Here it is, the very last day of June 2010. The day before July 1, 2010.
How did this happen? How did it get to be almost July so quickly? And before that it was "almost June" that caught me off guard. And before that, "almost May".... I'm sure you get the picture. Time is simply speeding by much too quickly, quicker than it ever has before. Each twelve hour work day seems to drag on forever and the days at home are seemingly endless. Why is it then that cumulatively, the weeks and months are flying by?
Mom was here for an hour or two over lunch today and we looked through a few old photo albums. There's nothing like a trip down a twenty year old memory lane to remind you of how much time has passed. There was a picture of my two oldest; one of them still in an infant carrier. I can remember that instant in time like it was yesterday.
While I can look back a year and see how much I've accomplished during that time, I also can see how little I've really done, and how much time I've spent on activities that have no relation to any of the goals I've set for myself. Some may call it wasting time, and I think they may be right in some instances. For example, I have spent hours and days and possibly weeks of the last year playing games on my phone. These hours are gone and I'll never get them back.
At the same time I complain bitterly to anyone who will listen, about the fifty pounds I've gained and how I've got no time to do anything about it. What if I had used those hours for working out at home, going to the gym, or preparing healthy meals? I'm sure I wouldn't be carrying around this much extra weight if had I used my time more constructively.
The point I'm trying to make is that we are all given 24 hours in each day. How we use our time is up to us, but we need to be aware that each minute we spend on "time wasting" activities is a minute that could have been put to better use.
So I'm challenging myself to spend less time on my iPhone and more time working towards my goals (weight loss is one of those goals).
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
"Sucker?"
In my opinion everything Kev does is cute, except for the inevitable dirty diapers, of course. Lately his vocabulary seems to have doubled and tripled and quadrupled; he repeats virtually everything that you ask him to. Tonight we needed to make a quick stop at work on the way home from Mom's. He tried again and again to say "hossisipal," adding several extra syllables with each attempt. Moments like that melt my heart and remind me of how fortunate I am to have the opportunity of mothering him.
"Gate Gamma" and Kev have quite a special bond; tonight she was sharing candy-corn with him, his first candy-corn experience. He wanted "moah" and asked her for some while her back was turned. No response. For anyone that may be reading my blog for the first time, my mother is quite hard of hearing and just didn't hear Kev ask for more. Based on something I had read previously and based on Kev's vocabulary and development, I took a gamble and quickly explained to him that she couldn't hear very well and that he should wait till she was looking at him and then ask. Wow. He did exactly that. I was flabbergasted and pleased at the same time. She gave him a few more pieces of candy-corn for his effort. Priceless.
As far as suckers go, someone introduced him to suckers at Easter of this year. Since then we've been through a large variety of suckers and numerous trips to Dollarama, which is where they are the cheapest. I've developed a fondness for them myself after constantly having them on hand.
Virtually every time I am on the phone, Kev becomes quite loud, largely a happy sort of noisy, but enough to make phone calls a bit of a challenge for me and the unseen caller. Today, however, while out in public, I received a call from my 'boss' regarding some proposed schedule changes. I was sure Kev would react as he typically does but he sat as still as can be in his stroller and didn't make a sound. No reminders necessary. Not even a dirty look.
That earned him many positive words of recognition from me and a (small) bag of suckers to be stored in the 'junk drawer' in the kitchen. Alas, I have discovered that he is suddenly tall enough to reach into the drawer and that is exactly what he did, mere minutes after brushing his teeth for bed. "Sucker? Gamma sucker?"
"Gate Gamma" and Kev have quite a special bond; tonight she was sharing candy-corn with him, his first candy-corn experience. He wanted "moah" and asked her for some while her back was turned. No response. For anyone that may be reading my blog for the first time, my mother is quite hard of hearing and just didn't hear Kev ask for more. Based on something I had read previously and based on Kev's vocabulary and development, I took a gamble and quickly explained to him that she couldn't hear very well and that he should wait till she was looking at him and then ask. Wow. He did exactly that. I was flabbergasted and pleased at the same time. She gave him a few more pieces of candy-corn for his effort. Priceless.
As far as suckers go, someone introduced him to suckers at Easter of this year. Since then we've been through a large variety of suckers and numerous trips to Dollarama, which is where they are the cheapest. I've developed a fondness for them myself after constantly having them on hand.
Virtually every time I am on the phone, Kev becomes quite loud, largely a happy sort of noisy, but enough to make phone calls a bit of a challenge for me and the unseen caller. Today, however, while out in public, I received a call from my 'boss' regarding some proposed schedule changes. I was sure Kev would react as he typically does but he sat as still as can be in his stroller and didn't make a sound. No reminders necessary. Not even a dirty look.
That earned him many positive words of recognition from me and a (small) bag of suckers to be stored in the 'junk drawer' in the kitchen. Alas, I have discovered that he is suddenly tall enough to reach into the drawer and that is exactly what he did, mere minutes after brushing his teeth for bed. "Sucker? Gamma sucker?"
