Anybody Out There?

While I find this blog somewhat theraputic and a better outlet than one-liners on the ever-time-consuming Facebook, I do wish I got a few comments....

So if anybody is out there and reading the occasional post of mine, please comment! Answer my questions (they aren't always hypothetical), tell me you liked the post, or tell me it sucked and to stay off that topic. I just want to know somebody is out there...

Balance

Finding balance can be hard. No, I don't mean standing on one foot, though that can be hard too, especially with bags of groceries and children in your arms, toys and pets underfoot and your eye on the clock.

I'm talking about the balance between work/life/family. That magic balance I doubt many people can achieve. I won't lie: I struggle with it daily and I'm losing the battle.

I had a prof recently who had a suggested balance of the numbers. It was something like 1/3 work, 1/3 family and friends and 1/3 of "you" time. (I still don't know when I am supposed to fit chores in there.) This "you" category is time when it is just you and your thoughts. I wanted to burst out laughing when I heard this since Oliver was about four months old at the time. This meant a) there was never time when I was truly alone and b) work and family fell in the same category.

Working from home I still find I can't achieve that balance of work and family since it all takes place in the same location. It's getting better, and I've started to have that "me" time now and again (thanks to hubby for taking Oliver out for a walk while I had a short bath last night). I suspect it is a work in progress for everyone.

On the same note of balancing, I am finding that as I get older (I know, a whooping 26 years of age, insert jokes here) I have less time for some people. I have time for the people I really care about... you know, the friends you really click with, the family you truly feel bonded to... but the people you get together with out of a sense of obligation or guilt, the ones you hang out with because, well, you just always have... I just don't want to do it anymore. There's enough to juggle in my life without managing unneeded relationships (oops, can I say that?). I just don't feel I have enough time to do it anymore and I'm trying to let these relationships go.

Have you ever felt this way? What did you do about it?

How do you find balance in your life?

Happy Birthday!

Today was Oliver's birthday and his party. It was a success (or it seemed to be!). No tears from any babies or children, I don't think anyone left hungry and Oliver was spoiled beyond belief.

This year has flown by and I just don't know where it went.

Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate and to all those who sent birthday wishes when they couldn't be here. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family.

My darling child, I can't believe it's been a year. Today was just as much about celebrating you and all you've accomplished this year as it was celebrating the fact that this family has survived this last year. Sleepless nights, piles and piles of laundry, teething, bumps and bruises, food thrown everyone, not to mention all the joys of pregnancy and labour.

We've seen you learn to roll over, watched you figure out how to commando crawl, marvelled at how you can pull yourself up and we've stared, facinated, as you started to use cutlery properly (almost).

It's been a year full of ups and downs but I wouldn't change it for a thing.

You are an amazing little boy. I can't wait to see you learn even more and do even more... but I don't want you to get any bigger either. I want to capture these moments and hold onto them forever. I love you more than I thought possible.

Sleep....

....it's a many splendid thing (or wait, is that love?).
It's something I cherish.
I don't get enough of it as a new parent (I say new as I have this naive hope that one day my child will enjoy sleeping in or playing quietly in the morning and I can sleep straight through until 8am).

I feel like I'm missing an hour or two a night these days, and I was starting to resent it. As wonderful as my first Mother's Day was, my little one didn't give me much of a chance to catch up on the zzzz's like I'd hoped. (Guess hubby didn't get the hint either.)

It was put in perspective for me this weekend though. I guess the monkey is teething, or reaching some milestone he's trying to work through, or in the word's of a friend, "sometimes he might just be an a$$hole". In any event he's exhausted but he's refused to settle for a few naps over the last week. We did sleep training around four and half months and haven't had any real problems since (but oh the problems before....). It was hard this week when he was tired but just kept crying, and I'd end up cuddling him in his room hoping he'd sleep. I'd get 10 minutes maybe and then he'd just want to get going again. It wasn't great, and I couldn't work (too bad cuddles don't pay the bills), but there are worse things.

Like me losing sleep.

