Time is Subjective

So my cul-de-sac as treadmill seems to be working out so far. I got out a little later than I planned on and when I came back inside, Amy had turned on the TV for Gavin and was watching Baby TV with him.

My big issue at this point is that I dislike running while having to constantly keep an eye on the time. I'm on week 2 of Learn to Run, today was 5 min walk warm-up, followed by 7 reps of 2 min run 2 min walk. How is it that the 2 minutes of run feels SO much longer than the 2 minutes of walk?! It's not that the run is that difficult; I'm following the directions and doing a very slow, shuffle-y jog so as not to injure myself. It just feels so tedious at this point. I am remembering with longing those days of being able to bang out 7 k, no problem. ..Hitting a rhythm and just bopping along, feeling like I could go for ages without getting tired and not having to continuously check my watch. I know if I keep it up, I'll get there again. I have quite a few weeks ahead of walk-run intervals before getting to longer periods of running.

My run schedule is Mon/Wed/Fri...weigh day is Monday. I won't be publishing the actual number, just the loss/gain each week and the total.

So... This week = -1.9, Total = -1.9. Yay, me!

Trying to fit running in...

Part of the reason I gave up running when I went back to work was that I couldn't seem to find a time of day to fit it in. When I was on mat leave, I'd drop the kids at school and take Gavin in the jogging stroller. I've always preferred to run first thing in the morning if possible. Unfortunately, Dave's job requires that he leave at 5:30 am (which he just LOOOVES - ha!), and I am just not getting up at 4:30 am to go before he leaves! Afterschool gets swept away with kids's activities, dinner prep, dinner cleanup, homework, bedtime, and before you know it, it's 9:30 or so and I'm wiped out. I suppose I could go work out at that time of night; I have tried but it just doesn't work for me very well. 

I think I finally figured something out, tried it this morning and it worked beautifully. It seems so obvious I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner! I don't have a treadmill, but I do have a cul de sac (as an aside, this word has always sounded faintly pornographic) right outside my door. I go out there at 6:00 am and do laps up and down the street, around and around. The kids are usually asleep until at least 7:00, but they're old enough now that if they do wake up they can get themselves some breakfast or help Gavin if he wakes up. And if they do need me urgently, I'm just outside on the street.

Here's my little workout spot:

I really hope this will work! Week 2 of Learn to Run 10k starts on Sunday.

I'm Ba-a-a-a-ack

Um, yeah, I haven't posted for such a long time, I actually forgot how my blog works! As in how to get into the dashboard. This blog seems to be in its death throes, in danger of becoming a necroblog. So here's a little CPR. Get the paddles!

It's been a rough half-year or so. My dad passed away unbelievably quickly from cancer in January. It was really tough. For me it triggered a bout of depression such that I struggled to do anything else than what was absolutely required and expected of me. Stuff for work and family got done, but I felt like a black hole was sucking me in and I just couldn't get away from it. It wasn't until my hubby asked why I seemed to be in such a funk, and I replied, "I don't know. I just suck," that I heard myself and clued into what was happening. Messed up sleep patterns, drinking too much too often, low energy, no enjoyment in anything. Classic depression. Off to the doctor I go, he ups my anti-depressant dosage and...voila...I am coming back to myself. Finally.

Unfortunately, six months of inertia has resulted in me being the heaviest I think I've ever weighed, aside from post-partum poundage. It makes the coming-back-to-myself that much more challenging. It's a decision to make though: to wallow or move on. I finally feel like giving a crap about what I eat and have even decided to venture back into running. I think that is mostly what these posts will be about for the next while.

So running. Wow, it's hard when you haven't done it for a while! and when you're carting around ?? extra lbs. (I know no-one really reads this, but I'm still not up to posting my weight for the world to see). I started back on the good old "Learn to Run 10K" program for preparing for the Sun Run (which I am not preparing for, btw). I just would like to be able to run for more than 5 minutes without feeling like I am going to puke. Or need the paddles (see how I did that?).

