CrystalThis is a no filter, say what I mean kind of Friday.
No holding back… I’m an open book today.
Now truth be told, I am like this most days.
Today though, its like it physically hurts to hold back, even if the truth might hurt someones fragile little ego.
I’m not talking about being mean, or cruel to anyone, but honestly I am gonna tell you how I feel. If I don’t like what you are saying or doing, I’m gonna sure let you know it.
Tonight’s Supper was so easy. I put chicken thighs into the slow cooker at 11 am this morning and let them slow cook on low all afternoon. I also salt and peppered them.
At around 1:30 pm, I pouring in a full bottle of VH Honey Garlic sauce to add the best flavour to the chicken.
The I just let the chicken cook on low until 4:45 pm.
I took the chicken out of the slow cooker to drain and placed it on a plate.
I also made a pot of minute rice which took roughly 10 minutes to cook, from boiling the water to adding the chicken bullion cube and taking off the heat and keeping covered for 5 minutes.
To add to that, I made a noodle sidekick for the children, who aren’t to fond of rice on times.
It turned out to be a beautiful meal, and I used the sauce that was left over to pour over my rice which adds some lovely flavour to the rice.
This meal turned out amazing!
The chicken cost $6
The box of rice was $4( and that box will last a long time in this house)
The sidekick cost $1.
I hear these 4 words a million time or more in the run of a day.
And this makes everything better.
It makes the hard times worth it, and the good time that much sweeter.
Sometimes it’s because they want something.
Sometimes it’s because they are after doing something wrong.
Sometimes, just sometimes, it’s because they are just enjoying a moment of cuddles.
I live for these moments because they put everything into perspective. The moment I heard those 4 words, it helps me slow down and enjoy that in a few years time, all I will be hearing is “Mom, leave me alone”, or “Mom, You’re embarrassing me”.
Through all the mess and clutter of the house and our lives, right now my children still want me around, and that’s great. Even when the day comes that they don’t want me around, I will still be there.
Standing behind them to cheer them on, or help them up when they need it.
They will always be my children, and I will always love them.
Today’s story is remembering the day the world came to my town.
Gander, Newfoundland.
I was just beginning Grade 10 at the time, and lived a sheltered enough life, so I didn’t even know the Twin Towers existed until they were gone.
This Tuesday started out like any other. I got up and went to school. I went to my regular class, and when I got home for lunch, my Dad was just coming home from his Morning at his office, as he is a United Church Minister.At that time he was one of two Ministers at Fraser Road United. He sat down to the kitchen table telling mom and me and my sisters about what was going on, and that a plane had just crashed into one of the towers. I ate my lunch in quiet, not really conceiving what was taking place down in the States. My naive grade 10 mind just thought ” ok, something bad is happening, but at least its not here.”
At this time the buses were on strike, so my father had to drop me back to school after lunch, and went on his merry way. Walking into Gander Collegiate, there are 3 TVs, one in each corner of the main lobby, and they are usually on the town community channel, but today they were all tuned into the news, for obvious reasons. That was when I first started to realize something unusual was going on.
The second thing I found unusual was when I got to my theatre class, it was what everyone was talking about, and the windows in the class where shaking more than usual from airplane traffic.
Now, living in Gander Newfoundland, we would always find the windows shake, or at the very least the noise from planes over head, on a constant daily basis, you really get used to it. Not this day, it was one right after the other.
My last class, was Writing, with my home room teacher Mr. Soper. We had a half normal class, until towards the end when the Principal came on the P.A. System to explain to us the severity of what was going on, and partially what would happen next. We left school early that day, and by the time I was downstairs and closing in on the door, I remember one teacher getting distinctly frustrated and someone saying get the hell out of the school. I was freaked out by the time I got to my dads car.
I went home that afternoon and Babysat my two sisters for the next 4 days, while my parents went and did everything they could to help at the Airport and then at the Church. I spent that evening and anytime my parents weren’t home, trying to watch the news, because when they did come home, they wanted us to take a break from watching it all.
I remember one day I did get to go over to the church and help out a bit and I got to meet some very memorable people. I didn’t get to help out at the school though. In hindsight, I knew my parents needed me at home to help them with my younger siblings, so that they could go and help as many people as they possibly could in such a trying time.
I remember the following days once the planes left, and we went back to school, and I was interviewed by CBC news in my Media class along with other people.
