What do you do with everything?

One of the topics that no one ever filled me in on when I became a parent is what do you do with everything?  All the things that you accumulate?  The swaddle blankets that you used everyday for the first few months.  The car seat that she outgrew at 6 months.  The toys, oh the amount of toys and the clothes.  Seriously we could open our own boutique with the clothes that we’re so fortunate the kid had.  I had this conversation with someone today on the amount of stuff these little people have.  I’m not necessarily saying it is right, and certainly things don’t make kids happy, but man they sure acquire stuff.  In my case it is the clothes.  Having family living outside of the country it is the easiest thing to ship and not only that, they are sooo much cheaper in the lower 50 than they are up here.  So we have a closet full, but after 2 1/2 years of collecting, I decided it was time to sell.

This past Sunday I participated in my first mom to mom sale.  A place where other parents, grandparents, community members come to purchase new and gently used clothing. After hours of organizing clothing, selecting what was to be sold, boxing, loading the car, unloading the car, setting up at the venue, etc., it was all for less than I thought we would make.  We carefully selected that show based on past performance of mom vendors, but when you’re competing with people who are selling their clothing for $1 or $2 you will never win.  As my husband always says,  c’est la vie!  At least now everything is organized and ready to be photographed and put online.  The new world of virtual garage sales is sweeping North America.  Who knows, maybe we’ll have greater success there.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Ooey, Ooey, Ooey Allergies

Well whenever I heard the Wiggles song, Ooey, Ooey, Ooey Allergies or saw the posts in the mommy groups about children with allergies I felt so bad.  Your job as a parent is to want to protect your little one.  Well we had a normal weekend, the weather was fabulous so we spent a lot of time outside.  Me going on the second week of being sick, must say, enjoyed the fresh air and the kid loved it.  We played outside and definitely made the most of the last weekend of the summer.  Saying all that Monday morning threw me for a complete loop when the kid woke up with a swollen eye, face and blotches on her face.  I did what any parent would do if this happened for the first time and took her to the walk in clinic.  After quite the wait we saw the doctor who said it was an allergic reaction to something she either ate or touched.  Well shes’ almost 2 1/2 that should be easy to find out, I said to him facetiously.  So he gave us two prescriptions and we went on our merry way. I wasn’t feeling his diagnosis so I made an appointment with our primary care doctor for later that afternoon.  We went to see him and he diagnosed the same thing but said that at her age he wouldn’t recommend any prescription course of treatment.  He suggested some Claritin (seriously I had some at home, why didn’t I think of that) and said that it could take 5-7 days to get out of her system. Fingers crossed this was a one time thing because quite honestly it scared me a bit, especially when she went to bed find and woke up like she did.

Allergies are scary, especially when you don’t know what the trigger factor is.  Let’s stop complaining about not being able to bring peanut butter to the classroom, or eggs, or whatever the policy is at your school.  Let’s remember that our job is to keep all these little people safe.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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Pre-School when the heck did this happen?

So it is official, I have a pre-schooler.  Seriously, when the heck did this happen?  Wasn’t it just yesterday that they let us take her out of the hospital and go home with her?  Weren’t we just getting up at all hours of the night feeding and changing diapers?  Well I guess it hasn’t bee as recent as my memory would like it to be.  My little one started pre-school, in case you missed it the last couple of times I wrote it.  I know it is going to be an amazing experience for her, and for me, as I embark on being able to figure out what I want to do next with my life.  She comes home and tells me stories of Miss so and so helping her outside and Miss so and so rubbing her back during nap time.  Seriously, my kid hasn’t napped at home for a year and you got her to nap?!? I say alleluia!! The hard part of all of this isn’t letting her go, well that is a little, but preparing for all of the new adventures she will have without me.  All of the first that may now not happen with me present.  She is growing up into a little lady with a mission to take on the world!

With the 15th Anniversary of September 11th being a few days ago, I think about all of the things that we will have to explain to her.  Some in the distant past and some in the not so distant past.  I think about what she may face down the road as a female.  I think about how early bullying comes into play today.  I think about how I was called a minority back in the day for being Greek and still remember how offended I was by that.  I think about how much harder work it will be to make sure she has the same Greek values and traditions that I grew up with being one generation removed from the immigration.  As I’m told often sometimes I need to just stop thinking!!  My baby is no longer a baby, but she’ll always be my baby.  So with that I leave you my friends.

 

img_1145The kid’s first day of school outfit.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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One of our summer favourites

The summer roundup wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t write about one of our summer favourites, the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm. We had a friend tell us about how much fun they had last year at this local zoo so we decided to check it out early in the season.  We had a feeling it would be a go-to for us so we bought a season pass, which pays for itself after two visits (they opened in April and are open until Thanksgiving).

This zoo is small enough where I’m not afraid to let the little lady explore on her own, obviously still within the view of my watchful eyes.  We have been at various parts of the days and and it has never been crazy busy.  When you arrive you have the option of purchasing a bucket of popcorn, as amazing of a snack as this sounds, it actually is to feed the animals.  You can easily spend a morning at the zoo.  There are a lot of animals to feed and even baby chicks to hold.  There are some picnic tables and a snack bar if you get hungry while you’re there.  If you’re in the Durham Region definitely add the Oshawa Zoo and Fun Farm to your list to visit.

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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The unofficial end of summer

Hello Friday!  As we are about to embark on what is known as the unofficial end of summer, I would like to wish each and everyone of you a Happy and Safe Labour Day weekend!  I hope you all create amazing memories that will stay with you a lifetime.

happy-labour-day

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Roula

A little ditty about Jack and Diane...no really in all seriousness I'm a daughter, sister, wife and mother. I'm a Greek-American, who has transplanted in Canada. As a first time mom I'm sharing some things as I go along.

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