A Year Later...

Wow. Where do I continue? Without committing myself to hours and hours of posting I will try to reduce this to just the main highlights.

Last summer I started cycling and quickly realized I absolutely LOVE it. I am able to deal with the boys so much better on the days I take that hour or so ride by myself. It all started when I buggered up my knees trying to run so cycling was my fall-back. Little did I know...

Now, nearly a year later, I just completed my second 72km Tour. I've purchased myself an entry-level road bike with the intention of upgrading at some point down the road (no pun intended). LOL Never in my wildest, wildest dreams would I have seen myself riding my bike over these kinds of distances for pleasure and actually enjoying it and looking forward to each ride. My goal for the end of the summer is to ride from home to my parents' house -- around 112km. I felt completely able to go another 25 or so on Sunday when I did the 72km Tour so with a little more training, I should be able to conquer 112km no problem. It's an addiction, now!

In other news, Craig and I ditched the boys on my parents back at Easter and escaped to Jamaica for the 4 day weekend. It was a getaway that we really needed together and it gave us an opportunity to recharge and reconnect. To mark our Tenth Wedding Anniversary coming up in February, we're heading down to Las Vegas in October (it's too cold there in February so we're celebrating a little early) for almost a week. We have a couple of day trips planned for while we're there and we'll take in a show or two and the rest of the time will be sitting poolside at Bellagio. Should be fun!

The Circus is all doing well. We had a bout of what we think may have been mono back a couple of months ago. It affected all three boys in turn and they were sleeping nearly 24 hours a day for days in a row. Shaun was sleeping and lethargic for 5 days. It was getting to the point that I was starting to get a little concerned near the end because he just didn't seem to be snapping out as quickly as his brothers did. We never got any blood tests to confirm/deny it was mono simply because there's no cure for mono - just to let it run it's course; so knowing it was, indeed, mono wouldn't have made a difference in treating it. Two of Shaun's close buddies at school both had similar mono-like symptoms to Shaun during the same week as Shaun so it must have been something going around the school. A couple of my daycare kids ended up having some really sleepy days, too. Thankfully we're all past that and back to normal.

Ian starts Junior Kindergarten in September. He's so ready for school. Socially I think he's ready for more meaningful friendships and to be a part of a team within a classroom. Academically he's pretty much where Shaun was at this age, which is amazing considering I spent so much one-on-one time with Shaun since he was my only at the time. Ian still has periods where he's truly miserable and it seems like his M.O. is to ruin everyone's day from the moment he wakes up in the morning. I can only hope he grows out of this Terrible Three's before he turns four at the beginning of August. And here I thought his Terrible Two's were bad...

Kyle completely potty trained back in the winter when he turned 2. It was interesting potty training during the winter with all the clothes one has to wear. It took a little longer with Kyle than with the other 2, I think, solely because of the clothing issues. It's a lot harder to be proactive about bringing him to the potty when he's in a snowsuit and is sitting in a sled on a walk to school, than in his underwear playing in the sandbox in the backyard. But we got through all that and now he's a, generally, delightful 2 1/2 year old. His personality is so different from his brothers'. He's cuddly and loveable. Always saying, "I Love You" spontaneously and offering a big hug. He's shy and loves to bury his head in my legs when anyone talks to him. Kyle still has 2 years before starting Junior Kindergarten and will be 4 3/4 when he finally gets there, as opposed to just turned 4 like Shaun and Ian. It will be interesting to see how much 'more' ready Kyle is to start school. I have a feeling we'll have to increase the number of days he is in preschool once Ian's in school full-time for Senior Kindergarten in 2013.

So that's about it in a very condensed version of My Life in a Year. Basically, waking up at 5 for an hour bike ride, a-day-in-the-life-of-a-mom-and-home-childcare-operator, goodnight kisses and stories, then rinse and repeat. Yadda Yadda Yadda. :)

Hiatus

Obviously I haven't been blogging lately. Summer's here and with all the kids home all day, plus the regular crew I babysit and one extra just for the summer we've been busy to say the least! Add in all the vacationing we've been doing, coupled with the fact that I don't have a tablet or laptop to blog on the run, and you get one Momma who doesn't blog!

 

I've come to the decision that I need to take more time to look after things on this end. That end being my end -- the non-blogging end. So I've decided to take a hiatus from the blog.

