There has been an advertisement on TV for a while, and I keep waiting for people to talk about it. I’m very involved in the parenting space and if there have been discussions, somehow I’ve missed it. It’s an ad for a Tylenol cold medicine.
While many parents spend this time of year considering what they can do better next year, I like to reflect on some of my best parenting fails over the previous year. I consulted with my six humans who confirmed the list was endless, but provided me with their top three:
Parenting Fail #1
That time I had no food and no clean plates or bowls, so I gave them all pasta from a tin served up in pint glasses for dinner.
Litterless lunches are the way to go, and this reusable bento-ware lunch system makes it a snap. I still wish all those lunches would just pack themselves, but short of that, having Laptop Lunches to work with is the next best thing.
It’s still winter time in Canada which means kids everywhere are waiting for the ever-allusive SNOW DAY. In case you didn’t know – your children are in control of whether or not school is canceled based on a whole bunch of crazy superstitions.
If your children would like a snow day, it is guaranteed to happen if they do the following on the evening before the desired snow day:
I took a moment to reflect on the past year to see where I went wrong and where I could do better when it comes to parenting my six darlings.
Other than the usual stuff like forgetting to be the tooth fairy, turning up late for the school play, and pretending I was listening to their concerns while I was on Twitter, the biggie fails this year included:
At some point, every child doesn’t make the team, gets cut from choir, or just doesn’t have what it takes for the competitive dance troupe or cheer team. This disappointment will happen, and we’ve certainly experienced it in our household.
I’m quite proud of how my kiddos have handled this kind of disappointment, so I got to thinking about what we’ve done that may have made our kids cope fairly well in these very upsetting situations.
As parents, it's our job to know and understand what is going on with our children. From school, friends, and activities, to what they are doing online. Things have come a long way since we were playing Space Invaders in the basement. Online safety is now another thing we must be concerned about and it has to be a top priority.
The tween and teen years can be awkward. As some of my kids approach this age, I’ve pulled in some professionals to help teach them skills that will come in handy as they navigate this tricky phase of life.
When people see, hear, or realize that you have six children, many questions and comments follow. Here’s a list of the ones I most commonly hear, including a few of my favourite answers:
Question/comment: “Why did you have so many kids?”
My response: “I kept having them until I had one I liked.”
It recently occurred to me that I’m surrounded by really inspiring young people. When I think about some of the incredible young women I know, I can get pretty overwhelmed at the thought of all the amazing things they are up to! Here are just a few of the incredibly motivated young women I’m talking about:
I can’t believe my sixth and final baby is now five years-old. Just because I don’t have a baby in the house, that doesn’t mean I am not still completely obsessed with amazing baby products. My wonderful friend, Shelley Boudah recently had baby Cosette, and I’ve had so much fun watching her explore the world of baby products for her kids.
A formula company recently launched an ad that has received quite a bit of buzz. It addresses the so-called “mommy wars” and reminds us that at the end of the day, we all want our kids to be safe and happy.
In our family, Daddy-o happens to be from the other side of the planet, so most of our holidays involve long and expensive trips with our biggie-sized family. The most difficult trip involved 21 hours of air travel when I was five weeks out of my fifth C-section. When you have five children and your oldest is six, you mostly try to block these experiences from memory.
People often make big fancy plans when organizing a family holiday. Parents want to see their kids at theme parks dressed as princesses, or racing down a waterslide on a swanky cruise ship, or perhaps soaking in the fun of an all-inclusive resort. All these things sound fabulous, but I’m currently at a family farm in Australia and if you have not done a farm stay before, consider putting it on your holiday wish list. You don’t have to go to Australia to do it – farms are everywhere, and it’s great for kids to see where their food comes from.
I can only describe the last month as a complete whirlwind. I spent September warning family, friends, and whoever would listen that I was heading into a VERY full month of travel for work.
That time of year has hit again, and while we’re busy getting kids organized for back to school, I’m reminding myself of some goals that will help all of us survive the season (and the year!) in a happy and successful way.
For the average MoFo (Mother of Four) or MoM (Mama of Many), summer presents unique challenges. This is mostly because we have SO MANY DARN KIDS hanging around. So while we get to celebrate not having to pack school lunches, this also means that our kiddos are no longer out of our house for six hours a day, compliments of our government.
