Bad Mommy

He's going to hate me when he's old enough to read my diary. So that's why this is classified under the Bad Mommy series.

You see, for the future of your relationship with your son, always always carry a diaper in your diaper bag. Just in case.

So What happened? Colin went for a play date. I picked him up, and he had pooped. I changed him, and realized I didn't have an extra with me, so I used one from my friend's stash. And, well..... they have a girl.



I'm so so sorry Colin, but you are so cute and so loveable, regardless of what colour pull ups you wear.

Things I didn't know I was capable of

Before becoming a parent, you think you know everything about yourself. Some may even think they're invincible, and could complete any challenge handed to them on a plate. Yes, bungee jumping, eating and drinking contests, swimming with sharks, skydiving... pretty amazing feats.

And then when you bring the baby home from the hospital, for the first time, and are really on your own with a new baby, you feel like you got hit with a train and you know nothing, and are nothing, and can't do anything - every death-defying challenged you survived, doesn't compare to this new 7 pound challenger.

The challenges you face - are not death defying... they're... sanity-defying. As a parent you just go into robot survival mode, and do things you didn't realize you were capable of doing.

Like what you ask? Here goes.

- eating food that has been pre-chewed thoroughly (either because there wasn't a garbage can around, or because you didn't want to be wasteful)

- pulling things out from someone else' bum. like long strands of hair.

- listen to the same 2 minute song over and over and over again in a 45 minutes car ride. Some would even go to the extent of singing along with that 2 minute song for the 45 minutes.

- shushing at something for 30, 40, or 60 minutes straight just in the hopes you can get some shut eye.

- let someone who can't use chopsticks properly, hold your $500+ devices

- getting up in the middle of the night just to go back to 'sleep' like a contortionist beside a snotty/miserable being

- ramming your nose in someone else' bum just to smell-check if there's a poopie

- the ability to drive like an F1 racer (for those times when there's a screamer in the back), or as slow as a grandma taking scenic routes (when there's a sleeper) - this applies to shopping carts as well

- step on sharp foreign objects and not make a peep because it's nap time in the house

- goalie-like reflexes to either catch falling objects, or to catch falling children

- a 6th sense for naughtiness


These are just a few of the skills parents acquire after having children. The military should consider recruiting parents, and/or stay-at home moms (cause these skills are a lot more refined with the SAHMs) to be secret agents. We are capable of a lot of things for the sake of sanity.

Slideshows

Colin entered out lives 2.5 years ago, and since then - we've taken thousands upon thousands of photos. And having the photographer husband, it helps that our photos look friggin awesome. But other than having... thousands of great photos, it's not very useful to just have them on the hard drive.

I made photobooks, which I treasure and Colin reads them (I am currently making a photobook for Cara too), but we decided to take it to the next level and just make a montage of each of their lives thus far. They've been such a blessing to us, and we wanted to use the 2 avenues that are so important us to express just the impact our children have had on our lives. Photography and music. Please enjoy our LiLos (Little Lo's)

Christmas Shopping Anyone?

I kid. I kid. I am NOT that organized. I've been told I am hard to shop for (no names mentioned here, but my friend T*na has reminded me every birthday and Christmas for the past.... 10 years or so that I'm impossible to shop for). (btw, my friend's name is not Tuna). So, I gather, now that I have 2 children, it must be hard to shop for them too, considering you need to get those presents past this stone cold mother.

I am practical. I like gifts that are functional. You give me a choice between getting the gift of clothing or gift certificate? I'll take the GC anyday. I know, part of the gift is the 'thought'... but the really practical side of me will always win - if I don't use it, then.... well.... it'll just collect dust.

So, in light of the fact that I am one of the most difficult people to shop for, I have recently come across some great gift ideas that I would rather have than cold hard cash. I do, have to tread carefully though - I know that my dearest MIL will peruse this will use this as a springboard to buy Colin and Cara everything on here - but as a disclaimer just to my MIL: I either have these things already, or they are local so it is much cheaper for me to buy it here than for you to purchase it, ship it to HK, and then mail it back to our house ;)

Okay, so here goes (in no particular order) my great 'out-of-the-box' gift ideas for children, if you ever needed some!

