200!!!

Wow!! It sure has been a busy week last week! Not only was my house full of kids, but I also managed to wheel and deal.. and sell our car!! Now you may ask, so you sold a car, so what? Well, lets just say that we've had it up for sale for 10 months!! One evening I get an email asking if I'd sold the car already (through Kijiji), I said no. They came over the next morning to look at it. They came over in the afternoon to test drive it. Then I spent the rest of the day on the phone organizing everything that needed to be done on our part to sign the car over. I had to negotiate price and details. The next afternoon they picked up the car!! I guess I should add that I HATE negotiating price and my husband was not at home (working out of town) and out of cell service while I completed all of this.. needless to say.. STRESS!! After that I had to start tackling the disaster my house had become, because I was getting company for the weekend :) Needless to say, here I am, Monday has come and I'm still alive enjoying a few hours of reprive while my kids are napping :)

200? Just a little note, this is my 200th post!! I can't believe it!!

A Different Kind of Mom

I've had this topic on my mind for a little while now, so I decided to take some time and write about it. It is the endless battle of stay-at-home mom versus working mom, better versus worse, guilt-free versus guily, self-less versus selfish; whichever way you put it, it does not sound good.

Why does there have to be such a competition; why is one good and one bad; I do not understand how we can call such harsh judgments about such an individual choice? How come we feel justified in condenming one persons choices without knowing any circumstances? Not only is the condemning other women wrong, but also the self righteous attitudes with which the condemning is done! Now I know that these are generalizations, but I find these attitudes prevelant in a LOT of different mom circles!

If you have not guessed yet, it's the stay-at-home moms (SAHM) that seem to pass judgement on the working moms and that working moms are lesser mothers than SAHM's. I am a SAHM myself, or more specifically a work-at-home mom (WAHM) to two children and two daycare children. My view on these criticisms, as a mother, if you are doing what is best for your family and your children than you are doing what is right for your situation, do NOT feel guilty or any less of a parent. I believe that sometimes a mother working out of the home can be the best choice for a family. Got your attention? Think about it - single parent? there is not really any other choice for a single mom! There may be many situations, the father can't get a job, but the mother can; should the family become homeless because "Mom HAS to stay home"? Especially in these difficult economic times, it's becoming a reality for a lot of families that both parents have to work in order to support their family.

I think it IS ideal if a mother can stay at home with her kids, but it's not always possible. As long as in the situations of a working mom that she is not making her choice because of greed or selfishness but rather due to the best interests of her family. Sometimes this can even include a mother's sanity. Not all women are domestic engineers by instinct and have a hard time emotionally/mentally with all the duties that are required. Not to say that they should just give up on staying at home, but sometimes a little reprive can do a lot, sometimes that reprive is in the form of a job. Which is better the better mom, the mom that stays at home all day with her kids but is a negative influence, and resents her kids or the mom that goes to work and when she comes home can spend positive, relationship building time with her kids?

Staying home with my kids is something I am glad that I can do but it doesn't make me any better a mom than the mother that drops her kids off at my house for me to watch. They are trying to do the best for their family as I am trying to do the best for mine. Why do us women have to be at odds and discriminate against each other when this is the time in our lives that we need each other's support the most! Next time you SAHM's see a working mother, instead of judging her, be glad you had the opportunity you did to make your choice and try thinking of what you would do if your situation was different!

**I'm also going to do a post on the value of a SAHM - Occupation: Mom**

Tenting & kittens :)

Tenting went well with the kids - it was such a treat for them to sleep on an airmattress, they kept bouncing me all over the place.. until I got my tough mom face on :) Although it was really sweet how they both cuddled me all night, even though that meant I woke up every time I needed to turn over. Overall, it was a success :)

This weekend we have a little treat (and extra work for me). I picked up two kittens for my parents, and we are taking care of them for the weekend. There have been some pretty priceless moments.. like my daughter running away because 'they bite' (they don't bite, but you know how little kittens are with their claws and she figures thats bitting), but mostly she wants to get right in there and hold them.. even when they're scrapping :) Sorry no pictures yet, I need a new battery for my camera and just haven't done it yet.

K is also cutting her 2 year molars these days, so we've been a little more forgiving of her moodiness. In the potty training department things have been going well, depending on what we're doing, K wears panties although there is usually an accident or two during the day (usually between when she wakes up from her nap and supper time, have to figure that out yet). I let her wear pullups when she's teething though, my kids get really nasty diarrhea while cutting molars, and I just don't feel like dealing with cleaning that up (sorry all you cloth diapering moms, I guess I'm not really cut out for that, lol). So overall, my K is doing super good for not even being 2 yet :) Which reminds me.. there are 2 birthdays coming up in September, hehe.. mine and K's. I'm looking forward to planning her party, I've decided that I want to do a Word World theme (since she LOVES that show, just like her brother). I'm hoping to attempt to make her cake too.. so lots to look forward to!!

So Much to Do, So little time...

Do you ever feel like that? it happens to me every summer! It happens otherwise too, but I'm thinking particularly of summer stuff.. It's already August!!! Where did the summer go??? Anyway enough about me lamenting time past - time to share all those fun and exciting summertime fun things :) So we went on a long road trip with my parents, the kids loved it!! We did too, but our aim was for a family reunion and then a long trip back. It worked out really great, I was travelling with the kids (my husband had to work) for an hour and met up with my parents and we travelled together from there (in two vehicles though). I really enjoy driving by myself - it's my thinking time, things that I've put aside to think about another day well I pull those out and mull over them. It's funny how I find such a freedom in driving, like it's just me and the road. Anyway my son got to ride with Grandma and Grandpa for quite a bit of the time and I heard there was some silly stuff going on in that car! :)
Gma: Look there are some horses.
TJ: No they're cows!
Gma: They go neigh.
TJ: They go moo.
Such a silly boy :) He had so much fun being silly with Grandma! We had a good time at the reunion, saw family that I hadn't seen in MANY years (some I hadn't seen since I was a little girl). My kids did pretty good, we didn't even use the 'back-up' new toys. The ride back was just as fun and uneventful except for the fact that I got to visit Ikea :) That was a treat!!

This weekend my challenging/fun task is - camping, in a tent - just me and my kids.. although I will have family camping too, but it should be fun, my kids first tenting experience :) I'm looking forward to it! I figure we might as well try to get as much in while we can!

In other news, just a curious shout out to all you bloggers, anyone know of a good blog to visit that deals with post-partum depression? It's not for myself - but for someone I know that I think is dealing with it but has not been diagnosed.