And wouldn't you know? Saturday night found hubby and I sitting on the couch enjoying some tv around 9:30pm only to have O start screaming. This happens now and again as he comes out of a sleep cycle - a slight cry and then back into dreamland. This one kept on going. I had to go in and I found him wide awake climbing toward the door looking for us. I did the diaper check (nothing), then gave him some drugs for his teeth (what can I say?), an extra cuddle and back to bed. He cuddled up with his blankie and drifted sweetly into dreamland.

I crossed my fingers we were golden, but no such luck. I went to bed around 10pm, and I woke up when hubby was making his way to bed at midnight, just as O let it rip again.

I'm officially useless at night and have been ever since we weaned O off night feeds, so much so I actually sleep through some night time cries. I dozed in and out as I heard O screaming and crying away in the other room. Hubby did his best to console him, then gave up, tip-toed into our room with O and asked if I minded if he brought O into our bed to see if he'd be happier there. I care about nothing in the night if it means sleep. They crawled it but the crying started again.

I tried nursing him, but after that he was happy to play and tried to climb all over us, then cried when we tried to cuddle him. After that hubby and O left the room and (again, if it means sleep I care for nothing) I conked out again and awoke briefly around 5:30am as I heard crying from downstairs. Quarter to seven found me attempting to open my eyes in guilt as realized I'd left hubby alone on baby duty all night. I found them in the guest room downstairs, sharing a single bed and hubby looking rather unhappy.

Turns out he'd gotten a total of about two hours sleep. I felt horrible. I still do. Thing is, he functions better than I do on less sleep... that isn't an excuse though, is it?

I guess what it comes down to is that I value my sleep above most things. The best I could do was suggest a fast food breakfast. He jumped at the idea as we both know there are view things that hit the spot like a bacon-n'-egger after little sleep. I appreciate the drive-thru even more now as a parent.

Last night was better, and I cross my fingers it continues. And with that, I wish you all a lovely sleep tonight, but it's time for me to get to bed. Lights out before 9:30 is always my goal on Mondays when hubby is out, and if I hurry I might make it.

Sweet dreams.

Happy Mother's Day!

I feel like the luckiest person in the world today. My darling son was so excited to wish me a Happy Mother's Day that he was awake for good at 6am. Sweet, huh?

Seriously though, I did feel so lucky as I dozed in and out for another hour listening to him babble and chat and throw stuffed animals around his crib. Hubby was up already, trying to save me from the noise by removing the baby monitor from my vacinity, but when Oliver is up, everyone is up.


At 7am on the dot he started screaming and crying. The kid knows 7am is time to get up. So I got him and brought him back to bed while Ken was in the kitchen. We cuddled and he nursed and then Ken came in with a pot of purple flowers, two cards and little present. The flowers were from Oliver and the present from Ken and each of them had a card for me.
I almost cried with Oliver's card. It wasn't anything special to people without kids, but Ken had made him hold the pen while he directed his hand and it's the first card I've had like that. He also saw me opening it and lunged for it as though he liked it and was proud of it (okay, maybe I was just proud of it). We all had a lot of fun as Oliver played with the brown paper wrapping from the other gift as well. He loved hearing it get scrunched and crumpled and enjoyed trying to whip it around in the air and chew on it. Who knew blank paper could be so exciting? It made me look forward even more to his birthday, which is in less than a month.

After the snuggles and pressies in bed Ken said I'd better get up as we were going for breakfast. It's been ages since we went for breakfast because we are sort of afraid, well, intimidated I suppose, to eat out with the little monkey. All the same, it was Mother's Day. Ken had been busy in the kitchen getting food ready for Oliver, so I got ready, helped finish getting Oliver ready and then we hit the road.


We went to the Blue Fox, arriving at 7:52 to a line up. They open at 8am on weekends and we were early enough that we got seated as soon as the doors opened, so all was well. The little guy scoffed back most of his breakfast right after we ordered, but minimal mess was made, there were no fits or tauntrums (the kid is teething, so it isnt uncommon now), and we made it out without any dirt looks (or at least none I saw). He loved watching all the people and Ken and I both had tasty eggs benny.