1. Padraig Booties

These little booties are actually made right here in Vancouver (North Van to be exact woot woot!!), and they sport the perfect combination of warmth and style. It's like if you wanted to define a Vancouver baby... it would be these booties. It's West Coast trend, but with the great function of a slipper so that you're not cramming your poor little one's foot into a stiff shoe - and it keeps their bare ankles warm too.

But, like any gift that will be worn by baby - be very aware of when they'll actually need to use these boots - don't buy a June Baby the NB size! But if you go to a shower with this in your tote - I'm sure you'll be the envy of the crowd, cause it'll seem like you searched high and low for the 'perfect' gift.

On another note, I do plan on slapping these on Cara while we're in NYC, so if these suddenly take off because some celebrity I end up bumping into at the Central Park playgrounds asks me about it - I'm going to ask Padraig for royalties.





2. Parade Organics

I usually am very wary of giving t-shirts, or clothes to other kids for presents only because I'm not sure if mom will 'love' it. But these definitely fall in the 'must-love' category. I think they're another Vancouver company, but I can't confirm just based on the site info - but regardless I'm a proud mama when I dress up my kids in these.

It's got 2 of my favorite elements: simplicity, and character. If you see the different products, there is a picture unique to your little one, whether it is Sprout, Bean, Cupcake... the list goes on
- but you are bound to find one that defines your little one. With onesies, kimonos, t-shirts, hats... and more, it makes a great gift around the $20-$30 range













3. Threadless T-Shirts

Hmm, I find it oddly strange that my first 3 great gift ideas are clothing. Especially when I personally think it's tough to give it as a gift to people like me. Ah, but then there is Threadless. These cute t-shirts are not just for kids, but it's mainly an adult site with far more outrageous prints. But the kids ones are especially cute. You'll be able to find a few, and then realize your cart is over a $100 easily, and then find it tough to backtrack.

One of the best things about Threadless is that it fosters creativity, and the prints come from artists all around the world. I bought this particular one for my nephew and my brother-in-law as matching dad/son t-shirts because dad loooooves his cookies. Well, I also bought it because my sister loooooooves to buy matching clothes for dad and son, so I may as well have made all of them happy! But because they do have most of the kids prints in adult prints, it's a great way to match them - and not in a dorky way.




4. Signing Time

Finally, something edu-muh-cational. Sign language. You've heard about it, but when you're a mom - you don't even realize it but you are signing with your little one every single day. Shaking your head for 'No', or smiling for 'happy', and don't forget those angry eyes = 'angry' (they usually see that one applied to dad).

But signing is a great way to communicate with your baby. They understand so much - you'll realize this when they perk their eyes a bit, start nodding yes back... etc. But they just can't verbalize. That's where signing comes in handy. I used signing with Colin a bit - and really it took a lot of stress off. When he saw things that caught his attention, like planes, trucks, boats, animals ... etc - instead of grunting like a caveman, he was able to 'tell' me and I was able to reciprocate that I understood him. Even letting me know if he was tired, or hungry... simple things like that take a lot of stress out. We enjoyed our time together learning the sign language, and Signing Time is chalk full of catchy songs, colours, and very easy-to-learn teaching. It would be the gift that keeps on giving - really!








5. Easy Daysies

I've posted about Easy Daysies recently, but it deserves to be on a great gift list. As a former SEA, I cannot promote visual schedules enough times. If you're not crafty, or have a laminating machine, or obscene amounts of time to make such a thing.... this is the only one I've ever seen made for purchase.

For the price of $25.99 (starter kit), I'm telling you - each one I made with my sweat and tears, hours upon hours for my special needs students ... makes each of those personalized schedules worth more than $25.99. It's a steal at this price. It really is.









