A Tooth!!
My goodness he\’s gotten a tooth! Yes, Baz\’s FIRST tooth has finally emerged.
Only FIFTEEN & A HALF months later…
Is that a record?
Add comment August 7th, 2006
Now For a Site That Is Really Quite Something
While I\’ve been off contemplating life, writing and watching babies grow, Bonnie over at Shape of a Mother has been celebrating beauty.
Her collection of pictures and posts share as a reminder to love our children and ourselves. They got me to truly think about my own body and the voyage it had taken. I\’ve inadvertantly realized that my pregnancies and birth experiences empowered me as a woman. I am not merely a sex object or a vessel for new life or a machine. I\’ve now gained the inner strength to finally respect and surrender to myself and my body - fully.
Acceptance is a beautiful thing.
Add comment July 24th, 2006
Show and Tell - What\’s a Kid to Bring?
In this day and age of up and out doing it seems that Mad is constantly in search of something to bring for show and tell.
Apparently she\’s been told a couple of times that what she\’s offering up is unworthy of showing. Naturally this is heart breaking for her and although I can slightly see a bit of her teacher\’s point when he commented that \”suitable items\” are only up for discussion, who really is the judge of this stuff? I can understand that found rocks, twigs and other grabbed paraphernalia gathered along the walk to school may become tedious when you have a number of 3-4 year olds catching on but doesn\’t that defeat the purpose?
What is show and tell really for? I always thought that is was nervewracking to have to get up and talk… about anything, so to have my kid be discouraged from public speaking just because whatever book, or rock she\’s brought is considered boring or unsuitable is disappointing.
I think that it\’s magical that Mad not only what\’s to share with others but that she\’s willing and brave enough to do it.
Every book, rock and toy all have their story, it\’s just up to us to listen.
Add comment February 23rd, 2006
Making money
When J was home sick the other day, Mad was curious. Why was he at home? Can he stay home tomorrow too? (And the next day?) It\’s obvious that J\’s long hours have gotten to more than just him and his health. Mad misses him and is noticing his absence. She\’s cluing in when I\’m putting her to bed and tell her that Daddy will be home later. She will adamantly tell me that he won\’t be home until the morning, since that\’s when she might see him.
She generally knows why people work and how the money game plays. She understands that J\’s working puts bread in the basket, sends her to school & buys her toys. So today when I was dropping her off at Special School, Mad had a clever revelation and a wonderful idea.
Mad: \”When I get home, when you pick me up, we can make pennies.\”
Me: \”Pennies?\”
Mad: \”I have brown in my Play Doh™, and pennies in my dinosaur bank we can make more penny money for Daddy.\”
Me: \”Are you going to squish the Play Doh™ ?\”
Mad: \”Yes, and then cut out the pennies to give to Daddy so he won\’t have to go to work\”
Me: \”You mean you\’re going to MAKE money for Daddy?\”
Mad: \”I\’ll make all the pennies, and give them to him.\”
As always, I started to tear up.
As always, J has great timing and had decided to spend more time… if he can\’t be here physically, he\’s thinking of getting a web cam so at least he can read a story and say \”good night\”.
What can we say? It\’s a digital solution in a digital world. I think it\’s a great idea.
2 comments January 24th, 2006
Only YOU can save Canada
Do NOT vote for Stephen Harper.
Don\’t be fooled by the excess and glamour of a hundred bucks. (Which is taxable.)
The conservatives don\’t have a plan for childcare.
Harper was a member of the Alliance Party. A political party which merged with the Conservatives with desperate hopes of surfacing from repeated defeat since the very hated, Mulroney government, whom incidentally introduced the GST that Harper is parading around to reduce by a whopping and insignificant 1%.
I\’m not here to rhyme off showy policies. I\’m not even in the habit of standing on a soapbox chanting about politics. I\’m just here to ask anyone reading this from Canada to vote for ANYONE BUT HARPER.
It\’s only in the past half dozen years or so have I been so proud to be a Canadian. Sure a Bush Government south of us may help me with my reflections but we have stood up, formed our own path globally, our dollar is it\’s strongest in years. We have a national surplus, we should be able to take better care of ourselves and others. Things should only be able to improve. However, I\’m personally frightened at the mere notion of Harper leading this country… and at the possiblity of a majority? Dear God, help us. Help our children.
From an article on the CTV.ca site:
Imagine a Canadian political party that proposes radical conservative change: To stop regional development; cancel universality for social programs (including old age security); restrict immigration; and hold binding national referendums on issues such as capital punishment and abortion …
In Canada, there was such a party in our recent history — the Reform Party. And Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party\’s leader, was once its policy chief.
Canadianweigh.com states:
\”Voting for Steven Harper is like voting for George Bush. The two are just too similar in their campaigns and in their beliefs (remember Mulroney & Reagan dancing together on the stage?). Why does Canada need a bigger military? The only reason would be so that it could participate with the US in world policing. Steven Harper was in favor of Canada going into Iraq and if elected he will send our troops into the next US-based conflict. \”
Macleans Magazine has an interesting article, siting Harpers detest of Trudeau:
Harper wrote in a newspaper column that stood out from the flood of Trudeau tributes. \”It was an experience at once unforgettable, nostalgic and haunting.\” He went on to denounce that old man\’s legacy in the bitterest terms. Not only did he rebuke Trudeau\’s policy mix of \”centralism, socialism and bilingualism,\” he even indicted him for failing to serve in the Second World War or oppose the Soviet Union. \”In those battles,\” Harper wrote, \”the ones that truly defined his century, Mr. Trudeau took a pass.\”
Stand up, speak out and choose your Canada.
