Summer is ending and that makes me sad

Summer is almost gone, I guess technically we still have til the 21st of September but when the kids go back to school it's just about over in my books.

Yes, in this part of Canada, we can still have some pretty toasty weather for all of September, but we can also have some pretty darn crappy and cold weather too.

September kind of has a dual personality, hot like summer, or winter's foreshadowing cousin, it all depends.

The end of August always makes me think back to being a kid and how long summer seemed to be. July always seemed to pass pretty quick, maybe because that seemed to be the month we might have went to the beach or a cottage.

But August would come about sometimes and you'd think, wow, we've still got 4 weeks before school starts, what are we going to do? 

It was more days spent at the local swimming hole, or more baseball games or more whatever.

When I got older and started having a summer job, I thought of all the extra cash I  would have because summer seemed to stretch out for ages.

Now, it's more like where the hell did summer go? Seems like just a couple weeks ago that Miss K was turning 3, but that was June and we're way past that now.

You never seem to have a enough time to get all the things done that you want to in summer. 

I've been scraping and painting our front railing this year, now its a scramble to get some painting in before it gets dark after Miss K goes to bed. If I don't complete it soon, I'm only going to be able to paint on the weekends, unless I get some good spotlights.

Since puppy dog left us for dog heaven, I've been biking as well as walking in the morning, but that will end soon, it's barely light out at 6:30 in the morning and I'm just not die hard enough to put lights on my bike and try to ride in the inky blackness.

We wanted to take Miss K fishing, tenting and get her to one of the local beaches this year too. Have we done any of the above? Hmmm, nope. We're thinking of doing the tent thing this weekend, but not sure where as I don't want to be within a mile of any provincial park or campground. Tenting isn't my thing at the best of times, I don't need 1000 other people around while I do it.

No more lazy afternoons or evenings sitting outside reading or watching Miss K just play.  No more getting 3 loads of laundry dry on the line in one day. No more picnics/snacks outside.

Soon the weather will be too cold/miserable for any of the above. Yes, eventually it will be replaced by things like sledding, skiing, snowman making etc…but I still say summer is over too soon.

Big C loves the fall as its the signal for the start of his beloved waterfowl hunting season and the annual moose hunt. Not so sure how excited he is going to be with our mud puppy not part of the hunting scene and he will probably miss summer a little bit too.

My challenge will be convincing Miss K that its a good thing that she's not going to school this year. She's bound and determined that she can go sometime soon, I'm thinking next week might be a shocker for her…

Til next time…do whatever summer thing you love best!

Screams in the night

Oh boy, some sleep would be good. Maybe a lot of sleep. But some definitely, more than i got last night would be helpful for sure. 

Dragging my ass all over the place today, a hot chocolate and double chocolate donut is not doing anything to perk me up. It's going to be a lo-o-o-o-ong day

For starters I haven't even been sleeping full nights with Big C this week. I think I got through 1 complete night in the last week in our bed and that's it.

No marital spat, just a overtired husband that is snoring up a storm every night and I cannot sleep thru it. He feels bad, but an entire week away last week and some cold like symptoms are proving to be the perfect snoring combination of fatigue and nasal congestion.

So I've been heading to the spare bedroom for most of my nights. Sleeping pretty well I might add, which leads me to believe that couples should really not ever sleep together, but that is another post someday.

I stayed up a bit later last night. By later, I mean almost 10pm. A night owl household we are not! Big C sawing huge amounts of wood by the time I hit the bedroom so I just headed straight for the spare bed.

All was good till about 2:30 am. Then the screaming started. Our little daughter howled like there was the biggest most horrific monster holding her down, chasing her or whatever.

Dear God, what a rude way to be awoke from your sleep. It's petrifying, the person you most want to protect in your life sounds like they are being tortured in the next room.

Your body and mind can't react fast enough it seems, you just fling yourself in the general direction of their bedroom in hopes that you can stop whatever is causing the blood curdling screams.

I'm sure most, if not all parents have had this happen to them with all of their kids, and this wasn't the first time for Miss K, but it never ceases to scare the shit out of me each and every time

Sometimes I'm convinced she sees something in her room. We've had discussions on whether the house has a ghost but that is only between Big C and myself and again a topic for another post. 

Sometimes I'm not even sure she's awake when she's crying out. Sometimes she's darn near out of her room, in a hurry to escape whatever is after her.

I'm sure overall its way more traumatic for the parents than the kids when they have a nightmare, as usually she doesn't even remember being up in the night.

Last night was a rough one, she was definitely scared of something, took forever to get her calmed down and back to sleep, which means we didn't sleep, which means I might just have a sleep at lunch instead of eating…

The dog always used to scare me when she'd yelp before a seizure, you knew what was imminent with that, and it was frightening in and of itself.

But, to not know what is wrong, to be blissfully asleep and be jerked awake by your baby's howls is not a fun process.

So, I hope her day goes well, I hope we all can get a good nights rest until there are screams in the night once again…

One funny thing to come out of it, I had a dream that we went on some sort of vacation and Big C brought along his special black hi-top runners with purple and rainbow trim…heehee. Please understand that Big C is the exact opposite of black hi-tops with purple trim….hey I thought it was funny…Big C not so much :-)

Til next time….sweet dreams...

Miss K's Conversations

 I find I have some interesting conversations these days. Not at work, not at home with Big C, not with friends or relatives, but with my 3 year old.

Seems funny but its true. A lot of you will know exactly what I'm getting at, others will wonder what the hell I'm doing having "conversations" with a preschooler.

If you were a stay at home parent, I would suspect these conversations are a little more routine, but nonetheless extraordinary. Same with day care providers, teachers etc… who have these dialogues constantly.

