Reflecting on the split second life changing moments was forefront on my mind as I tucked my little angels into bed. I sighed with relief, and was grateful to hear them safely snoring. This morning I was getting my son Noah and I on our way. My son and his Dad walked down our long driveway to put the snow-blower away. We were blessed with more of that white stuff which needed to be cleared.

I glanced down and saw they were both still at the garage when I sat in the Jeep patiently waiting.  I thought maybe I would drive down and get Noah in the vehicle so we could be on our way. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him run in front of the Jeep, he is barely tall enough to see him. OMG I thought I almost had started the vehicle and backed out. What might have happened, how frightening this little episode was. I gave Dad a lot of heck when he finally walked up the driveway to say good-bye to us.

This is , “My bad Mommy Moment #526” Our day was winding down, the kids were watching a little “Sponge Bob – Square Pants”. I was reading the paper, catching up on the events of the day. Jeez I can’t get that darn jingle out of my head now. My son was playing with his newly opened 10 pack (glow in the dark sticks). I didn’t really think too much of it when he had one his mouth. That is not until his sister Meaghan said “MOM…..MOM…..” I turned and looked, to see she was glowing. Not only glowing but she had speckles of purple all over her and mostly in her hair. She started to cry. “Oh my gosh Meaghan, don’t touch anything”, I said. We quickly washed her hands and rinsed her hair. I threw out all of the sticks, (or so I thought). Several minutes later my son started crying and spitting. His grey pants were now a neon green.  I am sure his tongue was glowing.

Luckily they didn’t get any of this gross stuff in their eyes and I prayed my son didn’t ingest too much of that liquid. I quickly googled “what to do when glow sticks break”, and felt some reassurance they would be ok, since there was no vomit and no eyes which needed to be rinsed out, (Mom calmed down a little).  We rinsed, brushed, rinsed 7 more times and drank some Milk.    

Grateful to have my babies sleeping… How quickly our lives can change. How scary to think of how quickly accidents can happen. “Everything can change in a New York Minute!” I guess that is what our Guardian Angels are for.

Talk soon ~

Nancy

My 4 year old son Noah does not want to wear a hat or mitts.  I am a frustrated Mother.  Doesn’t he know I have a label for all of his hat’s and mitt’s.  My daughter is all wrapped up – new coat, hat, mitts, neck warmer, boots.  Noah will barely get his coat on, it is tough most days just to get his shirt and pants on in the morning.

He has developed a funny aversion to any cuffs on shirts and refuses to wear anything but socks with rubber grips on them.  He doesn’t like tight underwear, hats and mitts …  forget it.  He simply says, “No Thanks!”

With the colder weather on the way, and dare I say snow arriving on our doorsteps I hope Noah will follow in “Big Sis’s footsteps” and bundle up.  Poor Meg’s sometimes I have so many clothes on her she can hardly move. 

Feeling the Mommy Guilt and wondering how I have failed to keep my babe warm, I shared my exhausted efforts and story with a friend.  She laughed and shared a story about her middle child not wanting to wear her boots in the car.  Finally out of frustration and I am sure exhaustion she simply put her bare feet in the snow.  Guess what…..  she never took her boots off again!

I have recently purchased 2 or 3 new hats for Noah and get really excited each time he walks out the door with one on.  He moves a few steps opens the door and whips the hat in the air, and says “No Thanks!”

Like any other Mother I will keep packing those hats and mitts in his school bag, and hope that when he is shivering and turning into an icicle he will remember “Oh yeah … I think I will wear my hat and mitts today?”

Label those Mitt’s & Hat’s! www.eloralabel.com

 Talk soon ~

Nancy

My son will be getting on a school bus tomorrow morning and I will be waving goodbye to my him!  He is 4 and starts his first official “full day” of JK (Junior Kindergarten) tomorrow and I am supposed to be OK with that?

He is my baby and I am not so sure I am ready for this.  He is child number  two so I have been thru this already it should be smooth sailing – right?  Did I mention to you he is my baby.  But like a little baby robin … it is his time to fly the nest, (this is my attempt at sounding cliché).

