Wild Child

So...since I post only when the mood strikes rather than by some arbitrary "rule", it has been awhile since the last post (again!). The next one might be in another six months or it might be tomorrow. Oh the excitement!! ;)

In the interest of being real and genuine and all of that I wanted to clarify the fact that my social media accounts are not entirely representative of my entire life as the parent of a toddler (never mind as the parent of a teenager, the wife of a business owner and the list goes on and on) This is not intentional to throw you off or in an effort to pretend my life is anything other than what it is. While obviously some aspects of life are private (and should be!) and some other things don't seem particularly interesting to warrant sharing, there is also the reality of judgement. While I was once so concerned about the opinions of others, I no longer feel that what others think of me is my business. I am not living my life to be liked by some random mom judger and I am no longer concerned with having an opinion or a life that in some way conflicts with the "norm" (In all honesty, if most of what I see on social media or in the lives of the rich and famous is the norm, I'm completely content with being the odd one out).

With regards to my social media and the parenting of a toddler, you will often see photos of our little adventures together. Ruby and I like to get out and see new things and interact with friends and with the world. What you might not see as much of is the time we spend playing at home and this is for two reasons: 1. for the sake of your interest and 2. she is usually naked!

Here is the deal. It's fun to dress her in cute clothes (when she lets me) and do her hair and all of that, but that's not real life. She's a wild child at heart and she prefers to be naked, she requests for her hair to be "wild" and her favourite activities involve sand, rocks, water and sticks. I think that in a time when many kids spend too much time staring at a screen (I won't pretend that she doesn't watch tv or play games on the iPad, but it's limited), I want to encourage real play. I want her to learn cause and effect through real life experience and to create her own fun through open ended play and loose parts...where the possibilities are endless! I want her to get dirty and make memories. I want her to learn in her own way, rather than in a way that is decided by someone else (myself included). Do I sometimes wish that she would just sit and play with her cute little kitchen with all of its wooden accessories? Yes! At the same time, I know that coming up with her own games and her own play will serve her well (even when it's too messy!). I'm not one for mess and my imaginary skills are seriously lacking, but she is teaching me in her own way to let it go a bit and to trust the process.

So, when you see my photos of a well dressed toddler with her hair in a cute little bun walking around the market, just know that when we got home she ripped the bun out, took all of her clothes off and found some dirt to play in.

It's been awhile...

Hey there! So it's been an embarrassingly long time since I last posted here, but nothing like a new year to get one motivated :) I thought I would be very cliche with my first post of the new year and write about some of the ways that I keep my life organized and some of the new ideas that I hope to incorporate with the start of a new year.

So, a few months back I was feeling very overwhelmed (hence the lack of posts!) and every day I felt like I had a huge to do list and I spent my days asking Ruby to hold on for "just one more minute" while I finished something before I could play. I was feeling like I couldn't get enough done around here and I was feeling like I wasn't spending nearly enough quality time with her and the mommy guilt at night after she settled was too much :( I decided I had to try something different so I started a chore and a meal plan and it has made a huge difference for me.

For my chore plan, I just divided my tasks up among the days of the week. This way I don't feel like I have to try to get everything done every day and by dividing it up, I can feel like I've accomplished something each day rather than feeling like I have barely made a dent in a never-ending list. Here is my chore plan so that you can get an idea of how I divvied up the workload...

Monday - master bathroom and Sarah's bathroom
Tuesday - main floor bathroom and basement bathroom
Wednesday - glass cleaning
Thursday - deposit pay cheques and pay bills
Friday- catch up day/odds and ends
Saturday - Sarah dusts, we go through flyers to make a grocery list, meal plan and shop
Sunday - floors and changing all bed sheets

*emptying garbages, recycling and compost is done when needed
*laundry, dishes and general tidying is done daily

I sometimes get these chores done when Ruby is napping and other times I let her "help". I used to save everything for nap time because I didn't want her around the chemicals that I was cleaning with, but since making the switch to essential oil based cleaners, I don't have to worry about that.

Another area that I was struggling with was meals and the biggest task for me was trying to decide what to make each day and realizing that I didn't have a certain ingredient or that I wouldn't have enough time to thaw something. We ended up eating quick meals and take out more frequently than I care to admit and also ended up throwing food away because they would be expired before I would use them up. With meal planning, I try to plan based on sales and based on what I have already (if I have an ingredient that I know will expire soon, I try to incorporate it in to a meal). I alternate between meals with chicken and meals with other meats as Sarah doesn't eat red meat (this way we often have chicken left over from the night before for her and she can incorporate that in to the next day's meal). I also try to make enough to have left overs for lunches because otherwise we are often left eating take out for lunch more often than we should. So far, this has been a game changer for me! We are eating healthier, throwing away less food and meal prep isn't as annoying because I know the plan and have the ingredients to execute it. I'm not going to pretend that we are eating fancy over here and that we don't eat take out, but the meal plans helps.

One idea that I had for this year is to make one new meal each week. I often find that we eat the same things over and over and I'm looking to expand our meal list...and my palate. I will rely on websites like Pinterest and ideas from family and friends to accomplish my goal and when I find some yummy ones, I will share :) If you have a favourite meal don't hesitate to share it with me!

Lastly, I joined a running group in September and have been really enjoying it! I've never been a very active person and it's always been a goal. It's also the first time since Ruby's was born (she was two in October) that I've done something just for myself and I am certain that it is helping me to be a better person and a better parent. I love to have goals and there are always goals with running! My plan for this year is to do something each day for myself. This could be a run or some yoga or even just the plank for a minute wherever I am. This goal isn't because I am trying to lose weight or get a six pack or because of any vanity on my part (I am actually very proud of a body that carried my sweet girl and that has nursed her since day one and I don't have a single body issue!) This goal is only because I think something for myself is important, that goals are important and because I think that mama strength and overall health are great examples (not to mention helpful when carting a toddler around and pulling her and her sled all over the snow!).  If you want to join me, I plan to add some at home yoga practice with 'Yoga with Adriene' on YouTube. She has a free program called Yoga Camp where she will upload a new yoga video each day for the month of January. She has so many great videos on her channel already too! Come on...we can motivate each other!! :)