This afternoon we will all head to the Crystal Pool for a little bit of a swim and hopefully I can spend some time outside as the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the garden is calling for a little love. I've got a lot of love to share right now, so it works out pretty well.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's out there. And to all the non-mothers out there - I hope you enjoy your Sunday too!

Bzz'in about McCain potatoes

I'm a sucker for free products. When I had time I used to search the web for free samples and I always get such a thrill when the mailman drops off my free goodies.

Years ago, on my hunt for free stuff online I found BzzAgent. It's this cool site that lets you (well, in this case me) be amoung the first to try a new product, and for free too! The catch? You tell people what you thought. After you try products, Bzz about it (aka, share your opinion) you can go up in levels and get faster access to cool test products. I'm a Social Bee.... go figure.

My honest opinion in exchange for free products? Yep.

Sweet, huh?

So go check it out! In the meantime...

The most recent product I got to try was McCain Purely Potatoes. Sadly (or perhaps for the best) the frozen potatoes themselves did not arrive at my door one afternoon. The coupon did though. It took me weeks to go get them, which is really sad because the idea is that they save you time.

Here's the deal, they are frozen peeled and chopped potatoes you chuck in the microwave for just over ten minutes (in the package they come in). You take 'em out, let them sit for another two minutes, then dump them in a bowl, add seasoning, butter, milk, etc and eat 'em up yum.

So, two nights ago hubby and I whipped up this dinner. It was the McCain potatoes (which, p.s. are also available as sweet potatoes), some mixed frozen veggies and this new chicken reciepe I like (put salsa on chicken, toss in oven, cook, and serve - so easy).

The potatoes cooked up as easily as promised. I added some milk, butter, salt and pepper and the cheese, chive, bacon Epicure dip mix. They were really tasty. The texture was a little different than usual, but they were good. Still very mashed-potatoe-y (that's a word, right?). Hubby liked them, I liked them, and even the little guy liked them. We fried the left-overs up with some eggs for breakfast the next morning, and they were good too.

I'm lazy (or busy... either way), but I'm also cheap. I don't know if I'm willing to buy them full price as I could buy a whole lot more uncut, unchopped potatoes and do them myself. Also, we tend to scrub the potatoes and mash them with the skin on for a little extra nutrition... but this was way easier. They'd also be a great product to have in your freezer in case you do run out of fresh potatoes or you've run out of time to peel and chop them.

In all, worth trying, but probably not going to be a regular purchase in our house.

Ah, income....

I always wanted to be a mum. Always.

I’ve never really had a career, just various jobs. And I’ve never loved them. I’ve had some great bosses, and heck, I’ve had some great jobs, but be it a few months or a few years down the road I’m restless, anxious and dreading Monday morning. I thought everyone was like that, but I hear some people like their jobs, not just their coworkers and the paycheque they bring home.

So having my son Oliver last May was great. He’s way more work than I thought he’d be (and I knew he’d be work). It started with the refusal to nap, carried on with his refusal to be put down and while it’s gotten a bit better I’m still exhausted at the end of the day.


Living in Victoria isn’t cheap, so being a one income family isn’t an option for us. I started working part-time for a company based in Alberta a little while back. I do the work while Oliver naps (nap strikes are over for the most part now) and in the evenings. It’s hard. Not the work itself, but being a stay at home is a full time job and adding in a part-time job makes it harder, especially without a whole lot of separation between home and work. I pick my own hours, listen to music or have the tv on in the background while I work and I get to play with my son when he’s awake. It’s a good gig and since I do it all online and have lost the people component I’m happier than at previous jobs (I’m not a people person it would seem). Of course, I haven’t been doing it long and things can change.

Problem is, without the people component I also don’t have co-workers I like and get to chat to. My whole world is in the four walls of my house (we get out to play dates and I still see friends, but I’m talking lunch in the break room and walking up to the coffee shop without a baby in your arms). Also, since my job isn’t based on sitting at a desk between 8am and 4pm, if I don’t have work to do, I don’t get paid… like today when I find myself feeling rather useless. I’ve made pizza dough, I’ve taken my son swimming and I’ve tidied up the kitchen, but I don’t feel I’ve contributed, especially financially.

