Surviving weddings that start at 9pm!

It’s become apparent that Eastern cultures prefer very late weddings, and events in general, we’ve been doing ok taking just 2 kids, but this was the first time we would be taking all 3 of them. Last night, one of our university friends got married and we seriously considered not attending because of the timing and the fact that we have 3 small kids who have very early bedtimes! But you know, and we knew, we had to go – and we wanted to go – so we went, all of us!

We put the kids to nap from 5pm to 8pm (which worked out because we had completely worn them out during the day!), while they were sleeping we got dressed, which meant that when we woke them up, we only had to get them dressed. Now, here is where you need to know your kids – my kids will wake up well and not too cranky – if your kids are cranky-wakers, don’t try this method!

We got there on time and picked a table close to the doors and at the back of the hall, which really is sensible when you’ve got 3 critters in tow! I packed pretty light, so all I had was a small bag with an assortment of snacks, juice, a bottle of milk, and toy cars (diapers and extra clothing remained in the car). They were relatively well behaved, although the people on the neighboring table did have a good laugh as I tried unsuccessfully to cajole them into standing for a group shot.

group shot of the boys!

playing camera peek-a-boo with the baby

it actually worked pretty well and kept him laughing (a little too loudly) for a pretty long time (I took 80 photos at the wedding, and none of the wedding!)

eating ‘nemo’ candy, an alternative to running around the table and screaming

secretly eating extra ‘nemo’ candy because I forgot to bring his toy car!

Parenting Strategies: how to get kids to clean up

My kids are notorious non-tidy-up’ers! They absolutely hate to clean, and it seems that no amount of motivational songs, threats, or rewards can help the situation. It actually amazes me to hear the elaborate excuses that 3 and 4 year olds can think up!

I used to go on for about half an hour trying very hard to convince them that cleaning was ‘fun’, ‘smart’, ‘healthy’, you know, I used just about any adjective I thought would serve as encouragement, and yet nothing. Then, I started with the threats, “I WILL give it away!”, “I WILL throw it in the garbage!”, “I WILL give it to the baby!”, but they would then dare me to do it! Mind you, many of their toys are now sitting in the basement and even more have been given to charity. But I found it hard to just take away the toys that I know they love, and they’d caught on to my weakness.

Recently, I discovered a technique that works so well, I don’t even have to threaten anymore! One day, as they sat ignoring my pleas to remove their toys from the floor before I swept, without warning, I just started sweeping away their toys. I have never seen them work so fast before – they jumped from their seats and ran to remove their toys from my path! Now, when I tell them I am going to sweep away their toys, they instantly start putting everything back into the toy box.

Last night though, they were extremely tired from missing their daytime nap, and when I started to sweep the toys, they both completely lost it and started screaming and crying very loudly, so loudly that I was fearful a neighbor might have called child services! But, the trick is to remain completely calm and unconcerned with their crying. I just calmly gave them the options, and calmly told them that I was going to sweep whether they cried or not (more crying ensued, of course), then the baby got very worried about his toys and started to pick them up. As I neared the end of the living room, I started counting, and told them that they had until I counted to 20 and then the toys would be gone, thankfully this worked and the place was clean by the time I reached 39 (they requested 19 additional counts).

How do you get your kids to clean?

Identity Crisis and Self Expression

I am posting at Nisaa today about my identity crisis, but I think that it will resonate with many people. It’s supposed to be slightly amusing, but I am told that it may sound ‘rant-ish’... It’s really not.

Also, remember the art journaling? Well, I love it so much that I’ve dedicated an entire site to it! Please take a peek at artjournal.net, an exploration of self expression, I hope you will stick around, and even contribute! I am still working on the site, so it’s not 100% functional yet, but my first art journal post is up – I know you’re curious!

The true measure of family

My parents are divorced – I am not sure I even mentioned it – and both have been married to different people for many years now, so my sister and I are completely used to the blended family thing. From the age of 12 onwards, we lived with my mom, stepdad, stepsister and stepbrother (although we don’t use the “step” prefix), and now my sons call my mom and stepdad, grandma and grandpa. My dad lives with my stepmom, half-sister and another stepsister, and although they don’t live in the same country as us, my kids have come to know them as nanna and nanny.

My husband has 2 sisters, both living in another country, one of them is currently visiting Canada, so my sons are getting to know their aunt and cousins, which is nice because they rarely get to see one another. Today is their last day, so I told my 4 year old that we are going to the airport to see them off, he nodded in agreement and said “yes, I know”, then proceeded to inform me “daddy is going because it’s his family, and I am going because it’s mine and my brothers family too, but, ummm, mommy, that is not your family!”

I let him continue with his thoughts and asked who he thought was my family – “grandma and nanna” (my mom and dad), was his response. I started to explained to him that everyone was my family – grandma, grandpa, nanna, nanny, aunty sids, aunty lis, aunty sauda, aunty mooda, and uncle marlon – and he replied “Oh my god! wow! that’s huge! What kind of car did you have?”

Caption me because I’m just cool like that