 

There hasn't been much happening lately and with my home childcare increasing in popularity and my obligations relating to that expanding, I realize that something has to be given up. Also, my exercise routine has been tweaked a little from running to cycling, but that's filling up my early morning hours. In the end, there's no time to keep up with the blog. I've enjoyed looking back at comments and entries from the past 7 years (seriously!) and often I've been able to win a disagreement with Craig about when something happened because I can call up the blog entry relating to it. Hopefully I'll be able to swing by every few months but I'm not making any promises.

 

I feel lighter already! ;)

 

Cheers.

A Preview

We're getting ready to head on holidays again around here but plans for Shaun's 6th birthday are in the works. He's never had a party before (many reasons why, but mostly because he never asked) so this year will be the first time for him with his 4 buddies from school. Should be fun!

It's summer here and life is crazy busy - well, crazier than normal!  I would like to think that things slow down in the summer and some days we sleep in or eat lunch late (or not at all) and laze around the pool. It's not to be.

 

BUT I do have a brand spankin' new niece and nephew! Claire was born to my brother and his wife who already have Sam, and Blake was born to my sister and her husband who already have Cohen. Surprisingly, spending the day with the babies made me NOT want another one. Kyle is pretty much the age Ian was when Kyle was born; he's still a baby and I don't remember much from those first few weeks except that I was unbelievably TIRED!

 

Claire and Blake were born within 4 days of one another. Unreal how that happens, huh?! Hopefully we'll all have many more visits so I can continue to get my baby fix.  Although, the doctor confirmed early last week that Craig is officially infertile.  LOL No more babies for this Mama.

I Love You

Ian: "Mommy, I love you!"

 

Me: "Aww, Ian, I love you, too! You're so sweet."

 

Ian: "Mommy, I wasn't talking to you.  I was talking to Kitty."

 

Me, disappointed: "Oh, sorry."

 

Ian: "It's okay.  We all make mistakes."

Beaner

I can hear scuffling and activity filtering down the stairs from the boys' bathroom.  Ian seems to be MIA.

 

"Beaner," I call up the stairs, "what are you doing?"

 

"Anything," comes his reply from behind the door, opened to a mere crack.

 

"You're not getting into trouble are you?"

 

"No Mommy.  I'm not eating my toothpaste!"

 

*sigh*  This is my life.

Comfort Zone

 

I am happy to report that the severe grounding I had to impose on Shaun last week seems to have done the trick -- for now.  His behaviour has improved as well as his attitude and he's much more helpful with his brothers than I think I've ever seen.  That's One for Mom!  He's needed a few reminders here and there when he's starting to act up and has had a couple of days where he didn't earn any privilege back due to not-so-good behaviour but each incident was minor in the grand scheme of things.  I simply had to stick to my guns and follow through on what I said I would do.  Not so easy for me, especially at the end of the day when I don't want to fight and argue with the boys; just get them bathed and in bed so I can sit down myself.  Lesson learned, in more ways than one.

 

And now for something completely different.  I went hang gliding last night!

 

Shaun's best friend at school has a Dad who is not only a Canada Post mail carrier but also a hang gliding instructor.  I received a call yesterday afternoon from Mark asking if I'd be interested in joining him for a tandem flight around dinner time.  I quickly agreed and then remembered I didn't have anyone to look after the boys on such short notice but Mark's wife stepped up and offered to come out to the field with me and look after my Circus while I was flying.

 

I don't even know how to describe the feeling of being suspended 1500 feet in the air with no engine, just the wind keeping me airborne.  It was thrilling and terrifying, and completely empowering.  I felt like I could control anything up there.  Mark gave me a quick lesson on how to control the glider and then let me take control for a few minutes.  It was surprisingly smooth and not at all noisy; only the sound of the wind whistling in my ears and a muted flap from the glider in the breeze.  Not once did I question my safety or feel any fear of falling or spinning out of control.  Mark was on the Canadian Hang Gliding team (I had no idea there even was one!) back in the day and is quite experienced in things of this sort. 

 

Back on the ground, Mark's wife told me that Ian never took his eyes off the glider the whole time I was flying and would announce, "that's my Mommy," whenever we'd soar past the field where everyone was gathered.  I have promised Craig he can fly next but I will most certainly fly again before the end of the summer!