Reviving me. Reviving my blog.

I'm b-a-a-a-ack!

New Year, New Post

Ok, so I've been a little busy the past year and two months since my last post.

Awesome stuff that has happened:

• decided to pursue becoming a music teacher and managed to make it happen! Best move for me, ever.
• fantastic new friends and experiences with them.
• working full time...and really enjoying it.
• kids are great. Trevor and Amy are at the lovely gangly stage of tweenness where they are all long-limbed and horse-toothed, but don't smell like adolescence yet. Gavin is 2.5 (what?!), almost potty trained, talking up a storm in Spanish and English and I can actually understand him 80% of the time!
• just got back from Mexican vacation where I got to spend a ton of time with my family and fell in love with all of them all over again.
• wicked New Year's dance party at our house!

Sucky stuff:

• my dad is not well, neither is my grandpa.
• I'm worried about my mom (see above).
• even though I love the direction my career has taken, I may have lost a friend as a result.
• weight gain - UGH!! The bane of my existence. Stupid wine and pasta.

All in all, my life has been clicking along pretty nicely, but since learning about my dad's illness, I've been in a bit of funk. I've always found writing helps me get my head sorted out. Or at least vent.

So, it's a new year, time to dive back into the madness of our family schedule while still finding some time to focus on me so I don't totally lose myself in the frenzy.

In the meantime, here are some of the latest pix:

Crafty for a Cause

I am not crafty. I am a good starter of projects, jumping in with gusto...and then. The glue oozes where it isn't supposed to and then I lose patience and measure haphazardly, and whatever I'm making ends up lopsided. And tossed aside.

I should also mention that I got tossed out of Grade 8 sewing. The small bit of my apron that I had managed to put together was looking rather asymmetrical and then I broke a sewing machine. My teacher sent me to the library to do a book report instead.

That's why I am totally amazed that I managed to make something useful and actually kind of cute!

I got invited to join a facebook group devoted to creating little, purple, knitted or crocheted baby caps to be sent out to new mothers along with a DVD outlining "The Period of PURPLE Crying." PURPLE is an acronym for:


Peak of crying
Unexpected
Resists soothing
Pain-like face
Long lasting
Evening


...and the whole point of the program is to prevent shaken baby syndrome.

When I first saw the facebook page I glossed over it thinking that I had nothing to offer, and then I saw a post with a link to a "super easy pattern anyone could do." How could I resist an invitation like that, especially during the summer when I had a little extra time?

So I got a crochet hook and some beautiful, soft, purple baby yarn, fired up "how to crochet" on YouTube, and here is the result.






As a group, they remain lopsided, but taken individually, they're pretty cute. The one on the top right will be just right for someone's preemie.



If you're interested in participating, hats can be dropped off until November 22.

A Bad Case of Busy-itis

Look at me, three posts in one week?! Who do I think I am??

I just came across this post by Megan Francis about people who go around citing their laundry list of daily activities in an effort to sound busy/useful/productive but actually come across as self-absorbed and whiny. Because everyone is busy, why waste time one-upping each other over who is the busiest, right?

In reading this post, I realized I have had busy-itis in a bad way this fall. People who innocently ask me, "how's it going?" are just making chit-chat, but for some reason I find myself listing off all the craziness of our family schedule when a simple, "Fine, thanks, how are you?" would have sufficed.

I think part of the reason I keep doing this is because I cannot possibly hold all of the Google Calendar information for our family in our head for more than one day at a time, and my compulsion to recite the day's activities to anyone who will listen is really just an effort to try to keep track of everything I am supposed to be doing. You know, the way someone might repeat a phone number several times outloud in order to try to memorize it.... What, not everyone does that? Must just be me.

