Happy happy birthday to me! My cake really made my day!
My husband worked with Jennifer at Beyond Buttercream to design THE MOST AWESOME cake EVER – Wicket the Ewok. I felt bad cutting into the fuzzy guy but, man, is it delicious!!
Off to Kindergarten
August 15, 2011 By 2 Comments
My baby went off to school today. He is going to come back home this afternoon and then can I even refer to him as my baby anymore?? I don’t know.
Last night Jack picked out the clothes he would wear on his first day of school. This morning I asked if he had any breakfast requests and he asked for pancakes. I made banana chocolate chip pancakes for him (and for me). His dad arrived at our house at 8:10 this morning and David, Joe, Jack, and I all walked to school together for the orientation (the school is two blocks away).
Orientation was…boring. It droned on pretty long and Jack was bored (as was I). I’m not sure if the staff actually intended to put the kids to sleep but they definitely were subdued by the time the announcements ended and the kindergartners headed to class. We were told that while it used to be that kids just had to learn how to spell and write their name and count to 30 upon leaving kindergarten, the expectation now is that they are able to read and write sentences by the end of the academic year. Now I’m feeling pretty freaking glad that we seemingly got a head start on that. If he went in not knowing how to write or read a damned thing, I would be more worried. Luckily he can read (he just doesn’t have the patience for sentences quite yet) and write pretty well.
Did you know kindergartners have homework? Oh yes! Jack will get homework Monday through Thursday. Wowwee.
I didn’t cry and neither did Jack. He did get nervous when he discovered that his “little white bunny” wasn’t in his backpack but he had notes from both me and Joe to remind him that we love him. I made sure to let him know that this was everyone’s first day at school and they were all nervous, too. That seemed to help.
Update this afternoon – Upon picking him up this afternoon Jack told David and I that his day was “wonderful…I can’t wait to go back tomorrow!” Success!
Letting Go
August 11, 2011 By 2 Comments
Today is Jack’s last day in daycare. He’s been with G for over two years (a miracle when you think back to all the daycare dramas early on in his life) and made some awesome little friends there. G’s house is basically Jack’s third house – there were many weeks there where he spent just as much time there as he did at my house or his dad’s. G feeds him and teaches him and celebrates his victories and birthdays. Jack was potty trained there before he was at home!
In the last 2+ years, G has taken only ONE unscheduled day off – for Jury Duty. One day, you guys! She is simply amazing.
I’m having a hard time walking away from this lady. She is one of the most reliable, dependable, trustworthy, and caring people I have ever known – it has been a BLESSING to be able to put Jack in her care.
I don’t think it’s hit Jack yet. He knows today is his last day and that he’ll have a goodbye party, but all he could say was that he was hoping for presents. 
We tried to tell him this isn’t the kind of thing you get presents for. In any case, he starts school Monday and I’m guessing somewhere in that week he’ll really start to miss G. I know I will!
I had a difficult time coming up with a gift that conveyed how much we love G. What we ended up with was this poem made into an artful poster by Etsy artist MySoulShines and matted/framed:
They Will Remember
by Eileen Koscho
I take care of your children.
I love them.
I teach them.
I clean them, and I feed them.
And when nighttime comes,
my heart worries about them
I take care of your children.
I see their first steps.
I hear their first words.
I share their happiness, and
I feel their hurts.
I take care of your children,
as if they were my own.
And when they are grown, and
no longer need me,
My love will be a part of them
deep within the heart of them.
They will know that I was there for them unconditionally.
And they will remember!
This morning it occurred to me that I should have had a coffee mug or something made with Jack’s artwork to give to her. Dang it! Maybe I’ll ship that to her…
Here is a picture of G with Jack on his birthday (she is so cool – she got him the alien space ship Legos):
Related articles
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- The Frustrations of Finding Appropriate Daycare (blogher.com)
- Going back to work & the good the bad and the ugly of how we picked child care (brooksbaby.wordpress.com)
- Finding The Perfect Daycare in Saskatoon (saskatooninsider.wordpress.com)
- You Can Run a Successful Home Daycare! I Will Help You Get Started (littleleadersassoc.wordpress.com)
The Face of Triumph
July 14, 2011 By 2 Comments
Thanks to Plum Organics for sponsoring my post about fun kid photos and the stories behind them. Enter Plum’s “Babies for Yum Caption Contest” on Facebook and you could win a $100 gift card or Plum goodies.
For Jack’s fifth birthday, I wanted to do something different. I didn’t want to add even more toys to his already bulging pile (I am pretty sick of stepping on Legos) and he’s been very adamant lately that he wants to spend time with me (usually instead of going to daycare), so I thought a shared experience would be a great alternative.
David and I discussed a trip to Disneyland but, after looking at the insanely high cost a trip like that would be and taking into account that Jack has fun playing with things like cardboard boxes, we thought something close to home would be just as good. It didn’t take long to decide on Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo – they have a TON of rides that are tailored to younger children and, since I wasn’t sure how Jack would react to the rides, there are many animal exhibits as an added benefit. I figured we couldn’t go wrong.
