The Colors Magazine Show Your Best Contest

Check out The Colors Magazine for their new Show Your Best Contest.  It is a series of contest looking for the Best Blog Post of the month.  At the end of the year, the best post of the year will be chosen from the 12 monthly winners.  Monthly winners will have their blog reviewed on The Colors Magazine site.  Prizes for the year end winner will be announced at a later date.

The Full Moon Effect

I know that a lot of people don't think that a full moon effects people's behaviors, but I for one an a believer.


I have worked in daycare with infants and toddlers for over 10 years and can tell you without a doubt that the week surrounding a full moon (3-4 days before as well as 2-3 days after) is the busiest and most challenging of any month.  I always know before checking the calendar that the full moon is imminent - the kids get louder, they don't listen, they run as well as climb on and jump off of everything!  They are crankier and needier than usual.  The most independent of toddlers will suddenly turn into the child that needs to be carried around all day long.  (Just to make this even more of a challenge, it is usually the biggest child of the group!)  And even the most docile of children can become insanely aggressive - they suddenly hit, push, scratch and bite each other!  It is like all of the usual children have stayed home and sent their evil twins to daycare instead!


"Use your walking feet."  If I've said it once, I've said it 500 times (per day!) this week.  "Keep your feet on the floor," and "use your indoor voice," have been right up there too.  I feel that the entire week has been spent breaking up fights and keeping the children from doing things that are against the rules!  I don't think that I sat for more than 2 minutes at time all week without having to get up to deal with something!  Not that you get to spend much time sitting when caring for a large group of toddlers, but there usually are some moments of quiet time!  But not during a full moon!


I know that some of you are probably rolling your eyes at me, thinking that the "full moon effect" is just an old wives tale, but ask anyone who works with a large group of children and they will tell you that I am right, it really does make a difference!


So, even though the big, round full moon lighting up the dark night sky is often a beautiful sight to see, I really could live without it reeking havoc on my toddlers!  Thank goodness it is the weekend!  Hopefully everyone will be back to normal by Monday!

How do you like your noodles? Poisoned or plain?

"agh!!!  Mommy, how could you try and feed me these horrible poisoned noodles?"

That's what Liam would have been saying to me at dinner time this evening, if he were able to talk.  Apparently, the child who will eat anything as long as there are noodles in it does not like pesto!  So, I tried my back up plan, plain noodles.

"agh!!!!  Mommy, these noodles have nothing on them.  Plain noodles are gross."

And then the noodles went on the floor.  And that was the end of dinner.  Fortunately, he ate some chicken and broccoli before I presented him with the poisoned noodles.  And has finished up by eating an entire banana, but he will probably be traumatized for life by the day mommy tried to feed him poisoned noodles!

Manic Monday Music Moment # 1

The song that hit me today is "Sounds Like Life" by Darryl Worley.  I have heard this some on the radio a number of times and it gets me every time.  Check out his website if you want to take a listen, if not, just take a moment to read the lyrics.  There are many days when I think my life or at least parts of it are pretty bad.  But this is one song that when I hear it, reminds me that my life isn't that bed, it's just, well, life!  So, next time you think that your life is horrible, remember these words from the chorus . . . 


Sounds like life to me, plain old destiny
Yeah, the only thing for certain is uncertainty
You gotta hold on tight, just enjoy the ride
Get used to all this unpredictability
Sounds like life 


And remember, there are LOTS of people out there who are dealing with a things a whole lot worse than the little uncertainties of our lives, think for a moment of the people in Haiti, who have lost everything, entire cities have been wiped out, friends and loved ones are injured, missing and dead, and the things that we take for granted every day, like food and water are virtually non-existent.  So, tomorrow, instead of complaining about the comparatively miniscule problems of my life, I am going to sing this song to myself and suck it up!


Sounds like life to me, it ain't no fantasy
It's just a common case of everyday reality
Man, I know it's tough but you've gotta suck it up
To hear you talk, you're caught up in some tragedy
Sounds like life to me 






Side note:  For those of you who have heard the song or read all of the lyrics, could you please explain to me if Johnny Ray fell of the wagon, shouldn't his friend be getting him to STOP drinking, not ordering him another drink???

