Bloggy peeps, I need some advice. There’s a 10 year old boy in my life who is dying for a skateboard.
I am nervous about this whole concept for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t know anything about skateboards. My childhood experience included many trips to the ER due to spills on toboggans, bicycles and falling up the stairs, but I have no experience with skateboards.
Second, we have a very steeply pitched driveway that dumps into the road at a spot well-hidden from oncoming drivers by a giant cedar hedge. I don’t worry so much about the 10 year old here, but I do worry about the four year old who THINKS he’s a 10 year old.
I don’t want to be overprotective. A skateboard is really not that different from a bike. Is it? But how do you get a good one and am I insane if I make him wear elbow, wrist AND knee pads in addition to a helmet? (And, erm, a full suit of bubble wrap?)
I have some serious misgivings, but I want to be convinced. Help me, bloggy peeps. Tell me what I need to know to make Tristan’s dream come true!
It was only a couple of months ago I happened on an old blog post that I had completely forgotten. With more than 2000 (!) published posts in the archive this happens rather often, and it’s one of my very favourite parts of having the blog. Although I’d forgotten the story and it made me laugh when I re-read it recently, I didn’t mention the story to anyone after I stumbled across it, and so I couldn’t help but laugh when history repeated itself just yesterday.
First, replicated for your ease of clicking, here’s the original post from 2007:
For the most part, potty training Tristan was a breeze. He waited until he was three and a half to be ready for it, but when he was ready, the transition was quick, painless and relatively dry. From the last day of diapers, we’ve had a total of maybe a dozen accidents at most. A year and a half later, however, one hurdle remains.
He refuses to wipe his own butt.
We’ve tried cajoling, reasoning, bribing and ignoring him, but he outwaits us every time. And for reasons I’ll never understand, the vast preponderance of the time, he likes to go when we are sitting at the dinner table.
Tristan, from the bathroom: “I’m done.”
Me, at the table: “Good.”
(pause)
Tristan: “Are you coming?”
Me: “No. Wipe yer own butt.”
Tristan, whining: “I can’t!”
Me: “Yes, you can.”
Tristan: “I don’t want to!”
Me: “Well, that’s probably closer to the truth. You have to learn to wipe your own butt, Tristan. Big boys wipe their own butts.”
(pause)
Tristan: “Is this Monday?”
Me, unfazed at the non-sequiter: “No, it’s Saturday.”
Tristan: “Well, I only wipe my own butt on Mondays.”
How do you argue with logic like that? He may have won again today, but you can bet he’s not getting away with it come Monday!
(Edited to add: and by God if he didn’t wipe his own butt on Monday. By his choice, mind you. He called from the bathroom, I reminded him it was Monday, and he said “Oh, okay” and did it. Who knew??)
Fast forward back to 2012. I’m editing photos in Lightroom just as the kids are getting ready for bed when the call comes from the bathroom, except this time it’s Lucas:
Lucas, from the bathroom: “Mo-om! Come wipe my butt!”
I seem to be feeling inspired early in the day this week. The majority of this week’s pictures were taken within the first hour or so, some before I’ve even had my first coffee. Early bird gets the photo?
It seems like ages ago now, but it was only Monday that we woke up to heavy, wet snow in Ottawa. The tulips fared better than the daffs. They’ve got strong necks!
I’d actually forgotten I had taken another picture with my camera instead of my iPhone and was pleasantly surprised to find this one a couple of days later. Pleasantly surprised because it’s a much better picture, but also because the snow had completely disappeared by the time I found it.
I kinda thought I’d have another couple of years before I started taking pictures like this of my baby. Sigh. (I loved the window light in this one. Look at the catch-lights in his eyes!)
I was taking pictures of raindrops dripping off a branch with my Lensbaby when Simon walked by on the porch and I snapped this portrait of him. I’ll take smiling boy over drippy branches any day! (You see the faint stars in the background? That’s the star shape in the Lensbaby creative aperture that does that. So hokey, but I love it!)
This isn’t an official “photo of the day” but I’m still bragging about it so I thought I’d slip it in! 😉 That’s my pictures of the skaters down there, published in an advertorial in the current issue of Macleans.
It’s been a miserable week weather-wise, but the sunrises have been pretty amazing. I actually doubled back on my way over the way over the Rideau River to take this one. I kept those branches in the foreground intentionally thinking I’d give the shot some depth, but I find they clutter up the shot now that I see it. Oh well, the colours are still pretty, no?
I like this one much better, taken a few minutes down the road at the Long Island Lock a couple of days later. Can I just say that running into a really big flock of geese and sending them honking and panicking into the water is an awesomely fun way to start the day?
