Return to the nest
Published May 28, 2010 @ 07:08 in Being Mommy
Husband and I will be celebrating our Tenth Wedding Anniversary this June.
Back when we were young, naive and childless, and romantically wandering around on our honeymoon, we said that we would go to Italy for our 10th Anniversary.
I never actually believed it would happen once our lives became full of family and commitments, but we just returned Sunday.
Italy was AMAZING! We flew into Venice, which I LOVED, then took the train to Rome, then to Sorrento. Loved it!
And the sleep we had! 14 hours one night. Another night 12 hours and actually slept through the 11 am end of breakfast.
Husband and I were glued at the hip, and it was nice. We haven't spent this much time together since our honeymoon.
But it wasn't a "second honeymoon." You only get one honeymoon... luckily for us, ours was perfect. To us this was a trip that we wanted to take, that would have been too difficult to do with the kids.
But now we have returned, and I feel in a fog. My head is full of clouds, and the caffeine isn't clearing them. Weeks I planned and prepared for the trip. My mother, who moved in to take care of the kids, got a detailed itinerary of who goes where when and what they need. God Bless that woman, but when she asked it I would prioritize the events, I had to say, "just make it to what you can!" The kids made it to almost everything, and it was vomiting that kept them away. (NOTE: Murphy's Law - when you go away without your children, at least one of them will vomit.)
I should have planned out this week as well, because I seem to have lost my ability to think, and a 12 page itinerary would be really nice right about now.
We missed the kids, but after day two actually got passed talking about them every minute. Sure they missed us, but they were well taken care of.
Now, for our 15th... I think we are planning something with the entire family. Because after all, isn't that what a marriage really celebrates? The creation of a new family? Even it is always just a family of two... ours now five.
According to Husband, our next trip away without the kids will be our 25th anniversary. What a romantic!
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Mamma Mia!
Published May 13, 2010 @ 12:37 in Being Mommy
Daughter's favourite movie, by a landslide, is "Mamma Mia." She loves Sophie, and can most of the songs with accuracy of words, if not lyrics.
So when I heard that Mamma Mia, the musical, was returning to Toronto, I thought it would be a great way to celebrate Mother's Day with my Daughter and Mom, and her first ever musical...
Look, when it comes to musical theater, I am gay man in a woman's body. Really. I love it! All of it. I can't ever remember seeing musical I didn't love, though I have my favourites (Les Mis, Wicked, Spring Awakening and Joseph). This is also why I rush to download the latest Glee songs from itunes every Wednesday morning (this week it is Jessie's Girl on my playlist).
I can't sing, and I am not much of a dancer (despite the year of ballet I am just completing.) My dream would be to sing and dance on Broadway, except as a realist I just have to enjoy myself from the audience.
Perhaps Daughter will inherit her father's voice and have a shot at fulfilling my dream, but I won't hold my breath. At least she loves the music as much as I do, and I am now glad to say that I will never again have to drag husband to a performance.
Yesterday we sat, three in a row, in the nosebleed section at the Princess of Wales Theater, along with school groups and senior bus tours, to watch Mamma Mia. It was great! Was it the best production I have ever seen? Nope. But who doesn't love Abba and some slightly scandalous raunchiness on a Wednesday afternoon?
The big bonus was Jack, as in Jack and Jennifer from Days of Our Lives as Bill Anderson. LOVE HIM!
Daughter enjoyed her first ever musical. Though I have to be honest - I think she still prefers the movie. She came home and put on the DVD immediately to sing and dance along!
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Happy Belated Mother's Day!
Published May 11, 2010 @ 16:24 in Being Mommy
To my friend - I am sorry that your Mother's Day sucked. You are the best mom that I know. Your kids are obviously ungrateful punks, but you rock. The good news - guess whose Father's Day is going to be miserable next month? Yep!
I had a great Mother's Day. Breakfast in bed (at 8:20 AM!) But then I stayed in bed until 11:40. Just Because. It was Mother's Day, and I was tired. So there!
Then, my sister and her family came over for lunch, and I went shopping with my mom and sister. And spent a little bit of money on myself.
Came home to flowers and cards.