It Brought Me To Tears

The realization came to me while I was sitting in a worn patio chair watching leaves on a Japanese maple shudder as each gust of wind whisked past.  First one leaf would twitch and very soon the whole branch was moving; each leaf being affected by the one before, long after the wind died.

 

I've really been having a hard time with Shaun lately.  His attitude has been downright awful, he's been getting into fights with his friends (not physical but sometimes words are just as hurtful), he's been disrespectful to pretty much everyone including me and his brothers and both of his close friends, and seems to have come to the conclusion that he rules the roost around here because he's been breaking rules like they don't exist.  People have jokingly said to me that it only gets worse but I never, ever imagined it would even reach this point.  I mean, he's not even 6!

 

Shaun's been spending quite a lot of time with a little guy from down the street who is his age but in a different kindergarten class at the same school.  At the outset I was thrilled that Shaun and he seemed to get along so well.  They'd swap houses; spending one morning playing outside here and the following there.  This little guy's parents seemed great and he has 2 older sisters who have always been polite and helpful when I see them around the park or on the school yard.  I was a little irked that Bradley didn't seem to have any manners, though.  Afterall, everyone knows it isn't polite to show up at someone's door and ask to be let inside to play.  You wait to be invited inside.  Please and thank-you were obviously missing from his vocabulary unless he was reminded.  He wore shoes in my house once and I nearly threw him outside.  But the biggest thing that bothered me was the way he let Shaun speak to him.  Shaun was downright mean and nasty and if I was Bradley I would have punched Shaun right in the mouth.  Shaun preaches all the time about Bradley being a bully, meanwhile it's Shaun who's manipulating by calling Bradley a wimp and saying things like, "give me that silly band or I won't be your friend anymore." 

 

I thought this was what girls did?  Aren't boys only supposed to fight about who threw the ball further or who climbed to the top of the climber the fastest?

 

Craig and I have both had to intervene and send Bradley home when things seemed to get out of control.  We've each spoken to Shaun at length about what it means to be a good friend and we've grounded him from playing with Bradley for days on end.  Nothing seems to work because within an hour of them being together, Shaun's coming home upset that Bradley won't do what he wants or we're having to mediate something here.  Bradley's mom says Bradley never comes home upset about what happens here and she has tried to assure me that Bradley knows when he's had enough and will tell Shaun so.  He does have 2 older sisters.  But I fear that Shaun feels very powerful with Bradley because he can persuade Bradley to do whatever he wants.  That attitude has carried over into home in more ways than one.

 

We have 2 rules for Shaun when he's playing outside.  1: He has to tell us if he's moving locations.  Like, if he's playing in the backyard and wants to head out to bike on the sidewalk he has to tell us; if he's playing outside at Bradley's and they want to head to the park, Shaun has to bike home and tell us first.  2: He is not allowed, for any reason, to ride on the road.  Our road is a pretty busy one, Bradley's road is a quiet crescent with virtually no traffic.  But there's sidewalks, Bradley's house is on the same side as ours, the park is on the same side as ours, and Shaun's not old enough to be able to accurately judge how far a car is and how quickly he has to move to get out of its way.  Last week I took a stroll down to Bradley's house to say hi and bring some freezies.  I found Shaun PAST the park and weaving on and off the road using the driveways... in between the cars!  I held my cool until we got home so I wouldn't embarass him in front of Bradley (who IS allowed to ride on the road and who nearly got hit by a car doing the exact same things Shaun was doing back in the fall) but once we got home I laid into him about how dangerous what he did was and how scared I would have been had I gone to Bradley's house and not been able to find Shaun there.

 

On the way home from school today in front of one of his more 'conservative' friends, Shaun asked me if another name for a penis is wanker.  Seriously!  He spent a few minutes in the bathroom when we got home to remind him of where those words are used.  That's been my strategy for Ian (who has been dropping 'bathroom words' like that at the dinner table for weeks and I finally got sick of it).  Whether his question was valid or not, he said it with a smirk and knew he was pushing the envelope.  I think he wanted to see how far he could push before I snapped.

 

After school there were a couple more incidents of complete disrespect in the way he was speaking to me and I sent him to his room at 5:15.  He came down briefly for dinner, which I made sure he wasn't going to like, and then was back up in his room at 5:30.  He's been there ever since and I went in to say goodnight when I brought the Littles to bed.

