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Camping in Cardinal, part 1

Monday, June 7th, 2010

As the time until Ken’s departure draws nearer, we’re looking for things that we’ve been meaning to do together or things we would do if he were here. We decided that camping at the KOA in Cardinal belonged in at least one of those categories. When I made the reservations and was able to get one with a porch swing, I took it as a good omen. The weather forecast calls for rain – making me remember all too clearly the last time we three came camping – but I’m holding on to the swing omen.

Ken and I got everything packed and then went to pick Reid up. The car was full with just a nook in the back seat where she would sit in her seat. Despite our best efforts, we’re ended up crossing Ottawa in the middle of rush hour. The drive that Google Maps said would take 1 hour and 12 minutes took much, much longer. We quickly unloaded the car and I prepared fried hot dogs and chips for supper. Nutrition isn’t my top priority when we get to a camp site. I think I learned that from Grandma Joyce.

After supper, Ken built a fire while Reid and I went over to the jumping pillow. I couldn’t face the pool but jumping isn’t so bad. Reid was excited to stay up late and I was looking forward to toasted marshmallows. Reid was looking forward to eating raw marshmallows and toasting others for me to eat. I like mine golden. Ken likes his to be on fire and then extinguished but still Reid has to cook for me. Reid was so pleased when she managed her “first-ever golden marshmallow”, after one sacrificed to the fire and another to the grass. At this point, I must pause to say, marshmallows seemed much bigger when I was a kid. The miniatures seem right but what used to be “jumbo” seem much less so than they did back then.

We finally headed to the bathroom for a final visit about 8:30. As we went out the door, one of the friendly KOA people noticed that Reid was holding a wet paper towel to her arm. Worried that she was injured, the young woman asked if we needed first aid supplies. I assured her that we could manage the bite, that the cool water helped. We really don’t need to encourage Reid’s sense of drama over mosquito bites. Another time I should probably pack insect repellent and after-bite lotion. Reid’s flesh seems to be particularly appealing to insects. And to her mama, though I only *pretend* to bite.

Posted in Mama, Pastimes | 38 Comments »

Busy Mother’s Day for Reid and Ken

Saturday, May 1st, 2010

On the way to daycare yesterday, Reid laid down the rules for Mother’s Day. She told me that on Mother’s Day I was not to get up at my usual time – that I was too sleep in. I negotiated permission to get up and use the bathroom at the time I usually wake up but then I had to agree to go back to sleep. Reid added, “Daddy and I will get up at the usual time. [Pause] Well, Daddy will have to get up early but I’ll be up at the usual time. Mother’s Day will be a busy day for me and Daddy.” I hope that Mother’s Day will be a restful one for *me*.

Posted in Mama | 22 Comments »

Favourite things

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Reid and I took advantage of the warm weather of Tuesday to eat in our backyard. I’m not sure if the fresh air inspired her, but Reid chose the middle of supper to tell me about some of her favourite things:

Favourite food: chicken curry (Madras)
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite toy: basketball, which she doesn’t own but plays at daycare in the courtyard or so she said
Favourite sleepy toy: Princess
Favourite thing she likes to do: sew, also at daycare

And after sharing this with me, Reid returned to her supper.

Posted in Growing up, Mama, Pastimes | 1 Comment »

Sad hockey mom

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Reid has her last hockey practice/game this evening. I’m kind of sad to see her first hockey season end. We had only two 7:00am sessions and the rest were at 8:00 or 9:00 with a few later ones thrown in. For our family, earlier is better. I have enjoyed all of the time sitting close to Ken in the stands – sucking his body heat as much as possible, to be honest – and having time to speak without interruption. It’s been great, too, to watch Reid’s hockey skills improve so dramatically over time. She won’t be rivalling Hailey Wickenheiser anytime soon, especially if she doesn’t decide soon to move more quickly on the ice, but her skating and stickhandling skills are much better than they were. I’ve learned lots about hockey, myself, as the season has progressed. I think Reid has also benefited from the challenge that hockey represents to her. So much comes easy for her that it is good to see her meet a challenge on a regular basis. All this to say that I’m looking forward to September but first I need to savour one last hockey practice/game.

Posted in Mama, Pastimes, Sports | 1 Comment »

Why did I teach her to tell time?

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

For a long time, Reid’s most common first words in the morning were, “Is it morning?” With the blackout blind, it’s hard to know. At some point, I decided to teach Reid how to read the clock and told her that she gets up once the first digit is “6″. That worked well enough until Reid started at her new school. At her old school, the kids had a quiet/nap time every afternoon between 12:30 and 2:00. This is the same time, more or less, that she is at her new school. I don’t think Reid was sleeping most days but she seems to have needed the downtime, given how tired she is in the afternoon and evening. We’ve been putting her to bed earlier but she hasn’t been falling asleep much earlier. It’s that whole leading a horse to water thing but with sleep. Because Reid is blessed/cursed with the same internal clock as me, she wakes up at close to the same time every day. This is incredibly annoying when she hasn’t had enough sleep (and, incidentally, when I wake when still tired). I’ve started covering the clock with a pillow so that she won’t be able to glance over and know that it is morning. If Reid is willing to go to the effort of moving the pillow, I decide that sleep is too far gone. But really, who thought teaching her to tell time was a good idea?