6. I See Me! Children's Books

My friend 'Tuna' bought this for Colin when he was born. It was the best gift ever. You plunk in some names, dates... and Voila! You've got a personalized book, with great art and story. I mean, yes, at 2 weeks old he was a little too young to 'read' it... but I treasured it from the beginning. And then Colin started loving it - all the animals, and now when he reads he's so so very proud of his name!

This is the particular version I received as a present, but they do have other stories, and templates! Love love love. Thank you Tuna.











7. Baby Gourmet

Alright, and last but not least... a food item. It may be strange... and well, yes, it would be strange to give the gift of mushed up fruits and vegetables for a birthday or Christmas gift, but just keep this in mind if you wanted to give a gift to any mom.

I was at Superstore a while back and while stocking up on some baby goods, I came across this. I had heard about a similar product from another mom, so I was interested. But boy... I was obsessed. I came home, did a little research, and at $1.47 each at Superstore I was getting a pretty good deal.

Now, what's so great? I don't feed this to my child everyday, but I do go out - and fairly unexpectedly, or for long periods of time. I pop one of these in my purse, and I just squeeze it into her mouth for meal times. No bowls, no spoons... just pureed goodness in a bag. And I was thinking - this will be my sanity on the airplane. So, in good old crazy Chinese fashion, I went back and took every single last one off the shelf because I thought it was too good to be true. Well... I was wrong, because it wasn't on sale - it's just regular price, which made me kind of happy... but not that happy since I felt like I didn't get a 'steal'.

Regardless, a great product for the mom on the go, so stick a couple in the gift bag along with one of your other gifts and I'm pretty sure mom will be happy you are helping her feed her child with ease!!



So, this is my compiled list - I hope that I have alleviated some of your future Christmas shopping stress, or introduced you to new products that you'll love too. I am not sponsored in anyway by these products, and I'm just giving my 2 cents on the goods that are out there!! Enjoy :)

Treasure Hunt

I have a Pirate in the house. He's been in a 'boat' all morning, saying 'Ahoy!'. We were watching Artzooka on CBC and they happen to be doing a treasure map, so I figure I'd make one with Colin too. We got the markers out, I drew most of it out, but let him colour it in. It was a pretty fun activity, and then he got back in his boat, and sailed all around to save his stuffies (who were all inevitable drowning and he was swimming - ie. flopping in the floor).

He looked at his map with pride, and then I asked him where the treasure chest was. I asked him what was in it?

A turkey sandwich.

Blast From the Past

I'm scouring through the tens of thousands of photos we have of Colin to make something special, and I came across some gems. Unfortunately this probably won't make the cut, but it is worthy of some recognition.

Ahh.... see, I told you he was a boob guy.

RIP Nap time

A couple nights ago, we did our usual routine. We gave Colin a bottle, let him go to daddy's room to watch the iPad (right now Go Diego Go is on demand), and then brush his teeth, jammies, then story time with all 15 of his closest buds. We closed the door, and we heard couple thumps on the wall (he likes to 'drum' himself to sleep), and thought that was it. We went downstairs, and the thumping continued. Didn't think much of it, we just thought he'd go to sleep soon.

Oh, but Joe and I were apparently in for a auditory treat. He was stomping, thumping, and singing... and the odd high pitched trill here and there. This went on for a good hour. Joe and I were thinking... well, he'll eventually tire himself out, and fall asleep. We let it continue (thank goodness Cara is a good sleeper), and we were wrong. It went on for another hour.

Joe decided to check on him. When he opened the door, he sees Colin, all innocent - has pushed his bed several feet off the wall (and as a result all of his friends had fallen onto the ground - which explained the whole 'MY ANIMALS!!!!!! MY ANIMALS!!!!!!' chorus).

He found Colin, laying oh so innocently, on his tummy, his hands propping up his chin as if he were anticipating daddy's arrival and said to Joe as he opened the door - 'Hi!'.