 

So, the point of the Japanese maple?  One shaking leaf results in a whole branch swaying.  My words, actions, tone of voice, attention, everything, it all affects my kids.  But I really feel like this new change of behaviour in Shaun stems from me not nipping it in the butt at the very beginning.  I let him get away with maybe one saucy or snarky remark only one time and now the whole thing has exploded into a spicy foul-mouthed, rude, disrespectful 5 year old.  I don't know what to do and with Craig being at work when everything seems to be at its peak, his words aren't all that helpful the next morning.

 

My instinct tells me to remove all privileges from Shaun.  Everything.  And let him earn them back with good behaviour.  A respectful day earns him one privilege.  One incident of rudeness or disrespect and he loses one privilege for the following day.  What are some things I could take away?  Riding his bike, his silly bands, special treats like freezies and dessert (when we have it... which would be more often if he couldn't, just so the impact would be greater), playing with Bradley, television, special outings with me or Craig.

 

The hardest part for me is worrying that the other child affected will be lonely without Shaun or will think its his fault that Shaun can't play today.  Would it be wierd for me to explain to Bradley's mom why Shaun can't play?  I don't know.  This is so difficult!  And don't tell me it just gets harder!!

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I have something much more upbeat and heart warming to share about my little terror, Ian.  I'll begin by saying that Ian is absolutely THE most difficult child I have ever had to deal with.  His toddler impulses are still in full swing at nearly 3 years old and I regularly catch him causing some sort of trouble or making some sort of mess.  Today it was him licking the lense of the video camera.  Why?  I don't know.  I wanted to crack him on the head with the camera, I was so angry, but I was worried I'd wreck the camera because he's so hard-headed.

 

Anyway, when I arrived at the Nursery School to pick Ian up this morning, one of his 3 teachers met me at the entrance to the classroom and said she had something to share about Ian.  "Oh no, what did he do now," I thought.  This isn't going to be good.  Her eyes welled up with tears as she started to tell me about how one of the other teachers set up a playdough table this morning for the children to play at.  The table had only 5 spaces at it.  When the table opened, many children ran over and Ian was among the first 5 to claim a spot.  Well, I guess another little girl didn't get there in time so Ian got up from his spot, walked across the classroom, grabbed another chair, pushed it back to the table, sat down in his own chair, ripped off a chunk of his own playdough and slapped it down in front of the chair he'd just added.  Then he said, "here, girl, now you have a spot too!"

 

My Beaner!!  :)

I feel I owe inquiring minds an update.  Yeah, my knees?  I sure did a number on them.  I tried to get out the day after my last post (nine days ago) and I didn't even make it to the end of the block; my knees were seriously THAT sore.  It was a pain that was concentrated on the inside of my knee cap and was excruciating if I was doing anything more than hobbling.  I returned home, iced my knees and started a regimen of twice-daily Motrin tablets to keep the swelling and pain at bay.  Just over a week has gone by since my last run.  I think the sore knees situation has put the kibosh on my whole running idea.  Even up until today, walking Shaun to and from school twice a day has been impossible.  Craig's taken him to school and I've been able to pick him up.  Any more walking than that hasn't been happening.  As it is, I feel like an old woman when walking down the stairs because essentially I take one step at a time; two feet on the step before proceeding downwards.

 

Well, I'm happy to say that today is the first day I'm actually feeling more normal than in pain.  Walking down the stairs is still uncomfortable but is nothing like it was last week.  Walking remains uncomfortable and it's completely impossible to do anything more than walk at a toddler's pace.  Case in point: Kyle took off running at Shaun's school playground today.  I called him to return and he only paused to smile at me before continuing to run.  At one point he got closer to the road than he was to me.  He was still a fair ways away from getting to the road but knowing I wouldn't be able to dart after him was humbling and terrifying at the same time.  Eventually I was able to catch up to Kyle and coerce him to walk towards me but it proved to me that I need to keep up with taking care of my body.

 

So on that note, I feel pretty good in saying that my running career is all but over for the time being.  I think cycling will be more up my alley.  I already have a bike with a nice gel seat cover.  Believe it or not I'm really disappointed with how I've let myself down.  I'm not a quitter and I don't really give up or fail at anything.  In the end, though, I only have one pair of knees and I'm only 30 so the thought of feeling like this indefinitely terrifies me.  Maybe once my legs are strengthened a little more I'll try running again.