Anecdote to illustrate my point...Two days ago, Dave suggested we should all go to an upcoming hockey game on the weekend. I said sure. I didn't actually enter it on the calendar, he did, therefore it didn't enter my consciousness and wouldn't until Saturday morning when I scanned the calendar for the weekend of nuttiness. In the meantime, I got called to work at my second job because the Whitecaps are still in the playoffs. I panicked and made the fatal mistake of agreeing to take a shift without first consulting the calendar. Really, by now I should know better. Of course they conflict.

And of course, I realized the problem this evening when Dave, completely out of the blue, asked if we were still good to go to the game on the weekend. When I grimaced and said that I had mistakenly agreed to take a shift, the look on his face was of utter disappointment and irritation with having been saddled with such a space cadet.

Anyway, clearly I actually AM too busy...I can hardly keep things straight anymore. This has become my whole life and it's way out of whack. Time to start moving toward a lifestyle where I can honestly answer, "Fine," when someone asks how things are going.

Five Family Pictures

Here are five family pictures from the past several months that are some of my favourites. Actually, the real reason I am posting them is so that Trevor can use this for his school project...hope it works!

Dave, Amy, and Trevor on their way to the Women's Gold Medal hockey game.

Jill, Amy, and Trevor before the game.

Amy and Grandma McQueen, the Canucks fans.

Grandpa McQueen's birthday party, May 2010

Gavin at 16 months (August 2010)

Non-Beige Food

First, clearly, I can only do this about once a month these days. Like on a long weekend, because by the time I find time to actually write and post something the siren song of sleep beckons and wins. Since it's a long weekend I actually have 20 extra minutes, so here goes.

AMY ATE KALE!!!! Of all the non-beige things to eat, I can't believe it was kale which is basically a headless, curly form of cabbage. Not sweet potatoes or mild carrots. Kale.

I am new to kale myself and am trying to become a lover of it because it's good for you, not because I adore the taste so much. I didn't grow up eating it or watching my mom cook it so I had no idea what to do with it when I brought it home from the grocery store. I googled "kale recipes" and came across this little gem for something called kale chips.

Kale Chips:

1 bunch of kale

1 -2 tbsp. olive oil

seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the olive oil around on a cookie sheet. Wash the kale and tear the curly bits from the stalk. Dry the pieces thoroughly (this is very important!!). Smoosh the kale around in the olive oil and spread evenly over cookie sheet. Sprinkle liberally with your favourite seasoning salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes...it will feel and sound crispy to the touch when it's done.

There are several variations out there on the internet, this one was one of the simpler ones.

Kale. It's a miracle.

Jumping Back into School

This was originally part of a post I did last year on Back to School after watching my friends agonizing over their children's classroom placements. Hope it provides some helpful information.



... the beginning of September can be a really stressful time for a lot of families. This was really driven home to me this week as I watched my own kids and their friends begin the school year. So much worry! Uh-oh, my kid is in the job share class. Uh-oh, my kid is in a split class. Uh-oh, my kid is not with her friend this year. Uh-oh, my kid is in with the "dim" Grade 2's, does that mean he's "dim," too?I'm in an interesting position as both a parent and a teacher. I find myself making the same reassurances to my friends as I do to the parents of my students. So here is a summary of those reassurances that I hope will set parents' minds at ease:

1. Combined classes are not a bad thing. Notice I used the word combined and not split. Within any given group of children, you have a wide ranges of strengths and talents in a variety of different areas. Whether the children all have their birthday in one calendar year or the next doesn't make much difference to this range (this has always seemed like such an arbitrary division to me, but that's a subject for another blog post). Teachers teach children, not curriculum. In 10 years of teaching, I've yet to meet a teacher who teaches the children in a combined class differently based on the grade they are in. Teachers so their best to meet each child where they are and design instruction that best meets their needs. If anything, the advantage of combined classes is that there is usually a range of maturity that affords children a chance to be role models and learn from each other. Further, having combined classes allows schools to group children together to their advantage, and separate children who need to be apart from each other.

