Near Epic Easter Fail

My oldest child is 10 and I am definitely reaching the point where I am getting tired of trying to sustain the make believe of tooth fairies, Easter Bunnies and Santa.  In fact, I have been known to mention about how much we paid for something so they better darn well treat it better, when oops that item was supposed to have come from Santa.

The greedy little buggers that they are can’t even remember what presents Nana bought never mind Santa. 

Yet I had an out this morning and did I take it, no.  I bent over backwards to keep the belief alive.  What with us all having the flu twice in three weeks and being off work with the kids on spring break, I had been behind in my Easter preparations.  So I ran off with SIL late yesterday afternoon for a quick dash to the drugstore to find something for my kids. 

Murphy’s Law Sucks

I’m not sure how much Murphy has had to do with this but it seems like once again the holidays roll along and the flu strikes.  It’s day four of spring break and I have already done more laundry in those four days than I do in an entire month.  Let’s see, two complete bed changes in one night including quilts, sheets, favored teddies and those stupid waterproof sheets that aren’t so waterproof, I’ve shampooed the carpet three times, sanitized an entire bathroom from top to bottom not to mention constant vigilance on the other two washrooms in the house and washed my hands every time I so much as touch one of the sick kid’s germy cups.

The best part? (insert heavy sarcasm)  This is the second time in two weeks that we’ve gone through this.  Never mind the last time was over Christmas holidays. Seriously?  There ought to be a law on how frequently you can get sick.  Why not add it to our schedule for that last week of January every year.  I would clear my schedule, make jello and make sure I have plenty of gingerale, popsicles and clean puke buckets on hand.  I probably would even go so far as to lay saran wrap down on every carpetable surface of my house.  Makes so much more sense, right?

What is it going to take to break this flu cycle?  I’ve wiped down every surface in the house, boiled toothbrushes and relentlessly nagged my children on washing their hands.  Nothing makes me more annoyed than when my 5 year old breaks down in a crying fit because I’ve made him go back and wash his hands.  OMG. 

To top it off, family are here visiting (not staying at my house thank goodness) that only come three times a year and when they visit we spend a lot of time getting the kids together.  Unfortunately, with the latest flu victim this morning means that we won’t be able to get together and once again, I’m stuck at home with three sick children and running a household on little sleep.  Gee, reminds me of when they were babies. 

I’m just selfish enough to resent all the things that I haven’t been able to do this week and relieved that we didn’t make special plans this week. 

In the meantime, I’m going to try and figure out how to build up all of our immune systems so we can break this stupid flu cycle. 

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Zeemaid

Technorati Tags: children,healthy eating,sicknes,flu,fever,vomit,parenting,spring break,murphy,law

Nurturing the Soul of Your Family–Book Review

We are in the third month of the year and I am still heading forward with positive intentions of improving our lives and making this a better year than last.  Part of that process is finding peace, peace for myself and for our family life. 

Nurturing the Soul of Your Family is written by Renee Trudeau, an award winning author and life balance coach/speaker.  

The essence of the book is to help readers learn to:

• Find their center and move through chaos and uncertainty with renewed strength and ease;
• Live in greater alignment with their values and what matters most
• Slow down, live more intentionally and know what’s best for themselves and their family
• Release old fears and learn to live more in the present moment

This isn’t an easy book to review.  There is so much to it and, quite frankly, so much required in order to really absorb what it is that Renee is trying to impart.  While sharing her own personal stories, Renee challenges you to take a moment and really pause and reflect.  To ask yourself, “what do I need, here and now”.  To realize that self-care is more than just a trip to the spa.  To identify baggage and past family relationships so that you can move forward baggage free.  To build a tribe and ask for help.

So you can see why I say it isn’t an easy book.  It requires some time and honest self-reflection. I think we would all benefit from taking the time to slow down and re-connect with ourselves and our loved ones.  The practical teachings and exercises in this book can help you to do just that.

For more information on this and other works by Renee Trudeau please be sure to like and tag the NURTURING THE SOUL OF YOUR FAMILY @nurturingthesoul  or visit Renee Trudeau’s website. 

Available for sale now on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and IndieBound

How about you?  Do you feel the need to slow down and regain some peace in your life?


Zeemaid

* Thank you to the publisher of Nurturing the Soul of Your Family, New World Library, for providing a copy of this book for review. All opinions expressed are my own. No other compensation was received*

Technorati Tags: Renee Trudeau,nururing the soul,family,family health,women's health,women,order,renew spirit,selfcare

Secrets of an Organized Mom–Book Review

Okay, so I’ve had a chance to dive in and read Barbara Reich’s new book “Secrets of an Organized Mom” and the first thing I want to say is “holy crap this is such a good book”.  Very articulate of me, I know.  Seriously my friends, if you are struggling with organization this is a must read for you. 

I was a little disappointed at first that this book has no pictures.  However, it quickly becomes evident why this is the case and why it makes complete sense not to include pictures.  As nice as it is to see photos of really organized spaces, it very rarely translates into something you’d be able to use in your own space or could afford to do.  This way you get the tips and ideas and still feel that it’s possible to achieve.

This book is a very easy read and so long as you read Chapter 1 “The Basics: some truly simple ground rules” the rest of the book can be read according to what area of your home you want to tackle first.   Full of tons of great ideas and some new perspectives that I had never thought of before.  Like labeling.  I have spent hours organizing my children’s toys into their own bins only for it all to end up mish mashed together again.  I’ve all but given up.  On reading Barbara Reich’s book, I realized that I couldn’t expect the children to remember my system of organizing their toys unless I labeled the bins.  I can’t wait to try again. 

Today’s guest post is brought to you by Renée Peterson Trudeau, a life balance coach/speaker and recent author of a new book “Nurturing the Soul of Your Family”.  I have recently received a copy of this book for review and will be posting my thoughts shortly but in the meantime, I thought perhaps you’d enjoy this article.

Five Ways to Nourish and Renew Your Spirit

It’s 1976, and my mom and dad are sitting quietly with their eyes closed, hands resting upward — thumb and index finger touching — while my younger siblings crawl on their backs and shoulders. My older two brothers and I sit nearby, holding our own meditation poses, bored, rolling our eyes and counting the minutes until this ritual will end.

Our Government is Letting Children Down

Parenting a child with autism is no walk in the park.  If you’ve been following along with me for the past year or so, you will know that we are in the process of obtaining a diagnosis of ASD for our oldest daughter. 

We have had countless disappointments and setbacks but still we held on because we were assured that by the 1 year referral anniversary we would have a date for assessment.  We have now reached the one year mark only to be told that it could be another 8 months.

8 Months. 

Why?  Because of funding cutbacks and too many children are being diagnosed.  It is highly probable that we won’t even get the diagnosis because of how high functioning our child is.

#Night Buddies–Book Review

 I love reading with my daughter and I am so glad that even though she is now reading at her grade level, she still wants me to read with her every night.  Of course, now that she is nine going on ten we’ve upgraded from picture books to chapter books. 

While I’ve been enjoying introducing her to classics such as The Secret Garden, Little House on the Prairie, My Side of the Mountain and most recently, The Hobbit, it’s nice to find a new set of stories that we both haven’t read to enjoy together. 

So I was happy to check out Night Buddies – a new chapter book series for children aged 7 and up.