Okay so I really don't think relaxing is any more or less likely to happen in the summer. I am just eternally happy that the intensive dance rehearsal/recital schedule is done. And school is almost done. I may even be able to re-set my alarm to give me 10 more precious minutes of sleep in the mornings...but Rose will still be up nice and early.
Our weekend went very smoothly. Dance was watched, food was eaten, kids had fun - success all around. Our next big job is replacing a section of our fence - although we're turning that into a backyard party as well (hopefully!) We already have the fence all down, and the post people are coming next week to do the posts. Canada Day is our fence party day - family is rallying around (and maybe a neighbour or two) and we'll have lot of eats to keep everyone fuelled.
Now Monday nights have no required pick ups. I just get to go home after work - I'm not sure how I feel about that! I was enjoying the no-rush, get-there-by-7 feeling of my Mondays. Sometimes I took a walk, sometimes I read a book, and every time I didn't have to put Rose to bed. It was Rosie-Daddy night. Not sure what she's going to think about that either!
The only weekly thing we have on now is the Tuesday night Mode Elle business. Emma's photos are this Saturday so I have to go through her clothes and pick out something cute (because not everything she owns is cute...) for mix and match with whatever stylist is there to make the final choices. I may even have to get out my ironing board. Yikes!
I feel like Emma's already super excited for her Dance Camp - she gets one full week off from school then she's there for a week (which required some work schedule tweaking for pick ups and drop offs) learning yet more dance and having a mini recital at the end. I can't get over how much she loves it there! It's a good thing, I know.
Anyway, gotta get ready for work - somehow that doesn't change much during the summer! Leave me a comment about your summer schedules, or what you're looking forward to doing with the kids and family.
Toodles!
Showing posts with label bedtime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bedtime. Show all posts
Monday, 22 June 2015
Tuesday, 9 June 2015
Power Outage Causes Bedtime Struggles, But All Is Resolved
Tonight Emma had her Mode Elle modelling/talent class. Took Rose to a few stores, and changed her into jammies (in case she fell asleep in the car on the way home - she woke up at 5am today) while we waited big sis to finish. I got a message from my neighbour asking if my power was out while we were "shopping." Of course I wasn't home so, no idea! Then hubby calls 10 minutes later to tell me he stopped at home between his day job and evening work and guess what! - The power's out. Guess neighbour was right.
Kids were kind of intrigued by the idea of no power, until I explained to them what that meant. No tv or movies when we get home (we wouldn't have done that anyway, as it's Rose's bedtime by the time we get home); no nightlights (catastrophe!); and - horror of horrors - no toasted english muffins or anything else that requires cooking.
The power was not on when we got home - nor was hubby still home to assist the power-less bedtimes. The battery backups in the basement were beeping like crazy, and Emma wondered why the dryer was buzzing so often and, wait a minute, it doesn't take batteries, does it? Sometimes the way her mind works astonishes me still.
Anyway, Rose got to bed okay - it was dark, she was worried about it, so we had to find flashlights because the light from the hallway was just not good enough tonight. I actually managed to find a few, some with rechargable batteries - and luckily there were a few with enough charge to last a few minutes at least. Once she accepted the scenario she was asleep quickly.
I was starting to get worried - Emma was wearing the battery down on my phone playing games and I was not really looking forward to straining to read by candle or flashlight as the sun went down. My big plans for the night were blogging and having a Palm Bay while watching tv - with a chaser of going to bed by 9:30. I know, exciting night, right?
Well, wonder of wonders, the power came back on about 15 minutes before Emma's bedtime. So she finished wearing down my phone and then she went to bed - not much fuss, just a story and then some reading-on-her-own time. So now I am living the dream, drinking my Palm Bay and watching some tv while blogging. Life is good. And it's not even 9pm!
Toodles!
Kids were kind of intrigued by the idea of no power, until I explained to them what that meant. No tv or movies when we get home (we wouldn't have done that anyway, as it's Rose's bedtime by the time we get home); no nightlights (catastrophe!); and - horror of horrors - no toasted english muffins or anything else that requires cooking.
The power was not on when we got home - nor was hubby still home to assist the power-less bedtimes. The battery backups in the basement were beeping like crazy, and Emma wondered why the dryer was buzzing so often and, wait a minute, it doesn't take batteries, does it? Sometimes the way her mind works astonishes me still.