Manic Monday . . .

The Bangles said it the best of anyone . . . 

“It's just another manic Monday

I wish it were a Sunday

'Cause that's my funday

My I don't have to runday

It's just another manic Monday”

This song runs through my mind many times through the day each and every Monday.  Monday’s are crazy days for me.  First is the issue, faced by most people, of going back to work after the weekend.  It means, for me, going back to getting up at 5am and not getting to have a nap, rushing to get myself and Liam ready, remembering to feed the dogs and cats and getting out the door on time.  Work is always a little crazier on Mondays, just like all the adults trying to get back into the swing of the work week, the daycare kids need to get back in the swing of being at daycare with a crowd of other kids instead of being at home with just mom and dad and siblings.  And just like us, they tend to be tired and cranky!

Once I make it through the “manic Monday” workday, I rush home, rush to throw something together for dinner before rushing out the door for Brownies.  Not sure if I have mentioned it before, but for the past five years I have been a volunteer with Girl Guides of Canada as a Brownie leader.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I love doing this, I adore the girls and don’t plan on giving it up anytime soon, but I despise the fact that it is Monday nights.  However, that is when the RA Center is available and it’s always been on Mondays, so there is nothing I can do about it!

By the time I get home from Brownies, it is about 8:30 pm and I am utterly exhausted!  But there are always things that need to be done around the house and even though I could go straight to bed and sleep until morning, it never happens and I’m lucky if I make it to bed before 11 pm. 

Very rarely during the course of Monday do I have any time for myself; there just aren’t enough hours in the day.  So, in an effort to force myself to create at least a few minutes of time for me on Mondays, I am going to start a weekly “Manic Monday Music Moment” blog post.  Each Monday, starting tomorrow, I will try to pick a song, it might be a song that I heard during the day, I might turn on my iPod and pick the first song that comes on or it might be whatever is planning on my Sirius radio at the time.  Mostly, it will just be a fun way for me to share some of the music I love with my readers and give myself a moment of me time in a crazier than usual day!

Healthy Dinner . . .

I tried, I really did have good intentions of making a nice, healthy dinner for us tonight.  I was making garlic herbed tilapia, broccoli and pasta.  However, when I went looking for pasta sauce, I had NOTHING!  No packages of powder sauce mix, no pesto, not even any jars of tomato sauce.  Now, I could have made some kind of sauce from scratch and still had my nice, healthy dinner, but I really didn't have the energy.  I could have made rice or potatoes instead of pasta and still had my nice healthy dinner, but Liam is in a "rice is only good for spitting and potatoes aren't good for anything" phase, so that option was out (because I also didn't know if he would eat the fish).

I stood in front of the pantry and pondered my options for a couple of moments and then I saw the answer to my dilemma.  It wouldn't be as good as my original meal plan nor would it be as healthy, but it was quick and easy and I knew Liam would eat it . . . so, we had garlic herbed tilapia, broccoli and Kraft Dinner!  At least we had two thirds of a healthy dinner and it didn't make me have to use my sleep deprived brain!  Now, I must go put Kraft dinner on the grocery list, so that next time I have a dinner dilemma, I have a solution!

People and Parking Lots

What is it about parking lots that make some people turn into idiots?

First, is the "parking for customers with young children".  Now, I don't actively seek out these spots, but if one is available AND I have Liam with me, I use it, but most times, there aren't any open because they are being used by people who don't need them . . . so, people, please remember these guidelines when parking in these spots . . . it doesn't count if you left your young child at home, your husband or boyfriend does not count as a young child, even if they have the mentality of one, and finally, your 13 year old daughter who is perfectly capable of unloading your purchases from the shopping cart into the car does not count as young child.  Have a little bit of common decency and leave these spaces for people who really do need them!