And hey, I saw yesterday that they’re officially filling up the Rideau Canal now. There’s no more sure sign of impending summer in Ottawa than that!
I snapped this one with my iPhone. I really like the composition, but didn’t expect it to be so noisy. Not guitar-noisy but photographic noise: that speckly grain, caused by excessively low light. Oh well. I’ll do it in a brighter room next time.
One of the many odd theme groups to which I belong on Flickr is Fenced Fridays. I am drawn to fences, and especially the miles and miles and miles of rural fencing I see out here. I’ve thought of doing a shot like this for a while, and finally got around to it.
The funny part is that last night while I was processing it, Lucas was bouncing around with his “guitar” (not the one I snapped above) and so I asked him to sing me a cow song to go with my picture. Beloved recorded this surefire hit on his iPhone:
Through the month of April I’ve been putting up a series of posts on why I am incredibly impressed with Indigo Kids. The first post talked about how pleasantly surprised I was to find Indigo Kids offers a selection of great pre-wrapped toys to make your birthday-gift-shopping experience as painless as possible. The second post talked about how Indigo Kids saved my butt with awesome loot bag content and free loot bags to boot.
One of the criteria Mom Central Canada set out for this blog tour was that you’d need an upcoming birthday occasion to buy for. With three boys and a steady stream of party invitations, I knew we’d have that part covered. What I didn’t expect was that it would be Lucas’s first party invitation ever (awwwww!) from one of his mates at day care that we would be using as our excuse for an amicable morning spent browsing at Indigo Kids. And better yet? We were buying for a GIRL! (I get seriously excited about buying girl stuff.)
We looked at puzzles and books, games and stuffies, crafts and playsets. The clerk who helped us was awesome, pointing out options and ideas I wouldn’t have otherwise considered, and offering the kind of personal assistance you just don’t see in many stores anymore. (Hell, good luck finding a warm body in most big-box stores lately!)
My heart melted into a puddle of goopy love when I noticed Lucas intently studying a display of Groovy Girl dolls. “I think she needs a dolly,” he said, his brow furrowed in concentration. We looked at a few, and he was particularly enamoured with a blond one. “Why do you like this one, Lucas?” “Because she’s pretty like Marika.” Melt.
So we almost got the pretty-like-Marika blond dolly, until Lucas noticed I was holding a Colour and Cuddle Washable Pony, and he decided that would be what Marika liked best of all. We added in a handful of Robert Munsch mini-books and we were good to go.
The clerk sent us off to pay for our purchases, and told us to come back for the free gift wrap, which we did.
So now you know my go-to resource for the next decade of birthday-party-gift shopping! Would you like to win an Indigo gift card so you can check out the Indigo Kids experience on your own? Contest closes on Monday, so this is your last chance!
Here’s the details:
This is a giveaway for a $35 Indigo gift card.
To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on any post in this series of three telling me why you love Indigo Kids or how you think Indigo Kids could be helpful to you.
This giveaway is open only to Canadian residents, excluding residents of Quebec. (sorry!)
This giveaway will run until 11:59 pm EDT April 30.
One winner will be chosen from all comments posted on any of the three contest posts on this blog.
You can comment as many times as you like, but you will only be entered into the giveaway once.
You can also enter to win on other blogs, but you can only win once.
If you win, you must be willing to provide your full name and address to me, to share with Mom Central Canada, in order to claim your gift card.
Gift cards will be sent 4 to 6 weeks after the close of the giveaway.
And if you haven’t get checked out the great new Indigo Kids section of your favourite Chapters/Indigo store, this store locator link will help you find a location near you.
Disclosure: I am participating in the Indigo Kids program by Mom Central Canada. I received compensation for my participation in this campaign, but the opinions on this blog are ALWAYS my own. I only participate in promotional campaigns for products and services I feel I can personally endorse.
When I got my royalty statement from Getty Images last week, I was pretty excited. Not only was it my highest-grossing month to date with 10 sales, but it had some pretty interesting-sounding buyers: a couple of European ad agencies, Microsoft (!), and Macleans magazine. I was particularly curious about the Macleans one, not only because it paid a pretty penny. Not in my wildest dreams could I picture a more awesome use than this!
See that bottom-centre photograph of the skaters? I took that one on my lunch break on a freezing but brilliant day back in January!
Talk about proud Canadian moments!