A Setback

Last week I diligently set my alarm and set out for my morning run.  Friday morning I had an early drop-off for 7AM so I ended up getting up at 5:30 to make sure I had time for my full run plus a shower when I got home.  It was rough getting up that early but once I got going I enjoyed it even more than before because there were even less people out that early.  Friday also marked the beginning of phase 2 of my training: run 1 minute, walk 1 minute, for a total time of 24 minutes.  Around the third set in, or so, my knees started to ache quite a bit.  I've always feared running because of the impact on my knees; I've always had bad knees and wore a brace throughout middle school because my left knee constantly dislocated when I was playing sports or would turn funny on it.  Knees were sort of in the back of my mind but after the first few runs when I was barely sore at all I figured they wouldn't pose a problem. 

 

I continued Friday's run through to the finish but by Friday afternoon I could barely walk.  Bending or kneeling felt better than standing but stairs were agony; my knees hurt so terribly I was worried I wouldn't be able to walk by Saturday.  We spent the weekend re-doing all the front landscaping with a planting bed.  We hauled 4X4 pressure treated wood and I spent most of Saturday on my knees.  By Saturday night I knew there was a problem because even after a couple hours of rest they weren't feeling any better.  In fact, they felt worse.

 

According to Google, my quads are weak and my knees are compensating for the new stress being put on them.  The solution is to strengthen my quads.  Apparently the pain is caused because the cartilage is being worn down from grinding along the sides of the track it moves in.  A tighter quadracep muscle will lessen the amount of movement and grinding.

 

So I will head out tomorrow for my regular run and see how it goes at first.  I've had 2 days off since my last run but with all the work we did over the weekend and the fact that my knees are still screaming for some attention, I'm not feeling too optimistic.  I've found and printed some simple quad-strengthening exercises that I'll do every day and hopefully this will only be a small setback.  I have committed to still getting up before the kids so even if it's just for a brisk walk, it's better than nothing.  Also this week, I'm investing in a really good pair of joggers.  I have a feeling that my current running shoes are part of the problem.

1-2

Okay, so I ran again yesterday morning.  Got up bright and early with my alarm and did the same routine as Friday.  Surprisingly, today I'm not sore.  Not at all.  I didn't think my legs would get used to their new use so quickly.  If I rub my quads they're a little tender but not any moreso than they were the day after I chased Ian in the grocery store.

 

So tomorrow marks the end of my first week.  I'm hoping the trails are dryer tomorrow.  They were really mucky and squishy yesterday and I had to take a few detours into the parkland to avoid some pretty intimidating mud holes.

 

I'm enjoying exploring my neighbourhood.  We chose this neighbourhood before we even found the house.  We knew we wanted to live here because of the larger lots (for the city, anyway), the grown trees, the school, the community, and the trails.  It's been a lot of fun heading out in a new direction and discovering where it emerges from the forest.

 

Yesterday I found a look-out point that overlooks the whole entire neighbourhood.  It was barely 6:30 in the morning and the air was still misty.  No cars interrupted the singing of the birds and I stood and looked down on the place we call home.  It was beautiful.  Tall roof peaks tucked in between bare trees just beginning to show the first signs of bright new leaves.  With all that's been happening across the globe in the past few days, it was a somber moment to appreciate.  To appreciate that I can go out on my own so early in the morning and not have to worry about my safety, that I can look over where I live and see more trees than houses and that the sounds from the Earth around me are louder than the sounds of the people.

 

I will take my family to this place.  Maybe we'll even pack a lunch.

"Mom, who's Aw-sam-ah bin Lah-den?"  Shaun's attention is turned to CNN and away from his LEGO race car.

 

"He was a very, very bad man,  He killed thousands of people who didn't deserve to die."

 

"How did he die?"

 

"The military in the United States shot him with a gun.  In the head."

 

"You mean a soldier shot him?  Maybe it was with a long gun like Elmer Fudds!"

 

"Yes, a soldier shot him.  It probably was with a gun like Elmer Fudds.  I would think those soldiers carry all sorts of weapons."

 

"Why did he get shot?"

 

"Osama bin Laden blew up some buildings before you were born by crashing airplanes into them.  He also made some planes crash into the ground.  Everyone died and it was Osama's fault.  The United States has been searching for him ever since and yesterday they found him and shot him so he can't do bad things anymore."

 

"Why didn't they just put him in jail with other bad people?"

