My 10 year old - A Time of Contradictions

I always was aware my time as my son's world, sun and moon was limited. As he gained more independence I experienced contradicting emotions, pride in his growing abilities and sadness that he didn't need me 24/7 anymore. The tween years have been full of conflicting emotions, one minute he's the cuddliest, loving little boy and the next he won't walk within 10 feet of me. In the morning he'll be playing with his stuffed animals, by the afternoon he's playing it cool, and by the evening he's watching a documentary on the History Channel.


10 Things about 10 year old - Great article that outlines the amazing things about a 10 year old boy.

How do Stay at Home Mom's do IT?

I'm gonna go nuts. Stay at Home mom's that are good at caring for their families needs are something to be cherished. No wonder my husband is always pissed off at me, I suck at house keeping, laundry, and cooking. I am going cabin crazy and could use an afternoon with friends.

I have a girlfriend who gave up her own aspirations, goals, and needs to care for her family. She became a different person and did a very good job as a stay at home mom for the first few years, then became quite depressed. A few years ago she decided to do something for herself and start a new career, which her husband didn't agree with. Today they are divorced and she is still trying to get her career off the ground and he continues to make it difficult for her.

I just can't seem to bring myself to do the best job of cleaning, laundry, and cooking. It's not that I don't care about my family or don't love them. I know I need to do a better job but I am so much happier when I am working outside the home. I have no problem putting in the extra effort at the office, I just can't get it together when I'm home with nothing to do but clean and cook.

Women that can work hard taking care of their family deserve so much more recognition and appreciation then they get because it isn't easy to put others first; no matter how much you love them.

90% of Canadian Money has Traces of Cocaine

It's not surprising that there is cocaine on our paper money considering it is a cash only Business. Most legal transactions today are done with cards and not cash, so the bulk of the cash has gone through some form of illegal transaction. Maybe the government should do away with legal tender all together.

Some are worried about Big Brother watching what they are spending their money on. My question to them is what are you buying that would flag you as needing to be investigated?

If there was no cash then it would be harder to launder money. Think about it - if they can't buy it with cash and then how could they clean their money? How would they have dirty money to start with? Without cash how could their buyers purchase their product? Do drug dealers take Visa?

Think about the money the government would save because it no longer needs to manufacture legal tender. For that matter the amount of trees that would be saved.

Criminals being what they are would find another way around it to sell their drugs. Addicts will find ways to buy them, even in a cashless society. However, making it harder for them to get what they want should be the goal of government. Since the drug industry is so lucrative and brings so much cash into the country, I doubt the government is in a hurry to put up another barrier to the drug trade.

I know that a virtual cash society is not realistic, we've lost the war on drugs and they are a part of our society. Knowing that 90% of our money has traces of Cocaine, (and Canadian money has more than US) is not helpful, studies that tell us how to keep our kids from choosing to try Cocaine in the first place.

Scrapbook Titles Made from Scratch

Enhance your scrapbook page with letters cut from paper and enhanced with paint. Use a word processer to create a word in your favorite font. Print it out, cut out the letters and use to trace on cardstock. Cut out the cardstock letters and enhance with paint. Use a sponge and lightly scrap the front of the letters to enhance.

Simplistic and Easy Spring Friendship Card

I love the 3 box design on this white card. The card has been divided into equal horizontal thirds, which is pleasing to the eye. The center third was stamped with 3 colored boxes with a piece of vellum stamped with 3 spring designs. I facened the vellum with snaps. The bottom third was stamped with the word friendship.

This is a versitile design that can be utilized in any colour scheme and season.

All stamps from stampin' up.

Talking about Other Religions with Your Kids

My children will be making friends with kids from other cultures. In Calgary, their friends were either Catholic, Christian, or Mormon. In the Lower Mainland, they will be exposed to so many more religions. I want to understand the basics of each culture so that I can open lines of communication with my kids regarding what they believe.

We are Christian and I want my children to have a very strong faith in God but at the same time be tolerant of other religious groups. I realize that at some point they will start defining their own faith and I want to ensure that it remains Christian.

In Calgary our neighbours were Catholic and Mormon. The Catholic wasn't a huge issue, in fact my son went to Catholic Public School last year and I really loved the religious aspect of the school. Before he went to the school we talked about the differences between our beliefs. My son's Catholic friends weren't overly knowledgeable about their beliefs and since both religions are so similar it wasn't a huge deal. But when it came to my son's Mormon friends.....

Mormon children are very educated about their beliefs. My children, at a very young age, were told by their Mormon friend that I was going to die because I drink coffee. The same child told me that my husband and I weren't going to be together in the after life because we weren't married in the Temple. That's the good news, the bad is that I wasn't sure my kids would differentiate the difference between life and after life. So my sensitive highly intelligent son was worried that I was going to die and my marriage was going to end.

As my son gets older he says less and keeps more thoughts to himself. I don't know all his friends anymore and he has more play dates in their homes. If I can open the doors of communication by talking about the different religious beliefs then I can keep a finger on his religious pulse. The way I see it I have a choice, talk about all the options with my kids or put my head in the sand thinking they are only going to consider Christianity.

Summer Bliss at Mabel Lake BC

It isn't summer until I get to the lake where I've spent every summer of my life. Just being here is a confirmation that summer is here. Until now everyday, hot or not, just seemed like any other day. I am so blessed that I get to spend my days at my childhood summer home - Mabel Lake BC.

my children are blessed that they get to spend most of the summer with Gramo (not a typo) and Grampa at the cabin. This is where I learned how to swim, my father learned to swim, my grandmother learned to swim, and where my great grandfather swam. This year both my kids are swimming and getting better everyday, it's about time they did. Both were so cautious of the water that swimming lesson's were a waste of money because they never got any closer to swimming. I found it so frustrating as year after year they wouldn't get any better at swimming. For my son it took playing with other boys that swam without life jackets for him to take the next step. My daughter just figured out that swimming without an aid was so much fun that she became a fish. It may have taken a few years longer then it should of but I am proud that they are finally swimming so well.

Growing up I detested the idea of having to come up here year after year and not getting to see other places. As a teen I complained it was too boring. As a young adult I told my parents to leave the cabin to my brother, I didn't want to spend the rest of my summers there. Now, as an adult I can see the value in this place.

Things have changed over the years, yet somethings haven't changed, there is no cell service, no Internet or computer, no TV or video games. My kids don't quite know what to do with themselves outside all day. They might suffer from technology withdrawal for the first few days but they'll get used to it and even if they don't they'll survive.