Great day.
I am not this big huge sentimental fool about holidays like Mother's Day or Valentine's Day. Heck, Husband and I don't even make it out for dinner on our anniversary most years. But still, if the day passed unnoticed than it would hurt. 364 days of the year is children's day. One day is for me!
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Men Are Different
Published May 11, 2010 @ 16:01 in Being Mommy, Family and Friends, Loving Daddy
This week we hosted the Year End Hockey Party for my son's select team.
Yes, it was rainy, cold and miserable. However, as eight year old boys don't seem to be detrimentally affected by the weather, they still played outside for most of the time.
When it really started raining hard they spilled into the basement to watch a movie. 10 minutes of arguing (Star Trek vs. Avatar) and getting 16 of them to sit down on the couch (we have a really big couch in the basement), only to have the power shut off. DRAMA! The kids don't care - they ran back outside until the food was ready.
The dads were funny. Ten families and 45 people came. The dads walked in the door, a few with coolers full of beer, sat down in the living room, and stayed until it was time to go. We moms putzed around the kitchen, of course, putting out the food and drinking wine.
The kids' young coach arrived. He is 21, and just loves hockey and kids. He showed up with a few boxes of donuts, and like a non-parent, fed the kids the donuts before we had real food. He is a great guy who then headed into the living room to drink beer and hang with the dads.
When he left, the dads all started talking about him. They were talking about what a responsible, mature, personable young man he was. Then one dad said, "I can just imaging the great sleeps that guy has!"
Pardon?
"He probably just woke up an hour before he got here!"
"I'll bet he doesn't wake up three times a night to go pee."
"He can probably nap anytime he wants!"
This was a shock to me. First of all, obviously these dads are much more middle-aged than I thought. Second of all, of all the things to envy about a hot, young, single, carefree 21 year old - the sleep????
What about the freedom? The great body without working out? Eating what you want? Staying out all night? Not getting hung over? Sleeping with young, equally hot women?
Nope. They envy the sleep.
You can bet that if we women were so inclined as to talk about a hot young women, I don't think we would be envying her sleep. Her high, perky attributes... her freedom, her male companion options (and their hot bodies)... not being able to sleep through the night without getting up to go pee three times. Seriously.
Damn it! I am realizing that my husband, and his friends (fellow dads) are middle aged. That means that I soon will be middle aged!!!! Ugh!
Pretty soon I am going to become envious of the retired folk...
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Party Prep - Step 1 - Make Ice
Published May 7, 2010 @ 19:15 in Around the House
I don't know how I get myself into these things. Six weeks ago it sounded like a great idea to host the year end party for Son One's Select hockey team. The big day is tomorrow, and I scheduled it late to ensure good weather for a BBQ. Thanks Weatherman... POP 70%
Like most people, I learned party preparation through osmosis, growing up watching our parents host their own shin-digs.
For some, this mean spending a week cleaning the house top to bottom. In our house, my sisters and I removed clutter and helped with cleaning. Lucky for us my parents didn't play host weekly.
For other families, the focus is on food preparation. The week is spent in the kitchen, creating dish after dish. I love the baking part, but my own mother is the master of the perfect turkey, smooth gravy, and getting all of the food on the table hot at the right time.
Another important task, especially for the summer party, is making ice.
Yes, as a child I recall ice cube trays getting repeatedly filled and emptied into bags for the week leading up to the affair. Then, it became even easier to "make the ice" when refrigerators started coming with their very own build in ice makers. WOW!
Now, gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, even drug stores; every place you go there is an ice cooler where you can buy ready made bags of ice for as little as $2.50!!!!
Did they have this as a business when I was growing up? Who was the genius behind this idea to sell frozen water? (Likely the grandfather of the genius who decided to sell bottled tap water!)
For the BBQ tomorrow, making ice is part of my "party prep." Now the real question is, should I bother? Am I wasting my time making something that I could easily spend $10 on instead? Or I am being efficient and green, saving the environment from the trucks delivering ice to the corner stores and my own van from the drive? I mean, my fridge is working anyways, right? And isn't it more efficient to have a full freezer?
