Mothers Day - My Mommy View

As this time of year comes around again, I can't be anything but thankful. Thankful for my four beautiful babies. Thankful that someone decided that I should be their mommy.

I remember when I was a little girl I wanted to be a mommy. I didn't want to do anything else because when I was 8 being a mommy was the most important job in the world.  As I got older, I still wanted to be a mom but I knew that I would have to have a good job to take care of all of my kids (I wanted 8) and I wanted to be able to give my kids all of the things that my parents weren't able to give me.  My parents tried their best to get us all of the things we needed or wanted but we weren't rich and they could only afford so much.

Being a mom now, I realize that being a good mom has nothing to do with what I can buy my kids. Being a good mom means loving them unconditionally, making the hard decisions so that they can learn to be upstanding adults with good morals and beliefs and letting them know that I will always be there for them. It's not about the money we have but that they feel safe and loved.

Raising kids today is hard.  There are so many outside influences (and not good ones) that come into our kids lives everyday but as parents we have to make sure we are plugged in, we need to know what they are doing all the time and we have to balance this with the ability to let them grow too.  I am having a difficult time with this part.  My oldest, my daughter, is 10 and next September I have to allow her to walk to school on her own. It's not too far from home about a 15 minute walk but I have all of the horrible things in my head that could happen in 15 minutes.  It's my job to protect her and keep her safe.  How do I do that without smothering her?

When I was her age I was walking alone all the time.  I played at a park away from home for hours.  I went to the store on my own and I was never home after school until dinner time.  But it's not safe anymore.  We need to be vigilant.  I will keep them all safe.

So this mother's day, I don't want or need anything.  I just need them to grow and prosper and be safe. The best gift anyone could give me, I already have. Happy, healthy kids that get to call me mommy and I love them more than any gift in the world, but I wouldn't complain if they let me sleep in.

The Ups and Downs of Parenting More Than One - When Sickness Hits

I am at a loss.  As a parent we want to do everything we can to ensure that our children are safe and protect them from whatever we can.  This includes trying our hardest to make sure we are being safe about bacteria.  Washing hands, sneezing into arms and generally not sharing stuff even with their siblings when they are sick. Personally, I do all of these things and yet here I am on infection god knows how many for my littlest man.  I swear this child has the immune system of a fruit fly.

If it is going around he is going to catch it and he is going to get it worse than anyone else.  I have three older kids that attend the biggest germ factory on the planet, school.  Now I get that kids gets sick and if my kids just have the sniffles I will send them to school.  I do have the luxury of being a stay at home parent so if my kids are really sick, I can keep them home.  My problem is, how do I protect the baby (who has not yet been immunized fully due to his age) from everyday illnesses that continue to plague my household?  Unfortunately, everything that goes around at the kids school, he will get.  Right now we are dealing with Fifths disease, which for my other kidlets, it's not so bad but for baby it's awful.  He is cranky and doesn't want to be put down but doesn't really want to be held either.  He won't play on his own for more than 2 minutes before he starts getting upset again and for me I have never been able to be the "cry it out" type and his crying makes me sick to my stomach and I have to go to him immediately. He is really not sleeping (add here I'm not sleeping as we co-sleep and every move or fuss he makes wakes me immediately) and I miss my happy little man.

Earlier in his little life, he contracted a UTI and viral meningitis from a simple virus that my kids came home with.  All of them only had the sniffles but baby ended up in hospital for 4 days.  Fast forward a few weeks and now he has an upper respiratory infection, a round of antibiotics and a puffer. Another couple of weeks and we are battling yet another cold.  Stuffy nose and can't eat properly, barely sleeping unless he is upright and (insert here once again no sleep for me, unless you count the 6 minutes I got sleeping upright in a chair with babe on my chest) coughing.

I want to protect him but staying home all the time with a mask on really isn't an option. So where does that leave baby and I?  Well I figure he is getting it all out of the way now, so he will be the healthiest older child I've got.  His adulthood will not be plagued with anything more than the common cold.  I could just be kidding myself and he will continue down this path for longer than I would like or I could just place him in a bubble and keep him safe and germ free for life.  But really what kind of life would that be?

So everyday we battle on, taking all the sick-free days we get, enjoying everyday we have.  I'm lucky, my kids aren't battling something much worse or even life threatening.  For those of you parents who are, I send my hugs and my love to you.  I can't even imagine being in that situation.I don't want anyone to think that for one minute I am not completely thankful for what I do have. I just want a little more than 2 weeks of a sick free house.

March Break Fun

Well it's been a busy fun-filled week with the kids thanks to @CityPASS. What a great value for the money spent. Trust me when I say planning things to do with a family of 6 was hard on a budget but CityPASS made it possible. Our entire march break staycation cost under $500 for the entire week that included eating downtown while visiting the CN tower, ROM and Casa Loma as well as parking at the Toronto Zoo and Ontario Science Centre.  This also included the cost of the GO train from Mississauga to Union station and a day pass for the TTC.

Both the zoo and the science centre allow outside food so I packed up a cooler full of snacks and sandwiches for us to enjoy while having fun. This saved us a bunch of money and was a really great part of the two trips. 

I think that the City PASS is a great way for families to get the most for their money. Although we never did make it to CasaLoma as we couldn't figure out a way to do it without the stroller for baby, I'm sure it would have been fun for the kids. 

All in all, I know my kids enjoyed their march break this year. Now all I have to do is plan next years.