on repeat

This is now playing on repeat at my house since seeing the awesome movie (500) Days of Summer.

I loved Regina Spektor before this. W's second name Samson is actually partially so because of her song with the same name. Enjoy!

Agreeing

Today me and J got into another conversation about child rearing. This time we agreed. We had to take a moment after the fact to ponder this amazing event because it's not very often we both agree fully on things. The subject on which we agree is feeding. We both believe that you should never force your child to finish their plate of food but it's OK to tell your kid that they need to take 3 more bites before leaving the table.
It's nice to agree on things.

Since I promised I would post some photos of our holiday before but haven't gotten around to writing fully about all the fun we had I will post part 1 of our holiday photos now. These are from the first 2 weeks in Sweden. Part 2 will include J and M (W's dad and Grand-maman)

Waiting to board our plane in Montreal. W loves the airport, he loves looking at the planes and the trucks!

Blowing bubbles over W's pool at my mother's chalet in Sweden.

Helped my mom move some furniture around and build some new IKEA stuff. W made sure we all sat in the closet for a while.

Playing outside my Grand-parents, W's great grand-parents house on the west coast of Sweden.

The beach by lake Mälaren in my mom's hometown.

Friday issue: The difference of opinion issue

Today W fell asleep about 15 minutes before the lunch was ready so me and J got a meal all to our selves. Oh how great you all think but think again. We ended up ruining the lunch by getting into a fight. I can't really remember how the conversation got started but the fight started with something like this (I'm paraphrasing because I do not have a photographic memory):
Me: School is very important and I'm going to make sure W knows that and that he doesn't cut school.
J: Oh, good thing I didn't finish what I was about to say before that...
Me: What were you going to say?
J: Oh well... I was going to say that if he's tired it's OK if he skips first period to stay at home to sleep because I read that sleep is very important to teenagers. And as long as he tells me it's fine, him and me can have a nice morning at home and go for a coffee together and then I'll drive* him to work.
Me: No that is so not OK. So you're telling me that as long as he tells you he can cut class? That's the same as saying "oh I know he'll drink anyways so I'd rather he does it with me" that's insanity! If he's so tired he can go to bed earlier not sleep in and skip school. You're so just saying that because you think it'll be nice for you to be the "cool" dad that lets him cut class so you can have coffee together, that's what the weekends are for! ...
J: Well yes but I don't think it's that bad.
Me: ... just think about the lesson you'll be teaching him! School is not important and if you're tired just don't do what you're supposed to!
J: He'll have all the time in the world to do what he's supposed to later.
Me: Well how will he know he has to when you're teaching him he doesn't?
J: He'll know! Besides school is not that important you can skip classes here and there it doesn't make any difference!
Me: OMG it does too! I had less than 2 percent absence from school when I was a kid and I had great grades and you skipped all the time and barely finished school! It matters!
J: Oh... yeah, well... maybe...
Me: Besides teaching him to show up on time when he has to is an important lesson to know for when he's older and has to be at work on time.
J: Oh no school doesn't teach you timekeeping. I'm always on time and I wasn't punctual for school but Dicky is always late and he was always in school
Me: I know he's always late to come see us but is he always late for work cause that's what we're talking about?
J: Well I don't know... maybe not for work.
Me: Well then it works.

This went on and on for the entire meal and I got very angry. Obviously I think I'm right and he's oh so very wrong but I would still want your opinions on the subject and on how you deal with differences of opinion!

I also wanted to add that I'm not all against pulling him out of school for a day to spend some quality time with him but letting him skip classes in the morning so he can sleep in just sounds wrong.

*it's is now necessary to know that J doesn't have his license and he has no concrete plans on getting it. He took his theoretical test about 4 years ago but has yet to drive the car or schedule an appointment for his practical test.

back to reality.

I am making an effort to get back into writing here again after my month long holiday. I am not very inspired which I will put down to the fact that W has been difficult lately. Ever since we got back he's not sleeping properly and he is super attached to me. So attached in fact that I can't be in a different room from him without him freaking out. This is putting a lot of stress on me since I get practically nothing done and if I try to just leave him playing or watching a movie for a second to go to the bathroom or start dinner or make välling he just screams until I come back and get him. It's exhausting and I feel very clueless as to what to do about it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Our holiday was awesome, we had such a great time and we truly enjoyed seeing our family and friends. (I am sorry we didn't get the chance to go up north and that we missed out on some of you in Stockholm it was just too much) We enjoyed it so much in fact that we made our first concrete plans of moving to Sweden in the next couple of years.

This photo was taken at my grandparents house in Hunnebostrand on the west coast of Sweden and it just fully captures the serenity and happiness we felt there.


