Wild Times at the Magic Castle

It's the morning after. Yes, the party was tons of fun, but I have to say that I'm glad to have another 11 months before it's Molly's birthday again. ;)

I stayed up the night before the party until 1:00 am, decorating and getting the cake ready. It's always a little bit stressful, but I do love it.

The party theme was "Pink Castle" (Emma's choice). So the house was decorated with lots of pink decorations. I hung stars, streamers, ribbon and balloons from the ceiling all over the downstairs of the house. I made use of some paper flowers from her party two years ago, and stuck those up on the living room walls as well, just to give it a fun feel.

The invitations promised "contests of wit, bravery and skill". The contest of "skill" was to pin the fire on the dragon. The contest of "wit" was to figure out the clue and find where the Queen had left her favourite necklace, and the contest of "bravery" was to enter the Ogre's Cave and retrieve the Wizard's lost magic wand (Chris had originally wanted to dress up as an ogre to scare the bejeezus out of them, which I talked him out of, explaining that there was no way we would be able to afford the future therapy bills that this would inevitably lead to).

I learned a few things during the party, for sure. Like never underestimate the volume level of 8 children chanting, "CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!". Also - ice cream cones are a treat even if they don't actually contain any ice cream (the kids all wanted a cone to go with their cake (the castle towers were made from ice cream cones). I began to tell them there weren't enough on the cake to go around, when I remembered the whole box in the pantry and figured what the hell...this was surprisingly a big hit. Who knew?

Another thing I learned was to never underestimated how exhausting a five year old's birthday party can be. By the end of the afternoon, I was pooped!

The important part was that all the kids had a blast...and so did I. I do love doing parties for my kids, but I'm glad that I have a good long break until the next one....

Three Hours and Counting....

Three hours to the big party. There are a few finishing touches to be done, but overall, I think I've got a handle on things. I ended up staying up until 1:00 a.m., putting up decorations and getting the FAB-U-LOUS castle cake finished (photos to come).

The worst part about having a party is busting my hump to clean the house...only have it trashed in a matter of a couple of hours. I'm sure that despite all of my hard work, tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up with another pile of cleaning to do.

Ah, well, such is life.

Okay, so yeah, I MAY be procrastinating just a bit. Time to get back to it. :)

It's SO hard....

One of the biggest challenges of parenting is putting aside my own issues in order to give better to my children.

Today was Emma's birthday, her special day, and I managed to get overwhelmed with something that I wasn't expecting. I worked really hard to roll up my issue, my anxiety, my hurt, my anger, and everything else I was feeling into a tight little ball and push it down as far as I could - so I could be the mommy that she deserved today.

I really wish that I'd had the luxury of curling up into a ball, shutting out the world, and just allowing myself to get overwhelmed. Instead I had to plaster on a fake grin, grit my teeth, and feign enthusiasm. Hopefully she was none the wiser.

My biggest fear is that someday she's going to think back on her 5th birthday and remember that mommy was upset and unhappy. I can only hope that she was so focused on herself, on what was going on around her, that she wasn't tuned into what *I* was feeling. And maybe some day I'll be able to make it up to her, for, once again, not being the mommy that I wanted to be.

I love my kids so much...and I'm working on being the mommy they need and deserve. It's not easy to do that when my problems get in the way.

I just hate that I have one more thing to add to my list of "reasons to feel guilty"....

Adventures in Sleeping

Anyone who is, or has been, the parent of two young kids knows what an adventure bedtime can be. I can probably count on one hand the number of peaceful night's sleep I've gotten in the past five years. Coincidentally, I think all of those peaceful nights have been while I was all by myself.

Last night was a great example.

Chris had a co-op meeting and so I was left with the joy of getting both girls to bed. Molly still needs someone to lay in bed beside her until she's asleep. Emma was - well, let's just say Emma was a bundle of excitement on the night before her birthday. Molly didn't seem very tired. I was surprised by this, considering the fact that they had a nice long playground visit in the afternoon.

It took about an hour to get Molly settled. My frustration level was high, as every time I tried sneaking out, her eyes popped open immediately, and she grabbed onto me for dear life. All I could think about were the birthday gifts to wrap, and party decorations to work on.

I finally made it out of there. The rest of my evening was pretty uneventful. I worked on Sunday's party prep. Chris came home, filled me in on the co-op news, and then we went to bed.

I was just dozing off when I heard the girls' bedroom door open. The heavy-footed gait told me that it was Molly. I pulled another pillow into our bed and let her crawl in with us. For the next 45 minutes, Molly proceeded to toss her leg up over my neck, repeatedly, play with my hair, and shove her knees into my back. She would seem to wait just until I was almost asleep to do it. It was nothing less than TORTURE!

Finally, I grabbed my pillows and left in disgust. Chris could deal with it. I needed sleep.

I crawled quietly into Molly's little bed and drifted off to sleep. At around 1:30 I was ripped from my dreams by a light being flashed in my eyes. Emma's flashlight.

"Mommy, is it morning yet?" She wanted to know.

"Not even close, Kiddo. Go back to sleep."

By this point my back was starting to hurt. Mo's bed isn't exactly the most comfortable one in the house, particularly for an adult body. I managed to get to sleep anyhow.

At 4:30, same thing. Rustling around in the room, flashlight in my face. "Is it morning NOW, Mommy?"

Deep breath. Clenched teeth. "No, honey, go back to sleep." I mustered up a sweet reply.

I woke up at 5:45, and contemplated a run. The bed was so warm, I was so tired...I drifted back to sleep.

6:00 am. More flashing lights. "Is it morning now, Mommy?"

"Yeah, Kiddo, it is. Happy Birthday."

"Do I get my presents now???????"

"Go wake up Daddy...."

And today I'm dreaming of a huge coffee....

