Coming Full Circle March 4, 2008

This morning, as I was reading a birth story from the latest Birth Issues magazine, I got a phone call from my Mom telling me that her neighbor had died. Mrs. Rogers was in her late 80′s and had been in the hospital for 3 weeks, but the news came as a shock. My parents have lived next door to Mr. and Mrs. Rogers for 18 years and their presence is as much a part of the community as the annual Christmas party.

As I hung up the phone, I noticed the significance in my reading a birth story moments before learning about the death of a family friend. There is that balance in life that always seems to shine through. The moments of grief for the moments of joy, the moments of success for the moments of loss. The passing of a person is always heartbreaking, but there is comfort in knowing that Mrs. Rogers lived a long life and had her loving husband by her side until the day she died.

Some deaths don’t make nearly as much sense to me. There is, for instance, the child who my friends lost days before she was due to be born. At the very moment when it seemed like her life was about to burst forth and begin, it was instead snuffed out by a chance mishap. When I heard the news of this tragedy, my mind reeled at the overwhelm of such pain. As I stood in the church and watched my friends follow an impossibly tiny casket down the aisle, it made no sense to me. Almost four years later, I still struggle to wrap my mind around it.

As a Christian, I believe that things happen according to God’s purpose and that He has a reason for everything. It’s one thing to believe something, though, and another thing entirely to be able to logically apply that belief to all situations.

In those moments when I think of my friends’ daughter, I’m able to be more accepting of my children. What of the messy house or the fights about socks when there are people out there who can’t hold their children because they are no longer alive? And now thinking of Mrs. Rogers and her husband who has been left behind, I realize how important it is for me to show Bear each day how much I love him.

And that, maybe, is where the balance is created: in learning the lessons from tragedies and being aware of the blessings we receive every day.

Failure! March 3, 2008

Today I tried to get by without making any coffee. The coffee maker is chugging away as I type this.

There was enough coffee left over from yesterday to have a cup this morning. I microwaved it and pretended that it was fresh. And that it would be enough. As of late, I’ve gone from drinking two cups of coffee a day to drinking three or four. While I have nothing against the delicious dark drink that makes my mornings happy, I know that being addicted to drinking that many cups of coffee each day isn’t necessarily the best health choice.

So I drank my one cup today. And I was ok at first. But by lunchtime, I was a grump. The kids were too noisy, Button kept bumping into my elbows, and I wanted to be very alone.

I finally caved when I noticed that I was starting to get a headache and that feeling that my brain just isn’t working right. So I guess for today anyway I’m maintaining my addiction. I’m doing it for the kids.

The Business of Being Born March 3, 2008

Last night, I watched a screening of Ricky Lake’s new documentary The Business of Being Born. After having an unsatisfying hospital birth and then a life-altering homebirth, Ricki wanted to do something to educate and empower women in regards to homebirths and modern childbirth practices in North America. At first she looked into becoming a midwife but she realized that with the years of education required she would make a quicker and perhaps larger impact by making a documentary.

Edmonton’s Association for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth (ASAC) hosted a screening at the Whitemud Crossing Library last night. I excitedly attended with some friends after having read many positive and negative reviews. The tiny theater was stuffed to the brim with people filling each seat and sitting on the stairs and stage while children around in any empty space they could find.

The documentary examines childbirth in North America and compares it to that in other countries. It highlights some significant statistics about the incredibly high cesarean rate in the U.S. (33% nationally, but as high as 40% in some hospitals) as well as the high induction and epidural rates. Also discussed are the relatively high infant and maternal mortality rates and the enormous amount of money spent on hospital childbirths.

The homebirths portrayed in the documentary were beautiful. Women were shown swaying, moaning, and cursing their way through labors, and babies slid out into their mothers’ hands in bedrooms and bathtubs. Contrasting this was footage of both 1950′s hospital births where women were strapped into beds during “twilight sleep” and modern hospital births where women’s labors were managed with drugs and surgeries.