So what happens when you have an out of the blue phone call with your previous employer offering you a job? The pay is pretty close, about a dollar an hour difference. Part time or full time? Well, hey, that’d be up to me! Coworkers, lunch breaks, people thinking I actually work (people don’t get that when you work from home). It’s all pretty appealing…

Except that I’d miss time with Oliver. I’d have to leave him with someone else.
I’d have to frantically find daycare. I’d have to pay for parking and buy more gas. I’d have to know and care what time it is since I’d have places to be. I’d also have to work more to pay for daycare.

And if I kept this little p/t gig at home? Well, the hours may not be as stable… but I wouldn’t have to hand over most of my paycheque to daycare, which means I wouldn’t have to work more than I am. I’d also get to keep taking my son to the playground and to the pool.

When you get random news like this, it isn’t by chance. So I have to ask myself, am I being offered this opportunity because I should take it? Or am I being offered it so I am really choosing to be a stay-at-home mum who work a little from home?

What’s a mum to do?

I think the answer is looking obvious, but what do you think?

Feels good bein' bad

I found this blog post on Chatelaine this morning. It got me thinking about my own bad habits...


- That glass of wine at the end of a really hard day
- The really bad television I record on the PVR so I don't miss a second (hello Extreme Couponing and People's Court)
- Eating raw cookie dough or brownie batter
- Laying in bed and enjoying a few extra minutues all cozy and comfortable under the covers while Oliver calls for attention

Are these things bad?
Well yeah... eating raw eggs certainly isn't the best thing, is it?
And wouldn't a "good" parent jump out of bed and happily run to their little monkey, scooping them up into their arms instead of savouring the last moments of peace under the fluffy comfortor?
And who really wants to admit to taping bad television?

But perhaps a little selfindulgence is what gets us through the day.

What do you think? What are your bad habits?

Action Packed Saturday

Okay, maybe "action packed" is a bit of an exaggeration... but it was still a pretty full day for the parts where Oliver was awake.


After we found him standing in the corner of his crib after his first nap, jumping up and down at the exciting sound of the vacuum cleaner in the next room, we got ready to go out.

First stop was the playground. Oliver went down the slide my himself for the first time today. He scrunched up his eyes tightly, but grinned the whole time. He did manage to fall off the bottom of the slide once, but wasn't fazed at all. We picked him up and plopped him back down on the slide ready to go again.... only I noticed his facial expressions were rather suspicious. Turns out he'd managed to grab a piece of bark mulch off the ground and was eating it... yum.

Second stop was the pool. We haven't been to the Gordon Head pool before, but upon some one's suggestion thought we'd check it out. I must admit I'm a bit put off by the cost of the lockers. Any time I've used a locker at the other rec centres it has been $0.25, but Gordon Head charges $.50. I know: it's a quarter, but it's also twice the price! Anyway, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't amazing. The medium pool was too cold, but the smallest pool was very warm, which was quite nice. At any rate, Oliver had an amazing time because water was involved. We even got a few photos this time (click here to check them out on Flickr).

A day with the sun shining, some time outside, big smiles from Oliver while he swims at the pool... followed by dinner of burgers on the BBQ and french fries with garlic chipotle aoli. Sounds like a perfect weekend day to me.

How do you like to spend some of your time on the weekend?

Take a Walk

I survived quite a few of the last ten months by walking. Oliver wasn't a fan of sleeping, but seemed to enjoy the fresh air. I was exhausted emotionally, but itching for some movement. Plunking Oliver into the stroller and going for a long walk, a short walk, and meander, a stroll... it didn't matter. We went along the water. We went into town. We went to the coffee shop. It was a great system.

When he figured out napping we kept it up, we just went between his naps and he loved that too.

At some point recently he changed his mind. Our very expensive stroller now just sits under the house in our storage area - cold, lonely and useless. Every once in awhile I try again. Plunk him in it with toys, with snacks... doesn't matter. He screams going in, settles down down for five minutes and then twists himself out, thrashes around, screams, cries... the whole nine yards until I give in and carry him. Then I'm one of those parents pushing a stroller and carrying their child. I used to role my eyes at them. "Why not put your child in the stroller?" I used to wonder. I get it now.

