Coddled

I don't blog anymore. For a lot of reasons. But. Last week, this little boy came to my office and broke my heart. And I wanted to tell his story to the internet because it makes me so sad. And it is important. So, coddled. 

Coddled is at one side of the spectrum of how parents can treat their kids. The coddled kids come in for dental work, and the parents are right in there, holding hands, wiping the brows, making all sorts of promises and bribing the kid to behave, etc. while the child is whining, crying, refusing and basically being a little turd... 

The more common part of this spectrum is the parent coming in with the child, holding hands during the freezing, then heading out to the waiting room while the kid gets his fillings, and giving him a high 5 when he's all done. 

And then there is the opposite of coddled. There is Jamie*.  Jamie is 6 and he lives with his elderly grandma right now. His mom pops into his life now and then. He is not coddled. Jamie needs a lot of work done. We give him his freezing, and it hurts him. Jamie cries out, briefly. Then he settles down and let's us get to work. But the drilling is hurting him, and he raises his hand to tell us to stop. (That's our pre arranged stop signal). So we stop, and tell Jamie that he needs more freezing, because his cavity is very deep. "No more freezing. Just keep going, it's fine!" We were able to convince him to have more freezing, and he did great, and we got the fillings done. But the heart break is that Jamie was ready to sit through 90 minutes of pain and just deal with it, because he was so afraid of getting more freezing. And he knew that no one was going to come and save him from it. Or hold his hand and reassure him. And it broke my heart that he had to be so brave for himself. Because he didn't have anyone on his team cheering for him, telling him he will be alright and giving him a high 5 when he was done. 

So, if you have a kid, go ahead and coddle them. Love them and help them and reassure them all the time. Make sure they know that you are there cheering them on. 

Crohnie Update

Did you know, that this summer I started taking drugs? Injecting myself with drugs in fact. This drug is a Crohns drug, and is supposed to help decrease inflammation and make me feel better. I waitied a long time to take this drug. It has many very serious side effects, which scare the bejebers out of me. And for many people, it does not work at all. But this year, I got really sick again, and decided that I was out of options, and had to give it a try. It was scarry, and a huge process of red tape to get insurance to cover it. This is an ongoing process actually, I am still not covered. But the drug company has a compassionate care program that gives me the drug for free until I can get coverage. Which is awesome because it costs about $1800 a month.

Anyway, it is helping. I have gained weight and am not longer 89 pounds soaking wet. I can no longer see my skeleton through my skin. I have boobs again. I am able to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. Summer has never tasted so good. I have to replace my veggie scrubbing brush for the first time in years, because I have actually been using it this summer! I enjoy kale. I eat it in salads, stir fry, soup, tacos, on pizza. I ate a ceasar salad and did not have to lay moaning in bed for 2 days over it. I actually have to pay attention to how much junk I eat, because I think I gain weight like a normal person now!

It's not all sunshine and rainbows though. I was also taking a "booster" drug to help the main drug be more effective, but my liver does not agree with it, so I had to stop taking that one. I am hoping my liver will recover. It's a wait and see thing. And hoping also that the main drug will still work without its booster. And I still have Crohnie issues, mostly bathroom related that are too gross to discuss in polite company. But it is slowly improving, and I hope will resolve so that I can avoid another major surgery, which is where I was headed.

So that is my Crohnie update. I am a much nicer person, less irratable, nicer to my kids and able to do more fun things when I am not in pain all of the time. I missed me. It is so much easier to be excited about life when I am not hurting.

(I just realized when searching for a picture of myself, that I dont really have any!  It seems I am always the one holding the camera. And I am not really a "selfie" person. This pic is random, from our trip to Camrose. I have no idea who the old lady is.)

Two Two

It is a couple of weeks late, but I have a TWO year old to announce! 


I LOVE two years old. I think it is my very favourite age. And lucky for me, I get to experience it all over again. Learning to speak and communicate is so much fun! Being able to climb the playground equipment and go down slides, running down the sidewalk, helping with cooking and housework, making little jokes, running up to the window to watch the garbage truck go by, crying because the birds fly away, refusing to ever were shoes, getting soaking wet every chance she gets, I just love it all.

(I am not quite sure why Mina was wearing goggles. It is just how she parties, I guess.)

This little Two Two of ours is a sweet, happy, silly and strong willed girl. She has a lot to say. She speaks like a little southern belle, saying "ma" instead of  "my", and it makes me smile every time. She also adds "-ie" behind many of her words. She might say "holdie ma handie" if she wants me to hold her hand. Sometimes she speaks each syllable as if it were its own sentence. I really must make a recording of it, because it just melts me. She adores her big sisters and wants to have and do everything that they do, which is as it should be. She calls a knife a "cut" and a fork a "poke".  She takes her new baby doll everywhere she goes these days, and loves her blankies. (I made her 2 in case one got lost. But she knows there are two of them, and always wants them both.)I love seeing her right after she wakes up, trying to hold every single stuffie and blanket she owns, walking around the house with an armful of soft cozy things she loves to hug. She will make a bee line to any puppy she sees or hears so that she can love and adore it. She is afraid of the vaccuum, and terrified/fascinated about the blowdrier, which she likes to visit in the bathroom to make sure it is still there, and turned off, quiet and coldie.  Sometimes she requests it to be on the dinner table, and side eyes it suspiciously while we eat. I think it is a case of keeping her friends close, and enemies closer.

