Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Whoa!!!

After I got home from the bus today, there was a message on my phone from Ryan's teacher. He was trying to give a boy in his class $10 to buy a snowmobile. Three things are wrong with this. 1. It is no longer winter 2. Snowmobiles cost way more than 10 bucks 3. He stole the 10 bucks from me.

I drove the boys to school today. Before I did this I ran some errands with them, and then took them through the drive thru at Timmies for a treat. The cashier gave me my change and instead of putting it away in my wallet, I left the money in the drink holder.
When I dropped the boys off, thats when Ry must have swiped my money, as I was getting his younger brothers out of the car.

I am so shocked at this! I can't believe my 6 yr old would steal! Sure I know most kids steal at some point, I remember stealing barbie stickers from a convienice store my aunt worked at when we went to visit her with my mom, and then hiding the wrapers under the cushion of one of the chairs in the good living room( sorry mom). But I thought I had a while yet before he would even consider this!
We have had the stealing is wrong talk before, when he has taken a toy from a friends house, but I never thought he would take money!
As soon as he got off the bus, I made him give me back my money and I sent him straight up to his room for the remainder of the night. He had to miss karate, which is the worst of the punishment, as he really enjoys it. I didn't yell or hit him, I just spoke calmly.

I hope I handled this ok. I want to teach him a lesson, I hope he'll get it. Man this job is hard!
Balance is definatley hard to get a grip on. Whether it is on my wii fit or in my daily life, it seems to elude me!
I am slowly realizing that there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish what I would like to, and that I am expecting way to much of myself. I need to stop worrying what other people MAY think and focus on myself and the boys.
I am currently working three jobs as well as the most important one, being a mom. I drive school bus, which my kids come with me, I babysit my friends son two days a week and usually on those same two days I work at Rona. The other two nights (mon and wed) its swimming, baseball and karate. No wonder I can't get anything done, I'm too tired!!!
Things'll get done in their own time, I just need to accept that, and enjoy the fleeting time when my house was clean.(Sunday all day thank you Jen!!)

On a different note, Evan has started pre school and seems to be enjoying it. He goes on Wednsedays and is hesitant when he gets there, but doesn't cry. When I pick him up he is smiling and runs up the steps to greet me! Gotta love that excited MOMMMY!!!!
So come September he'll be going two days a week, he should like some Evan time.

He is crying now so I will finish this later, take care everyone!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Week one of experiment

Well, I know its been awhile since I wrote, but it has been super crazy in the Jordan household. Between work, scrapbooking,a wonderful night at the sound of music. I have been run off of my feet.
The days were pretty much the same as usual, bus, and kids and errands. However I made a change. I let the dishes pile up until dinner, I did one load of laundry and hung it out to dry a day, and I played outside with my boys.
My house is trashed. I need a maid. But I feel good. I still hate having chaos around me, but I had fun being R.C.(the girl robot from transformers),a constant mission control operator at the Jordan Space Centre(the pusher on the swings) and a treasure hunter in the dessert(sand box).
I know I still have to figure out some sort of balance between being a mom and a housekeeper. Not sure how to do it just yet. I still really treasure my down time at the end of the day. On Tuesday night I went for a walk with one of my BFFs. I came home and my husband and kids were sound asleep. I did the dishes, cleaned the living room and folded laundry. I had the energy left over from the walk to do this, I went to bed after 10. I didn't mind it that night, but I don't want to do that every night.
What I really want I guess is an easy solution. I know there isn't one. I will keep trying things out. The problem with me is, even when I find something that works, its sticking to it. It is sooo easy slipping right back into the old habits. I'm finding that even with weight loss. It is easy for me to start the day off right, counting points, not snacking but as the afternoon approaches....bam back to the old ways of crappy eating. Wouldn't it be nice just to close your eyes and think good things, then open them and there they are? Clean house, supper made, fitting into last years shorts....Ahh wishful thinking!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Some form of Sanity PLEASE

I have a problem and I keep going in circles with it. Just when I think I have the solution, I try it out, it works ok and then I seem to be right back where I started.
My problem is I want it all. I want a clean house, play time with my kids, time for myself and for my husband and a good meal on the table that everyone can and will eat.
Why can't I obtain this goal??? It is so frustrating. Here is my routine, its not the one I consiously choose, it just kinda happens EVERY day. Once I get home from the bus, the kids want snacks, I get them for them, I turn on the tv so I can do a small chore, and I think then I will play with them after just one load of laundry, well the one load turns into more, I do the dishes while the wash is going, I hang up the laundry or fold it, give the kids a snack because now it is 1030. I keep picking up the mess the boys just made in one room, do more laundry, try to put it away and now its lunch. I make lunch, get boys snacks and backpacks packed for school, go out side with all 3 boys for a 1/2hr play time before the bus comes, but Ryan and ERic on the bus, play with Evan for a few more minutes, come in for snack and some down time before leaving for the bus at 210. Come home from bus at 415, depending on the weather play outside or bring Evan in. tv back on, get the boys from the bus at 435, start supper (oh no what am I going to make cause I forgot to get something out of the freezer AGAIN) Eat supper and try to relax with my husband or go to lessons, depening on the day.
At bed time, the house is still messy, there STILL is laundry and I have had no time for myself or the kids. I am so tired of this cycle, I need to change it I just don't know how. I am exhausting myself.
Today started like any other day, I got the kids breakfast, I did the dishes, got the laundry going, put the boys laundry away. The whole time Eric and Evan were quietly watching tv, I kept walking by them, they paid no attention to me, nor I to them. Finally I guess Eric got tired of this, he got up, went to the play room and started to play. While I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth, and contemplating getting ready for church, he asked me to play with him. so I went in and sat down, and played with the little people with him. Normally I would play for 5 minutes and then get up and go do the dishes, clean a room whatever. Today, I sat there, I let him play and I followed his lead. In this time the wash finished, I ignored it. He then started to pretend He was Megatron, I played along. It felt good. It was then time to get dressed for church and go pick up Ry from his sleep over. We went to church, came home, had lunch and went outside. I hung up some clothes, and threw another load in. That load never made it out on the line, I stayed outside and played in the sandbox, pushed a kid on a swing and tried to dam up the puddle in the driveway. We then went inside for some quiet time, and then started making a craft.
I have a mountain of laundry to do, my floors are sticky, I have dishes to do and Ryan's room is a mess. but I enjoyed my boys today. I gave them all of me.
Lets see how tomorrow goes.........

