family Archives - Page 6 of 7 - Forever In Mom Genes

Mother of the Year

May 13 2012

When Heather lost her three year old son Zack, she didn’t stop being a mom. Though her heart was broken, Zack’s brothers needed her more than ever. So she embraced them and loved them as mothers do while she made a plan to keep a promise; the one she made to Zack and to herself as they said goodbye. She vowed to keep his memory alive and to have Elmo, Zack’s comfort and joy, speak his name. And that’s just what she did. Heather tirelessly raised money to create a room (two rooms in fact!) in Zack’s name at York Central Hospital. She also persevered until Kevin Clash (the puppeteer who IS Elmo) knew how much Zackie loved him. Kevin knows and he was touched. And Elmo did speak Zack’s name. Heather is healing with her family and she continues to tell Zack’s story, not only to keep his memory alive, but to help other families deal with the pain of losing a child.” Heather and I became friends online. We bonded over our special needs kids and soon discovered we had many other things in common. When my daughter was in hospital shortly after Zack died, Heather kept tabs on[…]

Jan 26 2012

Canadian winters are long and sometimes we’re trapped inside for days on end. It’s kind of fun at first, until someone finally goes all Jack Nicholson in The Shining. “Heeeere’s Mummy!” I’m not above using a Dora episode (or five) or iPad apps or video games here and there to break up the day or so I can make an important phone call in peace. However, there are lots of easy Winter Boredom Busters besides TV and tech. And when I say easy, I mean for me. Games that require the least amount of prep and effort on my part, win. I’m happy to report that I have yet to chop down any bathroom doors to date thanks in part to these indoor activities: WORD GAMES: These can range from simple classics like “Eye Spy” with versions including colour, shape, function, location in the room {high, low, under, over. between}, to more complex riddles and word problems. My son enjoys creative word games like “Fortunately/Unfortunately.” One person starts with a scenario like, “I know you enjoy donuts, but unfortunately, I ate them all.” The other player counters with a statement beginning with fortunately, e.g., “Fortunately, a donut truck overturned[…]

Jan 23 2012

The only thing better than a raucous games night with friends is, um, nothing. It’s good clean fun. Clean, minus the FOUL, trucker-mouthed answers during our last game of Awkward Family Photos. It’s serious pee-your-pants fun. Okay ya, that’s not exactly clean either. Clearly Games Night is a whole lotta dirty fun. The game is played using a stack of awkward, like really awkward, photos. One player rolls the die and reads aloud the corresponding question from the list of questions surrounding the board. Players write an answer specific to the card in play. After hearing all of the answers, the roller will most likely look like this —> After wiping her nose, she picks her favourite answer, and then guesses which player wrote which answer. If your answer was chosen as the fave, you get to put one of your chips on the board. If the roller guesses three correct answers, she gets to put one of her chips on the board. The first player with all her chips on the board, is victorious! The question for this photo: On the cover of what magazine (real or made-up) should this photo appear? Players’ Answers: – White Rasta[…]

Apr 27 2011

How long is it acceptable for your child to believe in the Tooth Fairy? My son is nearly eight and fully believes a magical winged creature breaks and enters into our home to purchase his grungy teeth to add to her toothy collection. It’s a bizarre concept right? Yesterday my son had four teeth extracted. Poor kid has been cursed with his mother’s toothy grin – too many teeth, not enough jaw. The dentist has a plan to make room for incomers to minimize the impending overcrowding. My boy was a little nervous, but the anticipation of the Tooth Fairy’s bounty overshadowed his fear. Last night, after examining his tiny teeth for the umpteenth time, he carefully stowed them inside his tooth keeper and tucked it under his pillow. A few hours later, an extremely tired Tooth Fairy tippy toed (loudly) into his dark bedroom. I deftly (not even close) removed the tooth keeper and promptly dropped it on the floor. After retrieving the tooth case from under the bed, I stood up ready to make my escape but cracked my head on the underside of the bunk bed. FYI, the Tooth Fairy has a mouth on her[…]

Dec 16 2010

While the kids are out of the house today, I’m putting on my Santa hat. Actually, it’s more of a Satan hat to be honest. I’m pms-y and not in a festive frame of mind. I just cracked open a bag of Ruffles so things should improve once I ingest enough sodium. I’m trying to take advantage of the kid-free environment by wrapping ALL of the Christmas gifts. The thing is, I’ve hidden them all over the house and need to retrace my steps to find them. This would be funny except the pms-thing. I should really suck it up. I mean, Christmas is coming for Christ’s sake. Literally. hahaha. Ok, that made me laugh. Ahhh, the sodium must be kicking in. I love really do love Christmas. Everything about it. Minus the busy mall parking lots. Despise. This year is especially exciting since my youngest “gets” Santa for the first time. I asked her this morning, “Who’s coming soon?” She answered, “My grandma?” Well, yes. She’ll be coming. “But who else? Is Santa coming?” “Yessssss!” she exclaimed. “He bring pwezents.” Ahhh. You got that right girlfriend. Budget be dammed. Santa is bringing you and your brother a pant load of presents.[…]

Category - family

Mother of the Year

Winter Boredom Busters For Kids

Awkward Family Photos Game

The Truth Fairy

You Say Santa, I Say Satan. Potayto, Potahto..