Anyway, Rose got to bed okay - it was dark, she was worried about it, so we had to find flashlights because the light from the hallway was just not good enough tonight. I actually managed to find a few, some with rechargable batteries - and luckily there were a few with enough charge to last a few minutes at least. Once she accepted the scenario she was asleep quickly.
I was starting to get worried - Emma was wearing the battery down on my phone playing games and I was not really looking forward to straining to read by candle or flashlight as the sun went down. My big plans for the night were blogging and having a Palm Bay while watching tv - with a chaser of going to bed by 9:30. I know, exciting night, right?
Well, wonder of wonders, the power came back on about 15 minutes before Emma's bedtime. So she finished wearing down my phone and then she went to bed - not much fuss, just a story and then some reading-on-her-own time. So now I am living the dream, drinking my Palm Bay and watching some tv while blogging. Life is good. And it's not even 9pm!
Toodles!
Monday, 1 June 2015
Dance is Eating Up My Life! (not really...)
The girl's dance studio has an end-of-year performance which is actually put on as a ballet at the theatre in town. It has 2 acts, one is ballet exclusively (I think) and the other is all the other dance styles (tap, contemporary, swing, etc.). Of course Emma would be in both acts as she does ballet and contemporary - that means she has rehearsals every day on the week leading up to the performance. This will not be easy for us. Patrick is out of town Wed to Fri that week and most of the rehearsals end at 8 or 8:30. Rose needs to be in bed before that or I will have to carry her sleeping self in and out of the car every night to pick Emma up. Also one night he is away I have to work until 6 so getting Emma there for 5 may prove challenging. And then there's the night she has her modelling/talent class - she's just going to miss that rehearsal. I remember this inconvenience from last year, but then she was in only one class, and only the first act and so there were half as many rehearsals.
Rose, on the other hand, has an in-studio "recital" that we will all get to see without spending $20 a ticket and all our free time taking her to rehearsals. This is because she is in the 3 year old dance class. And thank god, as there's no way she would be able to stay up for a 7pm performance, and we get snacks after this in-studio show. The kids have so much fun performing and I can't wait to see both the shows, but I'm a bit anxious about all the work we have to put in it first.
And if I'm anxious about all this, I can only imagine what will happen if any "talent" people like Emma's headshots at the modelling agency we're using. Driving to Toronto is not my favourite thing to do on a good day, but if she wants to do this, and enjoys it, then I will totally be the chauffeur mom that I need to be. We're starting this stuff the weekend after the dance performance, as the photoshoot is at the agency's offices in Belleville. And I have already scheduled her a manicure for that morning but she'll be disappointed that she can't have colour. There are a lot of rules in this modelling world.
Toodles!
Rose, on the other hand, has an in-studio "recital" that we will all get to see without spending $20 a ticket and all our free time taking her to rehearsals. This is because she is in the 3 year old dance class. And thank god, as there's no way she would be able to stay up for a 7pm performance, and we get snacks after this in-studio show. The kids have so much fun performing and I can't wait to see both the shows, but I'm a bit anxious about all the work we have to put in it first.
And if I'm anxious about all this, I can only imagine what will happen if any "talent" people like Emma's headshots at the modelling agency we're using. Driving to Toronto is not my favourite thing to do on a good day, but if she wants to do this, and enjoys it, then I will totally be the chauffeur mom that I need to be. We're starting this stuff the weekend after the dance performance, as the photoshoot is at the agency's offices in Belleville. And I have already scheduled her a manicure for that morning but she'll be disappointed that she can't have colour. There are a lot of rules in this modelling world.
Toodles!
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Happy Bedtimes Are Best
I'm finding the best time to write is between bedtimes. As long as Patrick is home too, otherwise forget about taking 10 minutes for myself! Rose starts her bedtime at 7 or so, and if she's having a good night we're done by 7:15 - but if it's a "bad" night (or I waited too long to start bed and she's overtired) it can be drawn out for 30 or 45 minutes. On the bright side Emma is quite patient and easily entertained on those nights where I'm busy for-what-feels-like-ever with Food TV or YouTube or some other screen time thing.
