Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I took the plunge!

So I finally did it. I posted my blog on facebook to let all my friends know that I’m blogging. It’s done now I can’t change it. I’m not getting the traffic I would like and I needed to do something to get things moving. I hope it works!!! My fears are that there are some people who will simply not agree with some of my opinions or even take offense to them. And secondly, that people will get a glimpse of the real me, failures, faults and all. It’s a step towards greater transparency (not hiding who I am), openness (being willing to share and receive opinions), honesty (telling the truth as I see it) and vulnerability (being willing to share my heart even if my feelings or someone else’s get hurt-I really hope that doesn’t happen).

So I have so many things I have to say and have to say it quickly. The kids and I are planning a trip out of town to visit my sis-in-law and to celebrate Canada’s 143rd birthday so I have to pack. Poor Daddy has to stay home and work. Considering he was away for a week on a canoe/camping/ bachelor party trip, then home for a week and then travelling again for business, I don’t think he’ll stress too much about it.

I’ve created a new Recipes and Cooking tab. I’m trying to think of a better title for it but this is all I could come up with right now. My mind has been swirling with bits of advice to add to the Advice and Tips page and many of them are kitchen related. I was hoping to add my favorite recipes at some point so I thought it’s just as well to create a whole tab to devote to both. I haven’t written anything for it yet but I will for my next blog. Originally I had hoped to write on each subject and have it separate from my main blog. But Blogger doesn’t really allow for that so writing on my main blog and linking to it on each tab was the best way I could think to work it.

School is out. Makes me happy!!! I’m not yet to the point where I’m like “Oh, I wish the kids would go back to school.” I hope I don’t ever get to that point but when I get used to them all being in school I may feel differently :). I like not having to get my son up for school every morning although we haven’t been sleeping in much because we have to be at swimming lessons at 10 am. I should note that all of my babies slept/sleep in until 9:30-10 am every morning so I consider getting up at 8:00am to be an early morning. I think parents play a big part in programming their kid’s internal clocks. I try to get up earlier but it just doesn’t work for me so I just go with what my body tells me.

We’re just getting over the stomach flu . . . gastroenteritis to be more correct. I don't like to use the term stomach flu because some people think it and influenza are one in the same. Like my best friend who lamented on her facebook status how she couldn’t understand why she had the stomach flu when she had had her flu shot (ie inFLUenza shot) (sorry my ducky but I laugh to myself about that all the time:). The only comparison is that gastroenteritis is usually a virus, as influenza is. But you all know the latter from the H1N1 scare! It’s been a weird stomach flu though. Mild in terms of the episodes of vomiting and diarrhea (did you really sign up to read about vomiting and diarrhea?) but the nausea is just going on and on for days. I went to church on Sunday because I thought we were all better but my little boy and I were still having nausea this morning. Speaking of Sunday, there’s a great new girl (is girl okay? it’s weird to say lady or woman) at church who when I said we had been sick with the stomach flu responded “Ewwww, what’s that like? I’ve never had it.” Have you ever in your life met anyone who has never had or at least can’t remember having the stomach flu? Isn’t that crazy? She’s one lucky girl. But her little girl is going to Primary in September- they call Kindergarten, Primary, in this province, I know, weird, it takes some getting used to – so I have a feeling her luck is soon to run out. I'm out.

Monday, June 21, 2010

My picks for best and worst kids TV shows

Since buying Your Baby Can Read, I’ve found that I’m more picky about what my kids watch on TV, in particular my 4 year old. Here is a list of shows that I recommend for their content which focuses on reading, letter recognition, and other educational activities. Feel free to add more to the comments below and I’ll post them on my list if I agree.

  • Super WHY! (PBS and CBC in Canada)-Lots of letter and word recognition, and usually good moral lessons
  • WordWorld (PBS)-An entire world built out of words! It doesn’t get much better than that.
  • Patty and Sid from KidsCBC (CBC in Canada)-In between programming, they do a thing similar to oldschool Sesame Street with alot of letter, word and number recognition as well as French vocabulary.
  • Sid the Science Kid (PBS)-As suggested, this show explores the world of science, but my kids have never really liked this show.
  • Sesame Street (PBS)-It’s not the top at my list because I find it less educational then when I was a kid.

Here is a list of shows that I recommend to not allow your kids to watch (at least in Christian families) and the reasons why:

  • What’s New Scooby-Doo? and other more recent spin-offs (Cartoon Network, Teletoon in Canada)-This show once had Daphne asking someone about Wicca and essentially encouraging the viewers to embrace the Wiccan religion. I have to admit though I still let the kids watch the old, less inclusive Scooby-Doo on DVD even with it’s ghosts and goblins (aren’t they always a concotion?).
  • Arthur (PBS)-One of Arthur’s friends practices yoga and even has a seance-like meditation session!
  • Waybuloos (Treehouse in Canada)-A BBC show aimed at infants and toddlers, these cute characters do yoga, and levitate.

