Why My House Will Be Messy Today

Wednesdays are kind of crazy in our house: first J, our 2.5 year old, has a parent and tot swimming lesson at 9:30am at the local Y. Although the lesson is only a half-hour, I can NEVER get him out of the pool when it's done, and we're always at least an hour in the pool, plus time to get dressed again, pick up our 5 year old from his activities (he goes to Senior Kindergarten on opposite days, so he's home on Wednesdays), and drive home, often having to stop at the grocery store for some reason, and quite possibly not getting home until lunchtime.

I make lunches, I do dishes, I possibly eat something myself. I have a bit of time on the computer, during naptime, and then the girls are home from school, and before I know it we're getting ready to go back to the Y for swimming lessons for the other 3 kids, which go until 5:30. It's usually 5:45 before we get out of there. Since it costs a fortune for 6 people to have a fast food meal, when we get home I have to put a quick dinner together (unless I was smart/industrious enough to make something ahead of time to reheat). Then it's dinner, bath, bedtime. If I'm in the midst of a show, I often have rehearsals on Wednesday nights, too, making it even more chaotic.

So, when I looked around at the disaster I call my living room this morning, I seriously considered skipping the toddler's swim lesson. He loves them, but he is still at the age where he doesn't get the concept of dates and times, so if we go, he's happy. If we don't go, he doesn't know the difference. I could get away with not going, get my living room cleaned up, the dishes done (our dishwasher died recently - RIP - and my life has become about washing dishes), and maybe even put away some of the mountain of clean laundry that's currently residing at the end of my bed. I have a friend stopping by this morning, and I hate the idea of her seeing the way that we live (not that she doesn't already know, I'm sure, but I'd like to think she doesn't).

We're going to swimming lessons, though. I'll get back here as soon as I can wrestle the water baby out of the pool, and try to tidy up, but we're going. I thought about it, and then I had another thought: he won't be this small for much longer. In another 5 months, he'll be moving into "big kid" swimming lessons like his brother and sisters. He won't want to stand on the side of the pool and jump into my arms. He won't cling to me when the water gets too deep. He won't want me there beside him. He'll want to do it all by himself.

I know that's what we should be striving for as parents. We want our kids to develop that independence. But it's also bittersweet, especially when it's your last baby. Every milestone is met with joy, but also the realization that it's the last time that it will happen.

So today, my house is going to stay messy. The dishes will get done, eventually, the living room will stay chaotic, and Mount Laundry will just have to wait. I'm going swimming.

I'm a FIRECHICKEN!

You know what our parents didn't have to deal with? "On Demand" and PVRs.

Yes, they can be sanity-saving on occasion. I know some parents use Treehouse on Demand to avoid shows they don't want their kids watching (ahem... Janice... he WILL see Barney someday...)

When your child is obsessed with a certain show (as most toddlers and preschoolers are at some point) they will watch episode after episode after episode after... you get the idea. Often, if their desire for "MORE 'magination Movas" is thwarted, there will be a tantrum of epic proportions. This is when PVRs and On Demand services come in very handy.

Right now, though, I am not happy with my On Demand. At all. At least when we were kids, you either watched a show, or you missed it. You didn't have the option of watching it over and over and over and OVER. And over.

I'm pretty lucky that the toddler in this house likes a few different shows. However, in the past two weeks, he has become obsessed with one particular episode of one particular show. And I'm about to lose my mind.

Dora's Hallowe'en. In my head, at all hours of the day, I hear: "Hallowe'en, Hallowe'en! Trick or Treat! Our costumes can't be beat!" I start randomly chanting it, just because I have to get it out of my head. One night I shouted, "I'm a FIRECHICKEN!" in the van, driving home, before I even realized I'd done it.

It reminds me of my oldest, when she was just a little bit older than this. Her father, well-meaning man that he is, had recorded (back in the days of VCRs) a ton of different Christmas shows. One of them was Barney's Christmas (yes Janice: Barney.) EVERY SINGLE DAY at lunchtime, I would put in that damned tape while she ate lunch. It was how she knew it was naptime: "When Barney's Christmas is over, what time is it?" I'd ask. "Bedtime!" she'd cheerfully respond. I still cringe when that video comes out at Christmastime.

But back to Dora: seriously, Kid, this has to stop. Mommy has a very tenuous grasp on her sanity on a good day as it is. This may just push me over the edge.

Help... me...

Adventures in Hot Dogs! A Giveaway!