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
A Morning With Kevin
Of course I spend virtually every morning with Kevin, but I thought I’d just give you a little peek into our world. Let me know if any of this sounds familiar.
This morning, like all other non-work mornings, I was summoned to his room by ‘boing boing boing boing,’ which is essentially what he’s doing in his crib; bouncing up and down, sometimes getting a good 6 inches of air. Quite frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t catapulted right out onto the floor yet. Oddly enough, he can bounce like this mere seconds after waking, I’ve seen him do it with his eyes all squinty and barely open. Its as if his little toddler instinct says “yippee, its morning time. Lets get going!” He’s ecstatic to see me every morning when I peek into his door and he is instantly forgiven for anything and everything he has done or is about to do.
Mornings are fairly relaxed at our house; I make coffee, Kev clamors for his “wonk” which is soy milk; he currently prefers chocolate flavored. He generally also wants coffee and I comply. Now, before you all get up in arms about me giving a toddler coffee, keep in mind that my coffee is mixed with plenty of soy milk and I then pour that into his milk. So really he’s drinking soy milk with a very small amount of coffee in it.
This particular morning, Kev is bringing me vanilla and vinegar from my baking cupboard. They are in identical jugs and he is counting them for my benefit; “one, three . . .”
There is rarely a moment in my morning when I cannot reach out and touch Kev as he seems to be glued to my side. I’m currently sitting at the kitchen table using my laptop, and he is at my right elbow, examining the cooking oil bottle. Earlier I went to tidy some toys in his room and he played intently with his cars and trucks just next to me until I left his room.
Morning is bathtime for Kev and immediately follows his first stinky diaper of the day. Some days he can be left playing in the tub for almost an hour and other days he says “done done” after only a minute or two of playing. The way our home is set up, I can hear him from wherever I am on the main floor. Often I work in the kitchen; sometimes in my room. Sometimes I even dare to sit at the computer and do some work while he’s having a bath. But that doesn’t happen often; the last time I did that I tuned out his excited commentary from the bathroom. “Tub. Poopy. Tub. Poopy in Tub.”
Kev signals the end of bathtime by flinging his toys onto the floor. First one, then another, and another, and then they all come flying out of the tub in rapid succession. I’ve learned a lesson, and that is to put small toys in the tub that cannot hold water, and therefore are not holding a gallon of water when they land on the floor.
At present, he is wearing his pyjamas, a green pasta strainer on his head and my runners on his feet. He is asking to “opendo” the vanilla and vinegar jugs but is very agreeable when I say no. Does anyone else ever wonder what exactly goes on in a toddler’s head?
This morning, like all other non-work mornings, I was summoned to his room by ‘boing boing boing boing,’ which is essentially what he’s doing in his crib; bouncing up and down, sometimes getting a good 6 inches of air. Quite frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t catapulted right out onto the floor yet. Oddly enough, he can bounce like this mere seconds after waking, I’ve seen him do it with his eyes all squinty and barely open. Its as if his little toddler instinct says “yippee, its morning time. Lets get going!” He’s ecstatic to see me every morning when I peek into his door and he is instantly forgiven for anything and everything he has done or is about to do.
Mornings are fairly relaxed at our house; I make coffee, Kev clamors for his “wonk” which is soy milk; he currently prefers chocolate flavored. He generally also wants coffee and I comply. Now, before you all get up in arms about me giving a toddler coffee, keep in mind that my coffee is mixed with plenty of soy milk and I then pour that into his milk. So really he’s drinking soy milk with a very small amount of coffee in it.
This particular morning, Kev is bringing me vanilla and vinegar from my baking cupboard. They are in identical jugs and he is counting them for my benefit; “one, three . . .”
There is rarely a moment in my morning when I cannot reach out and touch Kev as he seems to be glued to my side. I’m currently sitting at the kitchen table using my laptop, and he is at my right elbow, examining the cooking oil bottle. Earlier I went to tidy some toys in his room and he played intently with his cars and trucks just next to me until I left his room.
Morning is bathtime for Kev and immediately follows his first stinky diaper of the day. Some days he can be left playing in the tub for almost an hour and other days he says “done done” after only a minute or two of playing. The way our home is set up, I can hear him from wherever I am on the main floor. Often I work in the kitchen; sometimes in my room. Sometimes I even dare to sit at the computer and do some work while he’s having a bath. But that doesn’t happen often; the last time I did that I tuned out his excited commentary from the bathroom. “Tub. Poopy. Tub. Poopy in Tub.”
Kev signals the end of bathtime by flinging his toys onto the floor. First one, then another, and another, and then they all come flying out of the tub in rapid succession. I’ve learned a lesson, and that is to put small toys in the tub that cannot hold water, and therefore are not holding a gallon of water when they land on the floor.
At present, he is wearing his pyjamas, a green pasta strainer on his head and my runners on his feet. He is asking to “opendo” the vanilla and vinegar jugs but is very agreeable when I say no. Does anyone else ever wonder what exactly goes on in a toddler’s head?
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