Thursday, 29. January 2009, 22:52:01
R: Does it hurt?
Me: A little. Kinda like a flu shot. You can't touch it for a long time.
R: How long?
Me: At least 2 weeks.
R: How long is 2 weeks?
Me: 14 days. You can't fool around with it!
R: I know.
Mumma, I want my ears pierced. Now!
Variations of the top part of this conversation were going on over the past couple of weeks. Risa has always been fascinated with my ear rings, but recently started questioning her cousin about her pierced ears, asking me, and noticing other kids around her with ear rings. When she made her final announcement this week, I was a little surprised. On the one hand I was quite happy that Risa had independently deliberated on this issue and came to her own conclusion. On the other hand, if she reacted negatively during or after the procedure, well, I didn't have the past 2 weeks to think about that.
I made an appointment and stepped up the prep talk, that she had to let me clean her ears, that she can't touch them, that they're going to be sore. All the while she didn't change her mind. Then I gave her some Children's Advil beforehand. Like the flu shot, 50% of the pain is the anticipation and anxiety (probably more on my part!), which means it's only half as bad as you think it will be. Yes, Risa cried. But in her determination, and through her tears after the 1st piercing, she refused to get off the chair and insisted that the job be finished even though the salon suggested she could come back tomorrow. Two minutes after that, she happily accepted a lollipop from the salon, and 30 minutes later was too busy with her White Spot Pirate Pack lunch to think much about her ordeal (but not too busy to point out everyone else's ear rings in the restaurant). Whew. I think the salon should have tranquilizers on hand for the parents!
I'd have to commend the salon, 2nd Look, located at Oakridge Mall. The ladies there were very patient and experienced with kids.
Wednesday, 28. January 2009, 07:33:58
Risa's preschool class is studying space this month and this is a collage of planets, stars, rocket ships, and little green men made by the kids. Risa's contribution is the yellow planet at the upper left.
This will be quite an eventful week. It's Chinese New Year and I've learned some new things. I started a guitar course at the local community center. The course promises to teach the basics of song writing and jamming. There are 10 of us and first lesson was strumming technique and getting used to using a pick. I also learned new ways to play standard chords and had a lot of fun.
Earlier this afternoon I had a dental appointment and learned the best way to get fluoride on your teeth is not not rinse after brushing. When you rinse you wash away all fluoride before it can do anything to your teeth so the hygenist suggested I just spit out as much toothpaste as I can but not rinse with water. Hmmm. I have a few "areas of concern" in my mouth so I'll try anything to avoid yet another cavity. It seems every time I see my hygenist she has a new suggestion, but this one sounds intriguing and is a simpler solution than buying expensive fluoride rinse.
Saturday, 17. January 2009, 05:11:39
Risa still wants to walk to preschool, a distance of 1.5 km (1 mile) one way. Sometimes we stop to look at interesting things, like this mechanical alligator ride thing, and I have to keep her moving so we're not late.
The snow has melted enough that I can push the wheeled shopping cart I have along the sidewalk and go shopping while she's in school. Vegetarians stop reading. I can't resist prime rib. Occasionally the local grocery store offers small, one-rib cuts, small enough for me to roast in my toaster oven! It's 1.5 hrs for medium rare. Staying at home has allowed me to prepare more home cooked meals and I found myself in the House of Knives finally buying myself a cleaver, and adjustable measuring cups. Now I have to figure out how to chop that chicken.
Finally, I got a call from someone I know in the university, who unofficially offered me a part time job in her office, to start in late spring. She's looking for help once a week. I know I wanted to stay at home, but at the back of my mind, I was also wanting a change in my career. Joining the faculty at one day a week is a perfect opportunity, and in student administration which I think I might be quite comfortable with. A lot of changes were set in motion at work with my resignation, and my life is moving right along, too.
Monday, 12. January 2009, 23:31:36
It was zonk time for both Risa and me. Risa doesn't usually take an afternoon nap nowadays, but once a week or so it catches up to her. This morning she wanted to walk to preschool, which takes about 25 minutes at her pace. While she was in school, I decided to check out the gym in the community center. I haven't been to a gym in years. All I had to wear was a t-shirt and old running shorts while everyone else was decked out in
Lululemon, a Vancouver sucess story, I might add, but I wouldn't be caught dead in it. I did find it funny that I own $500 in bike gear, including $80 Sugoi bike shorts, but I have nothing to wear for the gym. Nonetheless, I haven't seriously exercised in almost a year.
