The Stay at Home Mother

Today I hosted my sister's baby shower. She is expecting her first child in September. I have been very excited to plan the event, and had all of our friends and family attend.

It's so funny how after we have had our own children, when we encounter a "mom to be", we want to share all our knowledge and wisdom with them in hopes that they will learn from our mistakes....be a bit wiser with motherhood...

In this blog post, I am going to take a bit of a "side-step" from my usual ones. I read with interest an article written by a woman who, for lack of a better term, is viewing the world "differently" than us "stay at home moms."

Her name is Josey Vogels and she the syndicated sex columnist of "My Messy Bedroom"- and is completely and totally - anti-children.....

So I think I am coming down with tonsillitis. I just got over the flu after I returned home from our family vacation last week. Can you imagine having this during summer? Unbelievable. My son had tonsillitis about three weeks ago, and still has a lingering sore throat, but to be honest - I really don't get sick. So getting hit twice in just over a week, is a bit much for me.

And today, was a happy occasion, my younger sister was celebrating her birthday and we had a birthday dinner with the family over at my house. But it really wiped me out....

So I am back from vacation and feeling quite relaxed. Although I seem to have brought the flu back with me - so my first day back hasn't been the greatest.

But the Cariboo, where we stayed, along the lake was amazing. It was exactly how I had imagined it to be. We had the lake literally in our back yard, with our own private pier. The children loved it and really were able to experience nature at its best....

So I am off for a week with my family to relax and enjoy some time without a tv, cell phone or video games. This is a time to "unplug" from all the modern day gadgets and just appreciate the world - and each other.

My two year old daughter has never been away from home, so it should be interesting to see how she reacts to her first time away from her bed - fingers crossed that it's positive......

I am very excited about Canada Day today. I am definately, without a doubt, a very proud Canadian. We have so much to be proud of and honestly, don't you think that Canada is a wonderful place to live?

I feel especially privledged to live here in British Columbia as I am originally from the prairies and having the ocean and mountains so close, has always made me feel like I hit the "jackpot"....

So the end has finally arrived for my son today at preschool. It was the school's picnic end for parents and students. And although I knew this day was coming for quite some time, and prepared myself for the emotions I knew I would have, it still wasn't easy to say goodbye to two years of preschool, that gave my son so much.

And it wasn't just about saying goodbye to the school - but to the teacher, parents and friends my son has made...

This Thursday, I will be appearing on Breakfast Television to discuss some tips for vacationing with young children.

With school almost over and many families taking vacation (including my own) I thought this segment would be timely.

There are things that I have learned as a mother through my own personal experiences, and things that I have picked up along the way from other moms too...

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads out there! Today is your day to receive a bit of pampering and treated to a day that is just for you.

As women, we tend to be able to blog, email and chat about being moms, and our experiences with our children with one another with relative ease, while Dads tend to find it much harder to do.

And the truth of the matter is that Dads need to receive just as much credit for what they do for the family - and how much they mean to their children.....

So tomorrow is my birthday and it seems that the older I get - the less I want to broadcast my age. However, I always said I NEVER wanted to become one of those women who never said how old she was - so in keeping with that - tomorrow I turn the ripe old age of 36.

I think the biggest problem with turning 36 is that I am no longer in my true mid-thirties. Now, I am infact closer to 40 than ever before, and despite what everyone says about 40 being the "new 30" - it still bothers the heck out of me...