 

"Osama bin Laden was too bad to go to jail.  When the sodiers caught him, they shot him and now he's dead."

 

"I'm never going to be that bad.  I'm glad Aw-sam-ah bin Lah-den is dead, Mom.  People who are super extra mean like he was should get shot in the head."

 

_____________

 

The conversation was short and honest.  I answered his questions without offering too many details.  Somehow I think he'll remember this day as 'the day a soldier shot a bad guy with Elmer Fudd's gun'.

 

 

Ball Hockey

After Shaun decided he didn't want to play ice hockey because he's not a strong enough skater yet, we agreed that ball hockey may be the best option.  The games are on Saturday mornings usually and Shaun is on a team with his best school friend.  So far they've played 3 games and Shaun is really starting to get the hang of the flow of the game.  Each shift gets 2 minutes on the floor and then they sit on the bench while the next shift plays.  Shaun's team has about 12 or 13 players on it so not quite enough for 3 complete shifts which means it's pretty much equal time playing/resting.

 

Shaun really loves the game and gets better each game he plays.  So far no goals but I don't think he's aggressive enough to score any.  We spend all this time teaching our kids to share and be nice and all of a sudden they're put into this ball hockey game with a bunch of strangers who are on their own team and a bunch of other strangers who they're supposed to poke-check and steal the ball from.  Add in the confusion of playing an actual position like forward or defence and these poor 5 year olds are pretty wide-eyed when they first head on for their shift.  By the time the second period arrives they've remembered their job but with a whole week between games, it's all but gone by the following game.

 

If Shaun really shows an interest in ball hockey it may become the new go-to sport for him.  We certainly want our kids to be involved in one sport - and they can bounce from one to another if they choose - but it's important to us that they have a commitment to following something from start to finish through the season.

1-1 Part Deux

Well, apparently my cockiness about my legs being more in shape than I thought completely backfired.  I'm a hurtin' unit today.  My quadriceps on both legs just ache when I'm walking down the stairs especially; and trying to walk down the stairs while carrying Kyle is enough to make me wince.  Also, the muscle on my shin that starts under my knee and kind of wraps around the outside of my lower leg practically shudders whenever I flex my foot and pull my toes to the ceiling.  I obviously worked a group of muscles that don't get much action, and, surprisingly, I'm feeling really good about this pain.  It's the good kind of pain that I know is short-lived and will end up making my muscles stronger.

 

Believe it or not, I'm a little disappointed that my next run isn't until Monday.  I feel like I'm ready to go for another and challenge myself again.

 

Craig still hasn't a clue that I went out on Friday morning.  Not only does he sleep pretty deeply, but I think he figured I had an early drop-off on Friday and that was why I got up so early.  I'm the Queen of new-ideas-I-get-excited-about-and-never-follow-through-on so I want to get into a pretty good routine before letting him in on my dirty little secret.

 

Workout, health, and fitness aside, I absolutely loved being outside all by myself on Friday.  There was no stroller to push.  I never had to turn around to do a headcount and make sure everyone was following along.  It was me and a ton of birds and a lonely little bunny who I scared the crap out of when I dashed past his hiding place under a naked bush.  I know there's a fox family that lives in the neighbourhood, too, so I'm hoping I'll catch a glimpse of them one of these early mornings.  Add in the hawk that nabbed a terrified mole from the path about 100m in front of me and it was almost like the Circus at home... minus the screaming.

 

Run 1-2 will come on Monday.  Hopefully I'm not as sore on Tuesday as I am today.

1-1

I did it.

 

I went to bed early, set my alarm for 6AM, refused to repeatedly slam my hand on the snooze button, got dressed and went for my first run.  Ever.  The schedule I've chosen is from Run for Life.  This morning I did a brisk walk with my arms pumpin' for a good 5 minutes before I paused and stretched for a couple of minutes and then I started with running for 1 minute and speed walking for 2 minutes.  The first few cycles I felt like the 2 minutes of brisk walking was too long but by the 10th one I was still breathing really heavily by the end of my allotted walking time.  But I never cheated myself and I ran the whole minute; sometimes I'd make a goal of making it to the end of the path or 30 more strides before beginning the walking part.  I was exhausted when I got home but it was a really good kind of exhausted.  Strangely enough, while my legs felt a little weak for the first hour or so, it's my lungs that are still bothering me.  It's almost like I have a phlegm-y cold now because I have a terrible cough and some tightness in my chest.  I know it's from the run.  Maybe I'm clearing everything out?

