I don't get Foursquare. I mean I get that you can save money or unlock rewards but I just don't get it. When you check in with Foursquare you're essentially telling the internet:
a) You're not at home: Hey! Look at me! I just checked into a hotel in the Bahamas which means my house is empty and everything is ripe for the taking.
or
b) Where you are: Hey! Look at me! I'm grocery shopping at Big Box Grocery Store—come stalk me.
This is a super simple gift anyone can make even those of us with little to no crafting skills, i.e. Me! The bonus is, my kids love these tees. Son No. 2 still refers to himself as a Puzzle Ninja (top right hand corner of the first t-shirt).
Items needed:
Cotton t-shirts Fabric Pen Large hardcover book
Step One: Prewash the shirts. I'm not sure why but every instructional I've ever read that involves items of clothing says to prewash the clothing so I'm just going to go with it.
We were away this past weekend. Son No. 1 was asked to skate in the Ontario Cup speed skating meet in Belleville which is a whole other post in itself. After two long days away we hit the edge of Toronto at 4:45 p.m. and needed to figure out what to do for dinner. We decided to order in pizza since our cupboards at home would have put Old Mother Hubbard to shame. As we got a bit closer to home I called the pizza place we typically order from. The call was made at 5:40 and we were told it would be there in 45 minutes. Perfectamundo.
It's that moment when you realize with just the right head tilt and bad lighting, a photo someone took of you and tagged on Facebook resembles a celebrity only, you know, not Angelina Jolie or Kate Beckinsale.
After running errands last week, I took the boys to the dollar store. Son No. 2 had a Toonie that was burning a hole in his pocket. I'm a fan of the dollar store as it fills my need for pens but not a fan because there is a lot o' crap. Both boys have learned that lesson the hard way—Dollar store toys always break before we even get home, mom—so I was surprised he wanted to go. Even more surprised when I specified he could NOT BUY ANY CANDY.
Scene: Early, weekday morning. Sleep-deprived, dishevelled woman sitting in front of desk, drinking coffee and stuffing face with a bagel while typing one-handed. Two boys in the background alternating between eating breakfast and fighting.
Phone rings. Woman answers.
Hello. This is a phone call from the “only school district in Ontario to close schools due to snowstorms.” We will be closing all schools today.
I make a large effort to appreciate the little things in life. It's an ongoing work in progress and even over this past year I've had to realign, so focused on the big picture I was missing out on the tiny tidbits that make life special.
Since Ali has become Editor-In-Chief I've had a lot of people ask me what I now do. The short answer is, as Senior Writer (although I also really like Senor Writer) at YMC, I write.
That quote above? Pretty much describes my life since September. Every. Single. Day. there is some sort of morning stress in our house whether it's the boys fighting "I get the toothpaste! No, I get the toothpaste!", backpacks not packed, lunch bags that were not unpacked or simply running late.
As a mom, it's part of my job to boost my kids up but apparently telling them "Great Job" when they do something Great! isn't the way to do it. Ironically, by telling your kids "Great Job" time and time again, it means you're doing a "Bad Job." Kids may not be so good with sarcasm, but they're great at picking up on insincerity. Also, apparently we parents are supposed to be celebrating the effort and not the end result.
I read a lot of blogs and over the past week I've been coming across a few where instead of making resolutions for the new year, they are choosing a word that represents how they will want to live for the next year. Brandee at One Crazy Kid chose Believe.
The other day my son came to me and asked "What's dat smell, mummy?"
Which was actually a very good question.
You see....sometimes a mummy will start doing laundry but gets side-tracked by other things like scraping dried toothpaste out of bathroom sinks, emptying the green bin before the fruit flies take over, and cooking food because children like to eat every. single. day.
Every morning I get up early and read blogs. I read about 20 or so a day—some are friends, some are discoveries I've made throughout the year, some through twitter. With coffee in hand, I read and/or comment. Comments are important, are they not? It's nice to see clicks but for me, writing is all about connection and the comments? Well those are the conversations that connect. But that's a whole other post for a whole other time.
There’s this boy. For the sake of the story I’ll call him “Gus” since as far as I know there are no Gus’s in Son No. 1 and 2’s school.
It seems my boys are a bit infatuated with “Gus. Gus is cool, he wears hip clothes—not what’s trendy but his own put together style—and has sort of a skate/snow-boarding vibe about him. When Son No. 1 or Son No. 2 spots Gus they shout out to him and wave, trying to be the first to get the wave back. Gus comes up frequently in conversations.
Many of us go out on New Year’s Eve but even if you stay home, whether due to lack of babysitter or lack of motivation, it’s still a late night. Which means the first day of the year can make for a very loooong day, especially if a hangover is involved. Not to mention kids who have had too much excitement and too little sleep.
So if you’re a parent who’s desperately trying to get through the first day of the year without losing your cool and/or possibly your lunch here are five ways to spend New Year’s Day.
The countdown is on and if you're still looking for stocking stuffers, I'm going to let you in on a little stuffing secret. It's the stocking stuffer that’s guaranteed to elicit smiles from your kids on Christmas morn. This little present has been a hit in our house for three years running and it’s only $4.97. Are you ready?
If balance means you somehow manage to give equal amounts of time to your children, partner, friends, family, work and yourself, I certainly don’t have it. There is no invisible scale that allows us to organize life’s weights so they are equal on all sides because life isn’t even.
The other day Lisa showed up at my door with a gift. She told me she was dropping it off so like the good friend I am, I waited beside the door where she couldn't see me and just as she was about to ring the door bell I jumped out and screamed as loud as I could scaring the living bejaysus out of her.
It was awesome.
But even more awesome was the gift she brought me.