2. If your child is in the upper grade of a combined class, it does not mean that the school thinks they are "dim." I sometimes wish parents could see the process involved in loading classes. It's incredibly complex and usually begins the spring before the beginning of the following school year. We take into account balancing of gender, special needs, ESL, behaviour, friend groups that are socially supportive and should stay together, friend groups that are negative and should be separated for a year, school district staffing allocations, educational assistants and where they can be of maximum effectiveness. There are usually at least four or five different configurations proposed and debated before the staff and principal finally come to an agreement about the best one and can officially organize the school (in my district this does not happen until the first Monday of the school year). If your child is in a combined class, there were probably several reasons why he or she was placed there. If you have concerns about it, the very best thing to do is to have a conversation with the teacher about it...hopefully they can ease your concerns. If you still have them, then at least you've begun a dialogue about it and hopefully the school will work with you to resolve the situation.

3. Having teachers who job share usually works out just fine. Okay, I'm a little biased on this one having been in a fantastic job sharing situation for the past seven years...I've also dealt with this concern A LOT! Most parents are concerned about two things: a) the teachers are only part time, therefore, they are not fully committed to the job at hand, and b) it's confusing and inconsistent for the children to have two teachers. To the former concern, let me assure you that in all the teachers I've ever known who job share, they put way more effort in than their allotted percentage of the position. One principal I know used to say that she really loved having job shares on her staff because you ended up with way more than 1.0 FTE's worth of contribution to the staff and school community. To the latter concern, I can only think of one child out of the 24x7=168 or so that I've taught where he perhaps may have been better off in a situation with one single teacher. Kids work with all kinds of different adults in their lives (parents, coaches, childcare providers) and even within the school often have at least one other "specialist" teacher. They usually adjust to each of these adults' expectations for behaviour based on whatever context they're in. I can't speak for every job share situation, but certainly in mine and those of my close colleagues, we're in frequent communication about classroom issues to ensure that we're being consistent in our philosophy and practice. One added benefit of having your child in a class with a job share is that the children get to work with people who may have different strengths; for instance, I am passionate about teaching science in a very hands-0n way (more than my partner), and she is passionate about developing social responsibility through her personal planning and social studies lessons (fantastically, I might add). Plus, we always have someone to bounce ideas off and brainstorm with who knows the workings of our classroom and students inside-out. There are also advantages to having a single teacher; one situation isn't necessarily better than the other, they're just a bit different.

4. Your school is there to help support your child's learning journey, and that includes your input. You are your child's first educator. Of course you know them better than anyone. Parental input is crucial, and most teachers and principals welcome you it. With email, teachers are more accessible than ever these days. I routinely give out my cell phone number and email address to the parents in my class just in case they have a class-related question and it's never been a problem yet. I would never want a child to go to be worried about something that could have been cleared up with a quick phone call at 8:30 pm. A word of advice, though, 9:00 am drop-off time is not a good time to start having a conversation with the teacher as we're usually about to start the important work of providing an excellent program for your kids!

So take a deep breath and head into the school year expecting the best. Chances are your child will follow your lead and it will be a great one.

I'm Ba-a-a-ck!

What?! You mean, when you have a blog you're actually supposed to post stuff on it? Oh, ok...
Summer is drawing to a close, the weather is gray and rainy again, and it's back-to-school tomorrow. You would think that with all my free time this summer I would have been posting at least daily. Turns out, I need the routine of the school year/month/week/day in order to give my life structure. Without it, I revert to being a lazy 15 year old who would lie around and do nothing all summer, except crack open a cheesy novel. If my kids would ever let me have two minutes to myself, that is.

I have many posts floating around in my head as I write this, but I don't want to outline them all here or you might not come back to read me again. I'll start with the first one that comes to mind.

