January 1st, 2010
Written by: Julie Cole
There is a lot of fun stuff going on here at The Mabelhood in 2010! To start things off, friend and amazing fella, Chris McGrath, will be joining us with a guest post next week. He will post about a tremendous accomplishment – he just reached his goal of losing 200 lbs. No gimmicks, but a lot of sweat and hard work. With all those New Year’s resolutions buzzing around, we’re hoping his motivation is contagious!
The following week, you will be introduced to Nanny Carrie (who happened to have a baby a couple of days ago). As an experienced nanny who is oozing with kiddo love, common sense and practical solutions, Nanny Carrie is the mama with the answers! She will be providing regular posts helping us deal with all that kid stuff that drives us crazy.
Of course you’ll still be hearing from me about life in the mama trenches while also juggling Mabel’s Labels madness. Caitlin will be keeping you posted on all the Mabel news and Tanna is here to keep you organized.
All the best for 2010! It’s been a pleasure sharing 2009 with you! And a warm Mabelhood welcome to Chris and Nanny Carrie!
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December 13th, 2009
Written by: Julie Cole
There are a few things that are irresistible about the Holiday Season:
1) Dressing your kids like idiots. Yes, I dressed my daughter in a Santa suit dress for her violin recital. Why? Because I can.
2) Elf Yourself – really, we can spend hours doing this using different combinations of family members. Go on, have a look: http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/XIf7mBPW2SSHOgIG
3) ‘Tis the season to throw all parenting rules out the window. The notion of Santa watching for good behaviour is really just a combination of bribery and empty threats.
Bribery: “If you are good, Santa will bring you presents.”
Empty Threats: “If you are naughty Santa won’t bring you presents”.
Yeah right, I know some pretty naughty kids who have never woken up to lumps of coal in their stockings.
So go on, take advantage of your bad parenting free pass and be sure to engage in what at any other time of year would be considered cheesy behaviour. I’m enjoying every minute of it!
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March 1st, 2009
Written by: Julie Cole
A few nights ago, we had a little incident that I can’t stop thinking about. Quite frankly, I’m still feeling a bit sick about it.
I put the kids to bed. My three little ladies sleep “Little House on the Prairie” style all in one room. With two single beds, a toddler bed and the dressers taking up residency in the hallway, it works well. On this particular night, Little Lady #1 was at the ballet with Nan and Little Lady #2 fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Like most good mom entrepreneurs, after kids are in bed I make the most of the next few quiet hours. I was working away on my computer and at about 8:00pm I heard Little Lady #3 (who is three-years-old) making some little whimpering sounds. Like most noises originating from a kid’s bedroom, I ignored it for a while. I finally sent daddy-o up to check out the situation and shut her down. A moment later he called me out of my office to have a look at her.
She had taken a belt from one of their little bath robes and tied it tightly around her neck!
The image is haunting me. With Little Lady #1 not there to save her or file an immediate incident report with the grown-ups, this could have gone so wrong. In addition, I keep thinking about how EASILY I could have gone on ignoring the little whimpering sounds. That particular kiddo has been up to a bit of monkey business at bed time and I’m generally pretty tough on that nonsense. I think about what could have happened and spending my life haunted by those ignored whimpers playing and re-playing in my head.
I’m not a super paranoid kind of parent – my kids are allowed to play outside and I let them run around the hockey arena while I watch one of their siblings play. This incident was just a glaring reminder that they are never truly safe – even when you put them to bed.
So, I had planned to blog this week about my experiences last weekend in Houston at the Mom 2.0 Summit, but telling you to remove bath robes from your kid’s bedroom somehow trumped it. Chills…..
And I know she looks cute and innocent in the picture, but clearly she is not to be trusted!
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January 4th, 2009
Written by: Julie Cole
Don’t we suffer enough? Is it really necessary to put extra demands on ourselves just because we flipped another page in the calender? Personally, I have given up such luxuries as sleep and sitting down while eating since 1999, and I have the feeling I’m not alone. Did you miss the memo confirming that we’re doing the toughest job on the market – parenting small kids?
Every January 1st we set ourselves up with irrelevant and impossible goals, leaving us feeling like failures when we don’t achieve them. Mamas should really be exempt from this “resolutions” tradition. In fact, maybe we should take it one step further and have some anti-resolutions. I think two biggies on the list should be:
1) I will not diet.
The notion of depriving oneself of food when we indulge in so few pleasures is bordering on cruelty. Sure it’s good to be healthy but there’s nothing unhealthy about having the well-earned muffin top. Worry about that later and for now put a sign on your fridge door that says “Can you pinch an inch? Do you give a shit?”
2) I will not get suckered into a gym membership.
Time to get real – women who don’t even go to the bathroom alone are not likely to become regulars at the gym. Gym memberships are only wise investments once you no longer have a small child handing you toilet paper and flushing for you. Until then, build up a sweat the good old-fashioned mama way – chasing kids around the park, pushing double strollers through the neighbourhood, and hauling around a toddler, baby and three bags of groceries all at once.
If you just can’t start 2009 without some sort of plan for change, try these on for size:
1) I will not feel guilty.
Cut yourself some slack already. Chances are you’re not the perfect mother, partner, friend and sister because she is a mythical creature. Just try to be patient and do your best. When you screw up, just try to do better next time. Guilt takes up a lot of energy and energy is something we mamas need to conserve.
2) I will not care what people think.
Easier said than done, but worth every bit of time and energy you sink into it. You’re the mama and the boss of your little peeps. Who is better suited to call the shots – you or your meddling in-laws or the nosey neighbour? Go with your gut and to hell with the rest of them. You can even say that to them if you like.
So mamas, here’s to us for 2009! Let’s agree that we’ll consider 2009 a success if we get through it with our last few strands of sanity still intact.
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December 7th, 2008
Written by: Julie Cole
I was interviewed this week by a reporter doing an article on whether the economic recession would effect my decision about having another child.
Quite clearly, the short answer is no. I don’t let little things like common sense, birth control, and economic disaster stop me from having babies. I went ahead with baby #6 for several reasons.
First reason is I believe, that for the most part, children are as expensive as you make them. Sure there is that initial cash outlay with the first child, but if you go on to have several children you are really just getting more bang outta your buck. When I look at our very worn out bassinet, stroller, crib and change table, I feel like we got good value for dollar. Sometimes I think I’d like to buy a bigger house but then I remember that my MIL was raised in Holland during the war where she slept in a drawer in the kitchen. She has great childhood memories and turned into a fabulous adult. It is a good reminder that my kids will be just fine having to share bedrooms and household space. I suppose many families need to consider the additional daycare costs involved with another child, but with a family of our size it makes more financial sense to opt for a nanny over daycare so these costs do not increase as substantially.
Another reason the recession didn’t stop me is because I assume that some sort of economic crisis is likely to hit at some point while the kids are still on my dime. It would probably hit us harder when they are heading off to university or college one after the other, year after year. Having said that, I’m not adverse to having kids pay their own way through school. I somehow managed to get through my few degrees while working two jobs, managing a residence hall and still heading to the campus pub far too often. University is a great place to fine-tune their multi-tasking skills.
It has also become clear to me that the term “being able to afford” is relative. I may not be able to afford flashy cars and a closet full of designer labels, but I can afford to have another baby. Conversely, I have friends who can’t afford another baby but do head off for expensive family holidays and manage hefty mortgage payments.
Each family is best able to make the appropriate decision for their own situations. For me, the further I go along in this pregnancy and the more excited I get about meeting the new little person, the stronger my feeling is that I couldn’t afford not to have this baby.
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