Holistic Mommy

Don't tell her yet but I bought her some new toys today. I came across a garage sale on the way to the grocery store and it was loaded, I mean LOADED with kids stuff. I happen to be purging all her outgrown toys and replacing them with stuff she's really into right now so this was such a happy coincidence! For $30 I scored oodles of never ending goodness... I found a new horsie for her collection. She loves horses because her Daddy takes her to see real ones on the weekends. She feeds her toy horses pine cones and oats and then sits on them -- even the one that is 5 inches tall. Yup, she positions herself directly over the little plastic pony and then squats down onto it; I am impressed by her leg strength. The other day she sat on one of her large stuffed horses and began bouncing up and down, pretending to ride it. I don't know who taught her this but it was pretty hilarious to watch. I bought her two Tonka trucks, a digger and a bulldozer. There's some construction g...

She's hit a whole new milestone these past couple of weeks. Remember our perfect little angel? Here is a sample of some of the things she has been up to: ~ Climbed on top of the piano ~ " " " " the kitchen table ~ " " " " the arm chair, fell off...cried ~ Sticks her hand in toilet water ~ Hits A. ~ Hits me !! ~ Shakes her head no and squeals everytime I put her food on her tray ~ Shakes her head no to everything... EVERYTHING, even the things she wants ~ Runs out of the park so Mommy has to go get her. ~ And more! Then there's the fireplace... This one really drives me nuts. The two of them open the door to it all the time. From across the room (because I'm always across the room when this happens) I tell them to close the door. Of course they don't so I go close the door and then redirect them to another activity. That's about as far as I've gone, discipline-wise, with th...

Tomorrow's Election Day!! Remember this ?? This was after Gordon Campbell devastated families all over the province by making massive funding cuts to childcare, closing daycares and ending jobs, forcing childcare workers to lower their pay -- recently, many centres have had to increase parent fees as they can't pay their staff any lower (I have never made more than $14.36 per hour --Canadian -- in my five years of working in childcare). He closed public schools (and they keep closing), senior homes ... the list goes on. Election day is tomorrow. Go vote for our families!

As I may have mentioned in a previous post , playgroups irritate me. Being a co-sleeping, extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, organic-whole foods feeding mamma (wow, I do sound like a raging hippy), I just can't seem to connect with the other mamma's. But for the sake of having a post-baby social life, Little One and I attend them quite regularly. I've been in the city for a few months now and have found a variety of playgroups. Some fun, some so-so, and some we will never attend again. On Saturday, we hooked up with a group of other mommies and tots for a clothes swap. We had never met this group before and I had already made the usual promise to myself to avoid any parenting conversations. Why? Because I don't need no judgements and it ain't none of yo' business that my baby don't sleep in a crib. I pulled up to the correct address... (it was in someone's house) and couldn't help but notice the huge provincial election signs in the yard. Upo...

It's cherry blossom season. The whole entire city is blooming in pink flowers and it's absolutely amazing. I'll take the two toddlers in the massive double stroller and park them right under the trees. I tell them to look up and this is what they see: I've lived in many places. From the middle-of-nowhere Kootenay's, to the freezing cold high Arctic, from redneck northern Alberta, and back to the smelly city. No where is like home -- dumps of snow every winter, the most delicious smelling springs, the familiar faces like that of the guy who burns his outdoor woodstove 5 nights a week. Yes I said outdoor woodstove. It stands in his carport with no chimney attached just smoking away. You'll see him while driving over the mountain pass on your way to work/school/swim practise, cutting down a tree with his chain saw and loading it into his truck. All this so he can fire up his woodstove -- with no chimney. Oh I miss home and all the special people in it. Everywhere I...

Everyday, when we go outside, she heads straight for the swing. As I'm always rarin' to go and excited that we finally got our butts out of the house, I want to get as far from it as possible. But noooooo. We can't. She has to go on the swing first. To be quite honest, the swing bores me -- to death. But she loves it... more than shoes. Everyday, twice a day, it's the same thing. One step into the yard and she's already beelined across the yard for that darn swing. I tell her, "lets go to such and such and we'll swing when we get back" because I just want to leave. But I look over to see her clutching onto the swing with both hands. She doesn't make a peep instead just hangs on tight while facing me with the sweetest, most patient, "mommy I want to swing on the swing will you please put me on?" look you've ever seen. Of course I pretend not to notice her silent plea and say, "let's go for a walk and then we'll come back t...