Maureen’s Blog
- Yard Sale For The Cure Media Challenge
Cancer is such a weird thing. It seems like everyone has been touched by it, like it’s viral almost. There is very little I fear, but I fear Cancer.
Perhaps because it almost took my father from me… twice, or maybe because it seems to run in my family. Two of my aunts had Breast Cancer. One didn’t survive.
Some days, I don’t want to touch my breasts for fear that I might find something, others I poke and prod like a mad woman to be sure there is nothing there. Cancer is like the Boogey Man, you kinda just think it’s going to jump out at you one day and scare the pants off of you.
That’s kind of how it feels when it affects someone in your life too.
So, in hopes of bettering the chance that Cancer isn’t going to jump out and scare the pants off you, The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation has put together a little thing (and by little thing I mean Nationwide) called The Yard Sale For The Cure.
Last night, I was lucky enough to take part in the Yard Sale For The Cure Media Challenge in order to raise awareness for the actual event, which takes place May 26th.
I was on the Mom Central Canada / Parents Canada team, a power house team if ever I have seen one. We at Mom Central provided the team uniform of hot pink grass skirts and leis which, I might add, went perfectly with the team shirts given to us by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Now, here is what we had to do. We were in the Artifacts room at the Liberty Grand, and in the middle of the room, there was a pile of “junk” provided by 1-800-GOT-JUNK. I use the term junk very loosely, as this was some of the nicest junk I have ever seen.
So, our team had to run and grab as much stuff as we could get our hands on and then create our own yard sale using that stuff. We would be judged on presentation, selection, and pricing.
When they said “Go”, I took off running, and I grabbed a duffle bag full of about 10 or 12 toys, I thought I was doing so amazing. Then I returned to our table only to find that the rest of my team had managed to grab almost the entire pile of stuff. I’m not sure how they did it, but I was happy to be on their team!
We then had to organize our giant pile of “junk” into something that resembled a store, price everything, make signs, and decorate. Parents Canada had brought a popcorn maker, so we were also selling popcorn, and we offered a “Free Massage with Every Purchase”. They had brought back massagers also. This really was the team to be on!
When time was up (we had 30 minutes), we had some how transformed our giant pile into a yard sale.
The judges went around and looked at all the tables (4 in total), and let us know how we did. They seemed very complimentary towards our sale, but beside us was the “designers”. I’m not kidding, it was a team FULL of designers. Their presentation was beautiful! Everything looked perfect and pretty and everything was tied up with bows. As the judges said, “It looked like Martha Stewart was putting on a yard sale.”
Here’s the thing though. Have you ever been to a yard sale? They aren’t pretty and perfect. They are a giant pile of stuff! So Mom Central Canada and Parents Canada were the victors!
We will cherish our gold lion trophy until next year, when we plan to clean house again! All in the name of kicking Cancer’s ass, of course.
- A Night Out With TIFF Kids
Recently, my daughter and I were lucky enough to attend the opening night of Chimpanzee, the Jane Goodall movie playing at TIFF kids, and it was a night filled with wonder.
We began by taking a stroll through the DigiPlaySpace where Rebecca had an absolute blast.
The first thing she did was try out the new Vinci Touch screen tablet for kids. It’s like a rough and tumble iPad (dare I make the comparison).
We sunk into some bean bag chairs to check it out. Rebecca really enjoyed the educational games. I enjoyed them too, but she was better at them than I was. While I think Rebecca was on the cusp of being too old for the games (at 7), I was convinced that even my two year old would be able to play these games.
It just got cooler from there. We played with remote control race cars that were really projected images that were racing around every day items placed on the floor. Rebecca flew on top of an airplane… or at least it looked like she did.
We painted with the colours of our voices. I’ll explain that one: We sang into a paint can and it changed colours as we did, then we could dip our electronic paint brush into the “paint” and paint on the wall… it was awesome!
On our way out, there was a projection on the wall of a forest and a projection of a river on the floor, while I thought it was pretty cool, I had no idea how cool… until we played with it. When Rebecca stepped into the water, it redirected around her. There were “logs” you could place in the stream to make the water go where you wanted. Then, Rebecca stood with arms stretched in the air to make a tree grow on the wall. She was growing her own forest! There were little bugs in the forest that, if you tried to catch them, they flew away. It was such a cool, interactive experience.
Then it was time to go see the movie.
*Spoiler alert! I am about to give away the plot.*
Chimpanzee, was a beautiful display of cinematography portraying the life of a baby chimp named Oscar. I loved watching how soft and human-like the relationship between mom and baby was.