So a friend (thanks Kimberley) suggested a wagon. She said perhaps Oliver couldn't see enough in the stroller and that's why he was fine when I held him. I scoured the 'net and made the excursion to Saanich today. As I drove home with my trunk banging against the wagon praying I'd secured the bungee cord well enough I crossed my fingers it was worth it.

We got home and the sun was shining, so I dropped our stuff off inside and loaded the monkey in. I have to say right now that compared to my Bob stroller, the wagon sucks. It doesn't maneuver well; it's heavy; I ran into stuff by accident because you can't see something you are dragging behind you; it's so loud; there's no where to put anything because Oliver would eat it or throw it out of the wagon.... but for all that, the kid loved it. We walked all the way to the park (so what if that's only 10 minutes?), played, loaded him back in and walked all the way home. He grinned, he flapped his arms, he squealed in delight. He only cried right at the end, and I think that's only because I ran into something (oops). Still, I never carried him.

I don't know about you, but I'll put up with this loud, heavy, awkward hunk of plastic if it means not carrying the equivalent of a 20 pound squirmy bag of potatoes.

Little Monkey

The last few days with Oliver have been a bit tough. It isn't his fault really. It isn't anyone's. I think he's teething again, though his gums show no signs just yet. We've had the other tell-tale signs though: more drooling than usual, funny rashes, different sleep patterns and of course, more clingy behavior.

I made it through yesterday by giving up on the notion of getting any work done and just calling it a "day off" (a term to be used loosely when caring for a child). Good thing I did since it took ages to calm him down enough for him to fall asleep. Our usual fifteen minute routine lasted about forty minutes. We had plans around lunch which meant Oliver had to be up by eleven, so I ended up with less than an hour in which I had to shower, dress, do make-up, tidy the house, prep lunch and pump a bottle. It was close, but I made it. My dreams of a morning workout were dashed, but we survived. The afternoon was much the same, but I know it isn't his fault and he isn't happy with it either.


I keep trying to start the day by blocking out the previous day. A sort of clean slate. So this morning I brought Oliver back into our bed (well, my bed by that time as Ken's already at work) to nurse him and have some morning cuddles before breakfast. It was going well and I was even reading a book from my new favorite series (Tomorrow When the War Began). Oliver decided he was done and wanted to climb around, which is pretty typical. I put my book down and he started trying to climb over my head to the headboard. It's wood and metal and Oliver is fascinated by it. He'd already burped, but I suddenly heard that sound parents of little ones are all too familiar with... that "I'm about to throw up milk" sound. I tried to work my fast mum reflexes and get him flipped around (I know, horrible right? but if he's face up he just swallows it instead of giving the gift of slightly digested milk). I thought it worked until I felt something wet on my head. As I got him all the way onto his back, which meant I was sitting upright now, I felt that warm feeling of predigested food sliding down my forehead.

Turns out I wasn't fast enough. It was in my hair and on my face. Even better? I hadn't even managed to save the sheets. At least they took more of a beating than I did. A complete loss really... But what can you do but smile, call your little monster and monkey and get on with the morning?

Ah right, cross your fingers he goes down for his first nap easily so you can have a shower.

Grocery Challenge Update

So as per my previous post, our family is working on a grocery challenge.

Our usual monthly grocery budget is $112.50 a week. We challenged ourselves to spend only $50.00 a week for a month. Turns out with how the dates fell it made more sense to do it for five weeks, or just over a month. The slight problem with this was that by including the last few days of February my first week was over $50. Failed straight out the gate? Bummer.... slight change of plan - an average of $50 a week. After all, it's an average of $112.50 a week normally. Challenge saved! But even harder with the rocky start...


The first week was three grocery shops (I like to shop around) which totalled $83.72. Eek!

The second week actually involved five different grocery purchases, but some were really small (thanks to my hubby picking up milk at 7-11 for coffee at work). They only totalled $40.16 so we weren't out of the game yet, we just had to catch up.

Week three was even better. One shop and only $29.26 for the whole week.

Week four held three shops and a total of $27.71.