I did about 20 minutes on the treadmill (running shorts perfectly suited for that), then I did 20 minutes of upper body weight training. I'm quite stocky in build and would probably have made a good weight lifter. Then it was grocery shopping. I didn't take the rolling shopping cart with me, since there's still snow on the ground and I wanted to go to the gym and had Risa in tow, I didn't want to have to lug the cart with me. But I should've brought it. After preschool we had lunch and then it was another 25 minute walk back home with upper body weight training lugging the groceries on me. A good excuse for an afternoon nap.
Sunday, 11. January 2009, 03:21:03
Ha ha - I got Risa into skating lessons! With kindergarten registration done with (I hope) and now getting a coveted space in the local skating rink, I feel a great sense of accomplishment this week. Oddly enough, it's more satisfying than anything I did at work!
I took Risa to her lesson today. She's on the far right of this group of 4. She hadn't been on the ice for almost a year, but her skates still fit and away we went. Her rustiness was quickly evident as the other 3 kids in her group skated circles around her. I could sense her disappointment out there as well, and I knew this was going to be a lesson in parenting for me as to how I would talk to her about it. She stuck it through the class with smile on her face but was glum when she stepped off the ice. Somehow I had hoped that she wouldn't be bothered by it, but to my chagrin, the first words out of her mouth were, "I fell down the most." I tried to reassure her that she hadn't practiced for a long time and besides, all the kids were falling down. The important thing was that she was going to get better and not fall down so much next time. I asked her if she had fun and she said "yes", but it didn't quite seem adequate at that moment.
We (and Risa herself) had all got used to her being ahead in so many ways since she was a baby, but I always knew that things could equal out later. Kind of like when I started guitar 4 years ago - I could get away with not practicing for almost a whole year as I made my way through the beginners books, but talent only starts you off and eventually you have to work to achieve.
Risa's goal, however, is to play hockey so I will remind her to stay motivated to keep skating.
Friday, 9. January 2009, 00:58:10
No wonder parenting is a full time job. I just spent 6 hours driving 40 km trying to register Risa for kindergarten starting in Sept. Which is not quite as bad as camping outside a school for 4 days, but I honestly expected a 20 minute process today, with a long wait that I could sit out at home. I was assured by other friends that this would not be "a big deal".
Being a manager for 2 years has taught me a little about recognizing systems problems, and boy does the Vancouver School Board have a big one.
First alarm bell is the fact that we can't register Risa directly at the school of our choice. I had to drive 25 minutes to a central processing center in hopes of getting Risa into a school that's 7 minutes walk from our house. This one center is for processing children who are not Canadian born. I had to dig up all of her documents to prove that she is our daughter and is a Canadian citizen. After waiting for 3 hours, I was then told that I needed to bring proof of citizenship for both me AND Raymond. Proving that Risa is a citizen was not enough. Our whole family was being put through the grinder.
So I had to drive all the way home and back to bring in our passports. It was not explicit in the website instructions that both parents' identifications were necessary. What a fiasco. Risa held up through all the travelling very well and we had a nice (albeit late) lunch out together.
To cap things off, I tried to register Risa for skating lessons at the nearest rink (5 minutes drive). The reception counter was closed and a notice posted that on-line registration was now available when it wasn't before. So back at home I go online and the skating registration server is down. So much running around.
Thursday, 8. January 2009, 03:52:17
Here is a sensible person who simply abandoned his car during our 3 weeks of being snowed in. For those who were able to dig themselves out, their parking space is a precious commodity protected by a single lawn chair (behind this car) which says, "I worked hard for this spot - keep out!"
We've had 2 days of hard rain and this snow can't melt fast enough. I killed my back the other day shovelling wet snow. The sidewalks are mostly clear, but stepping over the curbs are a different story. Getting on and off the buses is a hazard. Our back lane is still a mess. We've had no garbage collection for over 2 weeks because the garbage trucks can't get down the side streets.
I'm now a housewife. But not 100% as I have scheduled some shifts for later this month as my dept is facing a rather severe staffing shortage. I'll take the extra cash at this time.
WIDGETIZE