How did this day arrive?   I remember when he was born and his little blue and wrinkled up face just kind of  snuggled up to me and we just bonded.  There seems to be a special kind of relationship between little boys and their Mom’s.   Noah has always loved to snuggle  and calls me Momma from day one. 

He has a few short days at JK thus far and they have gone fine.  I picked him up from his trial day this Monday and went to the Kindergarten room and there was “No Noah!”  The school bell had just gone off when I pulled into the parking lot signalling the start of recess.  Like any other kid he had bolted out of the class on a hot sunny day.  I found him several minutes later with big sis and a sad pout on his face.  He looked so tired and hot, I knew he was ready to come home.  He just wanted one more run down the big hill, off he went running as fast as his little legs could take him.  I knew in my heart he was ready for school and will be just fine.  He looked like he belonged.

Will he be able to walk up those big steps on that bus?  Will he eat his lunch, be able to zip up his jacket if it gets cold, and how about the bathroom!  Oh my gosh the angst we parents feel when our little baby birds fly off on their own.  Will he listen to his teacher?  I hope he is nice to the other kids and remembers to share and smile to the other kids. 

Daddy told him the best way to make friends is smile.  So he has been practicing his “ham-it-up” grin.  Oh Noah….  Mom is just not ready yet.  Is there ever a time when we are ready to let our kids wings expand and we just let them jump out of the nest and they instinctively know what to do?

Fly little Man – Fly High and Soar in the Sky –   Spread your Wings and Know Mom will Always Love You …. My Big Boy!

Talk soon ~

Nancy

Checking the mail today there was a letter addressed to my 4-year-old son Noah. Rarely does my son receive mail, other than on occasional Holidays from Grandma and my loyal friend Kathleen who loves to send letters and cards to my kiddlets.

The return address was our elementary school. It was Noah’s official “WELCOME TO KINDERGARTEN” letter. It notified us of the name of his new teacher, what to expect and a lot of information about LABELLING – LABEL _ LABEL _ LABEL!  Being in the business this is always great to read, but I must admit kinda of still weird to think of myself as the “label-lady” or LABELMEMOMMY!

If you are a new Mom, you have probably not heard of our labels. I remember walking into that foreign territory when my daughter began Kindergarten a few years ago. This Mom might be a little biased, being I am in the label business. I have to tell you these labels really do work, give us a try “Stick With Us & Your Stuff Will Stick With You!”.   My girlfriend always laughs when she hears this or reads it on my vehicle, she comments “Isn’t your tagline a little cliché?”  Truth be told, it might sound a little cliché or even corny but I have to tell you they really do stick and they really do bring your kids stuff home.  My daughter always gets her stuff returned to her from our bus driver Garry.  I really hope Garry will be returning come September, he is the best guy a Mom would want to drive the kiddos to school!  Every holiday he gives the kids, chocolate bunnies, gift cards.  Drives them in snow, sleet, rain and I never worry as he is just the best driver and person we could ever ask for.  He always greets us with a big smile , fingers crossed he will be around for a long time!  We love you Garry. 

Mom’s I know you are probably not thinking of school, but here is a little of my “Welcome Kindergarten Package” which I received today.

School Supplies:
A large backpack – labelled
A labelled “quiet time” blanket/mat to lay on
Lunch Box – Labelled
Oops Bag – Labelled
Indoor Shoes – Labelled
Box of Tissues

LABEL – LABEL – LABEL!   Please label ALL of your children’s belongings, (backpack, lunchbox containers, shoes, jackets, etc…), the amount of lost and found items each year is phenomenal! Lost items that are labelled are much easier to reunite with their owners. 

Looking forward to seeing you in the New Year!
– The Kindergarten team.

I am not ready to put my little Noah on the school bus just yet.   I am going to cherish the summer holidays and try to not think of that day.  I might not be ready to send him off to school, but I hope to make him his own cool personalized set of labels for school!