My kids caught me emptying the ice maker from the fridge into zip-lock bags...
"What are you doing, Mom?" they asked.
"Just making ice for the party tomorrow," I answered, a little sheepishly.
"Can we help?"
Just passing on another tradition to the next generation.
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Secret PMS - Too Much Information
Published May 4, 2010 @ 09:19 in Being Mommy
Before I became a mother, I had PMS... but just the bitchy and bloating part, nothing else. My Husband, even before he was my husband, would dismiss bad moods and arguments as PMS, something I adamantly denied even when a few days latter TOM arrived.
Somehow, with nursing and pregnancy, I managed to have about 6 periods in 6 years. Dr. said my cervical cells were starting to look menopausal. The good news was no period, no PMS. Ha ha - Husband - the bitchiness all those years really was because you pissed me off!
Now, post child birthing, I have true PMS, but I still seem to be in denial. Do you actually get worst PMS after having children? Is this another terrible thing that happens that your OB GYN won't mention for fear child we stop reproducing?
PMS is fun. For three days I eat EVERYTHING that I touch and fits into my mouth. My breasts get bloated and really tender. My jeans don't fit. I am tired.
On the best of days I don't suffer fools gladly. But just before my period, I can't stand anyone. Really. And I take everything as a personal insult (like buddy on the subway yesterday. Yes, I was going to sit there! Just because you are 90 or so and have a cane doesn't make you special, you know!)
I find right before my period, all of my friends start conspiring against me. Suddenly my phone doesn't ring and I don't get any emails... PMS can be so lonely! More chocolate? I am almost through all three of the Easter baskets! I find that during PMS I don't really like anyone, and the feeling seems to be mutual.
I shouldn't make decisions during PMS, but here I am going to get my hair cut today... Dangerous!
Husband doesn't bother asking if it is PMS anymore. He just knows. And he is a little bit scared, I think.
Are there any drugs to combat PMS? I think I have two solutions... One is pregnancy, but that brings on a whole host of other problems. Another... I am setting up a red tent in the backyard... Did you read that book? Only other PMSing women are invited to join me.
Bring your own kleenex. And chocolate.
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The TTC and Go
Published May 4, 2010 @ 07:48 in
Twice a week, Son Two and I head downtown for speech therapy.
We did this last year, and started again a few months ago.
For some reason, I decided that since we are going to U of T, and it is right on the subway line, we should "subway it." We live a few minutes from a subway station, so it is actually rather quick and convenient.
However, taking the subway IS NOT CHEAPER!
Because we are closer to the token entrance, we each use a token to get there, then I use a token to get home and he uses a ticket. The most it has ever cost me to park is $7.
Sometimes Son Two likes riding the subway. It is funny, because this is the same kid who I assumed would move into the bush at 18 so that the could snowmobile and fish. He knows how to navigate both the Bloor Line and the University Line.
A few weeks ago, amid the crush and push of rush hour, Son Two almost ended up on the subway train without me. When I asked him what he would have done, he answered, "I would have just met you at home! Daddy's there."
And though he is only 6, I am sure that he could have made it all the way home by himself. Plus, with the weird subway code of "don't make eye-contact and pretend you don't see anything" I am pretty sure that no one would have stopped him.
Yesterday, we branched out beyond the TTC. We took the GO Train out to Mississauga after speech. Yes, it was clean, fast, efficient (luckily no snow on the tracks in May) but is also cost us $10! Total spent yesterday on transit - $20! Not only that, but we waited 8 minutes for a train, so we were a few minutes late.
I grew up in Toronto, and started riding the subway downtown by myself in grade seven for school everyday. Growing up in the west end, and heading to school downtown, I still haven't really learned to venture beyond Yonge and Egliton to the north, nor Church Street to the east.
Riding the subway is treat for my kids. It is impressive to me that Son Two is to comfortable and confident riding it, and it is part of growing up and being at home in the city. But for a large family to use it for regular travel doesn't make sense if you have a vehicle. It is getting expensive, and convenient only if it isn't over crowded or delayed. Like every other infrastructure in this city, it has been neglected too long and it is need of an upgrade.
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