 

I made certain to stretch very well before and after my run this morning so hopefully I won't feel much tomorrow in the way of muscle aches.  I walk about 1km each way every day to and from Shaun's school, twice, so a total of about 4km a day.  Mind you, that's at toddler pace since Ian walks beside the stroller but I think maybe my legs are in better shape than I had originally feared because they're not sore at all.  The morning will tell the whole story!  Shaun has an early hockey game tomorrow in a small town about 30 minutes from here so I have no chance to lay in bed and nurse my aching legs.

 

I actually feel really good about this new life choice.  I've had the experience before of starting too ambitiously and becoming completely discouraged after only one try.  I have two more runs (one on Monday and another on Wednesday) with this current run/walk timetable and then I move up to the next level.  I have them all marked out on the calendar so I can cross them off as I do them.  I'm excited to get this show on the road and completely surprised that I actually enjoyed myself this morning.  Now if I could only find my mp3 player...

Excuses

I am a professional at making up excuses for why I should/should not do something. Anything. And I'm a horrible procrastinator. Believe it - it's true. I am my own worst enemy.

I'm still hanging on to some 'baby weight' that I never lost after Ian was born. Then I got pregnant with Kyle: Excuse #1. Depression hit: Excuse #2. I was still breastfeeding: #3. Weight Watchers wasn't at a convenient time, I'm too tired, I don't have time to write down everything I eat, I eat on the go like most busy moms: #4, 5, 6, 7. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Have a problem? I have an excuse. I guarantee it.

I think I need a change of scenery. I've decided I'm going to try running. Seriously. It's worth a shot, I figure. I know I need to do something active beside chasing Ian in the grocery store and hauling laundry up and down the stairs. I turned 30 back at the beginning of March and I absolutely know I want/need to lose this baby weight. It's time. I went out and bought myself some pants and a sports bra tonight (because up until 2 weeks ago I was still wearing nursing bras even though I haven't nursed Kyle since November...) and I am committed to getting up early tomorrow to go for my first run. I haven't even looked at the weather because I don't want that to discourage me.

I am motivated and ready. Of course, I am still able to walk okay so I may change my tune tomorrow when my legs and butt are aching. I figure I have the weekend to recover before gettin' back at it on Monday again and I have Mondays off from home childcare so this may be the best time to start a new routine. I have printed off a chart of how to start from the bottom and work my way up to a full 30 minutes of running, 3 times a week, in about 9 weeks. That will take me to Canada Day, which doesn't seem that far away.

No more excuses

Walkin' Man

Kyle's walking everywhere now, but not because we were encouraging him.  In fact, every chance I had to put him back on his bum and discourage his desire to explore his world on his two feet instead of all-fours, I happily cashed in on.  Once Kyle discovered he could stand without holding on to anything for support, it was all over.  Within a couple of days he had taken his first few shaky steps and there was no discouraging anymore; only clapping and cheering that he had finally done it - through no help from us.

 

There has to be a moment in time when a baby decides that walking is easier than crawling.  But there's always a lot of difficulty in making that transition so I don't know why babies keep trying since crawling is decidedly easier in the beginning.  Food for thought.

 

When people would ask me if Kyle was walking yet at 14 months, they would usually react with surprise when I'd reply with, "no, thank goodness."  Developmentally, I knew he would walk eventually.  I was in no hurry to push him.  Partly because he's my last baby; partly because crawlers are a lot easier to keep up with; partly because a walking baby is no longer happy in the stroller/shopping cart/you name it; but mostly because something happens to children when they evolve from a 4-legged creature to a 2-legged:

 

They gain an attitude.

 

One day they're this delightful, smiley little creature in a chubby package who snuggles, keeps out of the cupboards and comes when you call.  The next day they're walking and all of a sudden they're screaming when breakfast doesn't come quickly enough, toilet paper is being dunked in toilets and they turn the other way and run (well, walk very quickly in Kyle's case) when you call.

 

In the last week, Kyle has dumped a dish of glue, spread a cup of applesauce into his hair, sucked on the toilet brush (twice!), tried to eat a penny, removed a massive clump of hair off of poor ol' Pokey's hind quarters, stuffed numerous dinky cars down the basement floor drain, ruined a CD-ROM for the Play Station, lost the letter D for the alphabet puzzle and broken a jar of pasta sauce by hitting it with a jar of pickles.