Anyone who has ever eaten at my house knows that while I'm not a BAD cook, I'm not a particularly creative one. Shake and Bake tends to be a staple, and lunches tend to be a choice of the same four or five things most days. So when I was given the opportunity to review Maple Leaf Top Dogs - my very FIRST product review, I might add - I thought it might be an opportunity to show off my culinary prowess - or at least, an attempt at it.

I decided to try and make "Octopus Dogs." I've heard them called different things before, but that's what my five-year-old and I decided to call them.

To do this, I took four weiners, and sliced them in four, but only halfway down, like this:

Now, given that I had only a vague idea of how this was done, I first tried to put them in the oven at 350 degrees F. I checked after five minutes, and they barely looked any different than when I put them in. I checked after ten minutes. They were cooked, but hadn't curled very much. Andrew came in to ask when lunch was going to be ready. He was not impressed when I honestly told him that I just didn't know.

At this point, a lightbulb went off in my head, and I decided to try the broiler. I put them under the broiler on high for five minutes.

Well, the ends curled up, all right, but...

They were just a LITTLE overdone! However, now that I knew what I needed to do, I confidently told Andrew that I would make another attempt, and they would be ready in mere minutes! I pulled out four more Top Dogs, sliced them up, and put them in under the broiler for three minutes. Lo and behold, they were curling, but not charring! I took the two cheese slices from the first picture, and put half a cheese slice over each octopus body - for no reason other than that my kids like melted cheese on just about EVERYTHING. I put them in for another two minutes, but turned the broiler to low, and...

...it worked!

We put them on the plates with some green pepper slices and pretzels, and the kids LOVED them!

That being said, my kids were already big hot dog fans, but they have certain ones that they won't eat. Top Dogs are one of the brands that I do know they like. They can be a bit picky, so it's nice to know that when I buy Top Dogs they're actually going to EAT them.

In honour of our Octopus Dogs, I have 3 sets of Maple Leaf coupons to give away, worth $10 each. (Canada only, I'm afraid) Just leave a comment below with your creative hot dog ideas, or, if you're like me and completely UNcreative in the kitchen, just admit it! I'll do a random drawing of the comments next Friday, September 16 at 9:00 pm EST.

Lactivism or Bullying?

Okay, that's it: I try to stay neutral on the issue of breastfeeing. I've pointed out, on many occasions, that yes, "breast is best" for baby, but that there are many times when it may not be best for Mom, or for the family as a whole. As of righ tnow, though, I've just about had it.

In recent years, breastfeeding's benefits have been much touted, and hospitals - at least in my experience - are now pushing breastfeeding as hard as they once pushed formula. Formula samples are banned from some hospitals. "Nurse-ins" are being organized anywhere a breastfeeding mom may have felt slighted. Sometimes these are legitimate concerns of unfair treatment, but sometimes it is - quite frankly - a case where Mom got herself into a snit over a look that she didn't like. Before anyone takes me to task for not supporting breastfeeding mothers, let me state: I wholeheartedly support a breastfeeding mom's right to feed a baby anywhere he/she needs to be fed. If you choose to continue breastfeeding into toddlerhood, good for you, but at that point, the child doesn't NEED to be breastfed immediately anymore than they NEED to have a sandwich at the exact moment they demand it. You do not need to nurse a two or three-year-old in the middle of a department store, or IN a public pool. But that's another rant.

I've been a very outspoken opponent of the Mommy Wars. Most of us do the very best that we can for our children, and our families, and we work damned hard to do it. Working out of the home, working AT home, stay at home... none of it is easy, but we do it because THAT IS WHAT WORKS FOR OUR FAMILY, and it is no one else's business why we "choose" the path that we do.

But with all of the emphasis now placed on breastfeeding, baby feeding has become one of the hottest issues in the Mommy Wars. Breastfeeding moms often feel that they don't get enough support, and "lactivists" claim that with the right support, almost any mom can and should be breastfeeding. They will usually use the caveat of "if there's no medical reason why she can't" but the inference is that true medical excuses are few and far between. Anything else is just irresponsible parenting.

Why have I gotten my knickers in a knot over this now, you may ask? My youngest is nearly 28 months old, and the bottles have long since been kicked to the curb. I will never again feel the frustration that comes with wanting to breastfeed, but simply not being able to, for reasons I have already explained on this blog - you can read about it here, if you haven't already.

