ten minutes to myself

pacifist

Yesterday, Madeline came home with a booklet in her backpack entitled "Elementary School After-School Activities" and it was about as thick as the seasonal guides from Calgary Parks and Recreation. Whoa. Private school dollars at work? I guess so, and thank Chris's company for footing her tuition. 

Anyway, I noticed that there is a one-hour a week introductory karate class offered on Tuesday afternoons, and immediately tried to sell the idea to Madeline. 

"No, Mama," she explained, "karate is for boys who like fighting!"

I explained that martial arts are not really about fighting, and also that little girls can enjoy karate. Madeline still looked skeptical. I then turned to YouTube, and enter "girls practicing karate" as my search terms. Madeline loves watching video on the internet, and so was wiggling with anticipation as we pick a clip to watch. It was loading ... loading ... loading ... and then finally it started ... "look Madeline, at the girls ... yes, I guess they do look like they are fighting with each other ..." 

Sigh. Maybe next term.

the world would be a better place if we all had mum-mums

Mum-Mums across the world
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic.

"The food situation is wonderful" is one of the things that you will never hear me say about our time in Thailand. Having Sadie has made me a lot more frustrated about it. What to feed an infant? It's probably my fault for thinking that she needs to be fed as if she's growing up in Calgary, but it was really stressful for me that I couldn't find baby oatmeal, appropriate finger foods, etc. But Buddha was smiling upon my shopping cart one day last week when I discovered Baby Mum Mums on the grocery shelf last week. I was at a store that I don't normally shop at, and they were disguised under a different name, but they're Mum-Mums, all right. I opened the cardbox box to find a clear plastic pouch containing tidy little packages of pairs of rice rusks.

And I did a crazy little happy dance by my kitchen pantry.
And then I took this photo of the Thailand Mum-Mums beside the American Mum-Mums that i have stockpiled, and the Australian Mum-Mums that I hauled back in my suitcase last month. They're all labeled a wee bit differently, but who am I to judge based on appearance alone?

I am sure that this post will sound totally silly, but this was a really fabulous discovery. It puts my mind at ease a bit about other food-related issues, like whether the yogurt that I feed Sadie is full-fat or whether the milk she will start drinking in two months time is free of growth hormones ...

Holey Moley

Even Hole-ier Sleepsack
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic.

Dear Sadie

I am sorry that Second Child Syndrome struck and left you without any sleepsacks sewn together with my own two hands (and the Bernina). I had no idea that the store-bought mass-manufactured muslin one would be falling apart after a few months of use ...

My apologies ...

~ Mom

definitely descended from monkeys

Yes, I think that my nine month-old daughter is proof of evolution. Today she climbed onto or into the following things:

- the bathtub

- the kid-sized table

- the file box containing stuff that my husband brings home from work but does not put away

- a step stool, over and over again ... 

I feel kind of sorry for her that we don't have any indoor trees in the apartment as I am sure that she'd be great!

everything i need to know i learned in kindergarten

Today was Madeline's first full-day of kindergarten at the international school, and this is what she managed to tell us:

- played with her classmates, though she cannot remember who exactly

- had a jelly sandwich at snacktime, and took one sip of milk (then asked for water)

- her Spanish teacher did not speak any English to them

- she had to keep her shoes on the entire time she was in the classroom

It doesn't sounds like much, compared to what I'd like to know, of course, but I have to remind myself that it's more detail about Madeline's day than I received about ber first day of preschool! 

The international school is just overwhelming to me, and if I am intimidated by the hundreds of people milling around the elementary wing alone, I can't blame my five year-old for being kind of quiet about her first day. I felt like I was a new kid as well, watching the other parents who seemed to know so much more about what was going on - where to drop off their kids, where to pick them up, where to hand in the forms ... I can't help but think that my kindergarten debut in 1981 was a lot less chaotic!

dirty jobs without mike rowe

So, Sadie has free access to just about everywhere in our apartment. My policy is that if the door is open, the room beyond is a safe place for her to explore. It's only recently that I've been closing doors ...

Today, I heard a tell-tale little splish-splash noise, and sure enough, found Sadie playing in the toilet in the powder room. Managed not to freak out about near-drownings, washed her hands and forearms, and closed the door. 

Sadie takes this in stride, it seems. She crawls off, towards the master bedroom. She crosses the threshold ... and crawls right into the master bathroom, right where there is another toilet waiting. I scoop her up, and close the bathroom door. 

Sadie continues on her way, scooting across the floor of the den. She's fast, and zooms into Madeline's bedroom. By the time I enter the room myself, she's already in Madeline's ensuite bathroom ... Arrrgh! 

Sadie is a little too familiar with our apartment layout and features, methinks!

growing up at the speed of light

Almost, anyways.

Today Madeline put on her school uniform for the first time, and we all went to the international school to meet her kindergarten teacher and go through the orientation. One of my friends who has been a parent longer told me multiple times about how much she cried when her oldest child went off to kindergarten, but I myself will be thrilled to know that Madeline is in a place where she is engaged in age-appropriate activities for most of her waking hours and also has friends to play with . It's been a looooong summer. We will both be happier on Monday, her first full day of instruction. 

And Sadie has had a big day herself. I didn't realize just how well nine month-olds could climb, but she made if from the floor to the top of the little table from Ikea this afternoon. I think (and rather hope) that she climbed onto one of the tiny green chairs first, and then ascended the table. There are probably hundreds of people who are shaking their heads at me, the neglectful baby-proofer. I have to plead ignorance as my first child was not a climber at all!!!

Also, witnessed Sadie's first act of resistance. She definitely wanted her dinner of shredded chicken and fingers of toast with cream cheese, but she did not want to sit at the table to eat them. Her little body went completely stiff when I'd try to sit her in the Tripp Trapp. Something else that took me by surprise today. I wish I could remember when Madeline started showing signs of pre-toddlerhood.