Add comment January 22nd, 2006
Constipation and Runaway Pooh
I was initially going to write all about how I shouldn\’t feed prunes to a baby to cure constipation until breakfast but other than gas there still wasn\’t any pooh.
Funny thing, this feeding of solids. Baz still nurses constantly but one bite of banana and WHAM goes the log jam.
I\’m on kid number two here… so I know a bit about, well, number two. I nurse first, I balance the food intake. I know that pears, apricots, oatmeal, prunes are good and that rice, apples and bananas bung.
Even with the newly acquired love of prunes my son has, poohing has all but halted. If we\’re lucky - he\’s lucky… there\’s a strawberry sized nugget waiting for us every fourth day or so.
Here in lies the problem. Not only is he not always his oober happy self, he gets gassy but one day I found, what appeared to be a flattened chocolate covered raisin in my bed. Baffling until I found another knocking around inside Baz\’s pijamas.
His poohs are so singular, round and hard there\’s nothing left to stick. Powder only adds as a lubricant.
Other than pulling him off of solids and nursing exclusively again, I was starting to enjoy my occaisional 4 hour stretch of sleep and it might have been an alright idea but instead I\’ve finally caved and gone the other direction, offering him some watery juice and lentil soup. Wasn\’t I overjoyed this morning when I went to change him and found my little strawberry. It had a little moisture, I thought things might be looking up. Until I returned step from tossing the diaper in the Genie. There was something under my slipper. I lifed up my foot… nothing there, funny there wasn\’t anything in my slipper, nothing on the….
UGH.
Yes. I managed to step in my own child\’s poop. Now why doesn\’t this shit just not stay where it\’s supposed to go?
I think I\’ve given up my concern regarding the constipation issue since when he does go I\’m not sure where I\’m going to find it. When I least expect it I\’m finding pooh it the strangest of places. So why am I wasting J\’s hard earned cash on diapers anyway?
Add comment January 18th, 2006
Delurking Week
is over & thanks for that.
I don\’t want to know who you are anyway:)
(Actually, I already do, I check my stats. Hi Mom.)
1 comment January 15th, 2006
Mom\’s Don\’t Even Make Minimum Wage
Tell you something you don\’t know, right?
I\’m been meaning to get this off of my chest for quite some time now and perhaps the current election campaign going on here in Canada, or the fact that they just increased the rate of minimum wage in Ontario to $7.75/hr has lit the fire in my rear.
I\’ve done the quick math and, of course NOT including my overtime (which is approximately 16 hours per day), I make a whopping $4.05/hr. So, I\’m at home raising our next generation and -when I\’m not blogging- it\’s active raising. There\’s no(t much) T.V., on your knees, crown wearing make believe, cooking, teaching self respect, manners…. but of course, I could be flipping a burger, pumping gas, ringing out your Wal*Mart purchase or god forbid doing the job I was educated to do for at least $3.70 MORE an hour… plus I\’d get breaks.
I know that I\’m fortunate to be living in a country where I do even have the option to take time off to raise my children and have a job waiting for me(for two weeks), if I chose to return, so I\’m not totally kicking the gift horse here, but what I am left scratching my head over is how lower income people, or any people for that matter, are expected to have children these days.
Everything is a luxury, kids are expensive… but as above mentioned, this is our next generation! I see quite an issue when a new mom has to find non existant, at best be on a waiting list for $50/day child care, to have to go back to work for her extra $29.60/day from minimum wage that she won\’t get on maternity leave. Besides which, if a parent were to work while on parental leave the amount earned would be deducted dollar for dollar from the initial benefits. This is not even less the 40% that the leave is now worth from previous income (self-employed are unilligable, sorry).
This is just wrong.
In addition to putting a national child care program forefront in an election I don\’t see why the government wouldn\’t pay a parent, at the very least the MINIMUM wage to raise their own kids. Instead they are all for the idea to have us pay a stranger the $7.75 to to it.
I don\’t understand why it is not made feasable to stay at home with our children. Even with the shortage of child care, parents are probably the best people to care for their children - especially in the first years of life. These are the foundation years for a family\’s development and a child\’s ability to learn. In addition, not being surrendered into mass child care also allows more time for immunities to mature resulting in less illness and potential demand of the health care system.
I don\’t think that I\’m complaining about much here. A 40% reduction of total earnings is fine with the EXCEPTION of lower initial earning. For the government to still reduce and tax beyond minumum wage is just a sad grab. They should help families and not reduce beyond minimum wage, parents at the very least should be worth minimum wage for what they do. Shouldn\’t they?
I\’ve been doing my research and with election fever hot and heavy I\’d like to put together a petition. I want to hear about this on somebody\’s platform. I intend on writing the Prime Minister (now and again in 2 weeks), as well as the Ministers of Labour, federally and provincially.
What\’s your say on parental leave? Would you like to add your name to this petition? I\’ll be glad to forward your comments.
1 comment January 11th, 2006