It was this article and the follow-up here that got me into an uproar. It wasn't the articles, though: those are just musings on the economics of baby feeding by a soon-to-be first-time mom, for a FINANCIAL website. It's the comments that got me. The first ones encouraged the woman to breastfeed, because it's the better option for baby. Fine. Nothing new there. Then comments like these began to appear:

• There is no debate about it: breast-feeding is best for babies. It is also best for mothers. The better deal, by a longshot, is breast-feeding. Anyone who can do this for their child absolutely should. Period. The benefits to the child are absolutely tremendous, and they last for years. It would be foolish to choose differently, if the choice is yours. Irresponsible article!
• Generally, formula is for the "too posh to push brigade."
• Why even write an article confusing expecting mothers when breastmilk is 99% better for the child. Why not do what is best for the child instead of most convenient for the mother. Maybe this woman shouldn't be having a child.
• If you're able to breastfeed but think it's just too inconvenient for you, you're not a real mother. You're just a robot with a bottle. Why not just hand your kid over to the commune and pick him up when he's 4, after all the baby-raising inconvenience is over?

So much for supporting other moms. By the way, all of the spelling and grammar mistakes in those quotes belong to the nutjobs who wrote them, not to me.

I will say this ONE LAST TIME (yeah, right...): what is important is that a baby is loved, cared for, and fed, NOT how they are fed. I will not stand for new mothers being bullied and ridiculed into ANY feeding choice (or diapering choice, or work-situation choice, or sleeping choice, and on and on, ad NAUSEUM.) You made your choice with your children, now SHUT UP about it. People who try to make themselves feel better about their choices by belittling others are just showing how low their self-esteem really is.

Disney Makes Me Sad

I have a love/hate relationship with Disney, the way that a lot of parents probably do. There are movies and tv shows that I absolutely love, and I dream about taking my kids on a Disney cruise and/or to Disney World or Disneyland. Yet, I really do hate the incessant marketing and some of the messages that get sent out. In the end, though, Disney usually wins out. I can't resist the magic.

Today, though, I'm really unhappy with Disney.

When we were living in the US, my two middle kids - then my two youngest - were just toddlers. The Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney were staples in our house. Just before we moved back to Canada, we discovered The Imagination Movers.

If you haven't heard of them, the Movers are four very talented musicians from New Orleans - Scott, Smitty, Dave and Rich. They had been working as kids' musicians for several years when Disney offered them their own show. In the show, the Movers worked in The Idea Warehouse, solving problems for their "customers." There was a friend, Nina, and her Uncle Knitknots who worked next door. Warehouse Mouse was a friend who lived in the warehouse with them. The music was joyful and contagious. The shows were funny. I think I fell in love with the show even before my kids did.

But once they fell, they fell HARD. At one point we had about 20 episodes of Imagination Movers on our DVR at any given time. If the two of them were getting out of control, or just needed some quiet time, we would just run one show after another. We had cds and dvds. We wanted to take the kids to a concert in Hamilton this spring, until finances wouldn't permit it. They may not be quite so obsessed now, but our youngest still loves them - he "watched" an awful lot of episodes with his brother and sister while in his bouncy seat.

This morning I got bad news - after three seasons, Disney has decided not to renew the Imagination Movers show. The show will still be on in reruns, but no new episodes will be made.

In a way, this could be a good thing for the Movers, I suppose. They'll be able to tour more, make more music. But I'm still sad. How many episodes of That's So Raven! were made? Bleh! Disney, today you SUCK!

His Body, His Choice?

Things have been kind of boring around here lately (entirely my fault, I acknowledge... would never DREAM of blaming you!) so I thought that perhaps it's time to stir things up a bit, and how better to do that than with more circumcision talk!

Dalhousie University's Dr. Noni MacDonald published an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggesting that circumcisions should be delayed until age 12. She says that since the biggest benefit to circumcision is the reduction of transmission in STDs (and even that's debatable), and infants and young boys don't gain any benefit from this, it should be delayed until they hit puberty so that they can be involved in the decision. You can read more about it here.

Truthfully, the likelihood of this becoming the norm is pretty low (like, subterranean) but it raises a good point about consent. Thoughts?

New Schools Announced for Ontario All-Day Kindergarten

Apparently none of my three older children will be benefiting from this new program, as their school isn't on the list. Depending on the outcome of this fall's provincial election, perhaps my youngest will still have a chance at it.

In the meantime, here's a link to the school finder if you want to see if your child's school will be starting all-day Kindergarten in either 2011 or 2012.