October 24, 2011 by Barbara.

If you looked at photographs from much of Reid’s childhood, you would think, “Wow, that kid goes a lot of fun places with her dad.” You might also think she does cool activities and wonder who was with her. To a large extent, I’m reluctant to give up control of the camera and Ken only occasionally takes it from me and gets me in a shot. Until…

Until Reid grew old enough to ask for the camera (expecting it to be shared) and to take pictures of both Ken and me - at the same time. All of a sudden, there we all are standing together at the top of a hill, overlooking a forest and lake at Deerhurst and Reid took a picture of Ken and me. Soon enough, the picture is printed and hung on a wall. We admire Reid’s photography skills and thank her for bringing us both into the photographic record.

Capital Mom provides a theme each Friday for these Monday Moments. Others have written about their own moments. I also wrote about other  Monday Moments.

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March 15, 2011 by Barbara.

Ken, Reid and I took a fieldtrip to Scotiabank Place to watch Disney on Ice - Mickey and Minnie’s Magical Journey. (It really does feel like a field trip when we have to travel 33 kilometres from home.) I first thought we should consider going to the performance based on the draw of Mickey and Minnie - Reid has been enamoured of these mice for several months - but when we were getting ready, it was the Disney Princesses that determined wardrobe choices. Reid certainly pulled together a great outfit.

Ken dressed a bit more low key but, when Reid’s cotton candy came with a foam rubber fish hat, he knew how to accessorize. (Which is good, I guess, since we paid $10 for the cotton candy.)

We watched Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy and Goofy as they travelled on a magical journey to see segments based on The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Peter Pan and Lilo & Stitch. We haven’t seen the movies in question, though we did see The Lion King: the Musical when we were in New York City and Reid has read stories that feature Ariel. Nonetheless, Reid was entranced by the drama on the ice.

Reid was also impressed by the evident effort that the skaters had put into training. In the midst of the first number, she said to me, “They really did practice!” Reid knows about such things thanks to the practice that she has been doing at CanSkate in preparation for the end of year Red Carpet Celebration.

Midway through, I figured out how to use the zoom on my camera and got a few shots of the performance. It was a magical morning.

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July 15, 2010 by Barbara.

My sister Karin, usually known here as “Aunt Karin” wrote this story in an email to Ken and then decided to send it to me, too. I wanted to capture it here because it’s very funny because Reid is 6 instead of 16. I’m not considering that it might be foreshadowing anything.

On Tuesday, Dave called me at work and in a  DEADLY CALM VOICE asks me If I’ve seen Shea’s nipple.  Shea has had swollen lymph nodes due to mono so I thought great, now he has a swollen boob?  I said, ”No, I’ve haven’t seen it, what’s wrong?”  Dave said, “He got his nipple pierced, I told him to pack his bags”, still calm.  I said, ”Dave, there’s worse things than that” then my phone rings and I have to go. I called Dave back when I could and said, “Calm down.”  He said, ”I’ve always been calm,” then he said ”I guess there are worse things.”  

Shea had been to Grand Bend overnight and a friend, who already has both nipples pierced, told Shea (who’s a big chicken) that if he got it done right then and there that he would pay for it. Shea asked the man how much it. When he found out it cost $100, he told his friend to pay and he would do it. I think he thought his friend would back down and if not then Shea would do it.  I asked him who signed his permission form and he informed me that at 16 you don’t need parental permission for a piercing, but tattoos can’t be done without parental consent till age 18. Good to know!

Since your daughter is fast approaching her 16th birthday, I thought I’d share my story.

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June 9, 2010 by Barbara.

View More Wordless Wednesday Participants, look at my previous Wordless Wednesday entries, or check out the cute babies and kids at 5 Minutes for Mom.

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January 21, 2010 by Barbara.

I took Reid to Melonheads hair salon for kids on Monday night. She’s been resisting having her hair cut because she wants her hair to be long for Amanda and Nam’s wedding in May. I finally persuaded Reid that a trim was necessary since it was getting more and more difficult to brush her hair. As always, Reid didn’t make a peep as her hair was washed, combed and cut. I can’t offer a police motorcycle for her to sit in at home but I do let Reid watch videos - especially Sesame Street on YouTube - or read when I brush her hair. Still, there is carrying on. After the trim, the hairstylist sprayed sparkle hairspray on Reid’s hair. Reid looked at herself and said, “Look, Mama, it’s like I have fireworks on my head.” And she was right. The way the light glinted off the sparkles was a lot like the little handheld fireworks. I’d never noticed that before.

