A short note...

Dear Readers,

Hello!

I want to write you a short thank you note for coming to read my little ramblings.

I can hardly believe it; I am almost up to 100 readers! Yes, I realize that many other blogs get more than 100 visitors a day (probably in less than an hour), but this event still makes me feel a little bit special, especially since I did not expect anyone to read this thing.

So to everyone, THANK YOU again, and I hope that you enjoyed what you read. I promise I will try to write a bit more often and to keep things interesting. And, I would love to hear from you too!

Now I shall wait patiently for my first comment…

The changing me....

As I stood there, alone, at the corner, impatiently waiting for the light to change, it occurred to me that since becoming a mother, I have become a better-behaved person. Note that I did not say a better person… I still have evil thoughts about the jerk that cut me off, and the dink that did not pick up after his/her dog….

So there I am standing, tapping my foot, when suddenly I thought why in the world am I not crossing? There are no cars to be seen for miles, and other people are walking and giving me funny stares.

Now I am thinking, while I was crossing against the light, that my little one has me very well trained. In order to teach her traffic safety, I am now willing to walk half a block out of my way to cross at a light, and will stand there, like a statue, staring at the red hand, even if there are no cars around.

This led me to realize that since I had the kid, I have also started to drive at the speed limit (not that I was a reckless driver, I just drove fast, possibly because I was always late). And, not only do I wear a helmet, I now obey all traffic laws when I am on my bike.

Then, there is also the constant hand washing and stress on cleanliness. Of course I washed my hands before I ate or prepared food etc… but now I wash my hands if I even think they might be dirty.

I have made other changes as well. I try to be more outgoing and friendlier to show my little one that she too can make new friends. I am trying to be more patient. I have learned that children work on their own schedules, which is to say things get done when it gets done… I am learning to control my temper, at least outwardly even if I am seething ball of rage underneath.

I am sure that having a child has changed me in many more ways than what I have listed above, but I just cannot think of one at this time. How has it changed you?

Oh! Yes, I remember another one, I can function on less sleep (though not as well as my college days…), but my memory is shot.

I am still a work in progress…and I hope these changes will not only help me be a better-behaved person, but a better person as well, and most importantly, a better mom.

I have become a walking Disney ad....

My sort of first review…

Recently, I have discovered that I have become a walking advertisement for Disney. I never thought this was going to happen, but there I was, spewing the wonders that is a Disney Cruise.

Maybe I am still experiencing some sort of post-vacation bliss (unlike my last vacation). However, you would think this blissfulness would have ended after doing three loads of laundry, discovering that I have to cleanup after myself (and the family); purchasing and preparing my own food; and finding out that there is no room service button on my phone…

I guess this is why I really enjoyed this cruise; I actually felt like I had a vacation!

Sure the ship was gorgeous, the weather was great, the shows were spectacular, and the food was yummy (a little too yummy, as I found out that I did not need to use a belt by the end of the week…). But most importantly, unlike our last vacation, we were able to have time away from our child. It was nice to spend some time alone with my husband, even if it was just sitting on deck to read a book together.

This vacation, after learning my lesson from our previous one, I wanted a set of grandparents to come with us. But it turned out I did not need free babysitting after all (I am still glad they came). The price of the cruise included a children program (for those three and older, and toilet trained). And my child LOVED the program. Given the option between hanging out with her folks or going to the ‘club’, she picked the ‘club’ every time. I am not sure if I should be happy or offended about this…

I really have to hand it to Disney for the effort they put in to make children happy, which in turn makes parents happy. Their children program was great, my little one got to spend time with kids her age, make crafts, watch movies, dance with Snow White, read to by Belle, and play with all sort of other characters! For parents, the program is very flexible; we can drop her off for five minutes or for the entire day, as the club is open until midnight on most nights (but we never did). AND you can leave the ship! So the night that we docked until 1am at Key West, the grown ups left the ship and went out for a drink!

As much as I love her, and want to spend time with my child, I need a little bit of time away from her to recharge my own batteries. So this vacation allowed us to spend time together as a family, and be able to do our own thing. I think this is the recipe for a great vacation, at least for this family.

And yes, the Disney cruise was loud, but what do you expect with a boat full of small and excitable children, and the lineups to see the characters were long, though I heard it is still much better than the line up at the parks, and it is a bit pricier than some other cruises, but this cruise pass the ultimate test:

When asked if she would like to go another Disney Cruise, my daughter said “OF COURSE” with a big giant smile.

Now if only I can win the lottery to pay for the next one…

Mother's Day and Me

I had a lovely, quiet mother’s day this year. We woke up late, had brunch, and later went out to dinner. And, most importantly, my darling husband kept my daughter away from me, most of the day (which allowed me to do three loads of laundry… we just came home for a trip…).

I realized a couple of years ago that mother’s day, at least for me, meant a day to get away from my child, whereas father’s day is all about family time (okay sleeping in and family). I noticed this trend with some of my friends too; they spend mother’s day going to the spa, taking some time to go shopping, going out with other friends, but mostly doing activities WITHOUT children. Just go to any playground on mother’s day and you will see a very large collection of dad’s hanging out with kids.

Do not get me wrong, I LOVE my child, but on mother’s day (and maybe my birthday), there is nothing I enjoy more than some peace and quiet to MYSELF. I figure the other 363 days a year is spent being a mother that these two days should be just about me, a sort of mini vacation to charge up my batteries before Monday comes again.

So I propose that Mother’s Day should be renamed as ME day… what do you think?

And, yes, I did not mind doing three loads of laundry on mother’s day… it is do three loads now or six loads next weekend, while living with dirty underwear…