Leia, we love you and are so happy you jumped into our family!

Simple.

Our family just got home after a fun filled, while still relaxing holiday. We spent 2 days in Calgary, and got to visit 2 so-close-but-so-far-away sisters, and my dad. We had a fun time visiting and seeing the sights. We stayed in a hotel, which is always the highlight of any trip for my girls. The luggage carts, the lobby, the mini fridge, the ice machine down the hall. The pool, and of course, the elevator. Watching a great lightening storm from high up out of our window was pretty cool.we probably could have just stayed in the hotel the whole time, and the kids still would have had a blast. 

Then, we went to a little mountain town called Canmore. You know you are having a good time when you spend your down time on MLS looking at local housing availability! We stayed in a 2 bedroom condo. And I must say, having the amenities of home when you are on vacation is such a welcome luxury. We had a full kitchen and in suite laundry, also a pool. This was great.

Anyway. The point of this post is that we lived simply. We had a small apartment, one suitcase each with clothes and toiletries, and one backpack of entertainment. Plus pool noodles. Of course. And I was so happy. It was so inspiring to know that I can live, very happily, with much, much less. Less clothes, less food, less yard, less dishes, less toys, less house, less STUFF. 

I have also been inspired by our CSA weekly veggie baskets, and Keith's newfound desire to have a garden. We can grow our own food and buy less stuff! 

I want to have less. I'm not sure how to do this, but I am going to start buy not buying stuff. I think next will be to get rid of stuff. Here is a look at the random stuff that surrounds and suffocates me. 

This is just one room full of random stuff that takes my time and attention. There are many more just like it. 

So there you have it. Less stuff. That's what I'm going for. If I tell you I am headed to walmart, please stop me. 

Weekly Round up

It has been a good first week of summer vacation here at the Nixons place. 

We have discovered 3 new parks, all without sand, (these are the only kind of parks to go to, in my opinion). Our 2 favourites are Borden Park, and Britnell park. We still have a few on our list to check out, like the Castledowns and Jackie Parker park. 

We went to Camrose for Canada Day, and spent some time with Grandma. She gave Leia a new ball, and since then, Leia has been falling asleep clutching her "Gramma ball". Toddlers are so cute. Camrose was fun, but I think next year we will try out our own city's Canada day. 

And, this has been happening. The most successful potty location seems to be right by her bookshelf. Otherwise, she gets up too quickly and nothing happens. But give this girl a book to read, and she will sit still long enough to pee. I have shifted my obsession for cloth diapers to fabric shopping and sewing.

Mina has learned a new skill! And, she stops every 3 minutes while in Walmart to adjust her shoelaces. Sigh. I am very proud of this girl. I think she is even mustering the courage to attempt her two wheeler. Hopefully I can post about that next week. 

Home made play dough! And I just  added boiling water to the mix, and kneaded it instead of doing it over the stove and making a mess in my pot. It is so much nicer that the store bought kind. 

And you may notice that Abby is missing from this post. She is really growing up! Sometimes she feels too old to come to the park and play with play dough. But, when she does, I know she still likes it. Even if she won't admit to it. 

So there you have it, this has been our week. Keith is on call, so it seems like the week will never end. You can bet that I will be dashing out of the house at some point tonight to escape and find some sanity. 

It's a Birthday Post!!

Somehow, I blinked. And this sweet, curious, bundle of joy became 11 years old. The years truly are short. And as each one passes by I am so proud, happy and excited for this girl as she grows into herself. And so surprised that this much time has passed, how can that be? Now I have this beautiful 11 year old daughter.

                                                 This girl is all kinds of AWESOME. 
Happy Birthday Abby! And thank you for making me a mother. And for teaching me how to be yours.

Jenny!

Today I ran into one of my favourite high school teachers. Mr. Mosher  taught me English. Seeing him this morning really made my day. I was thinking about all of my Slave Lake memories that are good, you know, Rex theatre, the beach, the sky, high school shenanigans, driving in cars with boys, jumping into the river before math class, acing my English departmental exam, graduating a semester early, before anyone else in my class, the poplars and the sound they make before it rains. I was getting so excited to maybe bring my girls there this summer and show them. 

And then I remembered the day that my home town burned down. And my parents broken marriage finally shattering into a million pieces. And I thought, I would have to show my girls the house. And when I see it, I will probably turn into Jenny, from Forrest Gump, and throw rocks at it, and fall down sobbing in the dirt. And I don't know what to do with this. 

I am still gad I saw you, Mr. Mosher. You are a fantastic teacher. I might bring the girls up this summer. I really do love the sound of the poplars before the rain, and I want my girls to hear it.