Greek – Page 4 – Greek Mom Moments

June 12, 2014

40 Day Blessing

So my little one received her 40 Day Blessing this about 10 days ago. Daddy, baby and I got ready, loaded up the diaper bag, car seat, blankets, etc., and off we went to church. We got there right at the end as people were receiving the andithero. Since I was an unblessed woman I couldn’t actually enter the church just the exo-narthex. I guess going into it I didn’t realize that it was as much about me as it was about the baby. I know my fellow Greek moms shared with me their experiences in a previous post but I guess I didn’t fully understand until I was there. With my baby squirming in my hands and the priest reciting the prayers from his bible, I took a second to take it all in. To think about the women who came before me and who will come after me and partake in this important part of our Orthodox faith. As I was saying to my friend yesterday via Skype, it totally took me off guard how much it was about me the mom. Our priest is very thorough so we didn’t get the drive through blessing and had time to take it all in.

The blessing then got me thinking of the next big part of our Orthodox faith as a little one, the baptism. For those of you who don’t know in the Greek Orthodox faith you are baptized, confirmed and receive your first communion all in one sacrament. The planning has begun and I’m excited for the little one to officially enter our religion. I just keep wondering if she’ll be a screamer and cry during her ‘dunking’? How did your little ones do during their baptisms? Did they cry? Were they screamers or happy campers?

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.

June 8, 2014

A day of rest?!

So it is 6:25am and I’m sitting with my first frappe of the day. For those of you who aren’t Greek frappe is the Greek’s version of iced coffee. I have been up since 2:00. I awoke worried that my little one hadn’t woken up yet. As one mommy so well put it the other day, I wake up freaking out that they’re still breathing! Well that was me last night/this morning, of course the little one was fine, she decided to have an extra long slumber before her feeding. Well once the feeding was done she wouldn’t burp well so all in all that took 45 minutes. Now I’m not sure about you but after 45 minutes of being awake, I’m done. So I did what everyone does but you’re not supposed to do, I picked up my phone. I checked Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, I was even tempted to look at Google+. I played my Words With Friends and checked emails. Put the phone away and waited for this amazing slumber and rest to take over my body. Ummm yeah not so much! So I Googled the best transitions for getting your baby to sleep the night in their crib (our little one is still in her bassinet), I Googled the transition of ready made formula to powder or concentrate (we’ve tried both and she didn’t like either). I even Googled ways a mom can sleep better at night. That was a joke! I listened to my husband snore (sorry babe) and my little one gurgle, cry and moan in her sleep, even getting up a few times to make sure she was okay. Everyone was fine and snuggled in their beds while visions of sugar plums or ponies, danced in their heads. And then there was me…so I did it…I got out of bed. On the couch I found out that our TV was down, really we have to do something with this high speed internet that never works when you need it! When it came back on Mystic Pizza was my show of choice. I put away a load of the baby’s laundry, folded a load of our laundry and put in another load. I paid some bills and even took a shower. And now I sit here typing away sipping my frappe at 6:30am. Not sure about what you’re planning to do on your Sunday but I feel pretty accomplished already!

Roula

May 28, 2014

Sleeping like a baby…

So another week has come and gone. Honestly, I have no idea where it goes, half the time I don’t even know what day it is. Feedings, diapers changes, bath times, bottle sterilization, laundry, tummy time, play time, limited nap time and some sleep is how the days are primarily spent. I was telling someone yesterday how I was able to manage a team of people, read/handle/respond to on average 300 emails a day, work for 14-16 hours, travelled via planes, trains and automobiles and yet was never as exhausted as I am how. It is true when they say a mother’s job is never done. How do all of you who have more than one kid do it?!?

On a sad note we had to say goodbye to our newborn clothes already. Little Miss is just too long and as she was kicking and doing her daily leg lifts it was not comfortable. I was hoping to get more than 5 weeks out of the clothes but what can you do? Hello 3 month outfits! And what is it with all of the sizing variances? I want to know if boys clothes vary this much or is it just girls? How can a 3 month onesie vary by 2 inches on the length? This is before I washed it so no shrinking was involved 🙂 I’ve starter to measure clothes at this point as I organize them in the closet because I realize that “objects may seem smaller than they appear.”

I leave you with a quote I read last week which was, “sleeping like a baby should be changed to sleeping with a warthog.” A couple of months ago I wouldn’t have any idea what that meant, today I agree 100%.

Roula

May 12, 2014

Emotional Roller Coaster

I was one of those women who didn’t want to read about everything that was going to happen to me but rather I wanted to experience it. So no I didn’t read Dr. Spock or What to Expect When You’re Expecting. I didn’t Google birth stories or ‘how much does labour really hurt?’ Everyone had said how amazing being a mother was gong to be and how special of a bond you have with your child, something that is unexplainable but you will know it once you live it.