And I found this one, too, which isn’t nearly as awesome but interesting nonetheless:
That’s my picture of a caiman, snapped at the boys’ school Halloween party featuring Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo, masquerading as a crocodile on the website for NBC Miami, channel 6. 🙂
I tell you, between having a picture of Lucas and Willie used to support the concept of “cutest kid/pet picture ever” and Macleans using this one to define the ultimate Canadian moment, Getty has been doing as much to boost my ego as line my pocketbook!
So you think this qualifies to enter as a “Proudest Canadian” moment?
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a comprehensive database of information about services, companies, events and other resources relating to raising a family in Ottawa?
Well, thanks to our newest bloggy sponsor Help! We’ve Got Kids, now there is! Help! We’ve Got Kids was founded in 1994 as a print directory and evolved into an online database for parents and caregivers with a comprehensive listing of the products and services for kids and families in the Greater Toronto Area. They’ve since expanded to several Canadian cities, and as of this spring, they are establishing a presence in Ottawa as well.
I’ve been following the Help! We’ve Got Kids twitter stream for quite a while, and I was happy to help promote the Ottawa launch. On the Help! We’ve Got Kids website, you’ll find information and resources about birthday parties, camps, after-school programs, sports, schools, amusement centers, indoor playgrounds, support services, parenting articles, event calendars, parenting resources and more. You can even get a free basic listing for your own business or submit an event.
In addition to the services and parenting resources, there are deals, coupons, events and contests, and even a couple of blogs to follow. And of course you can follow them on Facebook or Google+ as well. Looks great, doesn’t it?
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Help! We’ve Got Kids. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
Okay, this? Best parenting advice I’ve read in a long time, and very in line with my ever-strengthening philosophy of giving kids room to be kids. Thank you to my friend and longtime reader Kim for sharing this article in the weekend Globe and Mail: Bucket list for kids: 50 things to do before they’re 12
I love this, because I think each and every one of these is an excellent activity — and yet it makes me sad and kind of tired. Do we as parents really need to make an itemized checklist of experiences our kids must achieve? Meh, maybe the grey Ottawa skies and cold, damp temperatures are making me cantankerous. It actually sounds like a road map to a pretty great summer, if spring ever decides to return.
Here’s the official list, editorialized with my own local spin:
1. Climb a tree
2. Roll down a really big hill (Mooney’s Bay has a great one for this!)
3. Camp out in the wild (did you know there’s a campground on Prince of Wales just north of Hunt Club? Practically downtown!)
30. Feed a bird from your hand (bring some seed to the Lime Kiln Trail or Hogsback Falls for this one!)
31. Hunt for bugs
32. Find some frogspawn
33. Catch a butterfly in a net
34. Track wild animals
35. Discover what’s in a pond (Mud Lake is great for this!)
36. Call an owl
37. Check out the crazy creatures in a rock pool
38. Bring up a butterfly
39. Catch a crab
40. Go on a nature walk at night
41. Plant it, grow it, eat it
42. Go wild swimming
43. Go rafting
44. Light a fire without matches (um, no thanks)
45. Find your way with a map and a compass
46. Try bouldering
47. Cook on a campfire
48. Try abseiling
49. Find a geocache
50. Canoe down a river (although you might want to wait until they’re older than 3 and 5 yrs old!)
I figure the boys have a good half of the items crossed off, and I can tell you for sure I won’t be taking them abseiling any time soon – although the zip-line at a local aerial park is not out of question. What do you think? Is there anything on here a child of 12 can or cannot live without doing? Something you’d add to the list?
I don’t know why my kids like to play with me. I am not a creative sort of person when it comes to play, especially imaginary play. I like board games because there are rules and processes to be followed (oh, I have been badly damaged by my 20-year civil service career, haven’t I?) and I am happy to supply glue and feathers and beads and let them have at it. But I am just not good at imaginary play. I’m a photographer, not an actor! And the reason I had three kids in the first place is so they’d play with EACH OTHER and leave me out of it.
So whenever Lucas wants me to be grumpy Gordon while he is chipper Thomas winning approval from Sir Topham Hat, I divert us to safer ground. As in, to save my sanity. Since you know I’ve been blogging for Fisher-Price Canada lately, I thought it would be fun to share some off-label uses for our favourite Fisher-Price toys. Fun, and sanity saving, too!
1. Hot and cold Little People
I started doing this one when the big boys were wee, and they’ve always loved it. It’s kind of like an Easter Egg hunt without the sugar rush. We gather up a big pile of Little People (because they’re the perfect size for hiding in places that are not too challenging to find) and the boys leave the room while I “hide” them. Then they take turns looking for them while I giggle and give clues like, “Oooo, getting warmer. Feel that tropical sun, you are so warm now. Uh oh, but of a cool breeze, you might be going in the wrong direction!” The kids can do this for hours, and I can spend large stretches of this game on the couch clutching my coffee. Win-win!
