Thursday 20 September 2012

What a beautiful story on organ donation


So sad yet so beautiful and happy.  How the death of 55 year-old Deb White saved five lives.  The recipient's note is so grateful.

Enjoy :)


Deb White with one of her five grandchildren



http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/topic/the_inside_story_with_avery_haines/article/226022--the-inside-story-1-death-saved-5-lives-family-of-organ-donor-says

Should you sign your kid up for a sport they don't like?




Interesting article that I'm sure encourages a range of media controversery.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/should-you-sign-your-kid-up-for-a-sport-they-dont-like/article4557769/


It's a strong opinion and I'm sure that it's blown somewhat out of the water. 




 
Our kids are in sports and activities every season, they can choose up to two a season.  We choose swimming for them once or twice a year, but it's never been a fight.  The activities they pick, they need to complete until the end whether or not they like it.  They learn that choice breeds consequence, good or bad but that everything started must be finished.  We help them to enjoy the activities by reminding them what they found interesting or what benefits it's given them to date.

We do make them pick something, we help them to decide based on what interests them, and we remember that they aren't us - they don't have to like what we liked.

Go Team!

Bad Report Cards

 
Oh Mason!
 

So this is my step-son Mason.  He just turned 10 at the start of September and he's our oldest of the four kids.  I love him to bits but he's tiring on my patience and really forces me to think outside the box.  He's a damn smart kid, way beyond his years in intelligence, which is fantastic.  Unfortunately, Mason lacks everyday skills he needs to succeed.  His main two issues are lack of responsibility and respect. 
I moved in with Mason's dad when he was 7 years old.  Studies suggest that once a child hits 7 years, they have already become who they will be based on his experiences and his genes.  Mason was raised to this point by parents that believed that children should have whatever they want, whenever they want it, no matter what.  That as parents, we are their closest friend and should entertain them constantly.  No parent is perfect, it's a trial and error process and the best parents are ones that can see where they went wrong and change it.
So it's not Mason's fault that he's irresponsible and disrespectful.  He gets away with it now and has always gotten away with it before.  But now it's affecting his school work and is obvious in his report cards. 
He's frustrated, he doesn't understand why he gets these marks.  His dad doesn't know what to do and his mom gives him excuses.  Dad asked me for help and this is what I did.

1. I went through his report card line by line and pulled out the major issues.
2. I made Mason a worksheet with questions such as the following:
    - What do you like about school?
    - What's your best subject?
    - Why do you think it's important to do well in ...... subject?
    - How do you think you can improve your mark in that subject?
3. We gave Mason time to fill it out on his own
4. We discussed each line with him being as positive as possible
5. We determined that we needed encouragement/disciplinary measures.  Hockey, he loves hockey.  So we signed him up for hockey.
6. We also decided that it was too long for us to wait until the next report card to monitor his progress.  Check out this website - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2012/06/study_daily_report_cards_impro.html
So daily reports were necessary in Mason's case. 
We found an online pdf file that offered a quick daily report for his teacher to fill out - http://www.lauracandler.com/filecabinet/misc/DailyReport.pdf
If Mason gets a bad report, or he forgets his report at school, he misses out on hockey that weekend.  If he gets a good report, he goes to hockey and he receives points to use towards a dinner out - his choice.

Here's to hoping that this plan works!  I'm pretty convince that it's all about consistency with kids, and dammit, I'm stubborn enough to be consistent!

Good Luck Mason!  I love you!

Thursday 13 September 2012

Why William needs to get hives with his cold.




 


< So this is William.  They broke the mold when William was born.  He's one of a kind and a pile of laughs.
William can't follow the norm. 
Last night, after another typical "mommy" day, William wakes up at 11:30pm in tears. 
"I'm itchy all over mommy"
I'm excited, finally, chicken pox!
Fail....
William is covered in hives.   They look like mosquito bites.  I check the cats for fleas even though they had their recent Bayer Advantage soaking - not that, too easy for William. 
The only other thing William is experiencing is a cold.  Apparenlty this is a common phenominom with kids now-a-days and not the first time for William. 
According to this website - http://www.uptodate.com/contents/hives-urticaria-beyond-the-basics - viral infections cause more than 80 percent of all cases of acute hives in children. 
William was dosed with Children's Benadryl® and coated in a healthy layer of Calamine lotion.  His hives from last night were gone by morning and he had 3-4 new ones to paint.
He'll live again....Ah my William, mommy loves you and all your quirks.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

So this is blogging?

Here goes nothing!

So I'm slightly off my rocket....here's why;
1. Mom of one active seven-year old boy
2. Mom of one manipulative five-year old girl
3. Step-mom to one 10-year old boy
4. Step-mom to one eight-year old boy
5. Full-time accounting business owner and operator
6. Full-time University student with 8 months left to graduate

This is a course project - start a blog.
No problem - what's a blog?
I Google, what's a blog, how to start a blog, where to put a blog, and why do I need a blog?

Well, I got this far!

Name a blog!  Sure - no problem, it's only been 45 minutes of get the kids to school, three hours of class, three hours of groceries and work, pick kids up from school, homework assignment on Consumer Behaviour due in one hour, supper consisting of the husband-requested beef stew and tea biscuits, get youngest kid to dance, three more hours of school.  So the blog name, first thing that came to my mind at 10:20pm tonight.

My love is my family, my passion is my work.  It's been seven years since I left the work place to start my family.  Four and a half years since I became a single mom and start my business to support myself, my two year old and my nine month old.  Over three years since I met the love of my life and his beautiful children he has shared custody of.

What I want to use my "Blog Spot" for - my kids, my life, my family.  My assignment is to pick a blog topic that I'm passionate about and there is only my kids next to my work - which is certainly not as entertaining as kids!

Where my title came from you ask?  Funny story!
Our family trip this year included a 12-day long RV trip from Ontario to Nova Scotia and back.  I brought activities, new ones, I brought school books, also new, puzzles, games, etc; but as on any trip, we lose interest.  My 5-year old is very independent and can entertain herself with an elastic band for hours.  She was pleased to announce to her class on the first day of school that she could lick her own armpit - self-taught after too many hours on the road.