Gavin's speech....he's 17 months old and his vocabulary consists of grunts, squeals, screeches, cooing and the words "mum," and "mama." He kind of makes a sheep noise while waving which is getting closer to "bye." His noises are inflected in much the same way as speech is, but there are not a whole lot of words happening yet. I am not one for getting all wrapped up in development charts generally, and I know the kid is totally bright. He somehow manages to make himself mostly understood in spite of his limited vocabulary! But we are coming up on 18 months and I am getting a little concerned. I am hoping that one day soon he will wake up and say, "Mother, I am absolutely famished this morning, could you please whip up some pancakes with extra syrup?" or something equally articulate. I think I was a bit of a late talker, too....Mom, can you help me out here?

In the meantime, most of our conversations lately go something like this (only with him head butting me or hanging off my leg to get my attention):



The other day I rounded on him and growled, "Ok look, you seriously need to learn to talk because this is way too frustrating for both of us!"
Not my most shining moment as a parent.

I'll let you know when he starts spouting paragraphs.

I must be doing something right.

My daughter, Amy, is a famously picky eater. Most of the time I let it slide, try to make sure there is at least one thing in our dinner she will eat, and if she chooses not to she has to wait until the next meal or snack time. Occasionally, though, we butt heads and though I know intellectually I will never win, my ego has me digging in my heels in a battle of wills with my six year old. Ridiculous, but true.

Yesterday I made a delicious pork tenderloin with grilled veggies served on a bed of spinach. I knew she wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole, so I made chicken quesadillas for the kids. Whole wheat tortilla, a bit of pizza sauce (nice and bland), some shredded chicken, and mozzarella cheese. These are the exact same ingredients as her all-time favourite dinner, tortilla cheese pizza, except for the addition of chicken and the fact that it was folded in half. She whined, turned up her nose at it, nibbled a corner like it was made of lead laced with rat poison, and declared she wouldn't be eating dinner. I responded that I was not going to make her anything else, she could pick out the chicken if she didn't like it, and that she didn't have to like it in order to eat it. Line drawn in sand.

Trevor ate his up. Gavin ate his dinner. Since the grandparents were over, I got a little ice cream cone for Gavin knowing how cute it is when he tries to feed himself. Trevor said, "Can I have some ice cream?" I said, "Sure." Amy said, "Can I have some ice cream?" I said, "Sure, after you finish your quesadilla." (I know, I know you're not supposed to withhold dessert, but this child would live on ice cream and cookies given the speck of a chance). Trevor looked at her, knowing full well she was not going to let that quesadilla pass her lips. Then he turned to me and said, "That's ok, I don't want any ice cream. Amy won't get any and it will make her sad."

What do you know, I guess I am doing something right after all.

Summer Job

Being a teacher, I have always loved having my summers off. I do not , however, love not getting paid in the summer and having to either pay for childcare that I don't need and/or spending all day with my kids. Every day. 24 hours a day.

This year is the first year we've had to pay for childcare over the summer. My nanny is totally worth it because she is WONDERFUL, but it sure puts a dent in my wallet, especially coming off mat leave. So I decided that since I have her around anyway, why not get out of the house and make a little extra money this summer. No one was more surprised than me to find out that I actually really like getting out of the house to do something different. And to get paid for it, as opposed to parenting (which may actually cost me my sanity).

I have two jobs this year. Job #1 is working at a concession stand at the Vancouver Whitecaps games. It's decent money and super-easy (if busy) work, the shifts are not too long and it's usually when Dave is home anyway. When I told Amy and Trevor about it, they thought it sounded like I get to work in paradise! Popcorn! Candy! Chocolate bars! Ice cream! Pop! Slushies! Chips! They can't wait to come and visit me while I work!

Job#2 is putting to good use all those years of education - I'm doing some tutoring. Right now I have two students I work with. It's so different than teaching a large group, I'm enjoying being able to work one-on-one with kids and can already see what a difference it is making for them.

I think I'm just tired of being home...all those years working 0.5 interspersed with various maternity leaves...I'm just feeling like I've been wanting more, and now I'm in a childcare situation that allows me to do more. For that I am grateful, and a happy me makes for a better mom.

