Parenting...

I remember reading in a Today's Parent, or the newspaper, or somewhere about how the new trend is to be the crappy parent rather than the really great parent. By this they mean that rather than try to one-up other parents in the "look what a great involved and hands on parent I am" department, parents try to one up each other in the opposite manner. I witnessed this first hand the other day. It was a rainy and horrible day when Paige was at Jack and Jill. The weather was so horrible when I picked her up that there was no way we were rushing back to the car and instead decided to go to the library and treehouse play structure in the building to kill time. A couple of other parents and kids from the class had the same idea and were sitting in the play area. One of the moms says, "On a day like today the tv will literally be on all day". The other mom says back to her, "I am the worst at crafts. I don't like doing them at all so we just don't do them. I am so not creative".


In a way this nothing to hide attitude is refreshing. I don't think the tv being on all day is the best for anybody involved in that household, but I would prefer to hear another mom be honestly lazy then blab on about how many great rainy day activities she has planned for her kids. Every time I hear one of these similar parental shortcomings I breath a little sigh of relief. On a rainy day I may have the tv on a little more than the maximum "allowed" limit, but I will play with Paige a bit, make a little craft, listen to a little kids music. And sometimes I feel guilty. I think sometimes parents would prefer to start at the bottom and work their way up, rather than bragging about being the best parent and not being able to live up to their self-set expectations. There's nothing wrong with this attitude I say. It's not as if anyone is out there bragging about how their kid has not showered in a week, or brushed their teeth for 2 days, because that would be wrong.


And is it wrong to just let your kid work out their own problems with other kids? I decided to take a step back in the whole problem resolution area. Far too many times was I jumping in and trying to solve a problem. If Paige is blatantly mean to someone, pushing or hitting them etc. I will make sure to step in. But as we were at the park the other week Paige growled at another kid startling them. I said sorry to the kid and then to the Grandma, who proceeded to shrug and say, "they're just kids". You're right, I thought. Enough is enough. We can't constantly apologize for kids being kids. Of course Paige's problem solving and sharing skills are not top notch and I will need to help her sort through some things with some apologies on the way, but if she is just being a kid in a reasonable sort of manner and occasionally buds in front of someone to get up the slide, or takes a toy that a kid put down for a second, I'm not rushing in. Sometimes she needs to learn what is right and wrong from the other kids' reaction, rather than my own. This kind of helicopter parenting is getting way out of hand, at least in my area. And I, on the other side of the equation, don't need to wait for 5 minutes as you try to force your 13 month old to apologise to paige for accidentally sliding into her, or bouncing your ball into her. It's OK. I don't think you're any less of a parent. Accidents happen and "they're just kids".

New Found independence!

And here's the best attempt at photographing the 2 teeth! Blurry, but you can see the 2 white parts on her bottom gum! You can see them best when she's crying. Mean mommy taking a photo of a crying baby.

Sitting!

Rose figured how to sit up today. Her longest stretch was over a minute! I captured the whole thing on video, but had to clip the video in order to send it to email to post on the blog.

I'm very surprised that she is sitting already, but she is such a sturdy, solid baby! Such chubby legs!!

Chudleigh's Apple Orchard...

Another fun-filled family outing. We've been doing a lot of activities on the weekends, that's for sure. We're basically taking advantage of the non-stinkin' hot fall days to actually get outside without burning or exposing Rose to way too much heat. Although this time, it turned out to be a little more rainy than we anticipated. It was our first trip to the Apple Orchard. We'd tried Chudleigh's products in the grocery store, but wanted to grab some fresh apples and a pie. We made sure to get in the pony ride and trip down the slide at the beginning in case we got rained out. We weren't able to actually pick in the orchard. There is a wagon ride that takes you out to the orchard and drops you off for at least 15 minutes, which wouldn't have worked with both the weather, and with Rose and the stroller. We settled, instead, for a pre-made 5lb bag of honeycrisp apples. Paige really wanted to pick the apples off the trees, but was ok with getting them in the store since it was a bit rainy outside.

