My son asked me this morning:
"What is the point of Groundhog Day?"
I"m not actually sure why we need to keep up to date on a rodent and his shadow (there's always at least six more weeks of winter in Canada after February 2nd), and for me Groundhog Day will always be linked to the Bill Murray movie of the same name, in which he is forced to live the same day, over and over again.
Kind of like when you're a Mom. In the middle of a cold Canadian winter.
You know what I mean.
I was leaving WalMart one day and ran into another Mom I know - she said "Here just give me your list - I forgot mine and I'm sure they're probably the same."
Sort of depressing.
But this year I have something to look forward to which is going to blow our February blahs away. We're taking the kids to DisneyWorld. And they don't know about it. Not yet.
Thanks to the amazing folks in the social media department of Disney, I'm going as press, and attending the Disney Social Media Moms' Conference .
Besides getting out of the cold, having a Disney experience, and thrilling the kids, I'll also be meeting some pretty cool and powerful social media Moms.
Now that's something I could do over and over again.
Goodbye Willie: Hello Mickey.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Clothes Call
Today is Pyjama Day at my younger kids' school. (Or, in the US Pajama Day - we Canadians like to live large on the "and sometimes "y" rule".)
They are beyond excited.
The very idea of Not Having To Get Dressed is immensely appealing to them. I find this sort of funny because it's not as though they get "dressed" for school. I don't make them adhere to a lot of rules when choosing clothes for the day.
Simply:
1) It has to be within 2 sizes of their regular size. (Oversize is one thing, tripping in gym is another)
2) If they've worn it for three days and it still doesn't stink, go for it (less laundry for me, after all)
3) The t-shirt can't have words on it that either I don't understand or that could be taken the wrong way. (I rue the day FCUK came into existence. And the other day I saw a t-shirt at a store extolling the virtues of Peanut Butter & Jam - I was worried about that one because it might be seen as taunting the poor kids who are allergic to nuts, even though it wasn't Scratch & Sniff.)
4) They should try to resemble other persons the same sex as they are. Enough said.
5) If they wear their Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys they are opening themselves to unfortunate ridicule from transplanted Calgarians, Ottawans and the occasional Vancouverite (but really.)
6) They can wear seasonably inappropriate clothes. It simply gives me another occasion to say "Now, wasn't I right about the shorts? Isn't Mommy always right?" It's a win/win really.
7) If you really think it looks like a "real" shirt and not a pyjama shirt, go ahead. I'm not entirely sure what makes a pyjama shirt a pyjama shirt in the first place, besides the store section it's bought in.
8) Fresh underpants are preferred. (Seriously, what do you think is causing that itch, Einstein?)
Above all, I just really want my kids to be ready to get on the school bus, no matter what they're wearing.
Because I know the one thing I'll be wearing, is a smile.
They are beyond excited.
The very idea of Not Having To Get Dressed is immensely appealing to them. I find this sort of funny because it's not as though they get "dressed" for school. I don't make them adhere to a lot of rules when choosing clothes for the day.
Simply:
1) It has to be within 2 sizes of their regular size. (Oversize is one thing, tripping in gym is another)
2) If they've worn it for three days and it still doesn't stink, go for it (less laundry for me, after all)
3) The t-shirt can't have words on it that either I don't understand or that could be taken the wrong way. (I rue the day FCUK came into existence. And the other day I saw a t-shirt at a store extolling the virtues of Peanut Butter & Jam - I was worried about that one because it might be seen as taunting the poor kids who are allergic to nuts, even though it wasn't Scratch & Sniff.)
4) They should try to resemble other persons the same sex as they are. Enough said.
5) If they wear their Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys they are opening themselves to unfortunate ridicule from transplanted Calgarians, Ottawans and the occasional Vancouverite (but really.)
6) They can wear seasonably inappropriate clothes. It simply gives me another occasion to say "Now, wasn't I right about the shorts? Isn't Mommy always right?" It's a win/win really.
7) If you really think it looks like a "real" shirt and not a pyjama shirt, go ahead. I'm not entirely sure what makes a pyjama shirt a pyjama shirt in the first place, besides the store section it's bought in.
8) Fresh underpants are preferred. (Seriously, what do you think is causing that itch, Einstein?)
Above all, I just really want my kids to be ready to get on the school bus, no matter what they're wearing.