I was right! Jack absolutely loved the theme park (EXCEPT for the roller coaster, which he “kinda hated”). One of the coolest things about the theme park was the selection of carnival games. I know what you’re thinking – carnival games are typically quite scammy; however, there was a balloon game with a little sign that said something like “children play until they win.” I was beside myself with the AWESOME (especially after recently experiencing a fundraiser carnival where Jack tried several times to win and had no luck, which led to a meltdown). I forked over $5 for a couple of darts and on his 4th try Jack managed to pop TWO balloons with one dart, shocking all of us! Rather than go for one big prize, he decided on two smaller stuffed dolphins, one of which he gave to his 2 year old cousin Sabrina. He named the blue one that he kept Splash.
Here is a picture of him posing triumphantly with his winnings (doesn’t he look so blasé?):
And the gold medal goes to Jack!
Jack was super happy to have won and Sabrina was delighted with her dolphin. Neither child let their new toys out of their site for the rest of the day.
Let me tell you – that was the BEST $5 I have ever spent!
I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
Invitation to Tea
June 10, 2011 By 3 Comments
Have you heard of Tea Collection? (No, this is not something you drink.) I hadn’t before this month when I received an invitation to an Open Studio for their upcoming Fall collection of clothing. I took a look at their website and fell in love with the unique art on their clothing – I particularly love this beetle shirt and I knew Jack would want this lizard shirt (he’s obsessed with chameleons lately). He is pretty particular about what he wears these days and he tends to request things that are “kinda scary.” (He is still wearing his skeleton shirt from Halloween…)
So last night I attended the Tea Collection Open Studio. This company that I didn’t know existed is located less than a mile from my office! They provided tacos (YUM) and margaritas and introduced a group of local social media folks to their staff, designers, and upcoming Mexico-inspired line of clothing. I knew immediately upon seeing this Day of the Dead shirt that Jack would be ALL OVER IT:
I showed him the picture when I got home, and he wanted to see it bigger and BIGGER and then he wanted to know why it was a decorative skull, and then he wanted it for himself. It’s a good thing his birthday is coming up.
There was also some sort of contest. I honestly don’t even know what the winner gets – I just had fun dressing up a mannequin (they stay still, unlike real children). We were asked to take pieces from the Fall line and throw together an outfit. My ensemble is below:
I really think the sombrero makes the outfit, don’t you? You can’t quite see it in this picture (yeah, I suck with camera phones – my hands shake way too much) but there is orange in the polo underneath the Team Nahual shirt that matches the shoelaces on those sneakers. I can totally see Jack in this outfit. Also? I really like orange.
They also had a little something for the ladies. I am completely enraptured with this sweater:
I must buy it. MUST!! (It’s not available yet. Dang it!) I thought it was a scarf at first and still I wanted it but no! It’s a sweater! Even better! (I live in San Francisco, remember? I would wear a sweater every day if I could.)
I was really impressed by the friendliness of the company’s founders and the other employees I met. I loved learning about the details of how the designers go on trips (i.e. Mexico) and visit the markets and research the culture in order to bring the designs into their clothing line. There is a new culture/country every season. The designs are vibrant and a little off-beat, which is right up our alley.
We got a neat little gift bag on our way out – Jack is wearing a pair of Tea pants today and they fit perfectly according to the size chart! How often does THAT happen?? I’m also enjoying this lovely scarf that was inspired by Barcelona. Um, I need to go to Barcelona (how come you never take me there?).
By the way, I wasn’t asked to write about this in exchange for the gifts or anything. I just wanted to give this boutique company a shout out because I’m super impressed by how they run their company. Not only that, but they have having an awesome sale inspired by Facebook likes and I think my deal-loving readers out there will find it to be relevant! So, go check it out.
And here’s a picture of me in an sombrero. I *may* have written this whole thing just to show you guys how awesome I look in it. Only you can prevent forest fires! Or something.
New Year Frenzy
January 25, 2011 By 1 Comment
A little more than 3 weeks into the new year and I’m already exhausted. We adopted a dog from a rescue group right before the holidays:
Lambert has kept us pretty busy with walks and training and dog-proofing, which we fully expected. What we didn’t expect was a skin infection right off the bat, followed by our next door neighbor deciding to take up a personal crusade to try to force us to get rid of our new dog – a dog who doesn’t bark or growl, who quickly and eagerly learned his name and basic commands, who climbs into our laps for love, and who whimpers because the cats won’t play with him. How could anyone say that this dog is vicious (as it was called in to Animal Control)? I don’t get it. Neither did Animal Control…
We are lucky in that this is just one neighbor and everyone else who meets Lambert finds him to be a great dog. Still, we have a lawyer just in case (said neighbor has threatened to sue) and there is a lot of activity surrounding this situation that we could have never anticipated.
In other news, Jack is doing great and is growing up too quickly for my liking. He told me recently he wants to be mummified when he dies. When I responded with, “Jack, I don’t really want to think about you dying and I hope it doesn’t happen for a very long time,” he told me, “But mom, everyone dies!” I never thought I’d hear that from a 4 year old!
