Wordless Wednesday: It's All About the Face

Captain Canada bought a new face painting kit.  The kids put in their order and he delivers.

Sarah asked for a Christmas tree with presents.

Jack asked for a scary dragon.

Happy Wednesday.

The Boy Bell Curve

Warning: To begin, this post may be an overgeneralization and may offend some people.  Secondly there may be some whining involved so cue the violin and crack open the cheese.

I am sure many of you have faced by the good old bell curve.  You know the one where you are compared to your peers and not necessarily graded on a set of criteria.  If you were in the top 7% of your class and got the A, grading on the curve may not have been too bad. But if you came out in the middle, you may have only received a C and the bell curve may have been less than satisfactory.

During a conversation that Captain Canada and I had the other night, he thinks there should be a boy bell curve and when compared with his peers, he strongly believes he would be in the top of his class.

I  We were talking about the double standard that exists between men and woman, working outside the home and working inside the home.

Exhibit A: After a full day of work outside the home on an evening that Captain Canada works late, I come home and put on the t.v. entertain the children, make dinner, bath the kids and put them to bed.  After that I will generally clean up the kitchen, make lunches for the next day and do a bit of laundry and after that sit down for a little down time.  To be fair Captain Canada has a longer work day, so by the time he gets home he is pretty dead to the world.

Exhibit B:  On my day off, I feel pressure (that I put on myself) to do fun things with the kids, get through some laundry and a small amount of housework and make a nice dinner.  On Captain Canada's day off he does fun things with the kids and often unloads the dishwasher and tidies up around the house.  He claims to be allergic to doing laundry and his idea of making dinner means that he will drive to Dominoes instead of having it delivered.

Many of these expectations I put on myself.  I recognize that.  But I don't want to do these tasks on weekends when I could be spending time with my family.  Swimming, skating, Science World, the possibilities are endless.

This is how our conversation ended:

C.C. "Sweetie, I don't think you should be comparing me to you.  I think you should be comparing me to other husbands and fathers.  Relative to my peers, I am pretty awesome."

Me:  "What is this a boy bell curve?'

C.C. "Exactly"

So how do you feel about the boy bell curve?
Any double standards at your house?

Sisters

"Having a sister is like having a best friends that you can't get rid of.  You know whatever you do, they'll still be there."  -Amy Li

Wordless Wednesday- Rink Rats

Most Sunday mornings you can find us slip, slip, sliding away on the ice at our local rink.  

Sarah likes to show off her strength by pulling me around the rink.

On Recognizing Our Strengths

Image taken from Gray Static Media

This quote is at the heart of my teaching.  Everyone has different strengths and these strengths do not always transfer into traditional style learning where kids show what they know through perfectly written sentences and beautiful pictures with pencil and paper.  Embracing different learning styles and celebrating a variety of talents is key to enabling children to flourish.

Why I Love Living with Rock Stars

The kids are going through a real rock star phase right now.  Alvin and the Chipmunks are the culprits.  But you know what?  Living with rock stars has its perks.  In honour of Monday Listicles and because the topic this week is love, here is why I love living with rock stars.

1.  Rock stars are always up for a dance party.  I love dance parties.

2.  My "Elaine from Seinfeld" dancing style is embraced and sometimes imitated.

3.  Over the top emotions and sappy love songs are encouraged.

4.  Their tantrums and demands make my mood swings look like a walk in the park.

5.  They play hard all day and hit the hay early giving me a chance to kick back and relax with an extra hot latte and my computer.

6.  They love my off key singing and often join in.  Look out karaoke, here we come.

7.  Anytime is sunglasses time.

8.  There is always a good story to tell, often blog worthy.

9.  They have introduced me to new and chart topping music like all of the Alvin and the Chipmunks albums.

10.  Their song collaborations are sweet music to my ears because it means they are making love, not war.

Here's to living with rock stars.  Cheers.