Because I know the one thing I'll be wearing, is a smile.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
If I can be serious for a blogment...
Recently I was asked to talk about what it means to be a Mom in the Year 2010.
There are naturally some things about being a Mom which never change - for instance we're still telling our kids their faces are going to stay that way if they keep doing that, muttering to ourselves that we don't know what we did to deserve this (when really we do), and the constant comparisons we made between our equally talented/annoying children and her alternating uncoordinated/beautifully behaved ones.
But as we go into the Teen Years of this millennium, we feel increasingly time crunched. Even so, I think it is essential for Moms to take the time to be equipped with the following skills in these key areas:
Technology: BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm Pre - whatever it takes to get you connected, online, intouch, and out of the mental space of that hockey arena, karate class, swimming lesson or school council meeting. Basically a survival tool. Find the time to investigate the best option and (budget permitting), do it.
Social Media: Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn - find the one that works for you and start by lurking, then by participating, and then by enjoying and benefiting both personally and professionally. You DO have time for this. MAKE the time for this.
Fitness: I know, I know, we don't have time. But it's so key in keeping you physically and mentally alert, awake, and confident. Put it in your schedule and don't cancel it. Your body engages as your brain relaxes. Don't go 'grocery shopping' for alone time: Hit the gym or the streets for a run. No one EVER regrets working out after it's over.
Food: Like fitness, choosing the right food is good for more than just your waistline - its good for connecting with your family and your friends. Find the time to eat with others - don't eat alone, in your car, or while facing forward at a sporting event. Don't waste lunch hours either - great for networking, socializing, mentoring...which leads me to...
Mentoring: I've had some of my best experiences/satisfaction through women (and now a guy) I've mentored over the years. You have something to share with someone who is standing in the same shoes you stood in, a few years ago. It's more for YOU, than THEM, trust me.
Okay that wasn't a funny post at all - but I'll take the time to do that, in the next entry.
Welcome to 2010, ladies.
There are naturally some things about being a Mom which never change - for instance we're still telling our kids their faces are going to stay that way if they keep doing that, muttering to ourselves that we don't know what we did to deserve this (when really we do), and the constant comparisons we made between our equally talented/annoying children and her alternating uncoordinated/beautifully behaved ones.
But as we go into the Teen Years of this millennium, we feel increasingly time crunched. Even so, I think it is essential for Moms to take the time to be equipped with the following skills in these key areas:
Technology: BlackBerry, iPhone, Palm Pre - whatever it takes to get you connected, online, intouch, and out of the mental space of that hockey arena, karate class, swimming lesson or school council meeting. Basically a survival tool. Find the time to investigate the best option and (budget permitting), do it.
Social Media: Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, LinkedIn - find the one that works for you and start by lurking, then by participating, and then by enjoying and benefiting both personally and professionally. You DO have time for this. MAKE the time for this.
Fitness: I know, I know, we don't have time. But it's so key in keeping you physically and mentally alert, awake, and confident. Put it in your schedule and don't cancel it. Your body engages as your brain relaxes. Don't go 'grocery shopping' for alone time: Hit the gym or the streets for a run. No one EVER regrets working out after it's over.
Food: Like fitness, choosing the right food is good for more than just your waistline - its good for connecting with your family and your friends. Find the time to eat with others - don't eat alone, in your car, or while facing forward at a sporting event. Don't waste lunch hours either - great for networking, socializing, mentoring...which leads me to...
Mentoring: I've had some of my best experiences/satisfaction through women (and now a guy) I've mentored over the years. You have something to share with someone who is standing in the same shoes you stood in, a few years ago. It's more for YOU, than THEM, trust me.
Okay that wasn't a funny post at all - but I'll take the time to do that, in the next entry.
Welcome to 2010, ladies.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Define "Good" Mom
There's been a bit of debate lately about a supposedly "new" parenting phenomenon which is basically a backlash against the over-parenting which has been happening since about the early 1990's. This funky new slacker parenting style is being lauded as "getting back to basics" and "seeing the big picture".
I say it's just giving our heads a big ol' shake and using some common sense.
I support this common sense revolution.
I have never been accused of overparenting - in fact I once had one of my children say to me "Why can't you overparent like his Mom? She must really love him."
To which I replied "Well he's going to need that Mother's love when he's living in her gluten-free basement, eating his organic vegetables and polishing his 27 rep hockey trophies, at the age of 35."
