Tuesday 29 May 2012

Summer Bucket List


I woke up this morning to Sydney's sweet voice at 5am.  It wasn't exactly when I had envisioned getting out of bed today, especially after being out far later than usual for dinner with the girls last night!  I was feeling a little foggy to say the least!

Sydney had preschool this morning and it was my day to volunteer in the classroom.  I have to be honest and say that I wasn't completely in the mood to volunteer today.  I was tired and a bit weary from dealing with this challenging stage that Sydney seems to be going through right now. I really could have used my hour and a half wandering through the mall!

It had been a couple of months since my last volunteer day and I was so amazed to see how much the kids had grown and developed in that short period of time.  It was gratifying to see that Sydney isn't the only one testing her limits right now, there must have been half a dozen scuffles over toys, or pushing and yelling or bouts of tears in class today!  I'm so glad to know that I am not alone in dealing with the challenges of a spirited toddler!


The kids made a special craft at school today, little baskets for Shavuot.  They even got to go on their own mini "harvest" around the classroom and fill their baskets up, it was adorable!



After school, Sydney and I had lunch with her friend Naomi and mom Lissa upstairs in the cafeteria.  Naomi is Lissa's third child and I always love talking to her as a seasoned Mom to glean some advice and see what strategies have worked for her in the past. 

Sydney was so excited today to see that the cucumber seeds we had planted had magically sprouted overnight!  To this day, I still find it amazing that you can just toss some seeds into a bowl of dirt and with a little water and sunlight, magic happens!


Today is my nephew Zach's 14th birthday.  I called and left him a voice mail this morning to wish him a happy birthday and he called me back this evening to thank me for calling and for the gift I had sent him.  I couldn't get over the sound of his deep voice on the phone and was left wondering where in the world this young man came from?  I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday, that sweet, sweet baby boy is no longer.  In his place is a clever, handsome young man.  Happy Birthday Zach!  We are looking forward to celebrating together with you in a few weeks!


I've spent that past couple of weeks coming up with a bucket list of things that I want to do with Sydney over the summer when all of our activities are on break and we have long and leisurely days.  I keep thinking of new things to add to it and am so excited to start scratching things off our list!!


Am looking forward to getting out to see some of our favourite places and seeing some new ones too!  I have the feeling it's going to be a great summer!!

The photo a day for today is 'a number':


The number 7 is how many nights I had bribed Sydney to sleep in her own bed, months ago, to get her much coveted Elmo puppet.  Here I thought I was being so clever in making a motivational poster for the fridge and having her stick a sticker on it every morning when she woke up in her own bed.  It worked beautifully for six nights, then on night seven she woke up sick and barfed all over her duvet so I hauled her back into bed with us, not wanting to do laundry in the middle of the night, and she's been there ever since.


The poster still hangs on my fridge almost mocking me, reminding me that sometimes just when we think we've figured the perfect strategy, it all goes to pot.  Parenthood is a humbling experience!


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