The Unsubject

Don’t really have anything in particular to blog about but thought I might because it’s been a few days. My hubby was away for week and came back this morning. Very happy about that although I must admit I had a good week without him. It was one of those weeks that my temperament was on an even keel. In other more pertinent words, I was slow to anger and abounding in love this week. Stailing came easier for me than other times. As I mentioned here, there are some days when I just can’t get a grip on my patience level at all and I am glad that even though I didn’t have my husband to rely on this week, I was able to keep it cool (mostly:). I swear it’s hormones, it drives me crazy!!! Literally, haha. I also believe that headaches I’m prone to suffer from are hormone triggered as well. Cross my fingers I’ve had a fewer headaches for about 6 months now.

Well, here’s a recap of my weekend (which have been crazy busy now that summer is here):

  • Thursday I cleaned the whole day and my son had a friend to visit.
  • Friday I went to my son’s field day trip to the beach, and then he had some of his friends over to have fun in the pool, and slip-n-side. We don’t have a real pool (boo) just a wading one. I don’t usually have friends to visit because well, the house is always too messy, but it’s getting summer soon and I wanted him to spend time with his school friends.
  • Saturday I had one of the craziest mornings I’ve had in months but in a nutshell, my big kids raced in the annual marathon (they did the 100m run, not the marathon :). Here’s an equation for ya, 1 parent + 3 children + 2 races = no fun. I even had a friend help and it was still craziness.
  • Sunday my hubby came home early enough for church in the morning and the two of us went out for supper sans kids to celebrate Father’s day and our 7th anniversary (which he missed last week because he went on a canoe trip/bachelor party, but I’m not bitter).

We’ve left our baby with a babysitter before but she’s always been in bed before we left so it was kinda nil. Today she napped for 20 minutes-ish on the way to and fro church so of course she wouldn’t go down for her real nap until probably 5:30pm. I thought she would sleep for an hour or so but she stayed down until we got home at 8:30pm, so she still hasn’t been left with a babysitter really. I’m sure she would be fine anyways, my kid’s are seriously some of the most easygoing kids you would ever come across. It’s true!!! She was puttering around here until just a while ago when she finally tuckered out.

So, I am still waiting to find my blog on google, yahoo etc. I’ve been doing all the tips I found to get the site listed although it can take a month or so I guess. There’s just one tip that I’ve shied away from: tell your friends. I don’t want to tell my friends I’ve started a blog. I don’t want them to know the real me!!! Isn’t that awful? Maybe someday. I just don’t know if I want all my friends to know my faults, my real opinions etc. Ahh well someday, someday.

Oh, one more thing, I posted here that I kinda made up the term stailing. Well I was wrong, there was already a definition on urbandictionary.com. A rather dumb definition I might add but it was there just the same. I added my definition and it was accepted. You can read them both at this link. I’m out.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Journal entry, June 7, 2010

“Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to me made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself. Tell her to help me!’” (Luke 10:40)

Oh how I hear myself in Martha’s plea. “Oh, I have so much to do, on my I’ll never get it done. Why isn’t [my husband] helping me? Kids, do this! Kids, do that! Lord, speak to [my husband’s] heart. Get him in here and help me make supper.”


“ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:41, 42)


“Charlotte, Charlotte, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Choose what Mary did. It’s better. Then all the other things will come into place. Be with me. Listen to me. Sit at my feet as Mary did.”


“Jesus, I’m tired of being too worried and upset about many things. I just want to sit with You. Listen and learn from You. I’ve heard this story dozens of times but You’ve opened my heart to know that I’m not a lazy Mary (as I’ve always seen her) but a worrisome Martha. Help me to balance the two Lord. Help me to begin my day with You so my other tasks go more smoothly. I love you Jesus. Thank you for your Word . Thank you for your love.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Why I’m a Stay-at-home Mom (for the most part)

First of all, very excited that Windows Live Writer is configured for Blogger because I write the blog exactly how it is seen on my site as opposed to Blogger which doesn’t and I ended up with huge formatting problems on my last post. Also, I can write offline and post later if I choose which is also great when I have no connection available and I’m dying to write something. Now to the subject of my post.

Have you ever made a decision about something and didn’t really formulate a reason why or forgot the reason why? This is what I did with my reasons for being a stay-at-home mom. I was asked just last week if I would ever go back to work full-time and my first thought was that I wouldn’t want to put my kids in daycare or to a babysitter. I didn’t say that out loud but I wondered why I felt that way. You may have noted on the “About Me” section to the right, I am also a part-time health care worker. I only work on average once a week, and sometimes, like this past week, I may work 3 shifts in a row and maybe work only once more for the rest of this month. I am blessed with the choice to work only when my husband is off so it means that at least one of us is home to care for the kids at all times. I like it that way and my husband told me yesterday that’s the way he likes it too (I always learn new things about him:).

Now then, to my reasons for staying at home. First of all, I was going to say that I can afford to but this is not entirely true. I work very hard at living on one income (mine goes entirely to debt and/or savings depending on our situation at the time). I budget constantly to keep from going into the negative in our bank account. I say this because I am sure that the number one reason that most moms go to work is because they believe they can’t afford not to. I’m trusting God to honor our decision to have children and bring us through financially, although it is hard at times.