I am proud of what my town did that day and in the days to come following one of the most horrific, tragic times in our recent history.
My main wish from all of this is that we remember, so that a tragedy like this NEVER happens again.
This Monday morning has been a bless and a curse.
The kids went off to school fine, but my nerves are worse than if it was the first day of kindergarten.
For future reference I refer to my children on social media as 1,2 and 3.
A little back story, 2 and 3 have had to get a hug,kiss, and high five from me as part of their routine everyday in school last year. It is what calmed their anxiety and got them ready to face the day in school. Now they needed to do this about 3 times before I left them at the school. Comforting for them, nerve wrecking for me. I would love to be the parent that just drops them off outside and rushed off to my day, but unfortunately that is not the case. For whatever reasons their separation anxiety piqued last year in the new school, and it as that way all year.
Fast forward to this year, where I spent the last two weeks of summer vacation explaining to them that I can only give the hug,kiss,and high five once and then they would have to go on. Their merry ways and I would be outside the school waiting for them at the end of the day.
So this morning, I dropped 2 and 3 off at school and their father dropped 1 off at the middle school. 3 went on to her classroom fine. Now, this is the first time 2 has had to go upstairs in the school and find his way to his classroom on his own. He also had to wade through a whole hallway of new kindergarteners and their parents. 2 was a little tears eyed as he walked away from me, but he held his head high and disappeared into the crowd.
This is where my mom nerves kick in. I don’t know if he got upstairs, I don’t know if he found his locker, and I certainly don’t know if he is ok in his classroom right now. I did the exact thing I said I wouldn’t o this morning and I stood and waited there for 5 mins, while no kid came back to me.
Now I know a lot of you may think I am crazy, and I am sure everything will be fine and he will come out of the school fine this afternoon.
BUT…. The little mom voice is sitting in the corner in the back of my head, wondering all day if he is ok. Another side note, 2 is also in the process of being diagnosed with ADHD or something else. Last year he threw tantrum after tantrum about being afraid of going to school, not wanting to go on the bus, and has gone so far as to hide under the bed crying because I was being a horrible mom trying to make him go to school.
The school as been so helpful this past year, helping me get him into the routine of being left in school, even if it did take a whole month of me dropping him off crying in the office and sneaking away. Those days were long and agonizing, because I would leave him there crying, after a morning off struggling, and then he would have a great day in school, and come home happy go lucky.
So, this is why I have the fears I have this year. This is only his second day in school, and last Friday I was able to take him up to his classroom, and help him find his locker.
Now I will putter around the house and make myself busy to keep my mind off it until it is time to pick him up the afternoon, where he will be fine, and he will tell me all about his day, and I will be so proud of him.
That is my mom rant for today. Expect another post tomorrow 🙂
UPDATE: Everything went fine, and my mom nerves were unfounded. They all had a great day.
This year has to be one of the most interesting years for struggling to get everything together before the kids go back to school on Sept. 7th. I have 3 children in school, Grades 6, 2, and 1. This is the massive list of school supplies I had to pick up to have them prepared to go back to school.
1 Ruler
1 Protractor
1 Highlighter
1 Package of loose leaf paper
2 Binders (1 inch)
2 sets of headphones
2 packages of colouring leads
2 packages of plastic spoons
2 Packages of plastic straws
3 Pencil cases
3 Book Bags
3 Lunch Bags
4 Pairs of scissors
4 Pairs of Sneakers
5 packages of crayons (24 pack)
6 boxes of pencils
6 boxes of tissues
10 white erasers
10 Binder dividers
14 large glue sticks
24 Exercise Books (non coiled)
34 duo tangs
New clothing for each child because they are growing like I don’t know what. I did not buy excessive clothing just because I wanted them to have something new for the first day of school. They needed it. Sometime between June and now, my oldest managed to grow about 3 inches taller and out of ever single pair of pants he owned, and the same goes for my middle child. So not only did I have to buy one suit of new clothing for school, I basically had to outfit their wardrobes all over again, so they would have clothing that fit them. They aren’t going to get away with wear shorts all the time soon.
Also, somehow between June and now, every sock this house has managed to fly away. So I had to buy a pack of 10 pairs of socks each.
Now like a lot of you out there, I did not just pick up and go, and I certainly did not buy name brand where I didn’t have to. The whole of my shopping was done between Walmart, Rossy, and the Dollar store. Yes I broke myself buying everything my children need for the school year, and yes these next two weeks are going to be tight around here, but one thing is for sure….