Unfortunately the trip was not all flawless, W got sick again while we were there. Another virus, the third one in three months. And as I mentioned above, three weeks may seem like a long time but we did not have time to see everyone we wanted to see. We'll return soon though and then we'll have to see you all cause you are all missed!

In the next couple of weeks I am going to try to do some job hunting and daycare hunting and see where we can go from there.

the return

So we're back. We're also tired.
I am planning on writing a long post about our trip and all the fun we had but not today. I am too tired and it's raining and W has decided that 4 am. is an acceptable time to wake up in the morning.
Lots of fun was had by all and lots of firsts achieved. Lots to process and the sadness I feel after having to leave my beautiful family and friends behind has to be allowed to linger for a couple of days. Time goes fast and the everyday routine will soon kick back in again. Soon my loved ones we'll be less far apart.

Quick update

So the flight was ok. We got delayed an hour and half in Montreal because of the weather so that resulted in us being late to Amsterdam and having to run from one end of the airport to the next to catch our connecting flight and our bags didn't make it on time.
Once here we were tired but happy and we had to go shopping for shorts and sandals because it was about 32 degrees celcius outside (I don't have my nifty converter on this computer so you'll have to do with celcius while we're over here).
Our bags finally arrived at my mom's house at tenish in the evening but by then we were both sleeping.
Today it's raining and thundering.

gone baby gone

Tomorrow we're off. Me and W are heading to Sweden for three plus weeks. I will try to post while I'm over there but I wouldn't count on too much frequency. Also there will probably not be any Friday issues until I get back. I was going to write a couple before I left but I don't feel like it anymore. Too much packing to do.

So enjoy your July people!

Summer shots

I just thought I'd post some pictures of the cake I made for W's birthday. In Sweden we call it a marängsvisstårta. It's meringue, ice-cream, whipped cream and berries. Yummy yummy yummy!

We've also spent every day at the wading pool in Park LaFontaine this week. It was a little cold in the water but the air was oh so hot, about 27-34°C (80-93°F). I was told to stop taking photos though because they have a no camera policy at the pool for the children's privacy, which I fully agree with btw.

We spent a lot of time on the playground too.

On another note, I find it very strange that Michael Jackson (and Farrah Fawcett) died on my birthday, I guess that just means that I'll never forget.

Sixth Friday: The non-issue?

Today I don't want to talk about circumcision, testing, spanking, world new order or abortion issues. Today I want to talk about a pop culture phenomenon, "Jon & Kate plus 8".
For those of you who are not aware of who Jon and Kate or the 8 are I'll give you a short summary. If you wish to know more you can go here.
So some years ago, about 11 or so I believe a man named Jon met a woman named Kate. They fell in love and got married. Then they tried to have kids but with no luck so they had some help and finally got twin girls Mady and Cara. A few years later they wanted to add just one more child to their brood so with some more help they got pregnant again only this time instead of one baby they got 6. Three girls: Alexis, Hannah and Leah, and three boys: Aaden, Joel and Collin. The couple are fundamentalist Christians and a big reason for them to keep all six embryos is their belief. For the last couple of years we have been able to follow the family on the TLC show "Jon & Kate plus 8"
On Monday this week (the 22nd of June 2009) they filed for divorce.
Now there has been a lot of talk about the Gosselins (that's their last name BTW) lately and rumours have been swirling about infidelities and stuff. It is also very well know that Kate is somewhat of a bitch and has been picking on Jon throughout the years. She famously berated him for breathing too loudly once on the show during interviews.
The divorce had sparked a lot of debate as to why this is happening and people are either blaming Kate for being such a bitch or saying it's all Jon's fault for not communicating and for hanging out with young girls when his wife is away. It appears as though Jon is the one who was pushing for the separation even though they say it was a joint decision. Jon said on the show that he was sad for the kids but also excited about the future and he kept repeating that he's only 32 years old. There is a funny recap of the show over here if you don't feel like sitting through the whole thing.
J has told me that he would never want to swap places with Jon and that any man would feel sorry for Jon and that I speak about the Gosselins the same way I speak about Victoria Beckham (more on that later) but I think that he's missing a major point here. Jon met Kate he fell in love he married her and he wanted to have babies with her badly enough to go through whatever fertility treatment they used to get pregnant... not once but twice! You can feel sorry for Jon all you want for having her for a wife but he knew what he was getting into.
Personally I am of the belief that the divorce is sad and there are a lot of kids involved which makes it even sadder but kids need their parents to be happy and if they are unhappy together it's probably best if they try to be happy apart. I don't believe in staying together for the kids but I also don't believe that divorce is a decision to take lightly. Marriage is work and you need to try to make it work before giving it up.
Well that's my two cents. I'll come back with a follow up post on Victoria Beckham another day because W just woke up from his nap.

27

Today is my birthday!

I think it's going to be a good day.