I was listening to the news yesterday which was reporting the story about a man charged with molesting three girls from his wife’s daycare. Ah, what despairing drop in my spirit for those beautiful children. What a sigh of relief that my children were safe at home with their Daddy. As tears came in my eyes over and over again throughout the morning, I began to remember other stories of caregiver abuse. A women who sexually abused the children in the daycare she ran. Another woman who would make the little boy she babysat put his head in the corner of the couch for hours on end and if he moved she would spank him over and over.

These are the real reasons I am a stay-at-home mom.

Please don’t be offended by this. I know there are many mothers out there who would give anything to be at home with their children but can’t for good reason. Well, I can. As hard as it may be, I can afford it. I have a husband who is beyond supportive for me to do this. It’s my greatest goal and pleasure in life to raise my children on my own and as I see fit. I may not be the best at it, but I know when my 4-year old calls at work crying for me to come home that I’m wanted, needed and loved. With God’s grace and guidance I continue to do my best.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Oh what a day . . . This is a long one.

One of the reasons I started this blog was to use it as sort of a confessional, a way to be held accountable maybe. I'll start with this: I am a life-long procrastinator and suffer from chronic disorganization. I should be clear that this is self-diagnosed. I've never been told by a professional that I suffer from chronic disorganization but one look into my house and my habits and you'll see that it isn't that hard to pinpoint. Also, I don't think that most mental health professionals would even consider chronic disorganization as a diagnosis, but there's something definitely abnormal about my behaviour (yes, I've been watching too much Hoarders).

Today my procrastination has caused the suffering of another member of God's great animal kingdom and very much emotional pain for me. If I'm honest, I am procrastinating right now by writing this instead of cleaning up my house but my mind is racing so much that I just have to write and get it off my chest.
 
 
 
The day after we found her at about 6 days old.
 
 
 
 
 
The story began last Saturday night when I went into the shed to get my kid's bikes out for them. Lying on the floor apparently abandoned was a tiny baby mouse only about 5 or 6 days old, as I later learned. She was squeaking so loudly as if begging someone to help her. She couldn't even really walk. I also later learned that she appeared to be female.
 
I left her alone for a little while but her mother never came back. We took her inside knowing she might not make it but thought it would be worth the try to save her. As I found out this was a very risky thing to do and I would not recommend anyone to adopt abandoned mice. Deer mice carry a virus called hantavirus that is extremely toxic to humans causing serious illness and very often death. I didn't know this at first but chose to continue caring for her after learning that the area I live in an area that has not had any human cases of hantavirus and has not even documented any cases of hantavirus in mice. I figured if myself or my family came down with symptoms of hantavirus that I would seek medical attention immediately and pray for the best.



In my daughter's hand at about 8 days old.
 
 
 
 
 
I found instructions on how to care for her on the Internet. I read that until her eyes opened up it was very unlikely that she would live but she seemed to be doing very well. She was eating great, and all her bodily functions were doing what they should. I was so happy last night when I noticed that her eyes were starting to open into little slits. I knew she was probably hitting the 2 week old mark soon and that she was well on her way. In the last couple of days she had started to nibble on things when she was hungry which I thought maybe indicated she was getting ready to start solid foods in a few days.


 

Feeding her.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
That all changed today. I didn't get up and feed her first thing in the morning like I usually did. I went straight to my netbook and sat there for at least an hour. Then I got my son ready to go to a friend's house. When I got back, I put the baby down for a nap and got busy figuring out how to plug coordinates into the GPS. At around 1:30pm I finally remembered that I hadn't fed the mouse or changed the water in her hot water bottle. I went to pick her up and she was pretty lifeless but I thought once I started to feed her she would perk up. It took me a few minutes to realize that she wasn't opening her mouth to feed; she was air hungry, a phenomenon that can occur I guess when all mammals are dying. I had witnessed it before in humans at my job so I knew she was passing away. Watching that poor little thing breathe her last breaths was heartbreaking, and here I had been trying to feed her.

I bawled all afternoon. Alot for the mouse to which I had become more attached to than I realized, and even more for the fact that I really believe she died because of my negligence. If I had cared for her first thing in the morning like I should have and she had still died, then I think I would feel less guilt. But now I have to live with the shame of allowing my sin to once more rule me and this time with great consequence. Oh I am sure some of you are thinking "But it was only a mouse." Yes, it was just a mouse, but it was a mouse that was totally dependent on me and I failed her. I sought recluse for a few minutes, bawling my eyes out, and asking God for forgiveness for letting my sin stand in the way of my responsibility. The tears fell from the realization of the permanence of my actions. Actions that not just affect a poor little mouse, but my children, my husband, my friendships and most importantly, my relationship with my heavenly Father.
 
 
 
3 days before she passed away at about 10 days old.
 
 
 
 
Rest in Peace Li'l Squeaky.