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…

My little princess

I never imagined that I would be raising a princess; and not just any princess, a little fairy princess…

So, here I am trying to convince my little one to wear something other than a dress every morning. And then it occurred to me, who cares? She will only be this little once. So what if she wants to wear a princess dress to the park, or a tutu, or a gorilla suit (as long as it is weather appropriate… i.e. no summer dresses without six layers underneath when there is snow on the ground… and yes. I know it is April, but it snowed here last week…)

Well, this is the theory I Try to live by… most mornings I am pretty good about not fighting her fashion choices, though I still try to get her to wear something else, mainly because she has LOTS of other clothes. I keep telling myself it is just clothes, and who knows, maybe next week she wants to be a pirate… ‘

The main thing that bothers me about her princess obsession is the importance that she places on her clothes and looking pretty. It is partly my fault: I admit that I think she is adorable, and I often let her know it; and other people has told her that she is cute as well (granted, who really walks up to a kid and goes yuck, you are ugly…). So now, I am worry that I am raising a very vain child who puts a premium on physical appearance.

On the other hand, this may just be a phase… I use to like pink and pretty dresses, and now I live in jeans and t-shirts (I probably go a little too far the other way and not put enough care into my appearance…). I wish I know how to get through to her that her actions are much more important than her outfits and hair accessories. But then, she is three, and is generally well behaved, polite and sometimes even thoughtful.

Maybe I AM the one that is making too big a deal out of this whole princess thing… after all she did tell me once that she is going to be a “princess who rescues other princesses” What else can I ask for…

To Clean or Not to Clean…. I choose only clean when you have to….

Ahhh… today is one of those rainy, lazy, stay at home days. You know, those days that you want to wrap yourself up in a blanket, with a hot drink in hand, and a comfy spot in front of the television all day.

On the other hand, today is also one those rainy days that I should probably get started on the ever growing list of things I have to do around the house… like actually being able to see my dining room table underneath the mountain of newspapers, fliers, and possibly those polite letters asking for money….

I have read those tips on how to keep your home tidy in ten minutes a day, and how to keep you house and life organized. Yeah right, I think I was able to follow those suggestions for about ten minutes before something else distracts me (including writing this blog at this very moment).

The only thing that ever works for me, when it comes tidying the house, is to invite people over; and I mean people, as in, not family (my family is so accustomed to my level of messiness that if they do not see dirty socks in the hallway, they already think the house has been cleaned).

So I admit it, the main reason why I entertain is to get my ass in gear to clean and tidy the house. So welcome spring, welcome BBQ season, and welcome to a cleaner house.

Note:

We do not live in a complete pigsty. I do the laundry regularly; we all have clean underwear (most of the time). And, we eat from clean dishes, granted the dishes are pulled right from the drying rack and never off the shelves… and occasionally, you will hear the sound of a vacuum cleaner coming from my house.

I admit it; I am a Facebook game addict...

I use to spend hours playing Facebook games. I farmed, built restaurants, created frontiers… I usually only did these things while my child was asleep, and usually only after I finished doing what I have to do (like paying the bills), which also meant that at 1am, I am farming, building restaurants and chopping trees….

I do not even remember how or why I got addicted to these games. I have a feeling it is because of the simplicity of these games; I sit there, click a couple of buttons, and things happen, sometimes I even get rewarded with points and stuff. These games are my slot machines.

I really enjoyed the simple mindlessness when I play. After a long day of entertaining a pre-schooler (even if it was a good day) my brain is just too tired to think, so much so that even reality TV takes too much effort for me to follow the ‘plot’. And, there is an additional bonus to these games: in these games, I get to CONTROL what happens. I have come to realize that my little one is definitely her own little person now, with very STRONG opinions of her own (not that I mind most of the time, but once in a while, it is just nice to ask her to wash her hands and not have to deal with the ‘why’s’).

Well it is now time for me to say goodbye and goodnight to the games, and to find some other thing to do, like reading (reading something with more than two sentences per page), writing more, or maybe finishing some of those knitting projects that I have started. Yes, I know I am replacing one addiction with another, but hopefully this is a healthier addiction.

Besides, my computer slows to a grinding halt each time I try to load one of those Facebook games… OR maybe I just need a new computer to play…

I deserve the mother of the year award…. Bad mother that is…

My little one has a real talent for pushing buttons, elevator buttons, buttons on keyboards, buttons on toys… and especially my buttons.

The other day I experienced one of those moments that I wish I could take back (okay, I have many of those moments, and not all of them involve my child). I can see myself saying mean and hateful words, but it was way too late to stop myself. I do not even remember what exactly set me off; it was probably one of those things that she has done a million times, but perhaps this time, combined with the lack of sleep and maybe something to do with the cycle of the moon and planets… it was the straw that broke this mommy’s back.

I tend to have a pretty good internal censoring mechanism that prevents me from saying half the things that I want to say to her when I am angry (the ones that are purposefully meant to elicit tears...), but that switch in my brain was off. And as soon as I said those words and saw the hurt and fear in her eyes, it was too late, and now I feel even worse.

Usually, I am pretty good about being upfront with her. I actually tell the little one that ‘mommy cannot talk to you right now because she is very very VERY angry and do not want to say something mean and hurtful to you.’ And then I sit there and ignore her. This is also why I believe in time-outs… mostly to calm me down….

However, every once in a while (okay probably more times than I want to admit) I slip. It is hard not to push back and hurt when someone hurts you (figuratively, not literally). And then I realize that I am doing this to a small child. So what can I do but to apologize about MY behaviour... while trying to convince her that her behaviour was wrong as well…

So, I understand this punishment vs. discipline thing in theory… if only someone can tell me how to do this while the only thought going through my head is that this spanking thing does not sound half bad….

Why do I exercise?

Okay, I started to exercise the other day (confession… I exercise just about as regularly as I blog…), but it did get me to think about what type of message I am sending to my little girl. Let’s put it frankly, I am not exercising to feel healthier, or to get more energy, though those are excellent side benefits. I am working out because I am going to go on vacation and I want to look good in a swimsuit.

While I try very hard to teach my child that looks are not everything (she is currently a bit addicted to people calling her pretty…), and that we should try to exercise and to eat well for the sake of being healthy, and not to live up to some ideal body image; I turn around and sneak peaks at pretty glossy fashion magazines and wonder how the models get their tummies so flat… or if that fad diet really works….

So yes, I confess, I am a bit of a hypocrite…

But I really do want to teach her to feel good about her body, especially since she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up, granted, she also wants to be a princess fairy, so maybe I do not have that much to worry about when it comes to a career choice where body image/type is a pretty big issue.

So, I guess I will try to live by example and exercise and eat less junk food to feel healthier and to have more energy… looking better in my swimsuit will just be a nice side benefit….