Secondly, if you are waiting for someone to leave so that you can have their parking spot, have a little patience.  You see me walk up to the car with an armful of purchase and a young child in a stroller, just a little bit of common sense should tell you that it is going to take a couple of minutes for me to take the child out of the stroller, strap him into his car seat, load the stroller and purchases into the car before I can get in and get out of your way.  Dirty looks and honking your horn at me are just going to make me go more slowly, seriously, it's not the week before Christmas, there are lots of other parking spots, use one of them if you are them impatient.

Thirdly, shopping carts . . . are people really that lazy that they can't take their carts back to the store or to one of the cart corals?  Or do they just not care?  And chances are these are the same people that whine and complain the whole time they are in the store that they carts don't push properly and are loud . . . well, that's what happens when they are left in the middle of the parking lot to be repeatedly hit by cars, truck and SUVs!

And finally, pedestrians . . . watch where you are going people!  Cars in parking lots may be going more slowly than cars on the street, but they can still do a good amount of damage if they hit you!  Sure, pedestrians have the right of way, but remember, as a driver, I can't read your mind when you decide to suddenly change directions and step out in front of me.  And watch your children, teach them to watch for oncoming vehicles, so that they can stop you when you aren't paying attention.  

Thank you for tuning into today's rant . . . I am sure that there will be more in the future!!

When is my Weekend?

"The weekend -- one or two days, typically Saturday and Sunday -- is a time during which most paid workers do not work. This is a time for leisure and recreation, or for religious activities. There is substantially less activity on many websites on weekends."  (http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/weekend)


That does not at all sound like my weekends . . . how about yours?  I no longer get to sleep late on weekends, unless 6:30 am counts as sleeping in.  I spend my days cleaning and organizing the house, doing laundry, grocery shopping, and whatever else I didn't have the time or energy for during the week . . . all in between looking after a one year old.


Gone are the days when I could just tell hubby that I was going out shopping and go with out any worries. Gone are the days when I can go out for a girls night.  Gone are the days when I can do anything without planning ahead and packing a diaper bag complete with snacks and sippy cups.  Gone are the days when the weekend is, like the definition states, a time for leisure and recreation . . . the weekend is now the time for my "other job" the one without a pay cheque!


Side note . . . as proof of how busy my weekend days can be, I started writing this post at about 8:00 am and am not posting it at almost 5:40 pm.  

Stressed or Tired . . . Tired or Stressed?

Am I more stressed because I am tired or am I more tired because I am stressed??

I have been pondering this for a few days and I am beginning to think that it is much like the proverbial "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" question.

There is no doubt about it that I am stressed.  There have been a number of things going on at work since the Christmas break, there are a million and one things that I need to do around the house, not to mention all the day to day mom things . . . mix it all together and you've got one big batch of STRESS!  However, I am also exhausted.

Being tired has become a normal part of my existence, but I often lie awake at night with my mind filled with thoughts off all the things that are going on and all the things that I need to do.  So, it seems as though my stress is causing my exhaustion.

But wait, because I am tired, I put off doing many of the things that need doing - the things around the house, volunteer things that I've committed too . . . the list is much longer, but you the idea!  Knowing that all these things (many of which have deadlines) need to be done and that I don't have the energy (or time) to do them gets me all stressed out again.

So, could someone please tell me - am I stressed because I am tired or am I tired because I am stress?  Or am I just tired and stressed because I am a working mom?  Please, give me answer, because I would really be stressing over this if I could stay awake to think about it!!!!!

Good-bye 2009 . . . Hello 2010

Out with the old and in with the new . . . another year, another decade is over and a new one has begun.  A new year brings new experiences and new challenges.  A story to write, and you are the main character.

This year, I strive to be the best wife and mother I can be.  I look forward to my first full year in my new position at work, as I do everything I can to make our toddler program the best it can be.  I will be working to find a better balance in my life, making time for my husband, my son, myself as well as my job and volunteer endeavors . . . all while blogging my experiences here!

To each and everyone one of you, I wish a year full of fun, excitement while you face the challenges that life throws your way!