Talk soon

Nancy

Today started like any other day. Saturday’s forecast is 15-20 cm of snow today another major winter storm on its way. This seems to be the norm; I poured myself another coffee and thought this is going to be a long day with the kids. We had already made tissue paper flowers and it was only 8:30 am. Another glance revealed it had just started snowing again, a little light dusting with a balmy -3 temperature. Don’t laugh, really this is balmy after the -23 we have had for the last month.

Dad was in his office so I called him and said “get your long johns on we are going tobogganing”. “Hey kids put your hand up if you want to go tobogganing”? Both little hands shot up, my daughter said just like last week Mom; we can go in the backyard with our crazy carpets”?  They had their 5th or 6th snow day from school last Monday.   The kids played outside on our little 2.5 foot hill in the freezing cold, I was freezing but they didn’t seem to feel the cold.  They had so much fun!  The wind was howling, their cheeks looked like red apples, but they kept going until their little noses looked like they were going to fall off. 

Today we took them to a local “big hill”, the Wellington County Museum in Aboyne, a short drive away. We lucked out we had the whole hill to ourselves. This was our first time and we all wondered if maybe this hill was a little too big?   My daughter was scared the first couple of times. But she quickly was squealing with delight.  Following right behind was little Noah on his super duper-red sporty sleigh.  Both of them made it down without falling off. 

Mom and Dad jumped on the crazy carpets, wow I cannot remember the last time I had so much fun!  I had one good run that was unbelievable fast and should have been posted on YouTube Video. I just hung on tight and let all my cares and troubles float to the sky. YIPEE…..  I was flying down that hill, see yah kids don’t forget to brush your teeth tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow sometime.  I am remembering when I was just a young girl going for one of my first trips down our local neighbourhood hill with my parents.  A little wipeout with snow in my mitts, boots and the back of my neck has a way of bringing you back to reality rather quickly. Wait…. is that crying I hear, oh it is my little man Noah he is getting a little tired and cranky and wants hot chocolate.  Oh I better go now so I can help Meg’s climb up that icy hill, dust off her pants and adjust her sleigh to take one last run!  Maybe next time we will bring our skates for their new outdoor rink!

Talk soon ~

Nancy

Hello –

I am reflecting on my day today. The kiddlets and I “hung” out with Grandma. We went touring around enjoying the nice weather for November. We decided to include a little shopping outing. My little 3 year old man was pretty tired after playing in the park and didn’t have his regular afternoon nap. I could tell as we where driving around when those little eyelids closed he needed a little shut eye. Well 10 minutes later his eyes peeked open and he was ready to go shopping with Big Sis and Grandma. We decided to wait in the vehicle as I could see that look in his eyes he wasn’t ready to be on his best behaviour. After waiting a long while for Grandma we decided that we would go in. He did promise, (pinky promise) to me “he would be a good boy” and that he would sit in the cart.

Off we went looking for them, we thought we would cruise on over to the checkout area to scout them out in the big store. What did we see first, the Biggest of Big Trucks perched high on a glass shelving unit. God bless the store clerk who after I gave her a wink, agreed with Mom that we were not allowed to play with it in the store and that it was just for us to add to the list for Santa. Mr. Noah took 2 steps and started a full out tantrum, on the floor screaming, crying and not a happy camper. Well we finally did see my daughter with Grandma their cart full of holiday items, saying “did you find what you were looking for?” I don’t think they really saw us, they were in the full Christmas decoration shopping mode; sparkly deers, nutcrackers, and wreaths. Noah was now leaning and pouting on yet another glass shelf, I thought leave now or else.

I won the “Mom of the year award again!” I decided to carry him out of the store, kicking and screaming. I felt quite a few stares and wished I could have practiced the 1,2,3 method a little better today. I must admit I felt like melting and wished Mumma had more patience than she did today, I too just wanted to throw a tantrum of my own.

I chose to write about the highs and lows of motherhood. I put my little guy to bed tonight, held those little sweet hands, cuddled him and said to him “We will try again tomorrow and do better”. He said to me “Yes Mumma I will do better tomorrow!”. I love that little man, more than I could ever imagine or describe. I don’t know what I would ever do without those 2 little kiddlets of mine. So tomorrow I will do better!

Talk to you soon ~

Nancy