I still need to submit the application for Jack to attend Kindergarten in the fall. I can hardly believe I have a child that age but there is no denying it! We sat down recently and I wrote some words on his Magnedoodle and he could actually read them. I suspect he can read even more than 3 letter words but he refuses to do anything of the sort in front of me. He also dislikes to have his picture taken these days. At least by me. Maybe I am already embarrassing him…
I’ve attended a couple of baby showers this month for two long-time friends who are pregnant with their first babies. It brought back a lot of memories and contemplation, especially with the addition of the puppy in our house. I’m glad that I can be there for friends who are beginning the parenthood journey and share my experience so that maybe others can do it better. I’m also hoping that if I do it again I’ll be able to keep in mind that I kind of know what I’m doing now. That’s a good feeling.
Holiday Spirit
December 7, 2010 By 4 Comments
I can hardly believe it’s December but here we are. Our mantel is filling up with gifts, holiday cards went out today, and our Countdown to Christmas Calendar (if you want to buy this, check out my website) is in full swing.
Jack tells me every day before he opens the next box, “I know what’s in there!” But on the 5th day he was surprised to find not chocolate but a small gift of Gogos. “Why are they goo goos [sic], mom?” he asked. “I don’t know, son. They are just funny little toys that you can play with.”
We are trying to take it easy on the spending for Christmas this year. I think between the advent calendar and his stocking (not to mention the million gifts he gets from family), Jack will have plenty to open. He told me what to put on his wish list (with my advice about what was an okay price) and has been asking every day if Santa will bring him this green alien:
Not to worry – Santa totally has this one in the bag (despite Amazon running out of stock! Santa actually found a better price at Fisher-Price.com anyway!).
Other gifts include (yes, these are affiliate links):
If your kid is into flashlights but keeps killing the batteries, you seriously need to check out that Lego torch – they need to wind it up to re-energize it! Woot!
I’m looking forward to the holiday. I especially like the fact that we won’t be putting ourselves into debt to celebrate it.
Halloween with Bat Boy
November 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Halloween was busy for us this year. We ended up getting a ton of use out of Jack’s bat costume. First we went to the Goblin Jamboree at the Bay Area Discovery Museum where Jack rode a pony for the first time, met up with chickens and rabbits and goats at the petting zoo, got his face painted, and experienced a kiddie version of a haunted house.
When we got home I did a little decorating around the house, including trying out these decals I got from Stampin’ Up! (yes, that is self-promotion right there – I am a demonstrator) and putting together these treat bags for Jack’s daycare buddies.
My employer invited all the employee parents to bring their kids in on October 28th so Jack got to pal around with me at work for a bit. He had been begging to go to work with me instead of daycare each morning, so I was happy to finally be able to oblige him. He was very excited, but he got over it pretty quickly and by the second hour he decided to hide under my desk. He did leave me this drawing on my whiteboard (and asked me to write the names of each alien).
Halloween itself was pretty chill. All of Jack’s parents got together to take him for a spin around the block. I think Jack likes seeing the other kids in costume more than anything else – he was done with Trick-or-Treating after a block and a half or so. He then said he wanted to go home and finish his dinner. We handed out candy for a while and then Jack went to bed right on time. It was surprisingly easy…how’s that for eerie?
Truthiness Day 29: Make it go away
November 5, 2010 By 2 Comments
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
I hope to do away with this facial expression that I often make:
Pursed lips and narrowed eyes… This is a facial expression I learned from my mom; she has gotten to the point where she has this look on her face almost constantly. Sure, it doesn’t look so bad here but it gets worse, especially when the occasion is not a happy one. It’s a look that says “there is some emotion or thought I am trying to keep locked up but I am failing miserably.” It serves no good purpose and it’s just plain unattractive.
Truthiness Day 7: Mister Sunshine
October 14, 2010 By 1 Comment
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for. (sorry, bad grammar)
This one is so easy. It’s Jack, of course.
Before Jack came along, I didn’t much care about proper living. I’ve had Depression for as long as I can remember and I was never very motivated to take care of it – I didn’t care enough about myself to get the treatment I really needed. I took anti-depressants on and off but those didn’t take care of my issues 100%.
When Jack came along, though, I HAD to take care of myself. I didn’t want him to have a ghost of a mother. I didn’t want him to learn my unhealthy thought patterns or be hurt by behaviors that I didn’t even notice I had. I didn’t want him to grow up without a mother, either, and although I hate to say it, that was a possibility if I didn’t get treatment.
So right before he turned 2, I got serious and put myself back on antidepressants, enrolled in a Managing Your Depression course with Kaiser, started attending regular therapy, attended a 9 month long intensive outpatient therapy program, and have been maintaining my mental health ever since with weekly appointments with my therapist. I’ve learned how to stay ahead of my depression for the most part. When I do get depressed, I don’t beat myself up nearly as much as I used to, and I try to ride it out. I know which parts of me are ME and which parts are the illness I’ve fought all my life. Knowing those things has made a huge difference.
I love my life. I love living. Before Jack, I could not have said that. Before Jack, the work wasn’t worth the return.
Image above by Sarahndipitea
