March 30, 2012

"Lucky" to be a stay-at-home-mom

My friend went to the bank the other day to discuss her financial situation; she works part time and stays home with her daughter the rest of the time. Her banker told her she was "lucky to have been able to stay home as long as she has, and maybe it's time to consider returning to work full time." I have heard this mantra through out my career as a mom on more than one occasion, and every time it makes me see red. Why is it that I'm "lucky" to be my childs primary caregiver? Isn't that the natural order of thing? I understand there are times when people NEED to go back to work, single parents, financial crisis, sanity! But shouldn't it be that we are lucky to have an two cars in the driveway, a cell phone each, data plans, great sound systems, high-def and netflix? Aren't we "lucky" when we can afford fancy hair cuts, highlights and fake nails, not when can be with our children at their most vulnerable stages of life? I feel "lucky" that I live in house where everyone has their own bedroom, and that I can go to the store and buy pre-made foods, that we have a computer (okay maybe more than one) and the internet, and a machine that washes my clothes for me, and that I own more than 2 pairs of pants. I do not, however, feel "lucky" to be able to raise my own kids, we, as a family have made sacrifices and changes to our lifestyle to be able to afford one parent to be at home. I have worked on weekends, done child care from my home, taken on-line courses and chosen a career that can work around my kids needs and my husbands work schedule in order to be a stay-at-home mom, and that's not "luck," it's determining what's important to me and making that a priority, while passing up on things that are not necessary, like cable TV, costly pre-packaged food, trips to the movie theatre, a dishwasher and those much coveted new shoes. We chose to fix things rather than buy new ones, grow make and store our own food when we can, find entertainment outdoors, limit our screen time, and conserve our energy consumption because being physically present for my kids is a priority to me! *Don't get me wrong, I am not placing judgment on anyone or their choice of lifestyle, being a working-mom is just a tough a job!

March 24, 2012

Quote of the Day

Kai: "I is little. You is big."
Me: "What is Ian?"
Kai: "He is little too."
Me: "What is Daddy? Is he big too?"
Kai: "Ya, Daddy is big, he is HUGE!"

March 23, 2012

Maratime Marionette's

We enjoyed The Lonely Leprechaun as much as all the other amazing preformances.

Language Explosion

Everyday I am hearing things like "MOMMY! GET THIS SMOOTHIE OFF MY PENIS!" and "Grrrrrr, I'm frustrated and upset!" and "I have a question for you....." followed by no question at all. Spring has brough Kai many new experssions and uses for language.
Sometimes I revel in the brief moments of silence, though.

Happy Ostara

How much Heartbreak is too much Heartbreak?

Ian is sensitive and I will never be one of those parents who tells their kids that their dog has gone to live on a happy farm. I believe kids have the right to greive too. Ian's fish, of whom he paid very little attention to, died last week. He cried and creid and cried. We got some new goldfish and he named his Sad. Now the goldfish have died to, so the question is do we replace them and skip the second (third and fourth) round of heartbreak or do we let him greive agian, and again?
How much heartbreak is too much heartbreak?

March 13, 2012

Quote of the Day

KAi to his toes: "This little piggy had oatmeal, this piggy had soup, this piggy had oatmeal, this piggy went we we we we home!"

Quote of the Day

Ian: Ian: "Those Saints can do WAY better than that!"

March 5, 2012

Quote of the Day

After spending the weekend painting and moving Kai's room around I asked him :"How does it look?" Kai: "Ummm.... it looks messy!" *there were some train tracks on the floor :)