Tag: parenting

Capable Experience

Today is a big day for E, and for us (his parents). I got up extra early and dropped him off at the school before 5am for his first school ski trip. We sent him with lunch money for the cafeteria, a couple snacks, and his snow gear. We won’t see him again until approx 7:30.

Over the past couple days I’ve realized we don’t give him enough credit for how capable he is. And still I wanted to point out where each and every thing we sent with him was.

After I dropped him off I realized I hadn’t reminded him he had Kleenex (he has a cold). I reminded myself that he will figure it out. Once home, I climbed back into bed and was startled when I realized that I didn’t double check his money was in his pocket. He’s 12, surrounded by friends and chaperones. He won’t starve. He can figure this stuff out, and if he doesn’t, he will still survive.

Kids growing up and branching out is incredible to watch, but also hard to experience. I remember the days they were born, lots of milestones, and good times. I know he will come back with incredible stories of the day, and will have a renewed sense of independance from this ski trip.

Scary Closing

Today I had a scary-for-a-parent moment. Having a child get lost is something no parent wants to have happen. I can remember getting lost in a department store once and not being able to find my mom. Panic can set in quite quickly.

Today Amy, Elliot and I were taking the bus downtown to meet Sue. When it was time to get off the kids got up from their seats and made their way to the back door.

I was keeping my eye on both of them very carefully. I was also trying to make sure we hadn’t left anything behind. We got to the rear door of the bus and Elliot hopped out onto the pavement.

As Amy and I started to go, the door started closing. Elliot had turned around at this point and was waiting for us. This particular bus door is operated by the driver, so no amount of me pushing on the bar would open it and the driver couldn’t have seen Elliot get off.

The door closed all the way, the bus started, and Elliot’s eyes instantly became panicked. I panicked and yelled loudly for the driver to open the door. He didn’t right away, so I yelled very loudly for him to stop. Thankfully he did and the bus had only rolled a couple feet from where it had stopped.

The door opened, I yelled a loud thank you and Amy and I jumped off. By this point my heart rate was pretty high. On the sidewalk I gave Elliot a big hug and praised him for not running toward the bus. Amy was pretty upset as well, but once we all had calmed down we were able to continue on our way.

It was a huge reminder to talk with the kids about what to do when separated from us.

Pumpkins Throw

Yesterday I saw some Thrifty’s ads about smashing pumpkins for composting. I could imagine a huge dumpster and people tossing pumpkins in to see them smash.

It sounded like fun, so I did something similar for our pumpkins. We always compost them, but I always have to break them up. This year I let the kids throw them out Elliot’s window to smash them.

It was fun and I can imagine the requests to do it again next year.


Weekend Common

I knew going in that having kids would mean the end of the weekend sleepins for Sue and I. When Elliot was young, he was an early riser. 5am was the norm. Since sue got up in the middle of the night to feed him, it was I who got up with him in the morning.

When Amy came along, this tradition continued. Amy slept in a little more, but her usual time to get up was 6am.

As the years progressed and the kids got older, sue and I started taking weekend mornings to sleep in. Saturday mornings were mine to sleep in on, and I sometimes got up early to go riding. This was especially true when I trained for the Tour de Victoria. 

I noticed that once Elliot was in school he slept more. It was harder to wake him on school mornings and we usually let him sleep as long as we can. It’s now common for him to get up past 7. This is only doable because he can now get ready for school and eat breakfast quicker than he used to. When Elliot was young he would do untimely take 45 minutes to eat breakfast. Now he can rip through breakfast in 15 minutes or less.

Amy also sleeps in more now, and on daycare days she wakes around 7. In the mornings she is a much lighter sleeper that Elliot, and this is very much like me. On the weekends, when we remind her that it is a sleepin day, she can go back to sleep and 7:30 or even 8 are possible.

This brings me back to the beginning. Sue and I have our sleeping in, relaxing weekend mornings back. Amy got up at 7:30 this morning and came into our bed to snuggle. I got up at 8 and sue got to sleep some more. I drank my coffee, ate breakfast, read some news, got caught up on twitter all the while thoroughly enjoying it. Elliot got out of his bed around 8:30. The kids are now in bed with Sue and she is reading to them.

