Time Well Spent

As I was cleaning the house this afternoon, two thoughts kept running through my head... The first is that my energy spent on cleaning the floors and vacuuming seems so futile... if only a house could go from chaos to clean as quickly as it goes from clean to chaos when little ones are around... My toddler has recently discovered our unbabyproofable pantry and a new hobby has become emptying cereal boxes and pasta everywhere... I mean I can't fit EVERYTHING on top of the fridge!!!

The second thought that's more importantly been coming back to me is this... I chose well today.

I could have kept myself busy at work all day, but instead, I chose to cancel an appointment and work from home, allowing me to drive the kids to school this morning and join my 2nd-grader on their class field trip to the skating rink.

I chose well.

We had a blast skating together. She didn't even care that her friends were around, my girl just wanted to skate with her mommy and didn't like the time I ever so briefly went around the rink chatting with another parent... no this was OUR time together, no other siblings around, just the two of us (the 50+ other 2nd graders on the ice didn't seem to matter). We started playing tag to catch each other on the ice, with a few of her friends even joining in at the end. Awesome mother-daughter time!

Best of all, I was so excited to see that in 2nd grade, though you're already trying to be a lady and mimic the older kids in the way they dress and do their hair, it's still cool to reach for mom's hand as we're walking to the rink with the class... That made my day ;)

The overriding lesson of the day?

The house, the laundry and my to-do-list from work... those things will all get accomplished eventually... As pressing as they sometimes feel, in reality, they can and must wait. The bottom line is this:

I'll never regret giving my kids more of my time... building bonds, communication, character, faith...

That will always be time well spent at the end of the day.

Happy Earth Day!

Today I started off my day with my first grader on my case about having given her garbage in her lunch the day before. She wasn't complaining about the food, but litterally about the fact that her lunch was not "garbage free"... this week is Earth week at school and the teacher has taken away the garbage and recycling receptacles, challenging the kids (and parents!) to live garbage free! So she looked through her lunch this morning to make sure that it would fit the bill... I got a passing grade, but it's not easy to be fully garbage free!

With our kids being increasingly educated about the environment, I'm sure my girls will continue to challenge me on taking better care of the Earth! I remember recycling just coming in as I was in high school... things change fast over time! Now we've got the green bin, we're recycling batteries, you name it... And kids in school are using terms and concepts we never really talked about... like thinking about the number of miles our food gets transported to get to the grocery shelf, challenging us to buy more local to further reduce our carbon footprint...

Today being Earth Day, I thought it would be a good day to link you back to a post I wrote in the fall called "What's your act of green?". Check it out!

Mom knows best?

My husband starts school on Monday. In 12 months he'll be a paramedic! It's kind of a career change, but not a surprising one... he's worked a lot with youth in camp ministry, in the business world and in the fire service. Bottom line, he loves people, is a problem-solver, has a cool head in a crisis and thrives on that adrenaline rush. My mother-in-law couldn't be happier about this... she says that she's been after him to do this since he was a little boy! I guess moms really do know their kids.

I'm a high school teacher, and I'd have to say that one of the things that angers me the most is when students are told (by whomever - guidance counselors, teachers, parents, coaches...) that they will NEVER be able to do this or that... I grew up with a dad who used to tell me that the world was my stage. That I could do whatever I put my mind to. I vividly remember back in high school when my university applications were due... I had no idea where to apply or what to study. I pleaded with my dad to just tell me what I should do!! But he wouldn't. He said that this was one thing I'd have to figure out on my own... that got me thinking about what I really loved, and learning about the life around me and kids were two of those things - so off I went to study Biology while in the concurrent education program (allowing me to get both my undergraduate and teaching degrees).

I think the reason why I'm so bothered when people come down on kids and teens is because I do think that people can do what they put their minds to. Just take my husband and I for example... I was the straight A high school student... he was far from it... I did okay in university and worked hard... he went back to do an undergraduate degree in the health sciences earlier in our marriage and was way surpassing the majority of my university grades with marks mostly in the 80s and even some in the 90s! If you'd asked his high school teachers if they saw that in him back in the day... they probably would have said NEVER! Just goes to say that we need to believe in our kids. Looking at our own girls, who knows what they'll choose to do with their lives down the road... as much as my 6-year old enjoyed taking out her "doctor's kit" to care for me when I was sick yesterday (with her stethoscope and many needles!), in all honesty, I know that when she faces a crisis and sees any type of blood or trauma, she goes into panic/hysteria mode. So I'm guessing that she might not have her daddy's aptitude for the medical field or emergency services... having said that, I'm not going to start telling her that she could never be a doctor. Who knows how she'll develop and grow and mature over time!? I pray that God gives my girls direction and wisdom as they grow up (Colossians 1:9-14), and in the meantime, we are doing our best to help them to discover and develop their strengths and God-given gifts. The most important thing is that our kids know that we believe in them and that God has a plan for their lives (Jeremiah 29:11-13) then the possibilities are endless... I've seen what otherwise unmotivated students can do when they begin to see that you believe in them. It changes everything.

