Baby times three

Because I was asked by Mona and Crunchy, life with a third kid…

I used to think that I was a pretty good parent, you know, the kind who seldom gave her kids chocolate or candy, who always fed them enough vegetables, who had creative solutions to disciplinary issues, and then I had a third kid! The one, who at 1 and a half years old, eats and does things that my eldest didn’t until he was 3!

A third baby really changes the family dynamic, it’s the start of ‘them’ vs ‘us’, it’s no longer an equal battlefield, and the hardest thing is sometimes trying to give each one the attention they deserve. The most obvious changes for me was that my middle child seems to be the one that is always left out and the little one is about a million times more spoilt than his brothers.

Having a few kids under 4 is a real test of patience, and I think that’s when parents really figure out what they are made of! My husband, who used to be the patient one at the beginning, has completely lost his cool (and a little of his mind ), he freely admits that he cannot handle any more kids, and I can’t judge him for this, at least he does recognize that this is hard for him. I, on the other hand, still feel like I can have about 2 more! Yeah, I know!! I wanna be like Cakes!

I couldn’t tell you specifically what makes having 3 kids seem like sooo much more than just having 2 kids, but for sure this number seems to really deter babysitting volunteers! While my first and second babies had frequent sleep-overs at my mom’s home, my third baby, who is referred to as “the baby”, is almost always within arms reach of us. My first and second babies were both saying words by 10 months, the third refuses to talk, even little words, although he is a year and a half – instead he has chosen “point and uhh uhhh” as his preferred method of communication. My first and second babies both had home made baby food and no chocolate at all for their first 2 years (I might have cheated a little with the second one though), the third – well, umm, I think this picture kind of says it all!

(yes, that is chocolate all over his face at 10am this morning!)

The most touching, fascinating and amazing part is watching these babies grow into brothers. I am always completely in awe when my older 2 sons treat the baby with incredible love and compassion, when they both try to explain to him the danger of climbing on the shelf or standing on his toys, when they hold his hand to help him find his way.

I love how, with this baby, I can completely enjoy his ‘babyness’, because unlike the first, I am not keeping track of milestones or having developmental competitions with other kids in his age group, and unlike the second, I am not falling apart from insecurities and fear about myself and my ability to care for multiple children. I am relishing every moment of his 1-year-old-cuteness, his chubby cheeks – which I rarely spare from tiny little bites every time I hold him, his baby laugh, his complete innocence, even his “uhh uhhhh” is endearing – sort of.

Congrats Crunchy!!!

Feel like a good cry?

I don’t watch many movies, and I especially don’t write about movies, but The Notebook, yes – released in 2004 (I did say I don’t watch a lot of movies!), was so good I just have to write about it!

A few nights ago, my husband went out with a couple of friends, and since it was just me (the kids were sleeping), I decided to watch the “chick flick” that my sister lent me. I don’t know if it’s just me, or if the movie was that good, but I was crying almost throughout the entire thing! The story was so sad, but also so sweet, and it’s the kind of love that we all probably wish to have. If you haven’t seen it – you really should! It’s a nice “mommy escape”

Wanna be an eMom?

Wendy Piersall of eMoms at Home, whom I have written about many times, is/was looking for a few great writers!

Now, I am a little late on posting this, because of my blog issues, and I know that she’s already had a huge response, but you know, better late than never… and maybe one of your guys could be a completely perfect fit! Good Luck!

These are paid positions in which there is a “base” pay plus several forms of incentive compensation:

Each writer would get a percentage of the advertising revenue from their blog

Each writer is free to incorporate their own affiliate links into their content

The entire team will get free training and advice on blogging, traffic generation, affiliate marketing, and content creation

Compensation will increase with more experience and length of time with the company

Although I am fairly open in regards to topics to write about, I’m interested in both ‘traditional’ mom content as well as perhaps some personal blogs in which writers want to tackle tougher personal, controversial or societal issues – the sky is the limit as I am extremely open-minded. But here are some very basic suggestion ideas (I particularly hope to find someone who wants to cover the topics with a *):

Organization and productivity
Money management
Conception and Pregnancy
Fashion trends for moms
Home improvement, decorating or landscaping*
Recipes and cooking
Freelance service business strategies
Kids activities*
Holiday crafts, recipes, projects (year-round covering all holidays)*
Crafts (recreational how to’s and ideas)
Crafts businesses (the business side)
Contests and / or reviews*
Natural and organic living
Tech products for parents
Kids electronics/games/toys
Book reviews
Anything health-related

Additionally, writers would not have to do any blog setup or maintenance – I would take care of all hosting, design, html, everything. All you need to know is a tiny bit about blogging, writing, and how to create a hyperlink in a post.

This is the perfect opportunity for someone who wants to learn more about blogging and online marketing to grow it into their own home based business, or for an aspiring writer who wants a laid-back ongoing work at home gig. If you know of someone who would be interested in this opportunity, please forward this email to them – or if YOU are interested, let me know!

To be considered, please send the following to “workfor@emomsathome.com”:

Name
Email address
Daytime phone number
URL to current blog OR 2-3 writing samples (article format only)

Thanks to everyone and I look forward to hearing from you!

Warm regards,
Wendy Piersall :: eMom

Canada Day & the past 10 years

(comments are working now! )

This past Sunday was Canada Day aka Canadian independence day, I wanted to blog about it then, but as you may know I was in the middle of some ‘blog renovations’! (We went strawberry picking)

When I moved to Canada about 11 years ago, I was devastated, to say the least. At 18, my life was consumed with friends and rebelling against my parents, and there was nothing that I wanted more than to be left alone in Trinidad with my friends, so I spent my first summer here being completely depressed.

Crunchy tagged me a while ago and just like her, 10 years ago I was about to be married. When I started university, I never thought that I would be married at 20, I always thought that I would graduate and then head back ‘home to Trinidad’, never did I suspect that I could ever call Canada home.

My last 10 years have been filled with the biggest decisions and responsibilities that I’ve ever had to face, becoming a wife, becoming a mother, becoming an adult. Having experienced all these things here in Canada have contributed to making this country my home, my real home, and maybe it’s because my family is here and home is always with them, but I think it’s more than just that. You see, during my first week at university, I discovered religions I had never heard about before, I learnt that India had more than just one language (yeah, I know!), I found friends from all over the world, it was awesome! Diversity, the likes of which I had never seen before.

Today, I walk out with my headscarf and I, of course, still face racism but I also face the kindness and warmth of a people that truly appreciate people, and I’m always proud to call Canada my home.

Sort of back up

I am now running on ExpressionEngine. But I am not completely fixed up yet, so please excuse any ‘weirdness’ that you encounter!

You will notice that the design is exactly the same – that is on purpose, because I actually am rather fond of it, but the categories are different and I haven’t edited all my articles yet to fit them into the appropriate category, so I will be doing that slowly. You will also notice that the design for the cooking and nifty sections are not the same and don’t really match my look – that is because they are still using the default ExpressionEngine theme, and I have slight modifications planned for those sections, so I am leaving it as-is until I have some time to change it.

I have stream-lined all my feeds, you can pick the one that works best for you from my list of RSS options, there is also a helpful video to get your educated on RSS feeds! As always, if you prefer, you may receive my articles via email too (for everything that is published on Adventures in Motherhood).

I anticipate that it might be about 2 weeks until I am operating properly, please be patient.

I am going to resume blogging though, I have some posts lined up – including a belated Canada Day one (And happy 4th to my American friends!) and a couple of yummy recipes!

Also, please note, my info@adventures-in-motherhood.com email is currently NOT working! Sorry for any inconvenience, I can be reached at info@shaziamistry.com for now.