Joe wasn't angry, in fact it was one of those 'sigh' moments. They had a short conversation:

Joe: You know Col, mommy and daddy can hear you from downstairs
Colin: I can hear you toooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
Joe: (silence)
Colin: *lightbulb moment* You go back downstairs, and I sing a song for you (from upstairs)!!!! That's a good idea!!!!!!

And from there, we knew he was not tired, and have nixed the afternoon nap. I cannot have a singing drummer in my house until 11pm.

Easy Daysies

We wandered into the 'Woody Buzz' (translation: Toy Store, but Colin calls it the Woody Buzz Store because he thought we kept calling it Toy Story), and right smack dab in the front was a featured product. And I am still happy and gitty for a couple reasons:

1) buying things give me a rush (i'm not an addict yet, but joe does cringe)
2) i like the feeling that i 'discovered' something
3) this product meets all my needs as a former SEA (special education assistant) and mom
4) magnets, and shiny laminated labels products are just satisfying to use. Much ike tupperware, you can't get enough of it and you are always drawn to it - and just have an inherit desire to own it.

Easy Daysies - that's what I'm talking about. You remember when you were a kid in school, and your teacher had the day's schedule all up for you to look at, and for some strange reason, it felt good that you knew what was going to happen on that day? Like Gym, or Music class? Well, Easy Daysies is a product started by a mom of 3, and a teacher, and it's something that I truly believe in. It's just a small magnetic board, with all the strips of your regular daily activities - breakfast, getting dressed, snack, family time, clean up, etc. There is a board for you to set your schedule out for the day, and it's split up so that once you are finished the activity, you can place it on the completed side. It's not rocket science, it's just routine.

As a former SEA, I cannot tell you just how important it is to give your children a schedule. Even if your child is not special needs, all children (and even adults), appreciate the sense of routine. The routine doesn't have to be the exact same everyday, but knowing what is going to happen is such an important aspect. I remember my days spent as an SEA making these schedules for my students, individual ones sometimes because different kids have different needs - oh how the hours I spent.... but it is one of the most utilized items with kids. Now that I'm a mom, I use all my skills that that been engrained in me and have pretty much raised Colin as if he were one of my students. I am not trying to say how great my own child is, but honestly, he has not had a tantrum - and I attribute that to a couple things: he's able to communicate his feelings to us, he is logical and can be reasoned with, and I give him fair warning of what is going to happen before it happens. He is well aware of what activities are next (lunch, or going for a playdate, dim sum with the family, cleaning up etc) - and so nothing catches him off guard (which I think contributes to some tantrums). And not just Colin - Joe HATES it when I just throw something out there changing the plan on the go. I'm kind of like that - I go with the ebb and flow.... where the wind and nap schedules take me... so he absolutely hates it when I text him telling him we're going to be somewhere else for dinner without fair warning. (and shh, don't tell him, but he has tantrums too if I change the 'schedule' on him suddenly).

Another aspect of this is that the interaction the child has with the board, is a reward of it's own. If they eat their lunch, they get to move the magnet over into the 'done' side. It's satisfying, and completing a task is a reward in it's own rite. This gives your child the opportunity to learn life skills - planning, completing tasks, and ultimately ownership of their own actions. The perk is that as a parent you are also held accountable to the schedule, so as a role model you can start teaching your child to be more organized.

I've used it now just for one day, but even Joe was using it with Colin. And they were both excited - Colin was just gitty with the magnets, and couldn't WAIT to complete something just to move it over to the 'done' side, and Joe was beaming when Colin said to him "It's Family Time now!!!!"

This would make a great gift if you are trying to think of something outside of books, toys, games, clothes - and you just don't know what to get for a child. This would be perfect, and functional - even the pickiest of moms can't turn this down.

I can't tell you how satisfied I am with this product. Please check their website out www.easydaysies.com. Also, if you watch Dragon's Den on CBC, Elaine and her family will be appearing on September 28th at 8pm to try to make a deal!! I hope it goes well :)