I don't think it's too big of an overstatement to say that I detest the taste of water.
I don't mind it if I've been playing soccer or other sport and am super thirsty, but other than that I tend to steer away from it.
But it's so good for you, I am told.
As a gardener, you don't have to convince me of the benefits of water to life. I don't dispute water's contribution to overall health, better skin, clearer mind etc. It's just that I don't like the taste.
A cup of water on my desk will go untouched all day. But determined to be healthier and fitter by summer I've been toying with ways to increase my water intake, and have come up with the one mug solution.
Now instead of letting water sit by the computer while I sip coffee (which I do like), I simply wash out my coffee mug and fill it with water. Now I can't have more coffee until after the water is gone. Incentive indeed. Just three more gulps...and I can have java. Thank god.
So now in a morning I have 4 cups of water. Yes it's interspersed with coffee, but it's still 4 more cups than I was having before. And I'm drinking less coffee too Down to 2-3 from my usual 5 in a day.
Works for me!
If you have any other tips for including water in your life, please let me know - I need all the help I can get...!
For more tips check out http://www.wearethatfamily.com/2009/03/wfmw-backwards-edition.html
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Secret Guilty Pleasure
I have a secret addiction.
As I mentioned recently, we are TV challenged . And for the most part, that is fine by me. Sometimes I hear about a show and think I'd like it (I used to love Masterpiece Theatre), and sometimes I'll rent a show on DVD (recently saw Seinfeld for the first time and enjoyed it, and Sex and the City and didn't). Last year, I heard about The Tudors and thought that might be good - but my mother-in-law (whose opinion I value) said not to bother, that it was pretty trashy, and I forgot about it.
Until January when I found the show on Itunes and downloaded an episode. And another. And yet another. And without realising it, I was hooked. I'm halfway through Season 1 now, and have been made aware of three things:
1. That though my mother-in-law is usually right, sometimes trashy is okay;
2. That there is a place for TV in my life - albeit a small one as I can barely manage one 45 minute show every 2-3 weeks;
3. That having this as a vice is pathetic - I must come up with something jucier than watching a TV show on my Ipod! Maybe I can start guzzling wine. Oh wait, I already do that.
As I mentioned recently, we are TV challenged . And for the most part, that is fine by me. Sometimes I hear about a show and think I'd like it (I used to love Masterpiece Theatre), and sometimes I'll rent a show on DVD (recently saw Seinfeld for the first time and enjoyed it, and Sex and the City and didn't). Last year, I heard about The Tudors and thought that might be good - but my mother-in-law (whose opinion I value) said not to bother, that it was pretty trashy, and I forgot about it.
Until January when I found the show on Itunes and downloaded an episode. And another. And yet another. And without realising it, I was hooked. I'm halfway through Season 1 now, and have been made aware of three things:
1. That though my mother-in-law is usually right, sometimes trashy is okay;
2. That there is a place for TV in my life - albeit a small one as I can barely manage one 45 minute show every 2-3 weeks;
3. That having this as a vice is pathetic - I must come up with something jucier than watching a TV show on my Ipod! Maybe I can start guzzling wine. Oh wait, I already do that.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
March Break in Quebec City
We had a terrific time in Quebec City over March Break. We drove into Levi and crossed on the ferry giving the kids a first hand look at the ice floes drifting down the St. Lawrence and getting the best view of the Chateau Fronenac going.
The kids thought that was great - for about five minutes.
But the real hit was the aquarium where polar bears caught fish, a playful walrus played tag with us, and a multitude of sealife could be observed.
And that was it really. Fun filled days in Quebec.
Yup! That's pretty much how we all felt at the end of it all.
I love old Quebec - it's where Andrew and I met for one thing; I also have a good many memories of my time living in this 400 year old city. I could have wandered the old streets for hours.
The kids thought that was great - for about five minutes.Still, they liked the battlefields and we took the dog for a long windy walk over the Plains of Abraham, after watching a great multi-media show about how the city was settled. Kids like bloody history, so they were enthralled by the knowledge that both General Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm died after the battle.
They also liked the caleche ride through the city gates, although it almost ended prematurely when Anna lost her hat in a gust of wind. Good old Dad ran after it all the way down a cobbled hill and then back up again. Whew!
But the real hit was the aquarium where polar bears caught fish, a playful walrus played tag with us, and a multitude of sealife could be observed.And that was it really. Fun filled days in Quebec.
