Me doing laundry VS. my husband doing laundry

During my undergraduate degree, I spent a few summers working in a living history museum. It was one of those places where the interpreters dress in the clothing of the day and do activities typical to the time period. As a result, I have many useless skills for modern living.

Anyway, one of those activities was laundry. We would spend the morning showing visitors the joy of doing laundry without mechanical assistance, as it would have been done 100 years ago. Let me tell you, it was difficult. I have no idea how women did this and still managed to feed anyone. (Or do anything else, for that matter.)

By comparison, doing laundry with the help of modern technology seems like such a simple task:

1. Put laundry in washing machine.

2. Put laundry in dryer.

3. Fold laundry and put it away.

Easy, right? Sure. However, as most of us know, it is never quite that easy. For example, my husband and I have developed some very unique variations on this task. Let me show you what I mean.

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To the Mom with the Rambunctious Toddler at Music Class:

To the Mom with the rambunctious toddler at music class:

I see you chase your toddler around the room. Other children sit in the circle, clapping their hands, but your little curly-haired boy insists on running around the room instead. I see other parents watching him. Some are smiling but some are quietly judging.

I see your patience running thin. You are quietly trying to re-direct him into the activities, but he stubbornly refuses to do anything besides run. Some parents are openly judging now. They watch your son, shake their heads and continue singing, surely wondering why you are here if your son can not sit for the class.

Not me. No, I’m not a saint. I do my fair share of judging, like most of us. In this scenario, I just see something else. Continue reading

4 Ways My Kid is Basically a Dog

Disclaimer: Kids and dogs are very different. I know this. I have gotten in trouble comparing kids with dogs before. There are some key differences. Like, one can be left in a kennel. Which one is that again? Hmm, better Google that.

Anyway, where was I? Oh, right – kids and dogs. I now have one of each and I can tell you that they are quite similar in a lot of ways. Or maybe that is just mine?

Here are ways my kid is basically a dog:

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Guest Blog by Hazel the dog: Baby’s Walking? Big deal. I walk everyday.

So, the baby started walking this weekend. Mom and Dad were all excited about it. They clapped and laughed. Big deal, I thought. I’ve been walking for ages. It’s not that hard. I went back to my toy. It is a really great toy. I thought my parents would love it too, but when I showed it to them they only looked at it and went back to clapping for the baby.

For real? Are they clapping for this guy? He’s not even doing any tricks! He’s just standing there. These people will clap for anything.

I’m just going to say it: the baby is not that impressive. Let’s look at the facts:

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7 Reasons Parenting is just like “The Amazing Race”

One of my favourite shows is The Amazing Race and the Canadian version, Amazing Race Canada. I love watching the teams travel the world while completing interesting and often hilarious tasks.

This, my friends, is just like parenting. How so? Well, I’m glad you asked.

Here are 7 reasons parenting is just like The Amazing Race. (Spoiler: it’s not the money and prizes…unless you are my kid after a visit from his 6 grandparents.) Continue reading

Why I love baby-led weaning

First, in case you haven’t heard this term before, let me translate. Baby-led weaning is a way to introduce solid foods to babies. Basically instead of mashing or pureeing food, you just cut it into large pieces and allow them to gum it/suck on it. Eventually they learn to take bites, chew and swallow the food. There are lots of sites to Google, if you want more information about this.

When I first heard of baby-led weaning, I dismissed it. (Actually, I believe I told my husband that it was “some hippy s*it”.) Anyway, I take it back. I happily admit that I was wrong because I love baby-led weaning. Like LOVE it. We started it with my son when he was 6 months old and now, at just over a year old, he eats most foods happily and feeds himself. I have never done purees, or had to sit down to two dinners because we had to spoon feed him his food first.  We eat all together using most of the same foods.

Here are some things to know about baby-led weaning:

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Surprising Things I did During my Maternity Leave

We all know that maternity leave is not for the faint of heart. Even as a first time mom, I thought I knew what to expect during my year-off. I expected to feel exhaustion, uncertainty, love and frustration. I got all of that and more.

As every mother knows, maternity leave, like parenting in general, is full of surprises. I got lot of those as well.

Here are some things I did not expect to do during my maternity leave:

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The Last Thing you Want to Hear When you Call the Hospital in Labour

It has been a year since the birth of Baby MB and I am finally ready to write about it.

First, he was super late. Super, unbearably late. You can read my other post on that part here.

I began feeling contractions for 3 days before his birth, which were irregular and got my hopes up, but each day passed with no baby. Finally the day after my own birthday I woke up feeling pretty sure I should call the hospital. When I did, I was absolutely shocked at what they said.  Continue reading

Times I Feel like a Super Mom, but Probably Shouldn’t.

When you are a parent, each day is full of small victories. And I mean small. Some are downright minuscule.

But we all have days like that, right? Days where nothing seems to go right. Our kids are little terrors who make us count down the minutes until bedtime. Everything is a mess, there is no food in the fridge and you can’t seem to get more than a sip of coffee.

On those days, those little victories keep you going. You feel like someone should come around the corner presenting you with a “parent of the year” trophy. Sadly, no one else seems to feel your day merits any trophies. Even though you feel victorious the rest of the world is not that impressed.

Here are a few times I felt like a Super-mom, but no one else agreed:

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To My Son on his First Birthday

Dear beloved son:

One year ago you were born and the world became a better place. You took forever to get here, but when you finally arrived you were tiny and perfect. Worth the wait. You are even more wonderful today.

In this last year, you have grown and changed so much. You learned how to lift your head, how to roll and sit and how to crawl. You are learning how to walk, and I’m sure that will happen any day now. You discovered that you love to move, and so you never stop. Continue reading