I find it interesting how bedtime routines change over the small child lifetime. I started this journey with a baby who would only nurse to sleep, and then would only stay asleep while being held - god forbid you set baby Emma down when you thought she was asleep. A baby swing was a huge help, but you can't let your baby sleep in one of those all night! Napping basically only happened in the car and we co-slept with her so she could nurse to sleep and then not be moved. That was a rough habit to break, but looking back now I barely remember it. Likely because she had a lot of endurance and would cry for an hour (or more) at night before she learned how to self soothe. But she did, and now her "bedtime" is actually a very long process as she and Rose start at about the same time (7pm) but she isn't actually in bed ready to sleep until 8 or slightly after. She usually has her Dad time where they read books together and then watch her cooking shows that she loves. Once I'm done with Rose I can escape to my blog if there's time left, otherwise I watch a few minutes of tv with them and then read Emma a story or two, have "conversations" for a few minutes and then turn out her light - or at least say goodnight if she's not entirely tired and she'll "read" for a bit and turn out her own light when she's done. The change is night and day with her.
Rose went the other way - she started out as a great baby. You could nurse her, take her off, burp her, change her, whatever and she'd be happy to be laid down sleepy but awake and just nod off on her own. We used a soother a bit with her but then she found her thumb, and now we're working at breaking that habit (although not too hard, yet.) Then she got older and more demanding as a 2 and 3 year old where I got stuck reading 5 to 10 books a night, because I knew if I just read them I could then get out and move on to Emma - otherwise Rose would cry and carry on and keep coming out of her room and not sleeping. I'd try occasionally to put my foot down, but the sad, teary face broke my heart every time and I'd give in. But thankfully she's grown out of that phase and we are down to 2 books a night (3 if she chooses her "barn books" which are in a cardboard barn as a set so of course you have to read them all...) then kisses and goodnight.
Bedtime can be the sweetest time of day when you get one-on-on time with each child. You can have a few quiet minutes talking about how the was and how you had fun together. I know as they get older bedtimes will change again and they won't need the longer Mommy time and I will surely miss it. I guess I'll have to try harder to soak it in and not rush through it as I'm wont to do on the million-story evenings.
Toodles!
I find it interesting how bedtime routines change over the small child lifetime. I started this journey with a baby who would only nurse to sleep, and then would only stay asleep while being held - god forbid you set baby Emma down when you thought she was asleep. A baby swing was a huge help, but you can't let your baby sleep in one of those all night! Napping basically only happened in the car and we co-slept with her so she could nurse to sleep and then not be moved. That was a rough habit to break, but looking back now I barely remember it. Likely because she had a lot of endurance and would cry for an hour (or more) at night before she learned how to self soothe. But she did, and now her "bedtime" is actually a very long process as she and Rose start at about the same time (7pm) but she isn't actually in bed ready to sleep until 8 or slightly after. She usually has her Dad time where they read books together and then watch her cooking shows that she loves. Once I'm done with Rose I can escape to my blog if there's time left, otherwise I watch a few minutes of tv with them and then read Emma a story or two, have "conversations" for a few minutes and then turn out her light - or at least say goodnight if she's not entirely tired and she'll "read" for a bit and turn out her own light when she's done. The change is night and day with her.
Rose went the other way - she started out as a great baby. You could nurse her, take her off, burp her, change her, whatever and she'd be happy to be laid down sleepy but awake and just nod off on her own. We used a soother a bit with her but then she found her thumb, and now we're working at breaking that habit (although not too hard, yet.) Then she got older and more demanding as a 2 and 3 year old where I got stuck reading 5 to 10 books a night, because I knew if I just read them I could then get out and move on to Emma - otherwise Rose would cry and carry on and keep coming out of her room and not sleeping. I'd try occasionally to put my foot down, but the sad, teary face broke my heart every time and I'd give in. But thankfully she's grown out of that phase and we are down to 2 books a night (3 if she chooses her "barn books" which are in a cardboard barn as a set so of course you have to read them all...) then kisses and goodnight.
Bedtime can be the sweetest time of day when you get one-on-on time with each child. You can have a few quiet minutes talking about how the was and how you had fun together. I know as they get older bedtimes will change again and they won't need the longer Mommy time and I will surely miss it. I guess I'll have to try harder to soak it in and not rush through it as I'm wont to do on the million-story evenings.
Toodles!
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