Yup! That's pretty much how we all felt at the end of it all.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Girls and Food
As a pre-teen and teenager, I never had any hangups about food. I never dieted or worried about my weight, and any image-awareness I had was just the regular self-consiousness of your average teenage girl.
As a mother, however, I am a lot more conscious of some of the issues that girls (in particular) have, and although my oldest girl is only turning 8 later this summer, I am on alert. Girls - even girls who live in rural area - are growing up faster these days, and it shocks me when I hear of girls in junior grades talking about their weight and who is thin and who is not. Particularly as their
notions are driven in part by a media-obsessed society.
Anna has a naturally slim build. She is lanky and fit and healthy and seemingly un-self conscious. But I've noticed recently that she is "not all that hungry" at dinnertime more than usual, and while I'm not alarmed (it's quite possible that she just isn't that hungry), I am watching just a little more closely.
I'm taking the opportunity to talk more about food and healthy choices. Anna already likes to cook, so I make the effort to involve her more - my rationale being to encourage her to forge a good relationship with food, one that she controls - and while we're in the kitchen we are also communicating which is paramount for any number of reasons as we head towards the pre-teen years.
She's only 7, I hear you say. But those 7 years have flown by, and in 7 more it will be too late. I've spent the past 7 years raising her to be the confident, healthy child she is, and my job now is to nurture that child so that she becomes a confident, healthy teen, with the tools she needs to navigate the minefield of adolescence.
N0-one said being a mom was easy!
As a mother, however, I am a lot more conscious of some of the issues that girls (in particular) have, and although my oldest girl is only turning 8 later this summer, I am on alert. Girls - even girls who live in rural area - are growing up faster these days, and it shocks me when I hear of girls in junior grades talking about their weight and who is thin and who is not. Particularly as their
notions are driven in part by a media-obsessed society.Anna has a naturally slim build. She is lanky and fit and healthy and seemingly un-self conscious. But I've noticed recently that she is "not all that hungry" at dinnertime more than usual, and while I'm not alarmed (it's quite possible that she just isn't that hungry), I am watching just a little more closely.
I'm taking the opportunity to talk more about food and healthy choices. Anna already likes to cook, so I make the effort to involve her more - my rationale being to encourage her to forge a good relationship with food, one that she controls - and while we're in the kitchen we are also communicating which is paramount for any number of reasons as we head towards the pre-teen years.
She's only 7, I hear you say. But those 7 years have flown by, and in 7 more it will be too late. I've spent the past 7 years raising her to be the confident, healthy child she is, and my job now is to nurture that child so that she becomes a confident, healthy teen, with the tools she needs to navigate the minefield of adolescence.
N0-one said being a mom was easy!
White Spaces
Most of the time I'm pretty relaxed. Erik's 900 piece lego set strewn across the family room doesn't bother me. Grace's muddy boots dropped casually in the middle of the kitchen floor doesn't faze me. Anna's mountain of papers is a mere molehill in the chaos of daily life. (Aside: Anna is attempting to write an abridged version of Lord of the Rings, including Questions For Discussion after each chapter: Why do you think the ring consumed Gollum? That girl is destined to be a schoolteacher.)
The dog barks at nothing. Someone thunders elephant-like down the stairs. There are two different songs playing in two different rooms, and Grace is spinning the Wheel of Wow on the Webkinz internet - and the sounds from all of this compete with Erik's sound effects as the good guys blow the bad guys out of the air in a Star Wars re-enactment.
It's the normal sounds of a happy household. And usually none of it bothers me.
But every once in a while it all overwhelms me. It's like all the activity, all the clutter, all the noise spins together so fast that it ceases to make sense and all I can do is focus on the tiny pinprick of white space at the centre of the vortex. That white space is a lifesaver. I fix it in my mind and expand it, pushing out everything else until my whole universe consists of nothing but white space and light. It's not a place to live - just to visit. And I never stay long - just long enough to take some deep breaths and rejuvenate before I slowly let the world back in.
The dog barks at nothing. Someone thunders elephant-like down the stairs. There are two different songs playing in two different rooms, and Grace is spinning the Wheel of Wow on the Webkinz internet - and the sounds from all of this compete with Erik's sound effects as the good guys blow the bad guys out of the air in a Star Wars re-enactment.
It's the normal sounds of a happy household. And usually none of it bothers me.
