Wednesday 20 July 2011

What I did on my summer vacation...

We're getting ready to go on a family vacation soon. It's a yearly event, my in-laws rent a cottage and then we all head up there for a week or so. It's perfect, sun, sand, water, and not that long of a drive - what more could you ask for? It's great too for the boy, because he gets to spend time with Nana & Poppy and all his aunts, uncles and cousins. It really is the stuff memories are made of.

The other day we were talking about the trip last year, and asking the boy what he remembered. He remembered catching a fish in a net (that one of his uncles had already caught), going swimming in the lake, the boat rides and the noise the boat motor made, all fun things. But his most fond memory and the one that got mentioned the most? Being allowed to pee on a tree since the cottage only has one bathroom and it was in use.

This memory has come up a number of different ways "Remember when Auntie so and so was in the bathroom and I had to pee on the tree?" "Remember I peed on a tree Mummy, wasn't that funny?" "We don't pee on trees at home though, only when we were at the cottage." And so on and so on. Hopefully this year's trip will have something more memorable than peeing on a tree!

Monday 18 July 2011

You can do it Mummy.

The boy is still at the stage where he thinks I can do anything, and I love it - most of the time. It's amazing that even after seeing me everyday, he still thinks so highly of me. However, today is one of those days where he thinks I can do the impossible. And while I'm good, I'm not that good!

He has some little cars he was playing with in our family room and one of them went under our couch. Needless to say the couch has just enough space to let a dinky car go under it, but not much else, including my arm. Thankfully it went under the couch that isn't against a wall, and so I was able to get out. Two minutes later however the car ended up under the couch that's against a wall. I can't see the car, can't get my arm under the couch to feel for the car, or get anything to reach the car, so it looks like the boy is out luck. 

Unfortunately, he doesn't see it this way. When I told him I thought he wouldn't be getting the car back any time soon because I couldn't get it, he looked amazed. "Of course you can Mummy. You can do it, you can get it out Mummy". I'm touched by the faith he has in me, but sadly, he's still not getting that car back today.

Friday 15 July 2011

Sick Boy

The boy was sick yesterday and some of it has spilled over into today. He had a bit of a fever and some aches and pains. Nothing too serious thankfully. But it does mean that he's not quite his usual self. He was up a few times in the night and wanted cuddles in his bed, which I was more than happy to give him. Especially since normally he only wants to snuggle for a few minutes, and then I get kicked out, as it's his bed, and I have my own to go and lay in.

Normally the boy is a 'Daddy's boy', if hubby is around that's who he wants to spend time with. It's understandable really, since the boy spends most of his time with me, and only gets to spend weekends and a few hours a day with hubby. But that all changes with the boy is sick. Then, all he wants is Mummy. I have to admit that I revel in this a little bit. As much as I hate seeing the boy sick (and it makes me so thankful that he is generally healthy), it means that for a change, all the boy wants is Mummy, and that's about all that feels good when the boy doesn't.


Tuesday 12 July 2011

Special Guests

The boy started a week of summer camp yesterday. It's a little half day program our town runs for  3-5 year olds. They have a different theme each day, and do a mix of crafts, baking, games, nature walks and more. So far he seems to be loving it - in fact yesterday when I picked him up at lunch he wanted to make sure he got to go back again today!

The counselors had put together a little newsletter for the parents letting them know the themes of each day and what some of the activities would be. Since the boy likes to be prepared, I was reading it to him yesterday afternoon so that  he could stay pumped about camp and have something to look forward to. He was really into it, and was telling hubby all about it at night.

Today is bug day, tomorrow is dino day, Thursday is beach day, and Friday is a 'Pajama Party'. As I read all the different crafts and games they would be doing, he was getting really excited. When I got to Friday, they have a "special guest" coming, and before I could even tell the boy that the guest was a magician, he looked at me and said in a very excited, breathy voice "Oh, I love guests!" I guess this means I need to have people over more often so that the boy can have more guests. Just hope they realize that they will have to be entertained by the boy!

Wednesday 6 July 2011

A better mummy

The boy attends a playgroup twice a week for a few hours each day. The group consists of kids ages 3 to 5, and they sing songs, do crafts, listen to stories and just generally have fun. Parents don't stay, and most of the time the boy is totally fine with that, sometimes, barely turning around to say good bye before he goes off to play.

All this changes if he's tired though. When I dropped him off today, he was tired and didn't want me to go, so I stayed for a few minutes. We did a craft together, played for a bit, and then I got him started on a painting. He was totally immersed in it, so I checked with him, he said he was good so I headed off.

When I picked him up after class, he was telling me all about what he'd done, his new friend Jason (a girl who's real name is Jasmine, but he insists that her name is Jason - poor girl) and what songs they sang. It was obvious he'd had a good time. Fast forward to dinner time tonight when the boy was telling hubby about his afternoon. He talked about a new boy in his class (who had a made up nonsense name - I think he invented the child) and the mummy of the new boy (she also had a made up name). He then told us that the mummy stayed for the whole time, so I jokingly asked him if that made her a better mummy than me. Of course he said 'yes'. Moral of the story, make believe mummies are always going to be better than the real thing!

Monday 4 July 2011

Being the boy's helper

This morning, after realizing that Hubby would not be staying home all day like he had the past three days (hurrah for long weekends!), the boy decided that he would just have to make the best of it and play with me - life's rough! But since I was a fairly willing participant, he decided that he could just about make do with only me.

Normally the boy likes to play with me for a bit, and then go and do his own thing, provided that I'm within chattering distance, so that he can keep up a steady flow of conversation about what he's doing and how he's doing it. "Mummy, look, see what it is I'm doing" is a frequent refrain in our house. Today, it was determined that since it was so nice outside, after I had hung up the laundry, we would continue to play outside.

I figured this meant watching him pushing his lawn mower around, or kicking a soccer ball back and forth. Apparently the boy had other ideas. He decided he was going to do some gardening, which involved digging in my garden (he has a spot where he is allowed to do this) and then having me pass him his tools as he 'planted' things. I felt like I was a nurse assisting in an operating room, but instead of "scalpel, suction, gauze" I got the demands of "trowel", "shovel", "fork." It was fun though, and it meant we got to spend the morning out in the beautiful sun. Somehow, I don't think he's going to be quite as enthused being my helper to clean the bathroom this afternoon!

Friday 1 July 2011

I like it best...

Since today was Canada Day, hubby was home all day with us, which is great. Not only does the boy get to spend more time with his Dad, but it also means that I get to go to the bathroom in peace! What more could I ask for?

While we we coming home from playing soccer in the park, the boy decided to hold both of our hands, mainly so he could swing, which is one of his favourite things to do, and he looked up at hubby and said, "I like it best when it's the three of us, you and me and Mummy." 

With that, how could hubby not want to quit work and stay at home with us all the time? Sadly, less than an hour later, the boy reminded hubby why he was happy to go to work occasionally, when the boy wouldn't stop singing a made up song with nonsense words. Guess the boy will have to settle for second best next week and just stay home with me!