Gift expectations

Having kids and their receiving of gifts is a lot more dramatic than I expected.  I have given many outfits at baby showers or as birthday presents to relatives or friends kids.  I don't expect to ever actually see the kid wearing the outfit when I'm around.  If I see them in it on Facebook or someone sends me a picture then it's a nice bonus and I appreciate the parents thinking to send it to me.  I have done the same with friends and family, texted them a picture when they are in an outfit so they can see it, and see that I didn't return it :)  But in no way do I think the should dress their child in an outfit I gave when they come to visit me or I visit them.

This logic, I have found, is not shared by everyone.  I have relatives that fully expect to see my children dressed in an outfit they have purchased for them when they see our kids.  I figured this out by the little comments here and there when they were NOT wearing an outfit they bought.  The comments sound something like "Oh I thought they would be wearing the sweaters I bough them today."....not exactly subtle.  Point taken!

The Mother ‘Hood Official Video

The cookie ladies

We do all our grocery shopping at the same store in town and probably go a few times a week.  Sometimes in the winter it may just be for one thing but it gets us out of the house at least.  Thankfully at the bakery you can get your kids a free cookie which keeps them busy and happy while we are trying to shop.  We see the same few ladies each time and over the years my girls have developed a little relationship with them.  They started to get to know us when Mia was old enough to get her cookie.  They have seen her grow, they saw me pregnant with Melody, our first shopping trip with Melody we stopped by to introduce her.  They have seen Melody grow and eventually be old enough to get her own cookie now too.  Mia knows their names and they know my girls by name. That's the extent of our relationship and interaction with them but they are a witness to our girls growing up and I think that is sweet.  I'm thankful for our cookie ladies!

Goals for the New Year

I've never really been one to write down resolutions or goals for the new year but I guess one of my goals for this year was to write some goals :) I even laminated them so that shows that I mean business!

I'm sure some of mine are the same as a lot of peoples.  I want to read more.  Instead of watching TV at night I want to crack out a book and read.  Fiction, bio, inspiration, whatever I'm in to at the time.

The one that is pretty intimidating for me is planting a vegetable garden.  I don't do well keeping plants and flowers alive so this could be a disaster but I'm going to try.  I want it to be a fun activity for me and my girls and something that we have to tend to regularly.  And I think it will be exciting for the girls to see something grow and we get fresh vegetables out of the deal....hopefully :)  So now my research begins so I can have some sense of knowledge on what I'm doing!

The lost art of a phone call

We love Kijiji at our house.  We have found some real gems on there and we use it often.  I post ads to rent rooms at our rental house in Barrie, it has been very successful for us.  I'm don't often have time to sit at the computer and check emails so I make it clear in the ad to please call with any questions and to set up showings of the rooms.  It's easier then going back and forth with people all the time on email and my husband can deal with the phone calls while he is on the road during the day.  Even with that in the ad I still get emails all the time.  Sometimes I email them back and ask them to call us.  What's interesting is that they never call.  It's like they would rather keep looking for rooms elsewhere then actually pick up the phone and have to speak to another human being.

We have also posted ads for my husbands business looking for an employee once in awhile.  We hear a lot from young people either still in trade school or just finished.  Again in the ad we ask that they call to talk about the position and set up an interview.  And again we still get lots of emails.  One guy emailed and I never answered him because we said no emails.  He went on to find our website and send a message through the website saying that he knows we said no emails but he was interested in the job and asked for us to call him to talk about it.  Well young man we won't be calling you and here's why.  First the ad said no emails please call us, you couldn't follow that simple instruction so what does that say about you.  Second we have what you want...a job, we don't want to chase you, if you are really that interested in employment then pick up the phone.  And last, you are applying for a job in the service/trade industry.  You will be talking and interacting with customers everyday, you can't hide behind your emails and your texts, you will have to make contact with other people.

This next generation is so caught up in their tech world will they be lacking personality/social skills because they don't have to interact with anyone?  I remember when I was younger sitting on the phone gabbing with my girlfriends for hours, does anyone do that anymore or are they suffering from carpal tunnel because they text or IM for hours instead?  I hope things are different for my girls as they grow up but I think it starts with me and what will be allowed and at what age.  They might seem uncool to their friends because they don't have a cell phone at 8 years old but they will probably thank me for it later.

Pinterest Gone Wrong

When I cruise Pinterest I usually only pick things that I know are the realm of my ability and a lot of kids crafts.  They always have great Christmas idea and some pretty easy ones that I think to myself..."how could I possibly mess this up!"  Well I can.

The first craft was a Christmas tree and the tree is Mia's hand prints and the lights are her finger prints.  All I had to do was paint the trunk and a star at the top.  Seems easy enough until Mia went right to the top with her hand prints leaving me no room for a star.  I tried to paint one over her green hand print which was a big flop.

The second seemed easy enough too.  Each of the girls foot prints, a simple boarder, some dots and write Mistletoes.  Mia's foot print went great, Melody was not a fan of the paint on her foot so getting her to do a nice print was a  task, and she started to slide around in the process making it not much of a print at all but I pressed on.  My dots got smudged and after I wrote Mistletoes I dropped water on the canvas running some of the letters which you can't see as much in the picture.

I was all stressed over the "imperfection" of the projects and kept trying to think of ways to fix it.  But then I had to straighten myself out and realize the point here.  Did my kids have fun?  Yes!  Then that's all that matters.  They are cute decorations we can put out each year or do new ones each year as they get bigger.  I could be the hovering mom who makes sure the crafts are perfect so they are "pin worthy" or Facebook worthy to brag about your kids.  But i'm not going to be.  

Here are our Christmas crafts in all their glory and smudges.  We had fun and made a huge mess and that's the point of it all!

Awkward mommy run-ins

To keep my girls busy through this cold season we got to a lot of play groups locally.  It's great interaction for the girls with other kids, but it can get a little awkward when there is a disagreement between kids and all the moms are there.  I'm trying not to hover over Mia all the time and if she and another little kid are having an issue over a toy or whatever I want her to work it out.  If there is pushing etc. then yes I get involved only if she is at fault and needs to apologize.

We were at a play group and this little girl had something and put it down and moved on to something else and Mia picked it up.  The little girl was upset and went to her mommy and said that Mia took it.  I could see the mom looking at me wondering if I was going to step in.  She said very loudly "oh i'm sorry she took it (looking at me)".  The mom even asked Mia to give it back, which didn't happen.  I chose not to get involved.  I saw what happened and Mia didn't take it from her so there was no issue as far as I was concerned.  But this little girl or her mother were not letting it go and thankfully the activity ended and all the kids moved on to something else before I had to say something to the mom.

Sometimes we have to just let kids figure it out and work it out instead of directing them all the time as to what to do.  Of course we have to correct them so they learn right from wrong and believe me I do tons of that at home between my two girls.

I am pretty sure I was getting a glare from the mom the rest of the time, but to each mom their own on how they want to handle things.