Wednesday, November 30, 2011

spilling the beans



It's hard to believe it's already the end of November!
I'm still sneaking Lulu's Halloween stash after she's gone to bed each night..
Must throw that crap out once and for all.
Time to make room for the candy cane ice cream and Christmas cookies.

November really was a bit of a blur.
So much happening, so little time to sit down and blog.

But all is well and life is good.
Lulu had her first official report card and we were pretty pleased with her teacher's comments and her over all results in school.
Shockingly there were no comments about her being too talkative (like her dad & I were) in class.
On the contrary, she puts up her hand and is always eager to please the teacher.
So much so that she has a very strong sense of justice.
She likes to play by the rules and gets very frustrated when her peers do not.
Sometimes a bit too frustrated.
Lord let this continue though her teens..

She also keeps me up to speed on who's doing what and who got in trouble each day.
Which of course I completely encourage.
As long as it's not her, I'm happy.

So yesterday, while walking home from school, her and another girl from the neighbourhood were clowning around as her mom and I made small talk while trying to get them to get a move on so we could get home.
They were playing with some sticks they found on the ground.
Eventually we got home and Lulu decided to tell me something that this girl had said to her.
Apparently she whispered to Lulu "let's scratch the cars parked on the street with our sticks" and "let's spit on our moms"
I did hear Lulu say "no we'll get in big trouble."
And that's when we parted ways.

So when she told me about it, I thanked her for being so honest and told her that it wasn't acceptable behaviour in the least.
Even if they didn't actually do it, even joking about it is wrong and not funny at all.
She agreed and said that's why she decided to tell me in the first place.
I'm glad she gets that.

Now if Lulu said something like that I'd want to know about it.
No question.
So today I ran into this girls mother and told her what Lulu had told me and her reaction was well.....complete denial.
I was a bit taken aback actually.
She basically said that there was no way her daughter would say something like that and practically accused Lulu of lying.
I was pretty pissed.
If someone came to me and casually said you might want to know something that Lulu said out of your ear shot, my reaction would be "really? I'm floored that she would say something like that, it's a bit out of character but I will definitely be speaking to her about it later." and "thanks so much for letting me know."
Then I would go home and have a pity party and wonder what I've done wrong to have my daughter thinking that spitting on me would be remotely funny.
But that's just me.
And for the record, I'm 99.9% sure Lulu would never say or do anything like that.
She's not perfect, but she is a pretty respectful kid.
This girl on the other hand is a bit on the unpredictable side, so quite frankly I wasn't surprised at all.

But now I kind of regret telling her mother about it.
I didn't make a big deal out of it and tried to be as nonchalant as possible, but still.
Like I said, I'd want to know.
I am so annoyed by her reaction.
Should I have said nothing?
what would you have done?

Friday, November 11, 2011

11.11.11



"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." -Cynthia Ozick

Thursday, November 10, 2011

ahchoo



Honestly I hate to post about being sick, feeling sick or looking after a sick kid and sick puppy yet again.
But unfortunately that's been my reality these past several weeks (or maybe it's months) but whose counting?
It's been nothing major, just the usual annoying colds and flu making the endless rounds.
What drives me crazy is that I feel like it's only us that seems to get sick all the time.
Us as in Lulu & I (and now Chelsea)
I just don't understand why.
I am a complete clean freak and germ-a-phobe so I don't get it.
We have one of the healthiest diets I know of.
Laurens favourite meal is Quinoa, tofu and kale.
Need I say more?
I've been using my juicer every day making vitamin rich concoctions like carrot, beet apple ginger juice or Orange, pineapple, carrot ginger just to name a few.
Not to mention all the healthy meals I've been making.
Seriously healthy.
Very little alcohol happening around here either. sniff sniff.
Trying my best to get 8 hours of sleep a night. Lulu gets 10-11 hours.
I practically have hand sanitizer on a holster.
Exercise is a regular part of my week- it's like breathing for me.
Of course I haven't been able to get to the gym as much as I would like to with all this nursing everyone back to health business.
I could be a spokes person for Natural Health Magazine.
So I just don't get it.
why us?
Is this normal?
Are we the only ones who seem to be fighting off viruses on a weekly basis since the beginning of school?
Maybe I should just run to the nearest Walmart and lick the escalator hand rail and then go use the bank machine and put my fingers in my eye right after pushing all the buttons?
Heck maybe I should be really crazy and go outside without a coat on?
Or maybe I should fill up our car with gas (not full serve) and wipe my hands on my mouth after touching the hand pump.
Oh and then I should go stand in line at the nearest walk-in clinic and just breathe in all the coughs and sneezes.
We should just go to McDonald's for all of our meals from now on. Hmmm I wonder if they have tofu Mc Nuggets?
Okay so I'm rambling...I suppose I've been cooped up too long.
What I'm really trying to say is that I'm super frustrated that there is nothing I can do (or so it appears) to prevent from getting sick.
I'm doing all that I can, but it just doesn't seem to work.
Maybe I'm missing something though.
am I?
Anyone out there have any fool proof tips for staying healthy at this time of year, aside from surrounding ourselves with a giant plastic bubble?