2. Kid-Tough Digital Camera scavenger hunt
I like this one – go figure! Choose a theme – blue or round or leaves or dandelions or whatever, and try to find and take a picture of 10 things that have that quality. Or set a time limit: how many can you photograph in 10 minutes? Beware of obscure kid-generated themes here, though. We don’t have a lot of “things that growl” in our house (once mom and dad have had their first coffee, anyway.) And “things polar bears eat” was a bit of a challenge.
3. What animal am I?
We have a jumbled set of animals from the Little People Musical Zoo and the Animal Sounds Zoo. Lucas has to cover his eyes while I choose one, and hide it in my hands or behind my back, and Lucas asks questions to try to figure out which animal it is. “Does this animal have fur?” or “Where does this animal usually live?” We play this in the car sometimes, too, but having the actual animal in his hand tends to keep him focussed on which animal he chose. I’ve otherwise found myself trying to guess an animal that has fur and scales and eats leaves and fish and has both spots and stripes.
4. Pictionary on the Kid-Tough Magnetic Doodler
It is a sad but true fact that Lucas can now draw figures that are both more accurate and recognizable than those that I am capable of drawing. “That doesn’t look like a bird, Mommy! That looks like a squashed mushroom.” (I like this game less and less as their artistic ability outstrips mine.) I stand a better chance at the 3D version of this game where we try to guess what the other is building with Trio building blocks.
Okay, so that’s a few ideas – can you think of any more? Croquet using Corn Popper mallets, maybe?
Disclosure: I am part of the Fisher-Price Play Panel and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog, however, are always my own.
I‘ve toyed with changing the name of my “Life in Ottawa’ blog category to “Love letters to Ottawa.” I like to think that a lot of this blog is exactly that. But while my love letters are about the places in Ottawa, the things to see and do and visit, Kym Shumsky’s 100 strangers project is sort of like 100 love letters about the people of Ottawa.
You may remember last year, I wrote a post about being a part of Kym’s project. I was just re-reading my post about it for the first time in a while, and it brought me right back to that night, how much fun it was and how nervous I was and how pleased I was with the final results.
It amazes me to think I was just one per cent of Kym’s crazy project, just one of 100 interactions and photo sessions that Kym has had over the past couple of years in her epic project. In Kym’s own words, her 100 strangers project was “about style, but not just style. It’s also about telling the story of Ottawa’s people right off the streets of Ottawa herself. This town is more than meets the eye. Over the next several months I want to meet, talk to, and photograph 100 strangers. Pictures will tell one story. People will inspire the other.”
But because she is such an inspiring person herself, she has turned this into something more. Now that the photo taking is done, there is a book, and framed prints, all of which will be raising funds for Operation Rainbow Canada.
I think my very favourite part of this is how Kym’s project has gone from “Le Mien” (French for “mine”) to “Les nôtres” (French for “ours”).
I have spent waaaaaay too much time this weekend with my nose pressed to the monitor of my laptop, doing back-ups and upgrades and all the ridiculous site maintenance issues that I should do more frequently but never seem to get around to doing.
First, I updated the banners on my portfolio site, and then made a matching one for the Facebook page for Mothership Photography. (Are you a fan yet? Now would be a good time! *hint hint*) I’ll wait here while you click around and enjoy them. The photo site has rotating banners like this site does, so you get a fresh image when you refresh. (Speaking of refresh, I haven’t updated these ones since 2009. Eek, I suppose that’s next on my list!)
And then I got around to fixing something that’s been bugging me for a while – I changed the ugly navigation menu across the top of this site to more closely match the one I had coded into the photography site, and I dropped the navigation below the blog header. How is it displaying for you? All in one line? Readable? Looks okay in IE and Firefox from here, but that’s about as far as my attention for testing goes. (One of so many reasons I would make a lousy coder. No mind for details and no patience for testing or debugging!) Here’s what it looked like an hour ago, for comparison:
What do you think? The navigation menu doesn’t get lost, does it?
After all this time, I still do my site backups manually. Do you have a favourite plug-in to do yours? I don’t know why I don’t trust a plug-in to do this, but for some reason I don’t.
Now I’m off to back up EVERYTHING – blog files, photo files, Lightroom, client files, the whole she-bang. After we lost a hard-drive full of pictures, I’ve become a fan of redundant backups, so I have online backup through Backblaze and two separate external drives, which I try to rotate between home and office. Sigh. I think I need to hire a digital housekeeper right after I find the funds to hire an actual housekeeper…