While I’ve felt for some time that natural childbirth is possible for the majority of women and healthier for both mothers and babies, this documentary got me thinking of birth more from more than just a physical point of view. One interviewee explained how that sense of “I just gave birth. Now I know I can do anything” in new moms is something that we all have the right to experience. When the vast majority of women are having labors that are artificially induced, numbed through epidurals, or even outright preempted through surgery, women in our culture are not experiencing the empowering and rewarding rite that has been a part of womanhood since time began.

Also discussed is the idea of how the hormones released during labour facilitate mother-baby bonding. The “love cocktail” as they call, it helps mothers to respond to their baby’s needs and enforces the instinct to protect and nurture their child. If cesareans or inductions stop this hormonal surge from taking place, there can be ramifications in the relationship. The documentary draws a link between the high rate of disrupted bonding and the problems in our society.

I found this to be a very thought and heart-provoking documentary which presents a stark view on modern childbirth in North America. I think it has the power to reach many women and to really lead to a lot of questioning of modern birth practices. As women, we should be educating ourselves about childbirth and not simply going along with the status quo, thinking that putting all our faith in our doctors is the way to ensure the best results. Cesareans, inductions, pain relief, and other interventions are all very valuable tools which have their places in emergency or medically-necessary situations, but birth is a normal and healthy process which women have been experiencing since the beginning of humanity.

The Business of Being Born can now be seen through Netflix and will be available for purchase in May. Go watch it.

Making Mama Proud February 28, 2008

My kids had a fight today. It was awesome. It went something like this:

Sweetpea: And then he said no more five and then fifteen (“Reading” books out loud to herself in the playroom.)
Button: Sweetpea! I found The Runaway Pumpkin Book! Do you want me to read it to you?
Sweetpea: No! I’s reading!
Button: I’ll read The Runaway Pumpkin to you!
Sweetpea: NOOOOO!
Button: Here, I’ll read it with you. Look.
Sweetpea: No! NOO! I reading! And then he said no more five and then fifteen.

Button then proceeded to read The Runaway Pumpkin as loud as he could in order to drown out Sweetpea. Sweetpea then “read” her book as loud as she could in an effort to drown him out.

My kids. The rebels.

Veggie-tastic February 26, 2008

So, you know that trait of preschoolers where they like to do the same thing over and over and over again? Yeah, Sweetpea is thoroughly entrenched in that whole thing. Every time it’s TV time she chooses Toopy and Binoo. She plays with the same baby (“I want my baby Rory!”) every single day despite owning about 30 baby dolls.

The most grating of all, though, is her insistence for Veggie Tales music in the car. Now I have nothing at all against Veggie Tales themselves. Bob is amusing. Larry makes me laugh. There’s nothing like the French Peas to set our whole family giggling. But the combination of a two-year-old wanting the same music during every drive and a car with speakers in the front only is enough to drive me batty.

At first we listened to Veggie Tales Worship Songs.
Although the song “Come, now is the time to worship” weirds Bear out a bit, the cd as a whole is pretty fun. The story is that there’s a kid’s choir whose rehearsal director can’t make it for practice to Bob the tomato and Larry the cucumber step in. Larry makes a joke about how hard it is to get out of his seat belt without any hands, Bob teaches some Bible verses, and special guest Matt Redman sings a couple of songs with the kids.

By November, though, we were all (except for Sweetpea) getting more than a little bit tired of hearing the same twelve songs over and over. While I was Christmas shopping at Blessings, I came across a Boyz In the Sink cd.

I was so excited! Now, the Boyz did a song on the Worship Songs cd, but we all thought it was a one-time deal. We had no idea that an entire band of veggies had been created on the side!

Equal to my excitement over a newly-discovered veggie band was my excitement over the prospect of having something NEW to listen to in the car. Eleven new songs? Well, technically six of them are remakes of original Veggie Tales songs, but they’re pretty fantastic remakes that sound very little like the originals, none of which are on the other cd we own. The cheeseburger song is even a completely different story line so I’m not sure it can technically be considered a remake.

As I’ve listened to the Boyz cd fifteen thousand times, I’ve been struck by what a good cd it is. I will admit that I’d often like to turn it off (especially when Sweetpea starts with the “I can’t hear it. Turn it louder!”) but it’s not because the music is bad in a “If I have to listen to Barney laugh one more time I’m going to kill a small animal” kind of way.