Adventures in Sleeping

My favourite topic: sleep. Or lack of it.

My once perfectly perfect sleeping baby has fallen apart. First there was the separation anxiety episode of November/December. We weathered that and eventually got back on track. Then the teeth started to come along and we've been off the rails ever since. Gavin is up pretty much every night at around 2:00. I don't think he's hungry because he isn't nursing voraciously, just pacifiying, really. Actually, I think he just wants to visit with me. I've tried cuddling with him to settle him back down but he flops around like he's trying to get comfortable and can't. Or he does drift off but wakes up as soon as I try to put him back in the crib. If I bring him into our bed he just flops around in there keeping both Dave and I awake.

My latest strategy involves grumpily telling him that it's time for sleep and hustling him off downstairs (to the basement) where he settles down in the playpen. And settle he does! Maybe two squawks and it's off to dreamland. But I hate doing that because it's so far away from our bedroom floor and I don't think it's really promoting good sleep habits for him. Plus I end up on the couch so I'm not so far away from him and now my neck is sore.

At least at our house we have a buffer floor between the squawking and the sleeping. Last night we stayed in Birch Bay. My f-i-l's house has paper thin walls and the other Schweitzers were down here, too, so I was particularly sensitive to Gavin's noise level. He absolutely wouldn't settle down in the play pen after 2:00 am, so I brought him to bed with me. Amy had also crawled into bed with me, so of course he headbutted her in all his flopping around and then I had two crying kids at 3:00 am. Fun times.

Dave, having to work this morning, wisely decided to go home to sleep and avoid all this chaos. Smart guy.

Whaaa?!

So you can already guess what this post is about.

We awoke Monday morning at the crack of dawn (about 5:00 am) to the loud, raucous cawing of crows outside the window. Right outside the window. Really, obnoxiously loud. I buried my head in the pillow and tried to ignore it until Dave finally got up and stomped over to my side of the bed to slam the window shut. This afforded us enough peace and quiet that we both fell back asleep. Until....

6:00 am. I opened my eyes because something woke me up. But what was it? Hmmm. Footsteps on the roof? Must be those damn crows again. I got up for a drink of water and laid back down ready to try to sleep again, when I heard it. Scratching and footsteps on the drywall ceiling over my head. I froze in denial that I had actually heard anything, my eyeballs darting back and forth as though that would help me to hear better. Nothing. Ok, phew, it was just my imagination. I closed my eyes and...scratch scratch in the wall, right behind my head. I jumped about five feet in the air and landed at the end of the bed facing the wall and my very irritated husband who had slept through the initial scratching and had no idea why I did a round-off back handspring from the bed to wake him up at 6:02 am on a holiday Monday. I made him listen for it, and we both headed downstairs to try to nap in peace, quiet and more denial.

At this point we still weren't sure what it was. Bigger than a mouse? Probably. A rat? Yeesh, I sure hoped not. Squirrel? Raccoon? Couldn't be a raccoon though, how in the world would it have gotten in?

Dave lost the coin toss to decide who would have to poke their head up into the attic to investigate. He popped the hatch and couldn't see anything (thankfully) so I very helpfully offered to tap our bedroom wall to see if he could see anything moving...you know, just to piss off whatever was up there. He still couldn't see anything, but I sure could hear it moving! Eventually I could hear it walking on the soffit outside our bedroom window, so I kept tapping along to wall trying to scare it back the way it came. Dave went outside to see if he could see it come out. I peeked back out the window at him and he motioned for me to come out and see. Sure enough, a raccoon was making its way along our roof line over to some hedges that I never would have guessed would be close enough for a raccoon to bridge the distance. I was wrong.