In all of my conversations with other mamas the one thing that no one mentioned was the emotions you have. I get it hormones are out of whack. My body is still trying to recover from what it went through or as I joke from what happened to it. But really how can you be fine one minute and not fine the next? Yes I am sleep deprived and I know that is playing a role but really you have so much love for this tiny creature that at times you feel helpless. They can’t communicate with you other than to cry and sometimes when the ‘witching hours’ are upon us that crying can be a lot.

I read an article today about babies with colic and it read that, “some doctors define it by the rule of threes: three hours of crying at a time, at least three times a week, for at least three weeks in a row — usually starting between the third and sixth week of life.” I can’t imagine listening to three hours of crying. My baby cries for 30-40 minutes and I feel helpless…I admit it. As someone who loves to be in control it isn’t easy to admit that. I worked with a coach whose motto was, “get comfortable being uncomfortable” who knew that would be so fitting when it came to parenting.

I’d like to thank my hubby for making my first Mother’s Day a great one! Spending the day with him and our baby was perfect 🙂

Roula

March 4, 2014March 4, 2014

Do you talk and drive?

So today’s blog is a cross between a public service announcement and my personal rant. I guess that is the good thing about having your own blog…you can do that!

I was driving to OB appointment last week on a not so busy road. I had about 20 cars pass me during my time on this road. This is either driving in the opposite direction or to pass me (I do follow the speed limit, more so now that I’m pregnant). Saying that 12 of these people were talking on their cellphones. Full on holding a phone up to their ear and holding a conversation. Now I should let you know that I live in the province of Ontario in Canada and this is illegal. There is a law on the books that bans this. The summary is below and the more information can be found here.

Ontario’s ban on hand-held devices while driving took effect on October 26, 2009.

The law makes it illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial or email using hand-held cell phones and other hand-held communications and entertainment devices. The law also prohibits drivers from viewing display screens unrelated to the driving task, such as laptops or DVD players, while driving. The use of hands-free devices is still permitted, and drivers may use hand-held devices to call 9-1-1.

‘Hands-free’ use means that apart from activating or deactivating the device, it is not held during use and the driver is not physically interacting with or manipulating it. Actions such as dialing or scrolling through contacts, or manually programming a GPS device, for example, are not allowed.

Now many people are offenders of this law every day. I guess you can say it just REALLY bothered me on this particular day. Was I more sensitive because I’m with child? Would it have bothered me just as much on any other Wednesday? Probably, I just don’t know how vocal I would have been about it.

I talked about this with some friends and asked what they do when they get in the car? Most friends put their phone in their cup holders or their stands and go about their ride. One friend actually had a phone that once the Bluetooth was enabled it shut off all notifications until they were out of the car. I thought this was brilliant! My problem is once that ding, ring, ping, whatever the sound may be goes off, my brain is distracted and I’m wondering who called, emailed, texted.

Do we really need to be connected 24/7? A few years I would have said absolutely. Today I’m not so sure. I think we all need to be good stewards of the heavy machinery that we are operating and of our fellow citizens around us.

Being form the United States originally I know that each state has its own laws on cellphones. Did you know that only 15 states have a total handheld device ban? I was shocked that it was so low. I am also aware that are a few organizations in the United States where you can pledge to not text and drive but what about talk and drive? Oprah has a “no phone zone” but only 423,000 have taken the pledge. Seriously when Ellen can get millions of retweets on a picture from the Oscars, Oprah can’t get more than 500,000 people to pledge? What is the issue? Why have we become such a connected society? I certainly don’t have the answers but I’m ready to start the conversation. Did your cell phone habits change once you became pregnant or had kids? Are you a believer that we shouldn’t have any laws against this? Some laws? Let the conversation begin!

Roula

February 18, 2014February 18, 2014

Just letting myself experience

There has been lots of action in our household since last week. Baby has a crib and change table, and mommy has a rocker for those late night feedings. Many of my friends recommended purchasing one of these even though I wasn’t fully convinced. Hopefully in a few months I can write a blog about how much Baby loves being rocked to sleep at night.

Through my entire pregnancy I have avoided reading too much. I didn’t pick up What to Expect When Your Expecting, any of the Doctor Spock books or actually any other parenting books in general. Now if you know me, you know I’m inquisitive by nature so for me not to do this, it is a big deal. You might as why? Well I’ll tell you…my thought on the whole process is that I want to experience everything for the first time in the moment. I think being a mom for the first time over the age of 35 might be one reason for this. I could either drown myself in information from books, websites, online applications, other mothers, etc., or I could actually take the time to feel this blessing inside of me as it practices its Cross Fit. I swear this kid is either going to be a soccer player or a boxer and I love it!! All of the little moves, hiccups, etc., that you feel are amazing bonding opportunities that I might have otherwise missed/lost if I had been enthralled in reading about that moment.