I still haven’t chosen my favorite, though Funky Polka is pretty darned fantastic. With Larry playing the tuba, some accordion music, and Junior squeaking out his lines, the song makes me laugh a lot. The original Moo Shoo song has always been a big hit in our house and the remake with Apollo Gourd joining in is equally as fun.

Sweetpea’s favorite, by far, has got to be the Belly Button song. With guest star Kirk Franklin, the song stops in the middle with the veggies singing “Belly button. Uh uh.”. When Sweetpea sings along it comes out as “B-button. Uh uh.” Very very cute.

I’m really glad we’ve found some music that the whole family can enjoy, even if Sweetpea enjoys it to an insane degree. But I guess, really, isn’t that what being a two-year-old is all about?

Spring Sun! February 21, 2008

Spring is in the air. We’re just a couple of weeks past our latest deep-freeze and already the snow is melting and the sun is making me think of my garden. Apparently the kids are thinking the same thing since this is what I found in my back yard yesterday morning.
Yup. They’re outside in their jammies.

They went out while I wasn’t looking. I was actually quite impressed that they lasted so long without coats or even socks. Sweetpea did have an incident with some snow in her boots (that’s what happens when you wear pretty boots instead of winter boots!) but she recovered fairly quickly.

This afternoon we got home from buying groceries and the sun out on the deck was very inviting. Button took the little table and the chairs out while I made lunch. We ate sandwiches and strawberries in the sun.
Before long, the kids were down on the patio doing what kids to best: splashing in puddles!
Sweetpea is getting quite good at splashing and was soon soaked from head to toe. Since she hadn’t quite had her fill yet, she came inside and got dressed in something a little more appropriate for the activity.

I’m starting to feel like spring might actually be in sight. February, my least favorite month of the year by far, is almost over. Even though March is often far from balmy around here, it’s somehow so much more bearable than even the last few days of February.

Lapbook a la grenouille February 5, 2008

So today the kids and I entered the wonderful world of lapbooking.

(If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a peek here.)

I’d heard of lapbooking before, but I didn’t really have a real grasp of what it was until I came across a video this morning. Being a scrapbooking addict, I had to try it out. Button watched the video with me and we set to work picking out a topic.

We decided to go with frogs as our first lapbook. I found some very neat printable books and Button was quite excited as he’s done his own pond study out at my parents’ acreage for the past couple of years.

We started out with a few supplies: print-outs, a folder, scissors, and glue. (Note how “cool Sweetpea” wears her hoodie.)

We cut. And we cut. And then we cut some more.

(No, Button doesn’t brush his hair. He’s a homeschooler, don’t you know. And the chaos in the background is the fort built out of couch cushions. Ask Bear how much he looooooves the couch cushion forts sometime.)

We also did some gluing. Sweetpea love to be in charge of the glue stick.

Making the lapbook took up most of our day. I think it’s because of the many interruptions, such as Sweetpea’s sudden burning desire to write in her workbook. She was kind enough to take a moment out for her adoring fans.

There was also the incident of the witch and the wizard invading the kitchen. Sweetpea looks deformed in this picture but I couldn’t post any of the other three I took because Button and Sweetpea riding the broom together looked dirty somehow. Poor kids.

As is typical in our home, the mess grew larger as the day progressed.

Check out my awesome usage of my (I mean Button’s) Usborne encyclopedias. I haven’t spent all that time building up my Usborne business for nothing!
So the final picture for this entry was supposed to be a pretty little photo of the mostly-completed lapbook. The card reader on my printer, however, has developed a sudden dislike of my memory card and its light flashes red each time I ask it to upload my photos. I know, I know. I should just call Bear for help but he and Sandy Foster are sharing some quality time in the basement and I don’t want to intrude.

Anyhow, imagine picture a beautiful and interactive lapbook on frogs with some blank spaces where the writing should go. Or don’t, I guess, but that’s not nearly as fun.

A day in the life of… January 28, 2008

Some days, I feel like I never get anything done because there’s too much getting done in our home. For kicks and for your reading pleasure, I have documented and photographed the makings of my day. It’s fairly typical of most days spent at home, other than the fact we didn’t go outside because of the disgustingly cold weather.