I know, right? You're thinking, it probably had babies up there. After much Wile E. Coyote type plans to seal off the house from ever being able to be penetrated by such pests again, I decided to call an animal control company and boy was I glad we did. Had we sealed it up and there were babies, the raccoon would have torn 10 more holes in the roof to get in. So the company came out, cleaned up the attic, found that (thankfully) there were no babies, and sealed it all up for us. We're getting the hedges trimmed, too. And that should be the end of the raccoon visitors.

Until they find my vegetable garden...

Career Revelations...

So I've been teaching 0.5 for the past 7 years - give or take - with mat leaves interspersed along the way. Things have been humming along nicely and I couldn't have fathomed that any big changes would come my way.

Then my childcare situation changed after I returned to work this Spring from my mat leave with Gavin. After settling on a lovely nanny after our unfortunate first experience. We now have an excellent nanny with whom I feel completely comfortable leaving the kids. The thing is, she wants to work more than 3 days per week. So I thought, well, maybe I could work a little more, too. As I toyed with the idea, I was surprised to find myself feeling a little excited about the possibility.

I made a couple of calls and lined up an extra day each week doing a job share mat leave starting in September. Then I got to thinking about summer coming up with no income in sight and thought, what the heck, I might as well do some TOC-ing (teacher-on-call) to make up some full time hours to help bridge the summer gap in employment. I don't have much TOC experience at all having fluked into a classroom position almost immediately after starting my career, so I was a little bit nervous about going to other classrooms, especially intermediate classes.

On Thursday I TOC'd in a Grade 7 (?!) class and I absolutely LOVED IT! I had to relearn how to convert repeating decimals into fractions, but aside from that it was a great day. The kids were so different than primary kids in so many ways, but in some they were still just like little kids in great big bodies. Then I worked on Friday in a 3/4 at my school and it was really fun because I had taught all of the kids except for 3 at some point in their Grade 1, 2, or 3 years and we were all excited to see each other again.

This week was my first week of working full time in 7 years. I expected to come home on Friday absolutely wiped out and resentful of the time spent away from my family. I was completely shocked to find myself full of energy and pumped up about teaching for the first time in quite a few years. I feel invigorated about the new challenges, and at the same time grateful to be able to return to my "home base" classroom on Monday morning. I'm tired but satisfied when I get home from work and quite frankly, I feel like my kids appreciate me a bit more when I've been away.

I have a few things working in my favour that not every working mom has: 1. Teachers have (usually) the same vacation time as their kids, so I don't have to schlep them off to a series of very expensive day camps and/or day care in the summer or during winter/spring breaks.
2. I have a wonderful nanny who takes great care of my kids and the house so I come home to an orderly house with happy children. I've always joked that I need a wife, and she basically is doing that job!
3. I have the flexibility to work almost as much or as little as suits my family at a given time. There aren't many careers that have the flexibility that teaching offers, and I think it forces many women to make an all-or-nothing choice that leaves them wanting.

I'm now seriously considering the possibility of working close to full-time hours next year. I'll be 0.7 at minimum, and maybe even 0.9 or 1.0 with TOC days. I'm sure this won't be the last post on this subject....

What about you? How do you balance work and family, and what has shaped the choices you've made in this area?

Mother's Day

I can't believe how different this Mother's Day is than last year. Last year, to put it bluntly, sucked the big one. I was 5 weeks post-partum and the Prozac hadn't begun to kick in yet, still crying at least once an hour. Add that to an emotionally charged day full of unrealistic expectations, a tired, over-scheduled husband also feeling the weight of those expectations, me having to nurse a baby and an electric breast pump every 2.5 hours, and two older kids scrambling to make sure they still had my affection. It all imploded by 1:30 pm and I literally ran away from it all to my own Mom's house to cry on her shoulder for a couple of hours. Days like Mother's Day should be totally optional for families in the kind of transition that we were last year.