"Let's tell our young people

that the best books are yet to be written;

the best paintings have not yet been painted;

the best governments are yet to be formed;

the best is yet to be done by them."

- John Erskine

School Christmas Fun!

We just had a different kind of Christmas party at my daughter's school yesterday afternoon. The grade 1 class invited their parents (and younger sibblings) to the school for an afternoon of tobogganing, hot chocolate and cookies, a brief performance by the students and a craft. We had a blast! What a change from the regular Christmas recital that the entire school has put on in the past where parents are fighting for parking (which is nonexistant), fighting for seats (which are limited in the hot and overcrowded gym) and as a result fighting to see our dear wee ones at the front when it's their class' turn to perform their two songs...

Instead, this year we got to enjoy a relaxing and fun afternoon, had fun in the snow, got to see Julia sing up close in the classroom as the class performed their two songs - her shy and proud looks all wrapped into one as she did the actions to the songs... (you can't see that from the back of the packed gym!) Then we had fun doing the craft as family team work, with Emma cutting the pieces to be glued, Julia enjoying painting the glue on and me holding the snowman and dealing with the glue gun (a first for this non artsy girl!) - Daddy at home allowing the baby to have her afternoon nap! (See our craft below... ours is the colourful one on the right!)



All and all, a great afternoon and a welcome change from the school's past Christmas celebrations, this being more focussed on quality time with our kids instead of the distracting stresses of there being a lack of parking, seats and patience (evident everywhere)! Wonderfully refreshing and something that I hope to do more of in the new year... focussing more on not letting those special moments with my family slip by instead of letting the stresses and "to-do lists" of my days keeping me too busy that they so easily get crowded out... I must constantly be intentional about how I spend my minutes and hours in my days! I'm excited about a relaxing Christmas break at home and a New Year with a few more changes to our busy family schedule to further simplify life!

Many blessings to you and your family this Christmas and in the New Year!

When did we all get so busy?

In a parenting series at our church, Rocky Dundas, one of the pastors at the time, said something that I found truly profound. He spoke of kids today being in essence "experience rich, but relationship poor." Wow. It rung true for me on so many levels and has stayed with me over a year and a half later.

I see it all the time as a high school teacher... students are no longer content doing one activity at a time... they have overlapping seasons of volleyball, indoor soccer, intertube waterpolo, plus music and drama and part-time jobs... and then they say that we give too much homework! Dare I say that maybe they're taking on too much so that there's no time left FOR homework?? (just a thought). I don't remember us being that busy as teens!? And I've always been pretty outgoing!

The problem is not only that kids (young ones too) and their parents are constantly racing everwhere to get to something, but that families now consist of individuals with such different schedules and interests, that they barely meet at the dinner table, let alone to cross paths on weekends...

This idea of experience rich and relationship poor kids is a concept that hits a bit closer to home now that my daughters are growing into the age of participating in more activities (swimming, dance, skating). I look down the road, and wonder if it's wise to put them in this or that... I don't want to set them up to have one activity take over, nor do I want them out 4 times a week from one activity to the next! I aim for one night a week (two MAX). This fall in particular, I've really found myself examining and weighing what activities we were considering for our 1st grader.

I reluctantly put her in dance (that's for a whole other post!). By far, the highlight of my week is Wednesday night skating. We were able to get both our 3 and 6 year-olds on the ice at the same time (in different age groups of course - though their ability levels are equal! They're both just starting out...) I think my husband and I will end up enjoying this as an unofficial date night, sitting in the stands, watching both girls! Finding an activity that they can do at the same time is a step in the right direction I think...

My dream is that we could find family activities that we can enjoy together, like my family did growing up. There are 5 of us kids, and we spent every weekend staying at my grandmother's 1.5 hrs. away to go skiing. We also had horses and spent much time at the barn up the road with them. We have many great memories together and all 5 of us are still very close (despite our differences and the great geographical spread between us!) I long for that closeness between my girls as they grow up. For this winter, I hope that skating can become our family activity to practice with the girls on weekends...

Is it too idealistic in today's day and age for a family to still enjoy activities together instead of always running in opposite directions as the kids get older? I hope not. It's my dream. Idealistic or not.