And so…

8 AM – I wake up to Button bumping me repeatedly in the back of the head. I try to ignore him as I work on getting Sweetpea to sleep a little longer. Button eventually wakes Bear up and goes downstairs to watch TV and eat some cereal.

8:15 – Sweetpea is back asleep and I sneak out of bed. Bear comes upstairs to tell me that my friend Leah called to cancel our trip to the Telus World of Science because her son is sick. I’m a bit disappointed, but also greatly relieved not to have to brave the windchill of -46 with two kids.

8:30 – I eat some cereal and check my e-mails. Sweetpea wakes up.

9 – We get dressed. The kids discover the newly-moved dress up box and try on Pokemon, witch, owl, and wizard costumes.

9:45 – Button and Sweetpea build card houses (well, Button builds them and Sweetpea wrecks them for the most part). When the furnace comes on both kids excitedly run to the vents to set up “floating cards”.

10:30 – We do crafts involving bingo dabbers, paper, cardboard, and chalk.

11 – Button loses interest in the craft and gets Bear’s guitar out of the office. He experiments with strumming and the different sounds he can make by holding down different strings or letting them vibrate. He makes the music that plays when Mario gets a mushroom, and he checks on the piano to make sure he’s playing the right notes. He also creates music for “Monkey Jungle”, a video game he imagines would be really cool.

11:15 – I put out a plate of snack. I learn that you should not feed finger foods to a toddler who has just been bingo dabbing. I keep my fingers crossed that the blue pieces of apple and red pieces of cracker aren’t toxic.

11:30 – We pull out our library books and read through a couple of books on ancient Egypt, our topic of the month. Button relates them to various stories about Moses.

12 PM – I finally get sick of the dog hair covering everything and I enlist the kids’ help to get the living room picked up. I then banish them to the couch as I vacuum so I don’t run over any little toes.

(This picture, by the way, is proof that housework really can kill you.)

12:15 – I get lunch ready. Noting that the bread Bear started last night didn’t actually rise at all, I resort to plan B: french fries and hot dogs. To ease my guilt over the relatively unhealthy meal, I also do up a plate of veggies and dip. Sweetpea spends most of this time hanging around under my feet. Button wants her to come play with him so he offers to play “Hit the Button” with her. He knows that if she gets to hit him she’ll be more likely to go and play.

(This is Bear’s flat bread)

12:30 – We eat lunch. Button talks about how the characters from Esther relate to the kings, queens, and jacks in a deck of cards. We discuss monarchies and the current British royal family. Sweetpea does magic tricks with the cards (she flips over each one and declares it a king).

1 – I take Sweetpea upstairs for a nap and Button starts playing the Wii. After fifteen minutes of discussing the monkey Sweetpea is convinced is living in our curtain, we come to the conclusion that today is not a nap day.

1:15 – Computer time for mom, Wii time for Button, Sweetpea is running amok.

1:17 – I get tired of Sweetpea running amok and put on some Toopy and Beanoo on the downstairs TV.

2:30 – Sweetpea gets tired of being alone in the basement and comes upstairs for a cup of milk and some company.

2:45 – I get Button to turn the Wii of with (amazingly) no fighting. We all go downstairs to do laundry. The kids spend the first bit playing and Button tapes up Sweetpea’s hand with masking tape, making her “Super Lil” who can do mega punches.

3:15 – Both kids suddenly decide that the washing machine is extremely interesting. I sit them on it and describe the various settings. Sweetpea decides she’s going to explain things too and shows Button the setting that will “rinse your legs off”. (Whatever that means)

4 – Laundry’s done. I send some e-mails while the kids putz about. They get grumpy with each other so we all play with Marbleworks in the playroom.

5 – I realize that it’s getting late and I re-heat some leftovers for the kids. I make the easy choice of going for an easy supper and the kids eat in the playroom while I read books to them.

5:30 – Where’s Bear? I start making a casserole out of leftovers. I love my microwave.

5:45: Where’s Bear? The kids are loud. I’m tired. I walk into the playroom to find that Sweetpea’s made a huge mess. I insist that they each put five things away before my head explodes.

6 – Where’s Bear?