Posted in Mama, Math skills | 1 Comment »

Volcano trivia

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Reid and I are reading a Magic School Bus story about volcanoes that starts with a quiz. On the way home one night, Reid decided we should share what we know about volcanoes, in a quiz format. She announced some fact that she’d learned in science class, where they are also learning about volcanoes, and then she asked me for something I knew. When I produced some tidbit, Reid made a “blanh” noise and announced that the score was 1 to 1. I suggested it might be more competitive if we asked each other questions but that idea was firmly rejected. We traded facts a few times – I remembered some Pompei facts from the exhibit at the Museum of Civilization a few years ago, just to prove that my memory isn’t entirely non-functioning – but then Reid seemed stumped. As she looked around for inspiration, Reid saw a McDonald’s restaurant. Her next fact was, “There has never been a McDonald’s inside of a volcano.” I had a Mount St. Helen’s fact and then Reid provided another example of something that had never been built inside of a volcano. My final offering was that sometimes lava comes out of the side of a volcano instead of just through the top. Reid said, “I don’t think that’s true, Mama.” I snorted. Hadn’t I accepted buildings that had never been constructed inside a volcano? I told Reid that I was sure of my fact but that we could check. Reid grudgingly agreed and then reminded me that the first one with 10 points won. She offered one last thing that had never been built inside a volcano, updated the score: 10 to 9 for her, and declared herself the winner. I don’t mind losing but I was tempted to check if, in fact, a McDonalds had ever been built inside a volcano. They seem to be everywhere else.

Posted in Books, Mama | 95 Comments »

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 2010 in our house

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

Last night, Reid and I played a version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I was Snow White, Reid was the Seven Dwarfs and the scene was set in that period where Snow White is taking care of all those guys who don’t really appreciate what she does for them. In our variation, the dwarfs have different names and all represent facets of one kid throughout a single night.

At bedtime, Reid, in the guise of a dwarf, was Tricky, pretending that she fell asleep in the car so that someone would carry her up to bed. Next, she was Pouty because she really doesn’t like to lay there in the dark all alone. Then, she was Smarty and remembered that we should turn on the humidifier. At this point, Prince Charming, aka Ken, made an unusual early appearance to fill the reservoir.

Throughout the supposed-to-be-sleeping part of the night, Reid, I mean the dwarfs, were by turns: Sniffly, Sneezy and Wakey. Poor Snow White had a lot of trouble sleeping while tending to these demanding fellows.

No one was surprised that the dwarf who emerged from Reid’s room this morning answered to Sleepy and had exceedingly dark circles under her eyes.

Snow White, being a good caregiver, thought of keeping the dwarfs home from school today but this is Field Trip Day! and who wants to miss school when the rest of the kids will be going to the Canadian Children’s Museum?

Now Snow White (that’s still me) is waiting for the poisoned apple that will bring uninterrupted sleep. I know I can depend on Prince Charming to wake me at the right time. If only my brain and body would quieten itself to sleep without the apple. Until then, I tasting apples left, right and centre.

Wish my poor little dwarfs good health, won’t you. She has had enough colds already this winter.

And, by the way, why is the plural of dwarf not dwarfs? Seems wrong to me.

Posted in Books, Language skills, Mama | 76 Comments »

Faking it

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

After Reid’s swimming class last week, I said, “Reid, if you fall asleep on the way home and stay asleep when we get there, I’ll give you a dollar.” Ken heard me and said, “If you do that, I’ll give you two dollars.” Reid confirmed, “You’ll give me three dollars if I go to sleep,” and we told her that she had understood us correctly. I’ve never given Reid money to perform a task. I try not to offer rewards since I need for her to do what she should independent of what bribe I can access. And that Tuesday night, I was joking. It was a safe thing to offer money for because it wasn’t going to happen.

Except. Except that Reid pretended to fall asleep when we turned onto our street. When we got home, I told her that I knew she was awake but would carry her in if she would come to my side of the car. Reid was shocked I could tell that she was faking and wanted her money anyway. This was my first warning of things to come. I said that I would pretend that she was asleep and it would be okay. I carried Reid upstairs and laid her on her bed and left the room. Her pretending to be asleep and me pretending that I was fooled.

Until Reid realized that Princess was not beside her. While we looked, Reid was crying. I told her that we’d find Princess. But that wasn’t why Reid was crying. The jig was up. Neither of us could fake our part – Reid was obviously awake and she saw her $3 disappear. My explanation that Daddy and I had been joking, had never expected her to stay asleep went over like a lead balloon. I ended up promising to give Reid the $3 and never to make such an un-funny joke again.