I have so much GRATITUDE to be able to say this.
I am not complaining because I have 3 beautiful children who are able to go to school in September. We live in a Province and Country where it is safe for them to get an education. I was able to provided for my 3 beautiful children what they need to give them the best start of the new year. Just the thought that I am able to be here and have 3 children to take care of and provide for makes me grateful for this life.
I am so lucky that I can send my children to a school where I know the teachers and staff, and I can trust that my children are taken care of from the moment I drop them off at the door, till the time I pick them up in the afternoon.
I appreciate everything the teacher do on a daily basis. They are the real MVPs here.
I certainly don’t look at it has the teachers fault for all the things my children need on the list for school. The Teachers are helping me mould my children into well behaved human beings and to be come the best that they can be. If that means 4 packs of crayons for one kid, then heck yeah. 16 exercise books, sure. It’s all for a great purpose.
And that’s my Thursday Rant. Have a great day everyone.
Some days can be overwhelming.
It’s ok to cry.
Some days you may feel like you’ve hit a brick wall.
It’s ok to cry.
Some days everyone just knows the right buttons to push.
It’s ok to cry.
Some days can be the best days of your life.
It’s ok to cry.
Some days you can make a mountain out of a mole hill.
It’s ok to cry.
Some days the littlest thing can throw everything out of whack.
It’s ok to cry.
If you ever feel the emotions of everyday life getting to be too much, its ok to just let the tears flow. The important thing is that you don’t let whatever negativity that is affecting you get you down. Wipe the tears from your eyes and know that this moment isn’t forever, and things will get better. Don’t keep your emotions bottled up to fester and rot. That is only going to hurt you. If you need to talk to someone to talk thing through, by all means, find that someone, but if you cant find anyone contact me. I’ll listen. We all need someone we can turn to.
Just Be Yourself.
If they don’t like you for that, then they aren’t worth it.
Just worry about being you, and don’t waste your time trying to be something you aren’t.
People are going to like you, and there will be people who will not like you. Surround yourself with the ones who do, and don’t give energy to the ones who don’t.
Protect your energy from negative people… you are worth so much more than you give yourself credit for.
Have an Amazing week everyone. 🙂
Sunday, Sunday, lovely Sunday. The rain is pouring, the air is heavy and thick with humidity, and the sound of thunder is anticipated any moment now.
I sit here scrolling through my twitter feed, coffee in hand. Taking in this slow day, in all it glory. There aren’t many slow days in this house, and this moment won’t be forever. Soon a child will come calling for food, or screaming because a sibling looked at them the wrong way. For now though, I soak up this momentary peace, ever so fleeting.
I know there is a list a mile long of house work that can be done, but you won’t see me doing any of it today..
It will still be there tomorrow.
You know I think I have found a new term to describe something that happens a lot it seems in my family. Some people would just call it home sick, I’m going to start calling it Gamboitis. Well maybe not, that would just be a weird name.
My mother is from a small community in central Newfoundland called Gambo. It is a beautiful town, that I would recommend everyone to visit in their lifetime. I was lucky enough to grow up there as well and be able to spend immense amounts of time with my aunts and uncles and grandparents in my younger years. I lived there for several years growing up, but before and after that time, I would spend every summer at my grandparents or my Aunts house.
However since growing up and moving out of my family home and starting a family of my own, time is pretty hard to come by, and it rare when I get the chance to visit, same thing goes for my Mother. She hardly gets a chance to go visit my grandmother and her sisters( my aunts).
This is where the “Gamboitis” sinks in. For mom, it happens a lot around holidays and birthdays. We remember the fond memories and people we miss that live there. For me it happens whenever I get a moment to pause and think of the “old days”. The simpler time when I truly had no worries except if I was going to go swimming or laze around the backyard. I’m sure mom thinks about home more too, she just doesn’t say anything.
I guess where I’m trying to go with this post is well I don’t know. If you are ever in Newfoundland, don’t pass by Gambo without a stop in, and if you are looking for something to eat, Vonnie Lee Chicken is the best place. There are great walking trails everywhere, and beautiful scenery. During the summer months if you go up to Joeys Lookout on the highway, a lovely man Harold Penny has a hotdog cart with the best sausage dogs you could ever imagine. You really don’t want to miss out on those.
Crystal 