6:15 – Bear’s home! The windchill of -40.9 hasn’t turned him into a Dadsicle as I’d feared. He has time to get out of his outdoor stuff and pay a quick visit to the washroom before the kids are all over him. I hide in the office, hoping to get five minutes alone.

6:45 – The kids have slowed down in their “attack Dad” game and I come out of hiding. Bear finally gets to eat supper. (No, he wasn’t eating the bingo dabbers. I’m just slow at cleaning.)
7 – Sweetpea and I clean the bathroom. Sweetpea takes a “dry bath”.

7:30 – I announce that it’s snack time. Button points out that he never had his dessert he asked for at 5:30. The kids eat lollipops, the slowest dessert EVER.

8 – Snack is over. Multiple meltdowns have taken place. PJ’s are donned, teeth are brushed.

8:20 – The little people are sleeping. Time to sit in front of a screen or scrapbook.

And there you have it.

Tis the Season December 23, 2007

Christmas is three days away. Christmas Eve, when our family begins our celebrations, is two days away. Holy crap.

Am I ready? Sort of.

I bought materials to make homemade Christmas cards for friends and family back in October, but by late November I’d decided to abandon the project. Next year.

We were going to have our second annual Christmas party and gift exchange a couple of weeks ago, but I was overwhelmed by the amount of work that had to be done and we de-invited the few people we’d already talked to.

So, of the things left in place that are happening this Christmas I’m doing fairly well. I think I’m done shopping as of this morning when I made a last trip to Blessings and Zellers. Besr has done some of our wrapping and a few things (thankfully) don’t need to be wrapped. We decorated cookies with Grandma and we made a trip to Candy Cane Lane.

Looking back on the month, I sort of wish we’d done more seasonal activities. With homeschooling it feels like we should have all sorts of time for crafts, outings, and reading but the reality is often that our days are full and jamming in extra things is next to impossible. I want to feel the spirit of the season and I don’t think that involves me screeching at the kids and baking til midnight.

Anyhow, on that quasi-positive note, I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas. May your kids sleep lots, may your kitchens stay clean, and may the memory of a baby in a manger fill your day with peace and joy.

Move it…and lose it December 15, 2007

Back at the beginning of November, I started doing something very out of character: I began working out at the gym. Shocking, but true.

I made the decision to start working out regularly as the result of a few different factors such as my weight creeping up, feeling the need for some personal time, and a lack of energy. I realized one day that I could actually use the gym at Bear’s work and that it would be reasonably easy to do so with my family willing to provide childcare and Sweetpea being old enough to be away from me for a few hours at a time.

So for just over a month I’ve been going to the gym on a regular basis (usually twice a week but I’m trying to do three times a week). I’ve been making use of the elliptical machine, the rowing machine, the treadmill, and the weights.

The first time I went was a bit of an adjustment as I figured out the machines and my fitness level, but the biggest thing that stood out for me was how fantastic it was to be alone. Bear and some other people were working out, but I could tune out the world by cranking the volume on my MP3 player. Showering and getting changed after my workout was quite nice, too. It was a novelty getting through an entire shower without anyone telling me they needed something and drying my hair without anyone asking to be blasted with the hair dryer every three seconds.

After a few weeks, I decided to check into some races through the Running Room. It’s been 5 1/2 years (and a baby and 50 lbs) since I ran my half-marathon and I really miss running. There are a bunch of 5K and 10K races between now and the summer, but what really stood out for me is the half-marathon in July. It’s a nature run, which I think would be fantastic since I very much prefer running on trails to running on pavement. Part of me is sure I can be ready for such a big run in 30 weeks, but another part of me is very intimidated and pessimistic.

The biggest challenge I’m facing right now is due to a bad sprain from a couple of years ago when I took a spill down some stairs. I’ve got weakness in my ankle and when I run for a significant period of time I get to the point where I’m almost dragging my foot. Very annoying. I’ve been mixing running with other cardio activities so I can at least drop some weight and get more fit. I’m contemplating contacting a personal trainer or getting a referral to physiotherapy so I can get some specific exercises on strengthening my ankle/leg.

So there you have the latest adventure in the life of Kim. I’ll keep you updated as my jeans get looser.