Booster Seats and Roller Coaster Rides

As I drove to work this morning, I looked into the backseat.  Things are changing back there.  We are now a booster seat, car seat family instead of a two car seat family.  Sarah has been asking to move into a booster seat and finally last weekend we made the leap.  At 43 pounds and 43.7 inches tall, she is big enough to ride in a booster seat.  But, I was content to look into my mirror and see her cute face smiling back at me high up in her car seat.

In the bathroom things are changing too.  More signs that my kids are growing  and changing.  There is water on the floor.  Now it could be water because Sarah has started to take the occasional shower on her own.  Nana helped her see the joy in showering, before that she was terrified.  But it could be another form of liquid as it seems that Jack is well on his way to kissing his diapers good bye.  He has been peeing on the potty pretty regularly, but we haven't done much about it.  It was my own fear of failure after the challenges we faced training Sarah that prevented me from really focusing on training him.  Today, Captain Canada worked his magic and it was a diaper free and accident free day. I know better than to declare that he is completely trained, but he seems to get it already and it won't be much longer.

As I gather up the laundry to take it downstairs, I come face to face with another change.  No more baby gate at the top of the stairs.  We took it down this week and after two plus years with this gate, it is nice not to have to prop the laundry basket on my hip as I work the gate open, but still hard to get used to.

As I said to my friend Janice earlier this evening, for moms and dads too, witnessing your kids grow up is exhilarating and terrifying.  I watch with excitement as Jack and Sarah become more independent and stretch their wings.  But on the other hand, the unknown that lies ahead is a little terrifying.  It reminds me of the creaky old roller coaster at Playland.  I can't wait to get on.  Then once I am on, I brace myself for the steep drop, the steady curve and the feel of my body being thrown against the side.  As the cars careen along the track, I throw my arms up and yell with a mixture of joy and terror.  That is what I am doing tonight, throwing my arms up and yelling with a mixture of joy and terror.

Guide to Getting and Maintaining Pierced Ears

Sarah got her ears pierced this weekend.  All in all it was a very good experience.  I have a few tips and tricks if you see this in your future.

1.  Call ahead and find a place that is able to pierce both ears at the same time. We went to Claire's.

2.  Be prepared to fork out $60.00 when all is said and done.

3.  It is helpful if the person who is getting her ears pierced has someone they admire watching the proceedings.  By complete fluke, an older friend of Sarah's was there before and during the piercing.  Sarah admires this girl very much.  When her ears were pierced she barely flinched and put on a brave face.

4.  Have many cotton swabs and q-tips on hand for post piercing care.

5.  Be prepared to clean the newly pierced ears three times a day for six weeks.

6. If all else fails and she doesn't want her ears cleaned three times a day, get her to clean your ears and teach her to clean and twist her own.

7.  Get all on video so you can pull it out as needed to remind her that she is tough as nails.

Wordless Wednesday- The Many Faces of Sarah Take 2

Last year I did many faces of Sarah post for wordless Wednesday.  I am happy to report, the many faces of Sarah has been updated with new emotions and feelings added.  She has really increased her range in just under a year. Her high drama antics and ability to produce tears at the drop of a hat still have us thinking there is some acting in her future. Thanks to Captain Canada for creating this in Comic Life.

More than just another pretty sweet

Tonight I made cupcakes for a fundraiser at Sarah's pre-school.  As I was making them I was reminded of a post I wrote last year about cookies.  I got to thinking how a cupcake can be a lot more than a cupcake.  Cupcakes bring people together to raise money for good causes.  Cupcakes celebrate birthdays and first communions and happy days.  Cupcakes, especially with sprinkles, bring a smile to a child's face.  There is a twitter account dedicated to cupcake quotes.  A cupcake can make a bad day feel more manageable.

"When you reach the end of your rope, eat cupcakes and hang on."

- Author unknown. Quote taken from twitter account @cupcake quotes

What do cupcakes mean to you?

Wordless Wednesday- The New Lens Edition

Captain Canada got a new lens on the weekend.  He needed to take it for a spin.  These are the results. Inaugural test drive deemed a success.

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family.  Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.  ~Jane Howard