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Meeting with the IPRC

Today my husband took the day off of work to go to a meeting concerining our middle son Eric.
We went to a school in Brampton to meet his new teacher, the principal and the speech pathologist who will be working with him in september.
The meeting was to officially offer Eric the positon in the KTLC(Kindergarten transiton language C----)class.
This class is to help Eric with his language challenges, so that he can be successful with his peers in grade one. Eric i demonstrating grammatical immaturites, involving pronouns,verbs and doesn't use any past tense. He also has difficulty sequencing, which children should be able to do by JK. (ie) a four part story: Mom put candles on the cake I blew out the candles Mom cut the cake We ate the cake
If you had pictures of this story on 4 different cards, and mixed them up, (after having Eric view the cards in the right order) He would not be able to put them back in the correct order.
A four year old should be able to do this and it is critical for early literacy.

So that is why he will be going to this class in September. I am a little worried about this as Eric is quiet, and due to all of his past tramua with his surgeries, he does not transition well. I'm sure he will adjust, I just don't want him to be miserable for too long.
I asked for an afternoon placement, as we live far from the school, I don't want to disrupt his routine too much. In september I will be caring for my friends children, and her son will be going to pm kindergarten, I would like for ERic to leave roughly at the same time as him and have a simalar routnie that he is already used to, to help minimize the shock.

Despite my qualms, I know this is the best move for him. I do not want him left behid his peers just because he can't communicate clearly or read well. Hopefully this helps him and puts him on track.

As moms, we all want what is best for our kids, we never know if the choices we make at the moment are the best ones or not. All we can do is hope for the best and love them with all we got!

Till next time
Melanie

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Intro to blogging!

Well this is officially my first blog!! I'd never thought I would
A)have the time for this
B)be the type who would do this
C)think anyone would care what goes on in my day to day life with my three boys!

What got me doing this you ask?? Well I got a interesting email from PTPA media asking for moms to apply to test out products for companys and the comment on them. One of the criteria for this position was to have a blog, so I thought hey why not.
Then I really got thinking about it. This is a way I can share my frustrations, joys, challenges and stories with my other mom friends as well as other parents out there!

So I guess I need to share a bit about myself. I am a mom of three beautiful and very active boys! Ryan is 6 and is a bit dramatic, afectionate, smart and energetic. Eric is 4 and is quiet, thoughtful, loving and energetic. Evan is 2.5, and is smart, cuddly,and energetic. ( did you get that my kids are full of energy?!)

Having three boys 6 and under is insane! However I love them like crazy and they are my life!
They are soooo diferent from each other and you can't treat them the same, I am learning what works for one doesn't work for the other! I am finding it soo hard not to comapare them to each other. I know that it isn't right to do that and it creates HUGE self esteem issues, but I just can't help it!
Ryan was my first, so he was the one that if he looked funny I took him to the doctor, chirorpractor,naturopath etc. I doted on him, which I think we as parents tend to do with our first born. Problem is he still expects that. If he wants something, he expects that he is entitled to it, he even says "I should be first I was the first one born!" How do I break him of all this expectaition?? I finding it difficult. At karate he is doing very well, however at the end of these lessons, they play dodge ball, if he gets hit he starts to cry "it missed me" and tries to convine the sensei to let him stay in the game, when the game is over he strarts to cry! It is really embarrasing! I am at a loss on how to stop it, I have tried the usuall suspects, threateing, taking away the next lesson, bribing, it isn't working! Seriously, any ideas??

Eric is my soft spot. When he was born he had a condition called Hypospadias. Which means his urethra didn't go all the way to the tip of his penis. He needed surgery. We went to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto for the operation that had a 95% success rate, guess which percentile Eric was in? So 6 months later we were back at Sick Kids for the second surgery. This time Eric was part of a study and the dr from Germany who invented the surgery assissted. We still ended up in the 5th percentile! So 6 months later back at the hospital for surgery #3 and finally it worked! So now Eric can pee in a straight line like all other boys, and I am sure he'll do just fine in a peeing competion!!!
Eric also has a speech delay. He didn't speak at all, just one work utterences. When he was 3 we started at Erinoak for speech therapy and it has helped so much! However his grammar isn't where it should be and neither are his fundamental literacy skills, so he is off to a new school in September to help him with that (more on that later as I have a meeting in the school tomorrow)

Evan is the baby, and I swear my last one!! Because I know he is my last one, I really babied him, I lay down with him for naps, I give in when he has a tantrum ( I am getting better at that)
He knows he runs the show and acts as such! My fault I know I am gonna have fun with this one!! Yesterday he was so mad at me that I said no to chocolate(at 9am) He proceeded to the bathroom and flooded it! (remind me later to tell that story in greater detail!)
Evan doesn't realize he is 2. He thinks he is as old as his brothers and can have/do what they can! So it is always a challenge with him
Oh yeah did I mention he has food allergies\?? Yeah, to milk, eggs, peas, peanuts, and treenuts. Yeah its fun

Well that is my intro hope I did alright and will go into detail and share stories, findings whatever!

Take care and talk soon
Melanie