On Tuesday morning, the biggest-ever snowflakes were falling as we went to Reid’s school. Reid was chattering about the “bits of fluff” and then she was silent as she stood, mouth agape, trying to catch some snowflakes on her tongue. It slowed us down but put a big smile on Reid’s face. It’s as important to take the time to taste the snowflakes as it is to smell the flowers, you know.

On Wednesday morning, I was combing Reid’s hair while she watched the Muppets singing Bohemian Rhapsody on YouTube. Ken was brushing his teeth but came out of the bathroom to ask, “What are you listening to?!” His voice conveyed surprise and disbelief. My matter-of-fact “the muppets are singing Bohemian Rhapsody” didn’t allay either. He had to watch for himself. It really is something to see, especially the part where Animal improvises on the “Mama” passage. Reid liked the song and I liked introducing her to it.

Oops, I just missed my bus stop. Writing is too distracting.

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September 15, 2009 by Barbara.

Reid woke up in the night and asked me where prisoners went to the bathroom. I explained that usually their cells have a toilet and sink in them and that there are shared showers, like at swimming. Reid next wanted to know what prisoners did for fun. I told her that I thought there were libraries and outside gym yards. I haven’t watched or read enough about prisons, apparently, since my details are sketchy. The last number of nights Reid has asked about “bad guys” and I suppose thinking about prisoners is a logical progression. But dreaming about them is more worrisome. Or at least odd.

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September 8, 2009 by Barbara.

I took Reid to her 5-year checkup this morning. According to the nurse, Reid’s blood pressure was good and she is
114 centimetres tall and weighs 20.2 kilograms - that’s about 44.8 inches and 44.4 pounds. I like to think of Reid as square, in Imperial units. Because I’m obsessed with such things, I can also tell you that Reid is in the 90th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight.

The doctors checked Reid over, asked a bunch of questions and issued a number of reminders, like how she should drink 2% milk and stay off of backyard trampolines. The last category was the stumper - discipline. I decided to go with the truth: she listens to everyone but me and Ken. Just this morning, in fact, when I called her down to breakfast, Reid’s response was, “I can’t hear you.”

At the end, the doctor said that Reid was healthy and didn’t need to come back every year unless we had concerns. I’ll miss those annual “nothing to worry about visits”.

And note to self: Reid doesn’t know how to shake hands. It’s an important skill to teach her.

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April 5, 2009 by Barbara.

Reid woke at about 5:30 this morning, snuffling and coughing. She asked me for a Kleenex and then to turn on the humidifier. I gave her the Kleenex and when I climbed into bed to snuggle her as the humidifier started spitting out its steam, she said, “It’s not working!” That’s faith for you, eh?

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February 26, 2009 by Barbara.

Reid and I went skating with Melissa and Ben at an outdoor rink in their neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon. Ben was eager to play hockey with the big kids but spent some time skating on the “puddle” with Reid first. The 3 years difference in their ages and the fact that one is a girl and the other a boy aren’t really barriers when they’re playing outside - or at least not in Reid’s mind. Unfortunately, despite the weekly skating lessons since September, Reid is not as proficient a skater as Ben. When they did go to the rink with boards and nets, Reid tried to skate and handle the puck a bit with the big boys and then decided to play goalie instead. The older boys, who were 13 or 14, refused to take shots on my pink-suited 4-year-old girl. She didn’t tell them that she was 4 *and a half* but I doubt it would have made a difference. I talked Reid away from the net and Ben even agreed to shoot on the net at the other end for a bit. She wanted back into the game, though.

Back at our house, Reid had lots to say about skating and said that she wanted to play hockey in the fall when Ken asked her. I wish I knew other hockey families in the area. I don’t know anything about when to register, where to find used equipment of any of that. Luckily, it’s spring and the right time of year for a young girl’s thoughts to turn to hockey. Far better than September …

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February 23, 2009 by Barbara.

Today, February 23rd, is the centennial of powered flight in Canada. Reid and I didn’t have a chance to fly in the Silver Dart (or even a replica) but we did see a flypast of heritage airplanes when we were at the Sun Life Snowflake Kingdom enjoying Winterlude and took time to pose at the displays from the Canada Aviation Museum.

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