You Know You're Raising Your Kid In the City When...

So the other day she came home from being with Daddy all day and went straight to having a nap -- a marathon nap. After two and a half hours, she finally woke up. I always take her outside in the afternoon after she wakes up but this time it was getting dark. I suited us both up as fast as I could and we high-tailed it to the park down the street. When we got there it was still light enough but there were these two dudes standing outside a white pervy van smoking something.

Now, anyone who grew up where I grew up wouldn't normally be bothered by this. You'd just think, "oh there's two dudes smoking something in the park" and then you'd proceed to plunk your child on the swing next to them and ask them how their day was going. But, here in the city it's different. You try that here and you'd probably end up on the 5 o'clock news -- I might be stereotyping a little and I'm OK with that... So, we strolled right on past.

I wanted her to be able to run around but the other park I knew of was too far and it was getting darker. So, we just strolled and strolled until we hit... Blockbuster Video!! Perfect! There was plenty of room for her to roam around, people to see, things to look at and I could just pretend I was looking for a movie! They don't need to know that I don't even own a TV...

I took her inside and we went to the back of the store to "look at movies". A nice young man came to ask if I was finding everything OK. I answered back, "I sure am!" Hehe :) Unfortunately, she wasn't in the mood for roaming around in Blockbuster. When we were in Edmonton with Uncle Garnet and Aunty Heather she loved it but with it being teething week, she wasn't in the mood. In fact, she got pretty freaked out with all the noise and the bright lights. So, we went outside. She climbed up and down the steps a couple of times and then we walked around the building. She stopped at all the doors to the businesses and made the people inside laugh and say, "oh look at the cute baby!" I couldn't hear them but I could read their lips. Then, we went to Starbucks where she pushed an empty chair over to the other side of the sidewalk. She finally decided she had enough; I put her back in the stroller and returned home.

All in all it was a nice outing :) It's nice to know that we always have somewhere for her to go and run around, even when it's dark and there's sketchy people smoking funny stuff in our park.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoesies!!

She loves shoes. Every morning after breakfast she goes to get her shoes from the doorway and grunts away because she wants them on her feet. She then stomps proudly around the house laughing at the sound they make on the floor. Often, she'll just walk around the house carrying her shoes in her hands. When we finally do get around to going somewhere there is one on her bedroom floor and another on the toy shelf. I tell her, "go get your shoes" and she will actually go find both of them. Shoe-getting is just as exciting as shoe-wearing. I know that the first time she breaks into a run will be when she's shoe-getting. She moves so fast when I say, "go get your shoes" that she almost leaves a trail of smoke behind. Tomorrow is going to be an extra special shoe day. You see, I just bought a shoe rack off of Craigslist (for those of you who don't know, Craigslist is an online classifieds website). I love Craigslist, I'm actually addicted to it. It's...
Read more

The Hundred Languages Of Children - A Poem

My, my, my it's been a late night with her. So, I'm just going to post a poem - my favorite poem. I always get a bit of a lump in my throat when I read it. The poem, "The Hundred Languages of Children" was written by Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the 'Reggio Emilia' approach to childcare. My brain is too mushy tonight to explain this approach well enough but, I've found a site that explains it fabulously: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggio_Emilia_approach I had the opportunity to work with an educator who was learning about this approach and practising it in her classroom. It was the most amazing experience I've ever had working in childcare. The children were so stimulated, curious - they were little scientists! Our role as teachers was basically that of facilitator. We observed, recorded, and documented their play and provided whatever it was they needed to take it a step further. Projects could go from a few days to over a month. It is absolutely ...
Read more

H*** Week Is Almost Over!

Image
This week consisted of: ~ Me being out-both-ends-sick and not getting out of bed for 36 hours straight ~ Molly getting two teeth the day I was sick (the teething pains are still bothering her -- I actually gave her Tylenol -- GASP!! ~ Me spending three hours in the emergency room finding out that I did not fracture my foot a second time but that my bones are frail ~ Me suffering at least two mental breakdowns (Nina, Sarah, Deb, and Mom...I feel much better now!) ~ Molly getting 'Roseola' -- fevers along with fussiness and extreme neediness followed by rash that spreads all over her body ~ Driving four hours to see Daddy, Aunty, and Uncle -- four hours with a babe takes 7.5 ~ Molly vomiting four times in six hours on Saturday ~ And to top it off, today I saw the doctor and he told me to eat sardines. Sardines!? Yuck! But, they're an excellent source of calcium so I'll eat those little suckers I will. I'll plug my nose and chase them down with a big glass of milk....
Read more