It’s happening. The days are getting shorter and summer is coming to an end. School is only 3 weeks away, and I can feel the sadness creeping in along with the cool weather.
To brighten my own spirits, and hopefully yours, I’m going to post some pictures of our favourite moments of the summer.
Please, leave me a comment letting me know what you did this summer that will keep your spirits up throughout our miserable Canadian winter.
I grew up in (and still live in) a small town, and while there wasn’t a tonne to do here when we were kids, we did have some great local shops.
I always loved walking in our quaint little downtown and perusing the items in the charming little stores. It was a nice experience to walk into a store where the owner knew you by name and greeted you with a smile.
It was also nice to find things that weren’t mass produced and many times they were handmade. Sadly, the mom and pop shops are now up against the likes of big box stores and department stores that sell everything from paper clips to refrigerators.
These boutique stores are now disappearing from the main street because they simply can’t compete with the big guys, but they haven’t disappeared completely. They’ve just relocated to somewhere that has cheaper rent... the internet!
When I came across Moy Moy (with the help of a co-worker), I felt like I was back cruising the main strip of a little town. I love personalized items (perhaps because there weren’t a lot of Maureen mugs on hand when I was a child), so Moy Moy’s products made me smile.
I think kids love to see their names on things or their initials, and I think some products make an everyday experience feel special.
For instance, while I can easily find all the ingredients for the recipes Rebecca and I make together, it took a trip to www.moymoy.ca to find the finishing touches that make it perfect.
And finding school supplies is simple, but finding the perfect school bag has been a challenge for us. Eleanor has been looking for a shoulder bag that she likes since last school year. When she couldn’t find what she was looking for, Tom lent her his old industrial looking (read ugly) one, so imagine how happy she was when I found this at Moy Moy:
Her new bag looks anything but industrial, but it feels very durable.
My husband will vouch for me when I say that I am a shopper, and when I find a product that I really like, I want to share it with people. So, I invite you to check out www.moymoy.ca and peruse the small town shop on the web.
Who knew the internet could be quaint?
Yesterday morning, we had a lovely sleep in. No-one got out of bed before 7:00 am. Yes, that is sleeping in at our house. The trouble with sleeping in during the middle of the week is that it puts our routine off. So, we scrambled a little bit to get going on time.
Tom and Siobhan were out the door just after 8:00 leaving me an hour to get ready and get Rebecca to gymnastics camp.
I had decided to let Rebecca sleep until 8:00 and figured she would be able to get herself ready while I was getting ready. I put out breakfast for her, and woke her before I hopped in the shower telling her to go eat breakfast and then come up and get dressed because we were in a hurry.
I broke the cardinal rule. DO NOT (under any circumstances) tell your children you are in a hurry.
I thought it was going well. She went downstairs, and when I got out of the shower she said she had eaten most of her breakfast but she had gotten full, so, I asked her to get her gym suit on and get dressed, and again, I said we were in a hurry. I returned to my room to get dressed too.
About 10 minutes later, I called to her and asked if she was dressed. Yes, was the answer. Please brush your teeth, I called to her. Then she would be done and ready to go.
Then, she walked into my room… half dressed.
I spoke in a crazy, calm almost whisper “Please, Rebecca, go and get the rest of your clothes on and brush your teeth” My calm voice scared even me, and Rebecca turned around to go get dressed… or so I thought.
When I was finished getting ready, I walked to Rebecca’s room and she was sitting on the bed playing with some jewelry… still half dressed.
Again, I tried to remain calm and the whisper happened again. “Rebecca, please, we are in a hurry. Can you please get your clothes on before mommy gets really upset?”
She put her shorts on and I asked if she had brushed her teeth. No, she hadn’t.
1…2…3… 4... 5… 6... 7…8... 9... 10
“Please, brush your teeth and when you are done, come downstairs so we can leave.
I went downstairs and found her half full bowl of yogurt. She is not a breakfast person, so I don’t give her very much breakfast as it is, so I really need her to eat what she is given.
When she came downstairs, I explained that she needed to eat the yogurt and started spooning it into her mouth. It was then that she copped and attitude and told me “I can do it myself!”
Good-bye calm
“THEN DO IT” I yelled completely frustrated.
She started to cry.
I felt horrible.
We were late.
And that is why I will never again tell a child that we are in a hurry because it seems to mean to them that they need to do everything they can to drive me nuts!
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