Posts Tagged ‘Family’

My oldest son's birthday is today.  By oldest, I mean 6.

I've always felt that I should get the presents on my son's birthday!

Am I wrong?

After all, I'm the one who suffered for 12 long hours with no assisted medication. My fault - I did arrive at the hospital too late.

Actually, NO!...my husband's fault for stopping for gas.

Oh YES. Yes, he did.

Instead, cleaning, baking, decorating, hosting, and cleaning again is on my agenda.

Planning a children's birthday party is getting more and more complex.

I remember mine was a home baked cake and the special treat was a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Now families rent inflatable jumping houses, obstacles courses, carnival games and superhero look-a-likes to come. It will certainly be memorable, but quite expensive.

We still have a home baked cake, but baked in my son's favourite themed pan. I usually rent a cake pan at Bulk Barn for the occasion - since next year the theme will be different.

Our home becomes the obstacle course - filled with balloons and streamers.

Our carnival games are simple treasure hunts, pin the tail on the donkey (avoid the pin, use velcro tape), Musical chair with no chairs (kids "freeze" in the most funniest positions).

As for the "superhero", well, if all goes well, that's me. (At least in my son's eyes.)

Usually there's a brief moment during the chaos where  just...for a second...the noise stops and my eyes focus frozen on my son.

And that's when I truly realize that he is my gift.

He makes me a better person, he adds play, fun, laughter to my life. He's love that I've never felt.  He is my heart.

I love the gift of watching him grow up.

I am so blessed.

It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged.  Sometimes Life is challenging. Priorities shift and time passes quickly, other times, time passes very slowly.

My husband, who by the way, will probably kill me for writing this, got laid off.

Now what?

He has been working since the age of 14, and doesn't know what else to do. Work was a major, major part of his life. Something he felt he was good at. Something he took pride in.

But on one bitter cold January afternoon, it was gone.

Poof...

It left him numb at first, then all sorts of emotions started to surface.

No.

Erupt.

Anger.

Hurt.

Resentful.

Vendictive.

Stupid.

Doubtful.

Insecure.

Embassed.

Levels of emotions that I've never witnessed in all our years together. Nor would want to.

It's hard.

It's hard to go through. It's hard to watch.

It's hard.

But, it is what it is. We can't go back trying to analysis everything and every word, every action, every decision.  We'll go nuts.

We need to realize that a job doesn't define you.

We need to value how blessed we truly are.

We need to step back, breathe and start fresh.

I try to reassure him that "things happen for a reason" - "you'll find something better that gives you a better balance in life" - "it's going to be okay".

In time, I'm sure it will.  Right now, we're adjusting and learning how to cope with job loss.

Every year I say the same thing...."I'm never ever going to do that again!  Never! NEVER!"

But I do.

"Tis the night before Christmas...join us for Christmas Eve Dinner" invitations are sent to our immediately family of 20 in total.  Yup, 20.

I even found a site Evite Invitations, which makes it easier to send out invitations, monitor responses, add columns to allow guests to sign up to bring items and add comments.

I do know it's my fault.

I just want everyone together at one table and give thanks for all our blessings, remember those whom are not able to be with us, and appreciate the time we do have with those there.  It's important to me for my children to have funny stories, fond memories and photos of their family, especially their grandparents.

And that's why I do it.

This is my third year, and it is getting easier.  And that's because I've learnt a few things along the way.

1.  It's never going to be perfect.  Give it up.

You had to see me the first year, wanting everything looking beautiful. Table set, napkins placed perfectly, candles burning, Christmas carols in the background, place cards with a Lotto 649 ticket wrapped around it...so very cute.  I had a complete menu planned and itinerary for the day.

Didn't happen.

I tried.  Really hard, but couldn't keep up.

2.    Ask for help.

Something I have problems with.  I think, why should I have to ask? Don't people see I'm struggling? I would help them in a heartbeat.

Everyone is different and sometimes, they just don't realize you need help.  So ask.

3. Remember why the holidays are special.

I was so busy focusing on the visual, I forgot about why I do it.  And I missed most of the funny stories and picture taking, because I was still in the kitchen trying to keep up with the dirty dishes!

Forget about the kitchen, go outside for a quick snowball fight, crawl under the tree with your kids and search for presents, hug everyone, treasure this time!

Have a wonderful magical Christmas.

First term of school is done and report cards have been received.  Okay, now what?

My oldest son started French Immersion in Senior Kindergarten this year. We wanted him to be challenged and have fun learning.  And that's a hard combination.  It took a few weeks to adjust,but next thing I know, he's counting in French at home, listing all the colours, addressing me with "Bonjour ma mere",  "Au revoir",  and singing Christmas songs!

Me, on the other hand, know very little French. A few words to get by, and a few not so nice sentences. So, I'm learning too.

We decided to take steps to welcome French into our home.  Sounds weird, yes? It actually looks even weirder, but it helps.

• We put post-it notes on household items with French translations. Yes, on chairs, computer, fridge, table, stairs.
• We change the Walt Disney DVDs to French and watch the movie together.
• We talk about going on a trip to Quebec and practicing our French, in real situations.
• I take advantage of the tools on the web.  I found that abcteach website is a great resource for worksheets, flash cards, puzzles and more!

It's actually kind of fun. Afterall, who doesn't love French Fries, French Toast?   Try it.  Any language will do.

Revoir mes amis.

Nothing signifies the arrival of the Christmas season like the presence of the marching bands and festive floats as they strut their stuff down the street for the annual Santa Claus Parade. For years, we have bundled up the kids, piled them into the car and excitedly made our way to the Santa Claus Parade with hot chocolate in hand and letters to Santa in our pockets. We would ooh and ahh as the beautiful floats and marching bands would pass us by. Later, we would talk about our favourites and re-watch it on TV, hoping to catch a glimpse of us on the screen.

This year, like so many before, we joined thousands of people to take in the sights and sounds of the wonderful parade, although, this time, we saw it a little differently. My oldest daughter had to finish a project for school so decided to opt out of our annual event. My son sat across the street from us with a buddy and our youngest took part in the parade with her Girl Guide group, leaving my husband and I to await the arrival of Santa without the presence of our children.

Hmmmmm!

The very reason we get out there, regardless of the weather is to share in the kids enthusiasm as the parade draws to an end and Santa appears atop his sleigh surrounded by his reindeer.

Oh, he still showed up.....not much had changed, yet everything changed.