But every once in a while it all overwhelms me. It's like all the activity, all the clutter, all the noise spins together so fast that it ceases to make sense and all I can do is focus on the tiny pinprick of white space at the centre of the vortex. That white space is a lifesaver. I fix it in my mind and expand it, pushing out everything else until my whole universe consists of nothing but white space and light. It's not a place to live - just to visit. And I never stay long - just long enough to take some deep breaths and rejuvenate before I slowly let the world back in.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
TV Challenged
We don't have TV at our house. Or rather we have a television, but only for movies. No TV channels. This is not for any smug holier-than-thou reason, but because I can't stand the constant droning and mediocre programming. And because I always feel worse after I've watched TV - like life and energy have been sucked out of me. And because I never have time to watch TV anyway.
Still, there are plenty of people who don't understand. Like the cable guy who refused to accept that we could live without being plugged in to TV. Or well meaning family members who knowingly told us we'd cave once the kids got older. Or the friends who tell us of all the educational shows their kids are watching.
None of it sways me. I barely notice we don't have it anymore, and the kids don't seem to care. But I had to laugh last week. While we were in Quebec City for March Break, we booked adjoining hotel rooms. And the kids were thrilled because there was a TV with channels in their room. It was mostly in french, but they didn't care - they happily watched TV every evening before bed. The night before we left they watched a hockey game, and I laughed again when Anna, needing to get something from another room, shouted out How do we pause this thing?
OMG, my kids are TV-challenged!
Still, there are plenty of people who don't understand. Like the cable guy who refused to accept that we could live without being plugged in to TV. Or well meaning family members who knowingly told us we'd cave once the kids got older. Or the friends who tell us of all the educational shows their kids are watching.
None of it sways me. I barely notice we don't have it anymore, and the kids don't seem to care. But I had to laugh last week. While we were in Quebec City for March Break, we booked adjoining hotel rooms. And the kids were thrilled because there was a TV with channels in their room. It was mostly in french, but they didn't care - they happily watched TV every evening before bed. The night before we left they watched a hockey game, and I laughed again when Anna, needing to get something from another room, shouted out How do we pause this thing?
OMG, my kids are TV-challenged!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Why Moms Blog...let me count the ways!
All moms that I know are busy moms. How we find the time to blog always amazes me. But why we blog...! There are a hundred reasons.
We blog because we want friends and family around the world to get a snapshot of our daily lives. We blog because we have stories to share and pictures to show that we don't want to keep to ourselves. We blog about extraordinary achievements- and sometimes we blog about ordinary moments just to celebrate the importance of everyday life.
We blog because we have something to say, or sometimes because we just need to vent . We blog because we know our families are unique and because at the same time we need to know that we're not the only family in the world whose sweet children are sometimes disgusting or who have lambs living in the kitchen.
We blog because we need advice, or because we've found a way to do something that makes our lives easier and want to pass it on. We blog because forgotten lunches, messy houses, and lost homework are real and in this great crazy world, it's good to know we're all in this together, and that no matter what we do or say or feel, we can find reassurance that the kids will all okay as long as they are loved. We blog because we know that we can learn from each other, and because any community - even an internet one - is a positive thing.
If you're reading this, check out some other members of this great big community at Blog Party 09 hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. Bloggers will link from that site to their own blog where there will be a post telling you a little about themselves with links. Take a look around, and enjoy.
We blog because we want friends and family around the world to get a snapshot of our daily lives. We blog because we have stories to share and pictures to show that we don't want to keep to ourselves. We blog about extraordinary achievements- and sometimes we blog about ordinary moments just to celebrate the importance of everyday life.
We blog because we have something to say, or sometimes because we just need to vent . We blog because we know our families are unique and because at the same time we need to know that we're not the only family in the world whose sweet children are sometimes disgusting or who have lambs living in the kitchen.
We blog because we need advice, or because we've found a way to do something that makes our lives easier and want to pass it on. We blog because forgotten lunches, messy houses, and lost homework are real and in this great crazy world, it's good to know we're all in this together, and that no matter what we do or say or feel, we can find reassurance that the kids will all okay as long as they are loved. We blog because we know that we can learn from each other, and because any community - even an internet one - is a positive thing.
If you're reading this, check out some other members of this great big community at Blog Party 09 hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom. Bloggers will link from that site to their own blog where there will be a post telling you a little about themselves with links. Take a look around, and enjoy.
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