experiences with daycare, I decided to just work nights and weekends around my husbands schedule.  Therefore, I work all night at times and stay up all day with the kids.

I will say that I am sorry for dropping off of here so abruptly, even if it was only a select few reading this blog.  Sometimes I get these projects that I am passionate about but life just gets in the way.  I will have to try harder.

Now I am totally bummed because I have had acne for the last 2 months.  I have NEVER had an acne problem, not even in highschool.  I went to the Dr. thinking that it was something hormonal since being in my 30s and that he can just prescribe the a pill and clear it all up.  Unfortunately he diagnosed me with Rosacea, a skin disorder which isn’t really curable, just treatable.  I was devastated.  Sure, there are worse things out there, but to have your face covered with pimples on your cheeks, its just so damaging to the self esteem.  Then I go to the pharmacy to fill it, only to find out that my dearly beloved husband didn’t read through the benefit package he signed thoroughly, and I had to fork out $130 for 2 tubes of cream.  Yikes!  All this time I thought I had health benefits.  Needless to say, he felt my wrath when he got home.  Ofcourse, he blamed it on the fact that I worked nights and was tired and grumpy, not the fact that this is important stuff that I need incase of illness.

I am feeling much better today as I found out that I have Christmas off.  I am a nurse so I work either christmas or new years every year.  I am taking the kids to the Santa Claus parade tomorrow and even though I am tired, I am so happy that I don’t miss any of the special moments with my children.  I send my oldest daughter Natara to a daycare centre two days a week, just enough to give me a break and let her learn.  They teach her how to write letters and everything.   I guess I am rambling, I just want to say that I will make more of an effort from now on.  If not, be sure to leave me a comment telling me to do so!  I hope you all are having the time of your life with your children, as they are only young once and before you know it time has passed you by.

“If life gives you lemons, make some lemonade”….author unknown.

Okay, so I haven’t been on here for a long time.  I am afraid that I have been too busy chasing after a 3 year old, a crawling 10 month old, and enjoying my summer while it is still here.

I have been pretty lucky when it comes to bumps and bruises and my children.  On Mother’s Day, I am sure you read about how Natara fell down and was limping all day afterwards until we brought her into the hospital for xrays.  Well, she did it again!!!

Thursday she fell down and recieved a small scrape on her knee.  She laid down on our step and refused to walk because of her “boo boo”.  Then she wouldn’t walk to eat her lunch because of her “boo boo”.  She wouldn’t go swimming, she asked me to “Splash Me”.  I thought for sure she would let it go by the next day.  I was wrong.

We went to the park with friends.  She limped along the playstructure.  I am sure that all the parents thought I was harsh.  I thought, “maybe I am being too tough on her”.  No!  I decided to get a hotdog from the bbq in the park.  Natara says “I want one too mama!” as she dashes behind me, running to catch up to me.  Ahha!  She can run.  The funny thing was, she was bearing weight on the affected leg.  Then it started to rain.  Natara decided she didn’t like getting wet so she ran then too.  I thought surely she would give up this facade by Saturday.  I was wrong.

We had people over on Saturday for a pool party which Natara made an effort to limp for everyone, showing them her “boo boo”.  She wouldn’t play with the kids, she wouldn’t swim, nothing.  Until later, she was in the rec room playing and didn’t know I was looking at her behind the corner and guess what…. no limp!!!  Imagine.

Today she was limping along again, telling everyone she has a “boo boo”.  However, she went to the neighbours house to play and my husband stayed here because the baby was napping.  He looked out the window and watched Natara run along the grass, no limp in site.  I asked my neighbour if she limped, and the answer was “no”.  Tonight we went to Natara’s Grandma’s house and she ran to see Grandma, and then ofcourse began to limp, telling Grandma she had a “boo boo”.

It is so funny how kids learn what they do.  Somewhere my child decided that when she is sick or hurt, people baby her and treat her like gold.  I suppose in her mind she feels that if she is wounded, we will give her more attention.  One thing I have to say, is that my daughter is one stubborn but smart little girl to be able to put on an act for so long to try and get what she wants.  Kudos to her for such innovation.

Today my little girl advised me she had to go for a “Big Poo Poo”.  She always says a big one, because she still hopes to get a treat for a big accomplishment.  She sat there for a long time, stalling to take a nap, straining to produce something “big”.  She decides to wipe her own bum (which, for a 3 year old, only involves dropping the tissue in the toilet, there is no wiping involved).

I go to wipe her bum for her, to ensure no messes occur, and to make sure she is properly cleaned.  My daughter proudly exclaims, “See mommy, its a big poo poo.  Its a real BIG ONE”.  I look down in the toilet but I see nothing but the tissue she dropped in.  I say, “Its hard to see with the toilet paper in there”.  As I am looking down, wiping her bum, concentrating on cleanliness….

She dips her hand in the toilet bowl to move away the toilet paper so that I could see her big poo poo.  Stiring her hand with a mission.  I happen to look….”Ahhhhh, get your hand out of there”, only to hear her reply, “See mommy, its a big one.  Can I have a chocolate egg?”.

Sometimes its just easier to agree.  It saves an argument and its less messy.

Glad to know that someone out there appreciates the work that stay at home moms do.  A study on Salary.com researched the work of a stay at home mom and averaged out her salary by comparing her day to day work with similar professions (such as daycare centre teacher, laundry operater, cook, psychologist, etc).  They found for all of the hours a stay at home mom works, she should be getting paid a whopping $134, 121 annually.   They found working moms would make an average of $84,000 or so.

Now, if only this was real I wouldn’t have to agonize about going back to work, and attempting to find somebody I trust to watch my beautiful girls.  At least it gives me some satisfaction that what I am doing at home would give me fat compensation for it in the work world if it was ever kept track of.