Fast forward a year, and my how things have changed! We are still in the midst of transitions galore, but I feel like I have some degree of choice in the matter so it's all so much more manageable. We are settling in with our new and wonderful nanny who will be with us for at least the next couple of years; she is great with the kids and I feel completely confident leaving Gavin with her during the day. I've returned to my part-time teaching job and am enjoying it so much that I have decided to take on some more on-call work this year as well as an extra day next year. I'm even looking at doing some part-time work over the summer for a bit of extra cash and something to do outside the home.

As a family we have all made our own adjustments to our new normal. And because we are more relaxed about the way things are, I don't feel the pressure of living up to those greeting card expectations about Mother's Day this year. So I stayed in bed for 10 extra minutes this morning reading my book (which I almost never get to do these days), I had my toast and water in bed with Amy, and cherished the gifts the kids both made for me at school. I'm going to take in a movie with my mom and my daughter this afternoon, too. I don't expect to be waited on hand and foot all day because that's just not how we roll around here.

And I wouldn't change my family or my Mother's Day for the world.

Smelly Boys

My boys are smelly. Not all the time, mind you, but man oh man the two of them can get pretty funky.

Gavin has an excuse, that whole still in diapers and my mom feeds me prunes things. It'll make anyone smelly. Easily fixed with a bath and fresh diaper.

Trevor, though...hmmm. Eight year old boys who eat, sleep and breathe hockey and lacrosse (often on the same day) become especially sweaty and crusty, and, well, smelly. Add NHL playoff games and highlights that simply must be watched on TV (while eating his eighth meal of the day because the kid is starving after all that activity) and it doesn't leave much time for bathing.

Today I noticed a funky smell coming from beside me on the couch as we watched the first period of the Canucks game. I could actually see the sticky, grimy layer on Trevor's hands, gunk under his toenails, and his hair was crunchy around the edges. I threw down the gauntlet: bath or shower, because you're having some sort of water touch your body, pal. He tuned me out, eyes glazed in a hockey trance until I finally said, "I'll give you a candy if you have a shower or a bath. And scrub."

Cue the choir: Ha-a-al el u jah!

He is now squeaky clean and smelling wonderfully of Dove shampoo, Body Shop shea butter soap, and toothpaste.

Oh, and I reneged on the candy. Well, actually I postponed it until tomorrow. If he actually remembers and asks me for it and it's not too close to bedtime, he can have it then.

Intermittent Blogging and a Must-See

It's lacrosse-spring hockey-dance recital season so you're lucky I'm here at all.

Seriously, I keep going to my home page so I can check out my favourite blogs and think, I should really write something...or I could go to bed at a reasonable hour for a change. Or fold some laundry. Or something equally as exciting.

Then I sat down this evening and realized that I haven't written anything for about three weeks!

So why bust up a good thing now. Instead of actually writing anything, I'll leave you with this. I MUST see this when it comes around.

Everybody loves... Babies. This visually stunning new movie simultaneously follows four babies around the world - from first breath to first steps. From Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo, Babies joyfully captures on film the earliest stages of the journey of humanity that are at once unique and universal to us all.

My Baby is One!

Ok, so I'm a little late. You should see his (mostly empty) baby book. The kid is lucky I have a blog.

I made a cake! He shares his birthday with his 3 year old cousin and I figured this was the simplest way to handle it.

Gavin enjoying said cake. Really enjoying it. This is his look-how-cute-I-am fake smile.

A rumbly toy truck to play with. Note the basketball game on in the background. Poor kid will forever have his birthday competing with the NCAA playoffs.

Happy Birthday, my darling!

Childcare Void

I'm just writing off the top of my head here....but maybe if our government made providing more high-quality daycare spots a priority, I wouldn't have to resort to Craigslist to try to find in-home care. The group daycare in town has a waiting list a mile long and I can't afford it anyway. The other option is to try to secure care in a family daycare for Gavin and out-of-school care at a separate setting for Trevor and Amy. And for all that trouble I would be paying more than having someone come to the house.

Do I have solutions? Not really. But there has to be a better way.