1. Marley lost another tooth this morning.
This is baby tooth #4 that she's lost. Her two upper teeth are wiggly right now so I think my Project 12 is going to be full of toothless smile pictures and pictures of baby teeth this year!!
It was pretty loose last night and she was a tiny bit panicked that it would fall out in the night and she'd swallow it. I had to reassure her that IF that happened the Tooth Fairy would still be able to give her money for her tooth but that no, we did not have to actually produce the tooth! Ick!
2. Single parenting this weekend.
Greg is off to his somewhat annual Guys Getaway with brother-in-law Aaron. Aaron's parents have a cabin in the interior and 7 years ago these trips to play pond hockey, drink beer and lose big at poker started. It was bucketting rain this morning so I sure hope the guys drive carefully!!
I used to be a bit trepidatious (is that even a word? and if so, did I spell it right?) about having the girls alone all weekend. I'm a very lucky woman in that Greg is around a lot. He gets every other Monday off as a Flex Day, he gets every Stat off, he gets 5 weeks holiday a year and he has such a generous sick leave allotment that he doesn't feel the need to "tough it out" if he's not feeling good. He leaves for work most days at 7:00AM and walks back in the door around 5:00PM. I may complain about the time he devotes to soccer or Union meetings/dinners or hockey pool drafts/redrafts/add drops/etc, but really, I am a very lucky woman to have such an available husband and devoted father. So it used to be daunting to stare down the barrel of almost 3 full days with no "relief pitcher". Now however I don't mind so much. I think it's because the girls are that bit older, that bit more independent, that bit LESS reliant on me. It makes my job that bit easier!
Today will be a test of this new attitude though. I like to refer to Fridays as Hell Days. The day is easy right up until 3:00PM. Then it's load Paige and LC into the van to pick Marley up from school. Rush to ballet from 3:30 - 4:30 (hoping you haven't forgotten to pack the ballet bag!) then rush home so Greg can take her and Paige to soccer practice from 5:00 - 6:00. (Paige has started practicing with the team just in case she's needed on game days as an extra body on the field) But now Marley is enrolled in Soccer Academy which runs from 5:30 - 6:30 so she warms up with her team then runs over to the turf field for another hour. Phew! Are you tired yet?
Usually Greg takes over after ballet and I get to stay at home to prepare dinner and entertain a bereft LC. Today I am just praying the rain stays away for a few more hours so I can do the "Soccer Mom" thing on the sidelines in the cold - not the cold and wet! Oh, and I'm pretty sure dinner is going to be McDonald's drive thru!!
Wish me luck!
So I hope you have fun this weekend Hon! See you Sunday!
PS- I may take a TINY bit of extra time to myself on Monday!!
3. Party planning.
Marley has started planning her 7th birthday party. It's still over a month away! Yikes! And she wants boys to come! Double yikes!!!
Right now the plan is for a Rock Star party where the kids come dressed up as their favourite Rock Star. She wanted us to build a stage complete with curtains. She went to a party last year at our neighbours with such a setup. Greg may be an available father but he's not a "handy-dad" so we are trying to come up with an easy to install paper version! We sat down the other day and actually sketched out a plan. My first instinct was to quash her dreams as "unrealistic" and "too hard", but as another resolution in my Happiness Project, I embraced her enthusiasm and merely attempted to channel it into a more doable direction. Plans are still rough but I think I may actually be catching some of her excitement!
4. Ready, Set, Learn
Last night we went over to the Elementary school for their annual Ready, Set, Learn. This is a program for 3 and 4 year olds put out by the Province of BC to encourage reading and to introduce preschoolers to their future Kindergarten teachers. This was our 4th year going to this - 2 for Marley, and now 2 for Paige. I don't think Paige cared one or the other last year but this year she is acutely aware that she will be starting Kindergarten in September so was super excited to attend. On the one hand I am also super excited for Paige to attend Kindergarten this year, on the other I can't believe she's going to be starting Kindergarten in the Fall!!!
Ah, the dichotomy of parenthood!
5. Goodbyes are tough
Today (as I type actually) the Berg family is saying goodbye to their father, husband, brother, son. I had hoped to attend along with what I'm sure are the masses of family, friends and strangers all paying tribute and showing support for this family. My own responsibilities here (over an hour and a half away from the services) prevent it. This saddens me and I am struggling to understand if I am truly meant to help this family in any way. I feel I am uniquely qualified to help them but so far haven't been able to. Hope God shows me the way soon.
I wasn't able to attend my parents funeral but I do remember being asked for input. I chose a hymn - "How Great Thou Art" I think. Gillian wrote a very poignant blog post about asking her children what they'd like to include in Myron's coffin - read about it here. I'm not sure if all the children are going to be attending the service today. For their sakes, I hope so. I feel it took me longer to heal, longer to face reality, longer to say "good bye" because I wasn't there. I strongly believe that I said my good byes to them while we were all waiting to be rescued from our crushed car, but attending a service, seeing the coffins lowered into the ground, being surrounded by friends and family who loved them ... that would have been nice.
Awful, but nice.
Following Gillian's blog has left me thinking about all that happened 22 (almost 23) years ago. Reflection is good.
May the Berg family feel the love, support and prayers that are flowing out to them today!
Well, that's all for this installment. Now I'm off to pack Marley's ballet bag and soccer bag, make sure Paige has soccer gear ready, pack a healthy, quickly digestable snack for Marley to inhale on the way to ballet and more snacks to keep Paige and LC from climbing the walls while waiting for Marley at ballet, wake up LC and then load up the van ... phew! I need a nap!
Have a good weekend everyone!
Hi Alison, I read part of this post on Saturday, the rest of it on Sunday, was going to comment on Monday... well, you know how it goes! How was your weekend hubby-less? I dread those times too, but usually they work out not too badly. Sometimes I feel more relaxed when Jason's not around, like I can let more of the rules go. The 4 food groups don't have to be represented at dinner if I don't feel like it. You wanna watch 2 movies in a row? Go for it! Read for as long as I want at night, scrapbook whenever I want...it can be pretty nice! But if it's hockey night, and I have to bring the two girls along - brutal! Anyway, you've reminded me I need to start planning Ailis' 6th b-day, it's on Valentine's day, and I think I'm gonna have to have the whole class over, ugh! I promised her a skating party, but our rink is melting by the minute! My friend had a pop-star party for her daughter, and instead of cake, she made microphones out of ice cream cones with cake baked inside and the girls put whatever toppings they wanted on top. I can ask her about it if you want to know how she did it. Pretty cool!
ReplyDeleteThat's very sad about the Berg family. I'm sure you will find a way to help them when the time is right!
Well, this must be the longest comment I've ever written on someone's blog, so I'll end here and say hope you have a great week!