Big News!!

I have quite possible that I have the world's most excited almost five year old.

This morning, while at the library, Miss Emma commented that her front teeth hurt while eating her snack. Upon close inspection, it was discovered that Emma has her first loose tooth. It's only a tiny, tiny, tiny bit loose, but as far as she's concerned, that's good enough. The kid's been asking since she was 2 1/2 when she was going to get her first loose tooth, so as far as she's concerned, she's been waiting for this moment forever.

She was so excited, in fact, that she then proceeded to go to all the librarians she knew to spread the good news. We even had to go up into the adult section to seek out a couple that she knew up there. Naturally, everyone was quite excited to hear the news, which only added to Emma's delight.

Watching her, I drank in her happiness and excitement. She'll probably always remember this day, for this very reason. It's kind of ironic - I have my own reasons for remembering today, as a fresh start in my life, and it will be made all the sweeter by the fact that I share this memory of a special milestone in my daughter's life.

Her joy was contagious today, spreading throughout the whole building, infecting everyone she came into contact with. But most especially me. I looked into her excited little face, and knew that it was moments like these that make life truly worth living.

Glorious Sun

I am so happy to see the sun shine today. Yeah, I wish it were a little warmer, but whatever. Spring is on it's way - that's what counts.

I had the morning off - my girlfriend and I trade off kid-watching every other week for our sanity's sake. So Chris and I met up at my favourite coffee shop to relax, chat, and flirt a little. It's so nice to get out and spend some time remembering that we're more than the people who make peanut butter and honey toast and wipe butts and noses and clean toilets together. We all need that from time to time.

We need another "real date" soon.

On the parenting front, it's been a busy and stressful few weeks. I've got my own "stuff" that I'm dealing with (and when I say "stuff" that's an understatement - more like a festering pile of doo-doo), and then to complicate things, the kids have been sick with this horrible cold that's been going around. They've been snotty, whiny, impatient, cranky...it's been very difficult remaining patient with them. And I will admit that I've lost my patience more than once with them in the last couple of weeks. It's hard for that not to happen sometimes, unfortunately.

Today I'm making a special effort to enjoy life. It's not easy many days, and I don't know if it's the sun shining or what, but at least for this day, it doesn't seem quite so bad.

I'm going to milk it for all it's worth.

Long Week

It's been a long week. The girls have been sick, sick, sick with this rotten cold that's going around. I know that my days are probably numbered. Maybe I won't get it as well, but at this point, with the amount of snot that's been flowing at my house, it seems highly unlikely.

We've been incredibly fortunate this winter in the illness department, so I guess I shouldn't complain *too* loudly at this point.

It's just that after the week we've had, if I have to clean up one more soggy tissue or lie awake at night listening to one or both of my children hacking, I think I might have to move into the basement.

Yeah, Kelly the Basement Dweller. Sounds pretty good right about now...

What the hell?!

So today while I was at the grocery store, I saw one of the single most disturbing things I may have ever seen in my whole life (No, it wasn't a puddle of urine in front of the toilet in the washroom).

We were walking past the section of the store that is reserved for seasonal and home-related items. I'm usually amused how in January, this section is usually filled with exercise balls, jump ropes, and yoga mats...impulse buys for all the New Year's Resolutioners out there. Today, however, I was shocked and appalled to see this section stocked with exercise equipment....for children.

Yep, you read that right. Child-sized exercise bikes and treadmills. What the hell? Whatever happened to children going outside and playing, getting exercise naturally in the course of their day? I mean, I understand that North America has a child obesity problem (actually, an overall obesity problem, kids and adults alike) but I highly doubt that the solution to this problem is to plunk your kid on a treadmill and make them walk (or run) for exercise.

I'm going to do the expected thing here and point the finger at t.v. It's easy for me to be high-and-mighty about the television thing, since we cut our cable over a year and a half ago now. I'm not saying that t.v. is evil and needs to be completely eliminated, but damn, kids need to learn how to be discerning about what they watch, AND they need to find a reasonable place in their lives for television. Of course, in order for THAT to happen, they need a positive example to be set in the home by their parents. Guess that's not happening a whole lot then, huh?

In order for kids to grow up into healthy adults, exercise needs to be fun. Exercise needs to be about being outside and running around after a ball, climbing the equipment at the playground, skipping with your friends, riding your bicycle...not counting down how many more minutes left on nothing more than a hamster wheel. TREADMILLS ARE NOT FUN, PEOPLE!!!

Hey, I'm sympathetic. I understand that when you're an adult, sometimes you do something that's not fun (like hitting the treadmill or the exercise bike) because it's good for you. I understand that when you spend eight hours behind a desk, you don't necessarily have the opportunity to get out and have FUN while you exercise, particularly in bad weather. Hey, I was there once, too.

For kids, though, getting enough exercise should simply be part of a regular day. I can't help but think that the makers of this tiny equipment envisioned kids being able to still get their exercise AND watch t.v. at the same time...it makes me squirm to think of little kids across the country sweating it out on an exercise bike while watching Spongebob Squarepants. Ugh.

I'm so grateful that both Chris and I have physical activities that we love to do...and that our kids see us doing. The girls see me come home from my runs. They do a little yoga with me from time to time. They see Chris pedal off to school every day. He takes them out in the bike trailer on the weekends. I think that seeing active parents, who receive a lot of joy from their physical activity, is going to go a long way in encouraging our girls to do the same. Hell, Emma's already talking about when SHE runs a marathon someday!

I hope I'm wrong on this, but I have a sick feeling that these pint-sized pieces of exercise equipment are going to be the start of a new trend. Now, in the lunchroom, kids can eat their low-carb lunches and high-protein shakes and compare how many calories they burned last night while watching Spongebob.

Ugh.