When the film took a turn, and a young Oscar lost his mom, it broke my heart, but it also lead to some very touching moments.
This story really struck home with me because Oscar is eventually taken in by the Alpha male of the group, and their unlikely relationship was proof to me that step parenting is as natural as chimps in the rainforest.
This is an evening that Rebecca and I won’t soon forget.
- Earning My Title
When I first became Ethan and Eleanor’s step mom, I felt the need to explain our relationship to people.
If I was registering them in a sport, or picking them up at school, or meeting their friend’s parent, I felt I needed to mention that I wasn’t their “real” mom. It wasn’t because I was embarrassed or didn’t want to be recognized as their mom. Quite the opposite, actually, it was because I didn’t want to take that privilege away from their mom. I didn’t want anyone to think that I was taking credit for giving birth and raising them.
Now that I have been in their lives for (In Ethan’s case) longer than I haven’t, I am a little more at ease with the whole situation.
Thankfully, most people know who I am now, and require no explanation. The school is particularly awesome because, despite all three of our school aged kids having different last names (and none of them the same last name as mine), they always remember who belongs with me.
I happily tell people now that I have 4 kids, where I used to say I had four kids and then explain that I have 2 step children and 2 biological children. Now, that information only comes out if I spend time talking to you.
It’s not that I have lost any amount of respect for their biological mother, and it certainly isn’t because I aim to replace the relationship they have with their mom. It simply stems from being more comfortable.
I have noticed that they are more comfortable too. If someone calls me their mom, they don’t shift from side to side and look for cues as to what they should say, they just ignore it. Like me, if it’s someone they are going to be spending time with, they might say “She’s my stepmom”, but other wise they just let it slide.
I have lived in the same house as Ethan and Eleanor for almost 4 years now, and I have known them for 5. I have spent years cleaning their clothes, feeding them, and caring for them. I can now claim that I have had a hand in raising them.
I guess I felt I needed to earn that badge of honour.
- Blended Families Share Everything... Including Germs
You know the saying “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”? I believe that is true of blended families during cold and flu season.
I don’t know about your house, but it seemed like our house was hit pretty hard this winter (if you can even call that winter).
We have 4 children at our house, 3 of them school age. When Ethan and Eleanor are at their mom’s house, they spend time with their twin brothers who are in daycare. Rebecca has a brother who goes to daycare at her dad’s too.
That makes 7 kids sharing germs and spreading whatever sickness they have.
This year, we had a round of chicken pox that hit 5 of those kids. 4 of them had a horrible flu, and then there were the little colds here and there… oh, and lice x 2.
Yup, we share everything.
- Spending Time With My Kids
I have been telling my husband for years that I wanted to find a job where I would have more time with our kids. I wanted to be able to go for walks, or to the park, after dinner. I wanted to go to dance/hockey/swimming/gymnastic and see them play. I knew I wanted more quality time with my family, I just wash’t sure how to get it.
When the perfect job fell in my lap, I jumped on it (figuratively, it’s hard to jump on your own lap).
So when the kids asked me to go to the park with them after dinner, I started to make excuses. I had to tidy up, I had to see if I could get the internet working (that was really stressing me out), and then I stopped. I remembered why I had wanted this job so badly, and I told them I would put the dishes in the dish washer and we would go.
It was just me and the girls because Tom was at an early hockey practice with Ethan.
I brought the wagon, but Siobhan (1.5) walked with me, holding my hand while the big girls scooted up ahead. The park is directly behind our house, but we have to walk around the block to get there, and Siobhan walked the whole way!
Once there, the girls performed “scooter routines” for us before heading to the play structure. They had a blast. I enjoyed having that time with them and actually doing the things I said I had wanted to do.
It was a great evening. After a while, Siobhan and I headed home (this time she went in the wagon) and I told the bigger girls to be home in 15 minutes.
Tom and Ethan had just pulled in the driveway when Siobhan and I rounded the corner to our house, and I was eager to tell Tom about the fun we had at the park.
I started rambling about how we had been at the park and how much fun it was, and Tom looked confused.
“Doesn’t Rebecca have Acro at 6:45?”
Oops! It was already 6:45 and the girls were still at the park!
So, we missed Acro.
BUT we spent an hour in the basement playing Barbies instead, something I haven’t had the time for in ages!
Then, we played Siobhan’s new favourite game… Water jug bowling.
Water Bottle Bowling <- You’re going to want to watch the video of that
So, maybe I am still adjusting to the new schedule, and maybe there will be some bumps along the way, but at least I will be there… with my family, enjoying them.