 

I'd like a Re-Do.

Technical Difficulties

Somehow, Javascript has been disabled (even though I have it enabled in every place I can find) so I can no longer post directly from blogger. 

 

I have figured out how to post directly from email, though, so I simply have to email myself a post and blogger takes care of the rest.

 

As my last post explained, there's been some illness here to say the least.  It's finally getting a little better but there has been no sympathy from me whatsoever.  Rough road.  Let's leave it at that.

 

I want to tell all about what the boys have been up to lately and Shaun's ball hockey and Kyle's new attitude now that he's walking, our trip to the US for shopping, and my discovery of my love language.  Lots to share!  I promise, I will be back very, very soon.

Man Cold

<div><div><div>I have just about had it with Craig's sitting-on-death's-door illnesses. We got into it a few weeks ago after some wierd virus spread through the house.  I think I blogged about it. Anyway, I was sick for, literally, 8 hours. I laid on the couch, skipped dinner, went to bed super early and sucked it up the next day when my family duties didn't disappear or get absorbed by someone else.  Craig, on the other hand, was sick for a week.  Seriously!  We all had the same illness and a grown man was the one who dragged his ass around the house the longest; whined and grunted and sputtered the longest; missed the most work/school and basically milked it for all it was worth.  I don't think he means to milk it, I just really think he's a total and complete wimp about the whole being sick thing.  And it completely pisses me off. Royally. </div><div> </div><div>I ended up bringing the boys to visit my parents on my own that day because Craig was sick (day 6). We stayed overnight and enjoyed a great visit. I got some advice from my Dad who is a great manager and negotiator and always seems to have the right thing to say. When I came back home I waited for a chance when neither Craig nor I was tired or irritated or busy (not an easy task) and simply said, "I felt really abandoned when you didn't come to my parents' with me. We had been planning this visit for weeks and then at the last minute I had to do it on my own. When I get sick I suck it up because there's no sense in wallowing in it. You need to do the same.  Get over it. You have the same illness I had so I know you're not any sicker than I was."</div><div> </div><div>He didn't say a word in response.  Not later that night, not the next morning, not again.  I could tell that what I said bothered him and was beginning to think that he finally realized what a baby he was being. Until today.</div><div> </div><div>Craig got up with the boys this morning since Saturday is my day to sleep in.  When I got up around 8:30 I took the Bigs outside to ride bikes and play around a little.  Craig eventually joined us and played a little road hockey with Shaun and Ian and we both chatted with the neighbours a fair bit. We were outside for a couple of hours.  When we came inside, all of a sudden he was coughing and rubbing his sinuses.  I asked Craig if he was excited to head to his Dad's place to watch the hockey game this afternoon.  His reply was that he wasn't excited for anything because he had a brutal sinus infection and his whole head felt like it was imploding.  He had to lay down and thus couldn't help me make lunch for the boys or do anything else.</div><div> </div><div>I ignored him, fed the boys and started preparing to leave the house for the afternoon with the kids.  Craig headed to our room - without telling me where he was going, which drives me completely NUTS!... ever heard of teamwork?!  We're a team so I need to know when you're going to be out of commission.  It's common courtesy!  </div><div> </div><div>Phew!  Okay, moving forward, Craig headed to our room.  I finished up lunch with the kids, got everyone cleaned up, tidied the kitchen, packed the diaper bag, loaded everyone in the van, checked in with Craig who told me he was still heading to his Dad's for the hockey game, and left. </div><div> </div><div>We were out the whole afternoon and only arrived back home for dinner.  Craig wasn't home yet.  When he finally walked in around 5:30 or so, he plopped his ass back on the couch because whatever sinus medication he had taken earlier had now worn off and he was back to feeling crappy.  Well, Princess, no sympathy from me.  I fed the kids their dinner and came down to the basement to hide out.  I can hear chaos ensuing upstairs and frankly I don't really care.  He's there, I'm here, he needs to suck it up for once.</div><div> </div><div>I'm so completely sick of this bull shit.  I already know I'm going to take FULL advantage of the very next cold I get.  This is ridiculous.</div><div> </div><div>I disabled comments so you don't feel you have to comfort me.  I just need someone to rescue me from this Princess!</div></div></div>

Rub a Dub Dub