Okay so maybe I'm a little harsh. But to their advantage, I'm also the Mom who let my seven year old son start his own dog walking business, thus cornering the market for kids his age. This enterprise however of course resulted in other Moms phoning me to alert me that my son was seen alone a whole three blocks from home, unattended by an adult. My response? "He's not alone - he has a dog with him. And if he doesn't, boy is he in trouble with someone."
It's hard not to be cynical when you see Moms and Dads around you doing the following things I have witnessed:
1) Going into the child's swimming lesson with them, because they don't trust the instructor to watch their seven year old at all times.
2) Wiping down every single wrapper of every single piece of Halloween candy because you "just never know about the longevity of that H1N1 germ". And their child was vaccinated.
3) Cutting the chicken off the bone so the kid doesn't choke. Said kid? Nine years old.
4) Not coming to a holiday party because they couldn't get a sitter. For their 13 and 10 year olds. (PS they don't "make" sitters for these ages - one of them IS a sitter, he just doesn't know it)
5) Getting the Junior Kindergarten ceremony to start over again, because they didn't get a good shot of the kids walking in to Pomp & Circumstance. I can tell you where all that "pomp" was, by the way. (PS There are no GRADUATES in Kindergarten! It's not mandatory to attend! They just MOVE ON to Grade 1 whether you like it or not!) Phew.
I'm not suggesting we have to go as far back as not having helmets for every reasonable head-banging sport, bouncing around in the back of pick up trucks, or even (gasp) sneezing into our hands, but I am thinking of repossessing a few "Participant" trophies. How common of me.
I say it's just giving our heads a big ol' shake and using some common sense.
I support this common sense revolution.
I have never been accused of overparenting - in fact I once had one of my children say to me "Why can't you overparent like his Mom? She must really love him."
To which I replied "Well he's going to need that Mother's love when he's living in her gluten-free basement, eating his organic vegetables and polishing his 27 rep hockey trophies, at the age of 35."
Okay so maybe I'm a little harsh. But to their advantage, I'm also the Mom who let my seven year old son start his own dog walking business, thus cornering the market for kids his age. This enterprise however of course resulted in other Moms phoning me to alert me that my son was seen alone a whole three blocks from home, unattended by an adult. My response? "He's not alone - he has a dog with him. And if he doesn't, boy is he in trouble with someone."
It's hard not to be cynical when you see Moms and Dads around you doing the following things I have witnessed:
1) Going into the child's swimming lesson with them, because they don't trust the instructor to watch their seven year old at all times.
2) Wiping down every single wrapper of every single piece of Halloween candy because you "just never know about the longevity of that H1N1 germ". And their child was vaccinated.
3) Cutting the chicken off the bone so the kid doesn't choke. Said kid? Nine years old.
4) Not coming to a holiday party because they couldn't get a sitter. For their 13 and 10 year olds. (PS they don't "make" sitters for these ages - one of them IS a sitter, he just doesn't know it)
5) Getting the Junior Kindergarten ceremony to start over again, because they didn't get a good shot of the kids walking in to Pomp & Circumstance. I can tell you where all that "pomp" was, by the way. (PS There are no GRADUATES in Kindergarten! It's not mandatory to attend! They just MOVE ON to Grade 1 whether you like it or not!) Phew.
I'm not suggesting we have to go as far back as not having helmets for every reasonable head-banging sport, bouncing around in the back of pick up trucks, or even (gasp) sneezing into our hands, but I am thinking of repossessing a few "Participant" trophies. How common of me.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
All For Naught
I know there's been a big debate about what to call this decade we're just ending - from the "naughts" to the "ohs" - but does it really matter? I'm more than a little concerned about the coming decade, and the fact that we'll be calling it "the teens".
Because, you see, I have two teenagers.
And if the decade is anything like them, it will be a lovely mixture of belligerence and ignorance, bliss and mess, attitude and aptitude, dreaming and screaming (with a little bit of scheming), thinking and drinking (not necessarily in that order), wondering and blundering, growing and throwing (things at each other), texting, sexting and rejexting, entitlement and escapism, growing and showing (off, and maybe the occasional body part), malling and bawling, laziness and craziness. Mix it all up a hormonal abyss, and there you have it.
It just can't be good.
Although if we examine what happened in the "toddler" years of this millennium, maybe it makes some awful sort of sense.