Just think of that big salary for a moment, and imagine the possibilities…..hmmm I wonder if you had more kids if the salary would double?

Okay, so my beef today is wondering why men make such a big deal about the much feared Vasectomy.  A lot of my couple friends now have two children, so I am hearing a lot of men I know talking about getting the procedure done.  They make it sound like its a loss of their manhood or something.

Lets see, lets think of us women for a second.  We have terrible mood swings when we are PMSing, we have that terrible week of menstration.  We have to buy midol, sanitary products, you name it.  We deal with this from about age 12 or 13 to age 55 or so.  Then we have pregnancy…..we puke for 4 months, or some women the whole time, some women not at all.  We refrain from alcholic beverages, eating only healthy things for our growing baby.  We get stretch marks, spider veins, varicose veins, widened hips, excess pounds that we have to lose, multiple hours of labour, the risk of an epidural,  all to push out something the size of a watermelon out of our vagae-vagae that certainly isn’t the size of a watermelon.  With our legs spread open and many eyes down where you never imagined so many eyes would go.  Then we are up through the night, every night breastfeeding the baby, giving them their nourishment for life, as we think about how we are going to lose all of the weight it took us 9 months to gain.

Next time you men think about you little doctor’s office visit where you have a little snip-snip done, and then you walk out that same hour, don’t forget everything your wife goes through to get you to the point of wanting a vasectomy.

I had these for dinner the other night, and they were a huge hit.  Everybody loves pizza and they are a healthier alternative.  Also, I am always trying of new ways to give my preschooler enough vegetables, so this is a nice way to give them some.

Lay out pita pockets whole, on a cookie sheet.  Brush with a mixture of olive oil, oregano, and parsley.  Add the remaining oil to tomato paste, add more seasoning to taste.  Add water to the paste if you wish it to be smoother.  I also add a bit of sugar to my tomato paste mix because my husband finds that cuts the acidity.

Add desired toppings, meat first.  I like the salami/pepperoni mix.    You could even add some ground beef.  Add desired veggies ( sauteed green peppers, zuchinni squash, mushrooms, tomatoes, etc).  My husband also loves to add some canned pineapple.  Add grated cheese on top and stick in the oven at 375 degrees for approx 10 minutes.  Serve with cut raw veggies and dip.  Supper is done in no time! 

I love this meal idea because it is healthy, you can customize each pizza to suit everyone’s taste, and its fast.  Mealtime is so hectic, its so nice to make it a little more simple, without comprimising your families nutritional needs.

My oldest daughter got off her naps about 6 months ago because I found she was staying up until 10:30pm or 11pm every night after having a nap.  She would yell “Momeeeee”, “I don’t want to go to sleep”, “I want OUT!!!!”, and so on.  I said, forget this and omitted the nap.  Since then she goes to bed at 7 or 7:30pm and is out like a light until 7:30 or 8am.  Needless to say, it makes my day very busy because you constantly have to think of different crafts, games, puzzles, activites, outdoor play, etc to keep them occupied.  However, by late afternoon she becomes very cranky because she is tired.

Recently, Natara came down with a fever and I told her that she had to have a nap because it would help her feel better.  Now she is better and she is telling her daddy she goes for a nap, she goes willingly.  Thank you Lord!!!

I put both kids down and I am able to go on the computer, put my feet up, watch my taped soap operas, or just listen to calm silence.  Its fantastic.  I just hope this stays because now that I have a taste of it….I want more.

Check out www.child-works.com for family sleep solutions.

Okay, so I spent about 2 weeks with a lingering virus.  I finally started to feel better around friday or so, and now I have a teething baby and a 3 year old running a fever.  Lots of fun!  Needless to say, it does catch up with you after a while, and sometimes you just need a little more sleep.

After a fun-filled day consisting of a lot of cuddling and medication, the kids were tucked in their bed.  I decided to curl up in my bed at 8:00pm or so.  I was just drifting off into dreamland when someone rudely shakes me,

“You asleep?”

“Yes”, I reply.

“Can you help me empty the fridge for garbage night?”.

“Leave me alone and do it yourself”.

Okay, SERIOUSLY!!!!!! Who does that?  When you are tucked into bed with your eyes closed, who shakes you to wake you up?  I am sure my husband can handle reading expiry dates for himself and chucking the food in the garbage bag.  Unless the baby needs breastfeeding, the preschooler has nightmares, the house is burning down, or you are puking, LET ME SLEEP!!!!!

Regardless, after that I ended up sleeping until 6:30am, a good 10 hours of sleep straight!  Now I feel rejuvenated.

Sleep is the stepping stone to success.

You always hear how important reading is for your child, but you probably didn’t know that it has so many benefits.  In an age where technology is so abundant, it is so nice to go back to the simple things in life that we grew up with.  No fancy learning gadgets, just back to basics.

You are recommended to start reading to your child as early as you want.  Babies are constantly learning, and even though they don’t comprehend what you are saying, you are still introducing words to them, different tones in your voice, and promoting bonding between parent and child.  It is recommended that you read 20 minutes a day to your child.  However, this can be broken up to 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there. 

Reading to your child largely increases their potential for academic success in the future.  It builds your child’s vocabulary and is important in language development.  Children love to read; so its fun for them.  It promotes communication between you and your child, and brings you even closer together. 

Other benefits include increased confidence to ask questions, it increases the child’s attention span which will be important for school, and it fosters a child’s curiosity.  It is a wonderful teaching opportunity for you to help them learn about various things such as animals, alphabet, shapes, numbers, colours, life lessons, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

I think my favourite book that I enjoy reading to the girls is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle.  When my oldest gets to the pages where there is an assortment of food, she begins to lick the pages.  Thank goodness for board books.

Open a book today with your child.  It will help shape your child for future success.