We are in the final week and have spent $180.85 total so far, leaving us $69.15 for this week. It looks like we might just make it!

I'm excited by this for several reasons. I like meeting my goals. I like having "extra" money. I like clearing out the cupboards for more food. (I'm so glad we don't have as many boxes of rice and almond milk as we did - I'm sick of that stuff!) Win all around. If we do make our goal we'll be able to tuck $312.50 into a savings account for when our income is a little lower than usual. I see this happening in the couple of months, which of course was the reason for the challenge.

I miss my soy milk. That's about it though. What have we been eating? Last night was a yummy cinnamon chicken dish with squash, asparagus and rice. Other meals of late? Veggie burgers with homemade "popcorn fries"; stuffed pasta with sun dried tomatoes; burritos.

We are a bit strange in our collection of nonperishable food that fills the coat closet (at least we don't hide it under our couch anymore), but I'm happy we haven't had to resort to eating all the cans of peaches just for fruit. We've had fresh kiwi fruit, strawberries, bananas and various veggies.

It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be, but I'll be glad to bump up my grocery purchases a bit next month. We're all out of brown sugar and chocolate chips and that means there are no fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in my immediate future... unless someone wants to bring me some???

Grocery Challenge

My maternity leave income will be ending soon. My hubby took one month of parental leave when our little one was born, which meant I had eleven months leave and I went off a bit early. It was all well and good back at the time, but as the clock ticks away it’s becoming a little scarier. At this point we’ve all agreed we don’t want me going back to my old job, which means we have to get creative. I have the potential of income from a job offered to me by hubby’s mum, but it’s sporadic and she can’t promise me all the hours I need right now.

So on that note, we’re trying to get creative fast.

While we still have the income we’ve been used to over the last while we are starting ourselves on a grocery challenge. We have $450 per month in our budget for groceries. Over the next month we are going to try to use the food in our house and only buy the bare necessities, including fruits and veggies. Then, at the end of the month we’ll take all the money in our budget that usually would have been spent and we’ll set it aside so that when mat leave income ends we have some money to tide us over and don’t see a crazy dip in income. I want to spend $200 or less over the next four weeks, which would "give us" $250. Hmm....

We are perhaps a bit stranger than some as we have a habit of buying in bulk at case-lot sales. Our coat closet holds a few cases of food, and there is a case of peaches and a case of diced tomatoes sitting by our door (there wasn’t room in the closet). We also have a deep freeze which has a fair bit of food in it.

This last weekend hubby and I emptied the deep freeze and the fridge-freezer and then took an inventory of what we had before reloading them both up with a little more order. It looks like we need a few staples in the pantry (like barley), and we may be buying another bag of beans (since they are cheaper than chicken), but the challenge is on: as small of a grocery bill as possible buying only fruits, veggies and bare necessities.

I’m really excited at the challenge, and I suspect that the extra room I end up with in the coat closet will be a great bonus.

How much do you spend on groceries?

Has anyone else tried anything like this before?

Does anyone have any good cheap recipes?

Family Weekend

This weekend was a family weekend. I think we always mean for them to be, but by the time the weekend is over we’ve barely tackled any chores, we haven’t gone far and both hubby and myself are wondering if we ever get time to do what we want to do, as a family or by ourselves.

This weekend we made a better plan. And while we changed it around a bunch, we managed to still do the basics and then some.

Saturday saw us booting out to Sidney. Oliver was yawning away in the backseat despite only just having woken up from a nap and by the time we made it to Sidney he decided he’d have nothing to do with the stroller. I usually use the stroller every day during the week, but the snow had it packed away for the last week. Perhaps he had been happy to be free of it, perhaps he was excited to see his daddy or perhaps he’d had enough sitting after the car ride. In any event I pushed the stroller around Sidney while hubby carried Oliver. Good thing they are handy for loading up with jackets and bags.

First stop was the Sidney bakery. I won’t lie, that wasn’t for Oliver. Hubby and I love it there and didn’t feel too guilty indulging in a donut and cinnamon bun. Mmm…. Nothing for Oliver there though.