Love this picture of Paige...

Put this one in to show her hair. Look how ringletty it gets when it's damp from the rain...

Pony ride right through the rows of apple trees...

This sign said you can rent these ponies out for parties...hmmm...maybe grandma and grandpa's back yard??.....

Rose didn't have the best time...she was tired and getting misted by the occasional rain falls. Her tray had a pool of water in it...

Pumpkins are out but we'll save that for the annual family pumpkin purchase at Springridge...

Slide with insanely steep ladder to get to the top...

Face painting...the apple seemed to be the most appropriate and best drawn option... The girls...too bad Rose isn't looking, but you can see her cute hat from the St. Albert farmer's market! And, cute sheep slippers from Marilyn!

The end of the rainbow...

It all started yesterday in the grocery store. We were perusing the fish counter when Paige pointed out a large rainbow trout fillet and said, "this is good...I like this". "Ok great, let's get that", I said. It didn't really matter that we probably had a whole bunch of rainbow trout in the freezer from various fishing excursions....she actually wanted healthy food and I was going to get it. I baked it tonight, gave Paige her usual amount, along with some beans and potatoes and set it down in front of her. She took her fork and literally started shovelling bits of fish into her mouth. When the fish pieces became too small she started using her fingers. Finished it all and then ate all of her beans. Didn't touch the potatoes. Asked for more fish and beans, and even swiped a bean off my plate. Told me she still didn't like potatoes. Got down from her chair and sweetly asked to sit with me. I lifted her up and she started scavenging the skin of my fish for any last little scraps. This was like nothing I have ever seen. Ever. We will have to make this meal more often. I'm sure she likes the sweetness of the Taku Sugar Maple rub from Alaska on the fish.

The sounds of silence....

As I type I am sipping a herbal tea to quench my thirst from the long walk Rose and I just went on. Rose is in her crib and I am catching up on last nights episode of Dancing with the Stars. Where is Paige you may ask? She is at a new class--Jack and Jill. I will have 4 hours a week (Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30-11:30) to do whatever I want. With only a baby in tow compared to having the 2 kids, it really does feel like I can do whatever I want. What will I do...the options are endless...shopping, exercise, vegging, laundry. Anything that can be done in 2 hours. And today is super easy as Rose went to sleep after our walk and Mike is home. I can just leave her here while I go to pick up Paige.

When I dropped Paige off she was a bit wary. A random instructor came out and asked the parents for their contact info sheets and told the kids to come in and drop off their backpacks in the bin. I think she was a bit confused by the unfamiliar face, but the teacher told her to give me a kiss goodbye, which she did, and then go in the classroom. She immediately spotted another teacher who she knows and loves-- "Miss Amy", and ran in with a big smile on her face and sat next to her at the playdough table.

Time to pick her up and hear all about it!

Update: Paige seemed to have enjoyed her time in the class. She played with 2 girls, jumped on a trampoline, sang "the more we get together" and "twinkle twinkle". I think that's about all I got out of her. When I asked if she ate her banana she told me she had one bite of it and then threw it in the garbage. She ate 4 arrowroot cookies, probably opened her banana and then snack time ended.

A trip to the photobooth...or did we?

Another fun app!

Paige circa 1960...

"digital photography never looked so analog"....

I was eager to post these pics that I took on my iPhone with the "hipstamatic" app. No super great photos, but I have been having fun making my photos look old school. You get to "swap out" different lenses, film, and flashes to create these fun looks. I'll post more if I get any great ones. You actually take the photo with the settings, rather than doctor them up afterward which is fun.

Dress Up...

Paige never really liked dress up...until now. We went to her friend Ellery's house for the first time yesterday. She had lots of really fun toys including lots of dress up stuff. Her mom, Shannon, said that she got the wings and wands at the dollar store the other day, so as I was close to the dollar store last night (by myself!) I ran in and grabbed a couple.