Circling back to our preparations for Baby, so many people talk about the pregnancy, but not many people discuss what happens once you give birth. I had a friend offer to tell me the “dirty details” of giving birth if I wanted them. I gratefully thanked her for the offer but declined. Again, whether I know about it or not, it isn’t going to change what I have to go through, nor will my experience be exactly like hers. So knowing about it, in my mind, isn’t going to necessarily help me.

So many people have told hubby and me that our lives are going to change forever. I sit here and I ponder that. Yes I realize that things will change as now there is this little miracle that we’re responsible for. I realize that we may not necessarily be able to pick up at a moment’s notice and drive to Buffalo for a Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee—at least not until we can get Baby a passport. I realize that a random weekend getaway won’t be as easy since we now have to pack for the wee one and for little people I’ve already come to find out they need a lot of things! Clothes, receiving blankets, burp cloths, diapers, wipes, bibs, creams and lotions for their sensitive skin, and all the things that I don’t even know that I’ll need. I realize that we’ll be sleep deprived and probably irritable in the beginning as the wee one won’t be able to communicate with us.

But as I ponder I’m also thinking about watching this little one sleeping in its crib for the first time and watching as they smile up at us. I’m thinking about when they start to crawl and eventually walk. I’m thinking about first words and when they start to cheer for their (or mommy’s) favourite sports team..sorry dear! I’m thinking about the lifetime of memories that we’re about to embark on and how that will start yet another chapter of our lives.

Roula

February 7, 2014

Here goes nothing!

Well its official, I’m back to my blogging ways. Different site, different focus but the same little ole me. A lot has changed since the last time I was writing. I celebrated another birthday, I’m now closer to 40 than I am to 35. I left my senior level management job in downtown Toronto to start working on my own. Primarily I work on social media marketing, along with some website work. It has been completely great to be my own boss and to make my own hours. The biggest change in all of this is that I’m a soon to be Greek μαμά (aka mom).

To say that the last few months have been a whirlwind would be an understatement. I haven’t been crazy hormonal, although my hubby is probably a better person to ask about that, but to have this little being growing inside you is surreal. You worry about things that you normally wouldn’t, or at least I do. You have to make sure you’re always taking your vitamins, of which I wasn’t the best at remembering before. You have to prepare, as best you can for the little bundle of joy that will soon be joining your family, and of course you’re doing all this while being the best Greek wife, daughter, friend, co-worker, and soon to be μαμά that you can be. No pressure right?!??

To give you some perspective, I guess I should start with the Greekness. I am 100% Greek-American that has been transplanted to Canada. I also am married to a 100% Canadian-Greek. Yes you read that correctly, I put the Greekness first and hubby puts it second. More on that another time. My parents immigrated to the United States in the 70s in search of a better life for themselves and their future family. I was raised in an all Greek household. This means we spoke Greek, we ate Greek, we did everything but watch Greek TV as this was the age before satellites. Everyday I’d go to school like every other child but three days a week I’d go to Greek School. This was in the afternoons after regular school. I remember my mom picking me up from school, taking me home to change clothes (I went to a private school so I wore a uniform), giving me something to eat, and then driving me to Greek School. Here I had the opportunity to interact with other Greek children from my church and make bonds that are still in place until this day. I’d then go home to do my homework from regular school, which in the early days was a struggle. I was the first grader who needed to go visit my 80 year old tenant for help with my spelling list on Thursdays as she was the only other person in the house who could help me. My father always says, “I didn’t learn English so my children will learn Greek.” It wasn’t until I was much older that I finally understood what that meant. Look out for this story in a future blog. J I was a member of GOYA, the Greek Orthodox Youth of America and went to their dances and basketball games. I event was vice-president of the Hellenic Society at my college and lead the charge in the March 25^th parade.

All of this would lead me to deciding I wanted to spend the rest of my life with a fellow Greek. This was very important to me. Not that I didn’t date non-Greeks but I knew that when push came to shove the values, traditions and things that were important to me, needed to be important to him as well. I didn’t want to fight about sending the kid to Greek school, or what religion they would be raised in or even what languages they would study. For me all of this was important and non-negotiable. Now before the bashers come in and hate, I must say here that I have many friends who have married non-Greeks and are leading very happy lives. I am just sharing with you what I was looking for.

All of this comes with some pressures—or at least perhaps a pressure that many Greek women I know manifest on themselves. The pressures to be the best at whatever it is we’re doing. The best wife, daughter, mother, employee, boss, friend, etc. Through this blog I hope to share with you my journey through life and the challenges that this soon to be Greek μαμά faces.