We had tantrums, pushing limits, pressing buttons, meltdowns and downright bad behaviour. And that's just Jon Gosselin and Tiger Woods in 2009. Oh and Britney Spears in 2009, 2008, oh just about all the way back to 2000.
Our only hope for this next decade is that occasionally it will stomp off to it's room, slam the door, and leave us in peace. Or maybe just sleep in until 2015.
Because, you see, I have two teenagers.
And if the decade is anything like them, it will be a lovely mixture of belligerence and ignorance, bliss and mess, attitude and aptitude, dreaming and screaming (with a little bit of scheming), thinking and drinking (not necessarily in that order), wondering and blundering, growing and throwing (things at each other), texting, sexting and rejexting, entitlement and escapism, growing and showing (off, and maybe the occasional body part), malling and bawling, laziness and craziness. Mix it all up a hormonal abyss, and there you have it.
It just can't be good.
Although if we examine what happened in the "toddler" years of this millennium, maybe it makes some awful sort of sense.
We had tantrums, pushing limits, pressing buttons, meltdowns and downright bad behaviour. And that's just Jon Gosselin and Tiger Woods in 2009. Oh and Britney Spears in 2009, 2008, oh just about all the way back to 2000.
Our only hope for this next decade is that occasionally it will stomp off to it's room, slam the door, and leave us in peace. Or maybe just sleep in until 2015.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Kids are Ho Ho Home
I'm always the first Mom to say "where the VACATION in Christmas VACATION?" And I don't mean the movie. I mean when all the kids are home and within five minutes are saying "I'm bored! There's nothing to do!"
So, I've been trying to keep them occupied with a few lame activities (what, you don't want to make a tape ball with me?) and some good ones (yesterday was "Ski/Snowboard Day" at Camp Mom and we had a great time.)
I also somehow became an "expert" on last minute shopping and did some fun spots on CTVNewsNet and CP24 - which kept me from finishing my own last minute shopping. (Anyone know where to get a back scratcher? And why does a 7 year old need a back scratcher? I know he won't be keeping it on his back...) And what do I get for Seamus? A new cover?
I've also been writing a few holiday specific blogs for some favourite partners.
Check out my new blog at www.savvymom.ca on trying to solve that annoying "What's for dinner?" question.
Flip over to Health & Harmony for my "On Balance" blog on how I'm trying to come up with a new attitude for the new year.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good write:)
So, I've been trying to keep them occupied with a few lame activities (what, you don't want to make a tape ball with me?) and some good ones (yesterday was "Ski/Snowboard Day" at Camp Mom and we had a great time.)
I also somehow became an "expert" on last minute shopping and did some fun spots on CTVNewsNet and CP24 - which kept me from finishing my own last minute shopping. (Anyone know where to get a back scratcher? And why does a 7 year old need a back scratcher? I know he won't be keeping it on his back...) And what do I get for Seamus? A new cover?
I've also been writing a few holiday specific blogs for some favourite partners.
Check out my new blog at www.savvymom.ca on trying to solve that annoying "What's for dinner?" question.
Flip over to Health & Harmony for my "On Balance" blog on how I'm trying to come up with a new attitude for the new year.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good write:)
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Fine Line Between Frazzled & Savvy
I love working with the women of Savvy Mom, because even though I'm not the Savviest Mom most of the time, they are.
This week they're running a blog I wrote for them all about the stresses of this time of the year for Moms, and how I'm just trying to keep it together doing the regular Mom stuff, let alone the Holiday Spirit things. (Spirit, did someone say spirit?)
That, and trying to find the items on my seven-year-old's Christmas list, which include a backscratcher, a tuxedo, and a cow suit. I'm a bit concerned he has a scenario in mind that utilizes all three, simultaneously.
Visit SavvyMom for my blog, and just a ton of other great information for real Savvy Moms, as well.
This week they're running a blog I wrote for them all about the stresses of this time of the year for Moms, and how I'm just trying to keep it together doing the regular Mom stuff, let alone the Holiday Spirit things. (Spirit, did someone say spirit?)
That, and trying to find the items on my seven-year-old's Christmas list, which include a backscratcher, a tuxedo, and a cow suit. I'm a bit concerned he has a scenario in mind that utilizes all three, simultaneously.
Visit SavvyMom for my blog, and just a ton of other great information for real Savvy Moms, as well.
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