Next up: Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre. I purchased a Groupon for there ages ago and we just hadn’t made it out yet. It was small, but for a little one, it’s great! Oliver is too young to fully enjoy it I think, but he got a kick out of the elevator down and was very enthusiastic about the fish tanks. The only time he got upset was when he couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t grab the star fish on the glass and then again when I moved him away from the whale bones he’d been touching (don’t worry, they are there to be touched; I just thought he was done). It was great, and thus, we ended up with a yearly pass. Guess we’ll be going again.

After the fish we were off the toy store. Buddies Toys provided more entertainment for the wee one and we purchased two cute wooden cars. So far they’ve been a hit, but mostly because Oliver loves to chew on anything.

Of course, no family outing is complete with a trip to the bookstore (or so I say now before Oliver can run up and down the aisles screaming). We were so pleased to discover Hairy Maclary at the Children’s Bookstore out in Sidney. These are great books written by Lynley Dodd, who lives in New Zealand. We picked up three more to add to our collection of six, but still have many more to get. We added a few Robert Munsch books and presto: a perfect Saturday afternoon.

Today we took a trip to the IMAX and survived. Hubby and I used to have annual passes but stopped for a few years. In December we thought we’d give it a go again this year, but I was sceptical of how well it would go. Turns out, not so bad. Sure, hubby had to stand on the steps next to seats and bounce Oliver for part of the show, but he was very well behaved and even watched some of the show. Oliver spent the rest of it snacking on food we brought for him and chewing his toys.

At any rate, a family weekend was had, and for that, I really can’t complain. Next weekend’s goal: another successful family weekend, but perhaps without the seemingly regular weekend tiff hubby and I have. More on that another time.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Respect. It’s a big thing. Aretha Franklin would agree with me on that.

This was a week were I didn’t feel like I was getting any. It started off with the CRD, Aggressive Excavating and the rail trail (a wonderful story there involving five months of my driveway being blocked by trucks, the Commissionaire, and a giant concrete block in my driveway, plus several episodes of being yelled and sworn at). Since I’ve already endured several months being asked if I’m enjoying my time “off” (taking care of a baby is like being on holidays after all) and it is the that wonderful time of the month for me, I was feeling a little less than appreciated and certainly in need of my hubby showing me a little TLC; a little support; a little respect.

On Friday hubby went in to work some OT as we both agreed the money made it worth doing. We had my sister coming over that night and so dinner needed to get finished, the house tidied, the laundry finished so the bedding could go back on the bed, that sort of thing. Some of this is impossible to do with a little guy attached to you and my shoulder was really sore this week to the point that a chiropractic adjustment and a one hour massage only made a dent in the pain on Friday morning. Also, since I’d had an appointment that morning for my shoulder, I was working with one nap to accomplish everything, not the usual two.

Hubby calls me at 4pm to say he’s heading home, do I need anything. “Nope,” I say, “Just your help”. He assures me he’s heading home right then and will see me in half an hour. When it is almost an hour before he arrives home and I’m now attempting to sweep the floor with a clingy almost twenty pound baby in my arms, I’m a little upset. Of course, I’m waiting for a good reason, like he made a stop to get me flowers for my tough week, or the bridge was up and he couldn’t get across or…. Something…. Nope. He got side tracked talking to a friend for twenty minutes after he said he was on his way.

I know: he has a right to talk to people. I’m not saying he doesn’t. He has a right to friends, I’m not disagreeing. But listen, if your wife has a bad week, if she needs your support, if you have people coming over and if you say you are on your way home, get your butt home boys. Show your lady a little respect when she feels the rest of the world has been dumping on her.

He is still oblivious to why I’m so upset and thinks I’m overreacting for being upset about a mere twenty minutes. Perhaps I am. Or perhaps it has to do with a man’s ability to forget things from earlier in the week and he doesn’t see why it’s a compounding thing, why I needed him to come help me, to show me enough respect to follow through on what he said he was doing.

Perhaps like most mothers (or maybe most women) I should just be resigning myself to the fact that I will never be fully appreciated and I won’t be getting the respect I think I deserve anytime soon.

How about you? When was the last time you felt like someone should have shown you a little more respect than th