Tuesday, May 30, 2006

How to really piss me off....

Key my car from bumper to bumper - just enough for everyone to notice and make me wonder if it really is worth getting re-painted or is this something that I am going to have to live with. ARGH.

Friday, May 26, 2006

I just don't get it...

Young kids just amaze me. The stuff they come up with is fantastic, and even though I have bitched and moaned about Ethan's parent participation preschool, I really enjoy my time in the classroom when the kids get a chance to tell stories or just talk about "stuff". Three year olds come up with the craziest things, and it is all so innocent. I love it.

One of the greatest things about living in Vancouver is the diversity of people that you see every day. There are so many different cultures and ethnicities that the boys are exposed to on a daily basis, and with this comes people who speak with different accents. Honestly, I don't think much of it because it is such a way of life here. The reason I find this all interesting is that my kids seem not to be phased by any of this at all. They don't seem to notice the differences in people - when they meet up with young kids at the park they all manage to get along and figure stuff out even though there are sometimes language barriers. It is great to watch.

A few weeks ago, I took Ethan to my hairdresser's shop for a haircut. I used to take him to the kids hairdresser close to us, but the last few times they have butchered his lid, and I was getting fed up. We went there because they had great cars to drive in and TV to watch while the kids got their hair done. So I told Ethan that we would go to a grown-up shop instead and he would just have to deal with looking at himself in the mirror instead of Dora when he was getting his hair done.

We got to the shop, and the girl that was going to do Ethan's hair was quite young, and covered in piercings, tatoos, and had jet black spikey hair. She was so nice and friendly, and did an awesome job of Ethan's hair. What struck me as odd is that Ethan didn't ask once about her piercings (in her nose, eyebrows, lips and chin) or her tatoos all over her arms and legs. He has never mentioned it at all. I thought it might be something he might ask me about, but it didn't seem to phase him in the least.

Today, we were at the dentist's office when a young boy (about eight) came in. He was bald, and had been undergoing chemo (I heard his mom talking to the receptionist about his treatment). I peeked into the play area where the boys were playing with this young kid, and they were having a blast. Again, Ethan didn't ask at all why this little boy had no hair. He didn't seem to notice the difference.

Ethan has entered the "why" phase - EVERYTHING I say is followed by a "why?". I wonder at what age he will notice differences in people and ask about it.

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Road trip

We just got back from a road trip with the boys - we went down to Oregon for a few days for a "holiday". As most people know (or can imagine) a holiday with kids and a holiday without kids are two entirely different things. Before we had kids, we didn't really have to think much about where we went - we just found somewhere interesting, packed a few things and took off. Now planning a trip entails making big lists so we don't forget anything (special blankets, cars, toys, books, cars, cars and cars), booking hotels that have an inclusive breakfast with lots of options (for the second born who is the pickiest eater EVER), local playgrounds, and planning for lots of stops on a long road trip.

We have friends who live just on the Washington/Oregon border, so it was nice to catch up with them. We then went to a "fair" of sorts - it was called "Kids day America". Apparently these are held all over the US.

So we looked at all the different things for the kids, such as spinal health screenings, they had tips for healthy eating habits, fitness & exercise and lots of different saftey things (child ID cards, etc).

Nothing could have prepared me for what we found at one of the tables though. Right next to the Mr Yuck stickers and the pamphlets on bike traffic laws was a container full of FREE GUN LOCKS. Something I have never seen in my sheltered little life, and certainly nothing I would expect to find at a table between the speech therapist and the dentist at this kids fair. But there it was....and what did I do? Pulled out my camera of course.