Simple Recipes for Busy Living
Liam has recently been looking at the wedding pictures proudly displayed in our bedroom, and announcing “Mommy not a Princess!” Indeed, he is correct, although my husband tells me I’m his princess anyhow 
I must admit that I find it very amusing that my son equates me wearing a big puffy dress, veil and the other associated wedding garb as somehow making me “less” worthy of princess status. I guess being Mommy is enough of a job for me in his eyes!
I think it is high time I had this baby already! Not only do I want so much to meet her, but I am so tired of lugging my enormous self around (well, ok, I’m actually not that big) Anyhow, I have compiled a list of “Reasons You Know it is Time to Have Your Baby…”
You desperately miss your pre-pregnancy clothes, and find yourself hanging out in your closet just to be near them.
Bending over to pick up your toddlers toys is a near impossibility, and you find it easier to crawl around on all fours, picking up the mess (or better yet, just leave it there and hope you don’t trip!)
Tums are suddenly your best friend.
You haven’t seen your feet in many months, and can’t remember the last time you painted your toe nails.
Getting up any less than 8 times a night to pee seems like a restful sleep.
You have no problem explaining all of your bodily aches and pains, no matter how embarassing, to perfect strangers.
Getting close enough to the sink to do the dishes is a major challenge.
You have a tendency to um…forget…um…oh, nevermind!
Your underwear are so huge that they could be mistaken for a sail.
And…
You know it’s time to have your baby, when you can no longer fit your computer on your lap while posting from your bed!
Perhaps I am stating the obvious here, but it seems to be a commonality amongst all children that they like sweets. It appears that Liam is no exception. I recently made the mistake of introducing him to “just a small taste” of one of my worst eating habits…doughnuts! He simply fell in love with them, possibly even more than I!
The grocery store which we frequent (mosty because I don’t seem to be able to get my act together enough to make a list once a week, therefore we end up there multiple times weekly instead) has a wonderful bakery section, featuring fresh baked goodies. Liam has caught on to Mommy’s bad habit, and now asks politely as soon as we enter the store for “nuduts”…translation:doughnuts. Last week when we got home from our grocery shopping trip, Liam searched through each bag of groceries until he found the one which contained the treat I had bought to “share.” By the time I found him, he had devoured no less than half of it!
I have also noticed that any time I go through a drive-through window, whether it is Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s or the Instant Teller at our bank, the little voice in the back seat pipes up…”nuduts?” with keen interest.
As he gets older, I am not sure that his fondness for sweets will fade away, if anything, it will likley intensify. I am going to have to think up clever tactics in order to distract him in the grocery store, and while doing my banking. Too many nuduts aren’t good for you
I am re-reading Kaz Cooke’s hilarious pregnancy book entitled “A Bun in the Oven: The Real Guide to Pregnancy” and while I have mentioned this author on my blog before, I feel it is worth repeating just how great her books are. I am reading through the chapters, keeping track of the progress of my pregnancy week-by-week and finding it even more funny than the last time I read it. Every week, I find it amusing to find out exactly which fruit I will be told my baby is currently the size of. This week, the little bambino is the size of a lime…ole!
If you or someone you know is pregnant, I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book. Especially for the last trimester, when nothing seems funny anymore, the book motivates you to think ahead, and adds in a humourous take on the final unpleasant stages of pregnancy, and childbirth.
On the weekend, we took Liam to the College Royal, a traditional open-house-style event where the University of Guelph opens it’s doors to the public and features tours of “Old MacDonald’s Farm.” Liam was very interested in all of the animals he saw, from pigs, to ducks, to sheep. There were even llama’s and alpacas. The most fascinating animals by far however, were the cows! We spent several minutes looking at the cows, listening to their familiar call, and in Liam’s mind I’m sure, pure wonder at their large size! Ever since our excursion, whenever Liam is prompted “what does the cow say?” he answers an enthusiastic “Moo!”
On our morning outing to Zehrs to pick up a few necessities, we approached the dairy section to pick up milk. I stopped our cart so that Liam could have a better look at the display cow. When Liam spotted the over-sized plastic bovine perched on top of the display counter, he shrieked “Moo, Moo, Moo!!!” so loudly, that I though it best we walk away from the scene so as not to attract anymore attention. Who knew a trip to the grocery store could be such an exciting experience for a youngster. I almost think he preferred the pretend cow to the real thing!
Children are scared of all sorts of things. I remember thinking there were mummies in my bedroom closet at the age of 10, and my Mom coming in to rid my room of these intruders, dressed as an Archaeologist, and singing something about “Mummy-Busters.” Perhaps monster spray also would have worked in that particular instance?
I always imagined the things that might frighten my young son would include monsters, aliens, dinosaurs or maybe scary faces. While watching television yesterday, I was rather surprised to learn that the cute, cuddly (did I mention annoying?) little ball of dough known by all as the Pillsbury Dough Boy could strike fear into the heart of a child. A commercial for baked goods aired, and Liam’s reaction was indeed surprising. He started to howl, as the white figure emmerged, smiling from a paper bag. Liam ran from the television set into my arms, wailing. I wondered if it was something else that had frightened him, and the timing was just such that I had misinterpreted his reaction to the commercial. I simply could not understand why this image would frighten a baby. Later, the same commercial came on, and the same reaction ensued.
I am no longer afraid of mummies. In fact, my degree is in Anthropology, so I’d have to say that on the contrary, I am actually quite fascinated by them. Hopefully, my son will outgrow his fear of the Dough Boy, because I don’t know if monster spray would work if he was hiding under Liam’s bed. If in fact he doesn’t outgrow this fear, at least I’ll know my fear of butterflies isn’t all that strange afterall!