I guess it may be that I'm away from Miss K for 8 or 9 hours on weekdays so sometimes there is more shock value to what she says. Not shocking bad, more an OMG where did you come up with that??

Take this morning for example. Big C is out of town for the entire week, so Miss K and i are going it alone. I'm helping her get dressed this morning, as she is a spitting image of her mother and is barely functional for 15 minutes after waking up. The conversation goes something like this

Miss K: You know what mom?

Me: No, what?

Miss K: You know when your underwear gets stuck in your bum?

Me: Yes?

Miss K: You call that a wedgie, because its stuck in there.

Me: Mmm, yes you do.

Miss K: Allison gets them a lot, she says she has a wedgie bum.

Me: She does, does she?

Miss K: Yeah, I don't like wedgies either.

OK then, I guess I won't tell her about thong underwear.

Another one, from recently.

Miss K: You know what Fraser says?

Me: No I don't

Miss K: He says "shet noonies"

Me: He does!? Do you know what a shet noonie is?

Miss K: No, I don't, I should ask him.

Just odd odd stuff that comes out of small children. I've been around kids lots in my life and love all the things they say and come out with. I remember one of my baby sitters kids used to use a four letter expletive for "truck" because he couldn't get out the "tr" sound. The older kids who had caught on, used to ask him lots of questions about large motor vehicles if you get my drift.

It's just downright funny. As I may have mentioned in earlier posts, Miss K, has a really big vocabulary for someone who just turned 3, so its even more of riot to hear her put some big words in a thought. 

I just was listening to a pod cast that said that to have an average vocabulary for a 6 year old, kids will learn about 5 new words a day from the time they start to talk. Cool eh?

I will leave you with this one. Big C is out of town all week as I said, Miss K likes to Skype with daddy morning and night. One of his work colleagues who is also a personal friend of ours was coming to the house so they could travel together to the conference.

Miss K: Can we talk to Dad on the computer?

Me: Yes, when he gets to the hotel we'll talk to him

Miss K: Is Cathy going with Dad?

Me: Yes, they're going to drive together

Miss K: Can we talk to Cathy on the computer too?

Me: I don't think so

Miss K: Why?

Me: Well because Cathy won't be there with Daddy.

Miss K: Why?

Me: They won't be in the same room

Miss K: Why?

Me: Well, Cathy needs her own room

Miss K: Why?

Me: Because she can't  stay with Daddy

Miss K: Why?

Me: Because Daddy snores…(at this point I'm starting to give up on the conversation)

Miss K: But I want to talk to Cathy too

Me: We will see what we can do

Anybody have any good things that their kids have sprung on them?? Any priceless conversations that will live on in your memory?

Til next time…can somebody please tell me what a shet noonie is??

Is the 15 minutes worth it?

Maybe it's the introvert in me coming out, but I don't understand the obsession to either create your own 15 minutes of fame or follow those who are carving out their own place in history. I don't really understand "reality" TV either. 

There are those that are famous by virtue of some talent, some event or even because of who their parents are. I somehow get the fascination with movie stars, sports heros, royalty and the like, you live vicariously through them just a little. 

I've sat down in my day to read People magazine or US Weekly to catch a glimpse into a life I will never know. I kind of understand why people especially here in Canada are obsessed with the British monarchy. The queen is on our money, why shouldn't we be?

It's all the other stuff I don't get. 

Who are the Kardashians and why exactly are they splashed across every tabloid and magazine around the world?

Why do I care if Justin Bieber had 2 chocolate dip donuts and didn't say thank you to the Tim Horton's employee?

Do I really need to know Lady Gaga's current hairstyle?

Does anyone care if Simon Cowell slept with more than just his current girlfriend/wife?

Why do supposed stars have to give their kids stupid names. Do they not think ahead 20 years when that kid is going to enrol in college?

And all those photos? Cellulite, baby bumps, bad fashion choices is this really important to life as we know it?

Yes, I know its an escape for some, seeing/hearing/reading about all these things is relaxing and energizing they say. But I still don't understand the need on one side to draw so much attention to yourself you end up all over social media and the internet. And the sad obsession with others to take joy in other people's misfortune or fame.

Perhaps the media is to blame, hard to avoid all these stories when it's jammed down your throat everyday. To a certain extent the media determines what we see/hear out there and if they get a response to all this crap, that is what they're going to keep feeding us.

I'm guessing that is the reason for all the "reality" tv out there. If anyone really believes that there isn't any scripting in these shows, I've got news for you. Most are about as real as Joan Rivers face.

I don't think I can take much more. 

I will watch Amazing Race as I have a love for travel and like seeing all the places they go. We've been know to watch the odd Gordon Ramsay show as Big C has a unnatural affection for that man. We'll catch Deadliest Catch, or a couple other Discovery Channel/National Geographic channel shows. But they tend towards documentary than "reality" in those cases.

It's all the wedding dress, honey boo boo, tiara wearing modern dad with sister wives and naughty maids that I can do without. Hillbillies with money, millionaires who live in a shack, whatever is out there I'm sure that there is worse stuff than I can even list.

It is not stuff that I would want my kid to watch or anyone else's kids. The number of children who can quote from Dog the Bounty Hunter scares me just a little.

I long for shows where people actually act and writers really write lines for people. 

Maybe its cheaper to set up a camera outside your house or inside it and just record what goes on. Which leads me to Big Brother…another show I've never really understood.

It really really makes me want to just cancel my cable subscription all together. Just forget TV, the tabloids and the internet and go live in the woods. Maybe the squirrels and birds won't know who the Kardashian's are either

Til next time…