Fast-forward to this week… We never discussed falling asleep and certainly no money was discussed. Once again, Reid feigned sleep just before we got home. I carried her up to bed and took her coat off, all while she faked sleep. It seemed like she *might* fall asleep for real if I left her alone. Ten minutes later, Reid came downstairs with a look of reproach on her face. Apparently she thought I’d climb into bed with her, even though she was already fake-asleep. We trouped upstairs and she fell asleep for real. I was glad we didn’t have to have another discussion about sleep bribes.

Not that Reid has remembered to collect her $3 yet.

Posted in Mama | 131 Comments »

Starting to add up

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

Reid is increasingly interested in reading, finally agreeing to sound words out when prompted. Her passion, though, remains math. Tonight she chose to work in an addition book while I got supper together. At first, Reid told me the numbers that she was adding together and then she gave the answer. After a bit, she started regrouping the pictures of items to be added and then asking me for the answer. When I told Reid that it was she who needed to practice addition, she assured me that she knew the answers but wanted to know if I did. When I hesitated in answering a question, Reid would offer the initial sound of the correct answer. I was tempted to defend myself – the delay was due to distraction not an inability to work sums less than 10 – but that would have seemed ungrateful since she was giving me hints.

Posted in Language skills, Mama, Math skills | 93 Comments »

Staycation weekend 1

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Ken’s oral interaction test is scheduled for January 19th. He is working even harder to prepare for it than he did for the grammar and comprehension tests. Or, at least, it seems that way to me. Reid’s and my job is mostly to give him time to study. We speak French to him sometimes but we discuss “home” topics and don’t use the same vocabulary as he will in his test and so its not as helpful as might be. I thought of going away for a weekend or two but its nice to see him for breakfast and supper at least. Our plans have morphed into staycations instead.

On Saturday, we went to that Home Depot Kids’ Workshop and then straight to Kindermusik. We ate our lunch in the recreation centre, where Reid discovered that the lentil couscous I’ve been trying to get her to try for years is actually yummy. Too bad I didn’t feel the same about Reid’s bagel with cream cheese. After class, we had planned on going to Play It Again Sports but Reid fell asleep but I’ve extended the “don’t wake a sleeping baby” rule to prohibit waking Reid, regardless of her age. We slowly made our way home via a circuitous route to prolong Reid’s nap.

Once home, Reid applied the stickers to her calendar and then it was time for a power skating session that was offered in place of hockey. I wish the power skating happened more often. Reid enjoyed the drills – and going to the other end of the ice for the first time – and she needs the skills development. Ken came along to watch. He and I have some of our best conversations sitting in the stands, me trying to absorb all of his extra body heat and both of us thinking of what we want to tell the other. We try for a good conversation at swimming lessons, too, but the heat saps the ideas out of our brains and there is no touching.

On Sunday morning, Reid and I went to the Canada Agriculture Museum for our first visit since the fall. It was sooo cold! I remembered why I don’t usually go to The Farm in the winter. Our arrival put us too late for the rabbit and cow care sessions and before the afternoon sessions started but we were able to say farewell to the ram, about whose departure I had read on Twitter, and visit the pigs, sheep, bull and donkey in the main barn and the cows and calves in the dairy barn. The cows are suffering from ringworm – which they said doesn’t actually involve worms – and we weren’t able to touch them. The calves were behind a door. They’re so cute it’s nearly impossible not to touch them, or rather, they would find it impossible not to touch the people. They are lickers and nuzzlers to a one, those calves.

We ate our lunch sitting in the parking lot and then went to visit my friend, Carol, and her husband in the rural part of Ottawa. We took our snowshoes with us and were out for about an hour, walking along the Jock River and then through a field of pine trees. It was a sunny day and the landscape was quintessentially “winter in Canada”. Carol’s two dogs – one of which is nearly as big as the pony Reid rode when we were at Deerhurst and the other is smaller but still large – accompanied us. They rolled in the snow, ran away and came bounding back, occasionally sniffing at Reid. She was the tiniest bit hesitant at first but only for a short time. She has come a long way from her fear of Zoëy, the smallest (and cutest) Yorkshire terrier I’ve ever met. I thought that the big walk might have worn Reid out but she stayed awake for the whole trip back. Carol and Michael live near one edge of Ottawa and we’re close to another. The city might not be densely populated but it is widely spread out.

I made Madras chicken curry for Ken’s half-birthday, which we were celebrating belatedly. He’d requested a cherry pie, too, but I’d spent too much time away from the house to deliver it. I substituted three store-bought cupcakes that each had a plastic hockey jersey on the top. Reid and I got Senators jerseys (Go, Sens! Go!) and Ken got a Canadiens jersey (Boo! Hiss!).

And all of a sudden, our weekend was over and it was time for bed.

Speaking of the Montreal Canadiens, do you know what the “H” on their jersey signifies?

Posted in Kindermusik, Mama, Museums, Pastimes | 3 Comments »

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