2015 - Page 8 of 10 - Forever In Mom Genes

The School Parking Lot Makes Me Angry

Mar 15 2015

The latest stressor in my life is not a big deal. I should be able to shake it off. Except, I can’t. It’s as they say, “the principle of the thing.” And the thing is the school parking lot. If you have school aged children you’ve probably witnessed a few parking lot scuffles. And if your school is overcrowded like ours, scuffles occur daily. Three hundred students over capacity (we have portables aplenty) means there are too many cars at drop off and pick up. People, especially those in a rush, get frustrated, tempers flare and some people seek short cuts. The staff at our school arranged for me and a few other parents whose children have E.A. support, to drop off and pick up in the staff parking lot. It’s quiet and there’s lots of room to safely pull up and park. We have to walk our children to the door and hand them off to the E.A. directly. Our children can’t walk to school. Avery can’t yet anyway. It’s too far and she’d be worn out by the time we got there. And our kids can’t get dropped off and left on their own to find their way[…]

Mar 02 2015

Are you spoiling your kids rotten? If your kids are demanding, self-centred and ungrateful, yet you continue to give in to their every desire, you might be. If you set limits and model gratitude and kindness (as often as you can, obviously—some days I’m an ungrateful hag) you’ll be rearing awesome little citizens who will take what is bestowed upon them with genuine appreciation. Sincere ‘please and thank yous’ go a long way. I tell my kids that people want to do things for them because it makes them feel good. By acknowledging somebody’s generosity, you make them feel even better. Friends and family will want to spend their time and energy on them because feeling good is addictive. It really is satisfying to do something thoughtful for another person—whether it’s making them a special card, sharing a favourite toy, or giving a compliment. It just feels nice. Humans are hard wired to constantly seek pleasure. That’s biology. My kids lost their minds when their grandma baked them her famous lemon loaf. They gobbled it up and doled out sincere compliments about how she is the best baker and how it was so delicious and ‘thank you so[…]

Mar 01 2015

My son has a massive collection of Lego mini-figures languishing headless and mismatched in a bin under his bed. So when I saw this clever idea on Pinterest I thought (with possibly a bit too much zeal), “I will make this and my son will be so pleased!” Spoiler alert: He didn’t give a rat’s ass about this crafty addition to his bedroom decor. He was all, “Um, thanks mum and everything but you didn’t have to make this…” But I did. I HAD to make it. Pinterest made it look so appealing and easy and organized. I physically couldn’t stop myself from making it. My efforts to up-sell this project failed. “But look, you can see all your guys now! And I put them all together with the right heads on the correct bodies! Look, that guy has a little gun. Now if you want to find a certain mini person, it’s right there at your fingertips!” My son: Blink, blink. “Um, okay.” For the love….. It took me bleedin’ hours of digging to find all those little heads rolling around in the bowels of the Lego bin. And hours more to stick on the magnets and assign each[…]

Feb 26 2015

People keep talking about what they’re giving up for lent—even if they’re not religious, they seem to dig the challenge. It’s like a pious double dog dare. I’d happily give up a number of things including exercise, doing laundry, unloading the dishwasher and/or working for a living. But that’s not the point though, is it? Lent is a solemn religious observance marked by “fasting, both from foods and festivities. Observers give up an action of theirs considered to be a vice, add something that is considered to be able to bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations.” source We’re not religious, so no Lent for us. Only lint. Specifically belly button lint. How does fluff collect in a man’s navel anyway? I’m both intrigued and disgusted by this topic. My scientific navel lint theory: A man’s body hair acts like cilia, snagging, then waving stray t-shirt and sweater fibres toward the belly button where it falls in and collects. I can’t tell you how many tiny belly lint tumbleweeds have collected at my feet in our bathroom over the years. I finally snapped the other night and[…]

Feb 19 2015

Early this morning a 3-year-old boy went missing from his home in Toronto. Elijah was captured on his apartment building’s security cameras stepping out into the bitter cold at 4:20 a.m. He appeared to be on his own, wearing only a t-shirt, diaper and boots. His family discovered he was missing when they woke three hours later. He was found shortly after 10 a.m. only a few hundreds metres from his apartment and was taken to hospital in life threatening condition. Poor, poor baby. Why did he wake and decide to wander? Was he sleepwalking? Some children do. I did. My son had terrible night terrors as a toddler. Whatever the reason, it’s a horrible tragedy. This story has struck a chord with parents everywhere—our collective parental hearts go out to this family. Life will never be the same for them again. It also resonates with our family personally—as parents of a child with special needs who has a significant history of wandering off, silently, Elijah represents a legitimate fear for many special needs parents. When our daughter gained the ability to open doors, we immediately installed door alarms that chime when any door in our house is opened. We[…]

Archive - 2015

The School Parking Lot Makes Me Angry

Spoil Your Kids Awesome

Lego Craft Fail: Pinterest, Why Can’t I Quit You?

This Post Is A Total Fluff Piece

Security Measures For Families With Young and/or Special Needs Children