Ahead ago I couldn’t imagine a Saturday morning like this. Now it is becoming regular, and I must say that I think I appreciate it more. I used to take it for granted.

Time to get ready for a ride.

Centre Toonie

So far Elliot has lost three teeth. His two middle bottom teeth, and one middle top tooth. The other middle top tooth is ready to come out, but is still hanging in there. The interesting part is how far the tooth has moved to the centre of his mouth.

He’s starting to look like a pro hockey player with all those gaps.

I have to admit that the tooth is bugging me. So much so that I really, really want to pull it out. I even offered Elliot a toonie to let me try. After a bit of convincing, he actually took me up on the offer. The tooth remains, and he got his $2. Darn.

Hockey Watching

Today was Elliot’s first hockey session. We signed him up for a once a week season that teaches hockey skills. There are a couple games throughout the season, as well as a couple of parent nights, but it is mostly about learning skills.

I was very impressed with how hard Elliot worked at it tonight. Sure he fell a lot, but he always got up quickly and tried again. It’s no surprise, but he also listened really well to the instructors and did everything they asked. They did lots of skating drills, and ended the night with a scrimmage. At the end he was very hot, had very rosy cheeks, and was pooped. He also had a huge grin on his face and loved it.

Here are some pictures:


All geared up and ready


Ferocious face


Two beautiful spectators.


Making sure we were still watching.


Doing a drill


Another drill


Water break.


One tired boy

Tooth Grounds

Two weeks ago, Elliot’s front tooth was getting, very wiggly. Like no resistance wiggly. So wiggly, that one time when he was moving it around, it got stuck in position and I had to put it back in it’s socket. Below is what it looked like.

He didn’t want me to pull it out so I let it be. Well, we went out for sushi one night, and while I was talking to someone, he reached over and handed me what I thought was a grain of rice. A little confused I looked over at him, and he exclaimed that his tooth had come out!

He is growing up.

He was proud of losing that tooth, and didn’t want the tooth fairy to take it. He left a note for her, and she obliged and still left a some money behind for him.

Today I picked him up after school right before hockey. He didn’t remember right away, but when he did he got a huge smile on his face and told me that his second tooth came out while he was eating lunch. While chewing his food, he felt something hard in his mouth, and when he spat it out, there was his tooth. I’m not sure why, but during the lunch recess he ended up going to the office because of the lost tooth, and they gave him a tooth shaped necklace to hold his it in. Unfortunately the lid wasn’t on all the way and he actually lost the tooth somewhere on the school grounds. We assured him that the tooth fairy still knows he lost his tooth.

I am proud of my boy for growing up and being such an amazing son.

Cabin Wound

Last weekend we were on Saltspring to close up the cabin for the winter. We went over on a stormy Saturday and withing 15 minutes of arriving at the cabin and starting to get it warmed up, the power went out. We had planned to go out for dinner that night anyway, so this wasn’t a big setback.

We ate dinner, got some groceries, and a few other supplies to get through the darkness (candles and a flashlight). When we got back to the cabin, I got the woodstove going, and we settled in for the night. We had promised the kids a movie night, and thankfully Sue’s laptop had enough power for that.

The next morning the power was back, so we had a nice breakfast, then took Heart for a walk at Duck Creek. While back at the cabin I started another fire, and we had some lunch.

Things were going well, but I felt like I was constantly reminding the kids to stay away from the stove. Sure enough, there was an accident. Amy and Elliot collided in the hallway, Amy bounced off Elliot, and her hand touched the stove. As soon as I learned what happened I grabbed her and got her hand under cold water. She pointed out exactly where it was hurting, so I kept it under water a long time. We were going to be late for the ferry, so Sue took over for me while I packed the car. As I was handing her over, Amy turned her arm in a way that showed she had another burn down her arm. Seeing this made me feel sick. I felt like I had been running water over the wrong part of her.

She was upset, but not screeching in pain. We bundled her up as best we could, then got in the car and headed for the ferry. Using my phone I found a clinic we had been to before that was open late. We made a beeline for it when we got off the ferry. They diagnosed her with a 2nd degree burn, patched her up, gave us instructions on how to care for her wound, then we were on our way. Again, we had planned to go out for dinner, so we went to Montana’s.

Here is our brave girl, looking none the worse for wear.