memories

May 25, 2017

Memories, we create them everyday. The fully comments that our children share. The huge smile on their faces as you’re pushing them on the swing at the park. The early morning cuddles that give you just enough to get through the day. In this day and age our memories are captured so easily. Snap a photo on your phone and boom. You can walk down memory lane everyday if you wanted to. I finally had to delete some photos off of my iPhone the other day, yes to make room for more memories, and came across some photos I had forgotten about. Some videos that are priceless, like the one where Miss K decided that the hummus should be all over her face, clothes and hair as opposed to inside of her tummy. The video of my dad holding her just a couple of months old and singing to her. Her first photo at two minutes old that her daddy took with tears in his eyes not able to believe that she really was here and all ours. And of course so many more. But what do we do with these photos? I currently have 11,000 photos on my phone. Yes that is with deleting a couple of thousand. Do I really need that many on my phone? I know I am not the only person out there that has this issue. Someone asked me why I don’t upload them to the cloud or a computer? I do, but some of the photos I just can’t bring myself to delete. So please tell me what you do with all of your photos in this day and age? Who still actually prints photos? Other than the one or two a year I blow up either to frame or on canvas, what can I do with the the rest of ‘my memories’ so that they are front and center? Help a mama out.

I had to share with you the poem below that I had saved to my photos. It is a very good reminder for all of us to slow down. To find out more about Rebekah Knight, click here.

slow down mummy, there is no need to rush,

slow down mummy, what is all the fuss?

slow down mummy, make yourself a cup of tea.

slow down mummy, come spend some time with me.

slow down mummy, let’s pull boots on for a walk,

let’s kick at piles of leaves, and smile and laugh and talk.

slow down mummy, you look ever so tired,

come sit and snuggle under the duvet, and rest with me a while.

slow down mummy, those dirty dishes can wait,

slow down mummy, let’s have some fun – bake a cake!

slow down mummy, I know you work a lot,

but sometimes mummy, it’s nice when you just stop.

sit with us a minute,

and listen to our day,

spend a cherished moment,

because our childhood won’t stay!

~ R. Knight

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.

April 26, 2017April 26, 2017

It has been a hectic couple of weeks…

It has been a hectic couple of weeks at our house. Last time I wrote Holy Week and Easter were approaching. We were fortunate enough to have my parents and brother and his family visiting for Easter. It was wonderful to all be together and have the cousins be able to hang out and do all of the things that a an almost three year old and four year old would do when they are together. There were so many great snapshots of their trip including Miss K’s first ever Easter egg hunt! Melissa did a phenomenal job organizing everything and of course it went off without a hitch expect for the baskets that I forgot to bring. Fitting that the kids ran around in shopping bags to fill up!

The week continued with yiayia and pappou staying on which meant early morning snuggles and of course a morning koulouraki for the kid. Yes I know it isn’t the breakfast of champions but hey when they visit they get to spoil her and I’m okay with that. I swear regardless if my family is here for three days or two weeks the time flies by. We were lucky to have yiayia and pappou here for Miss K’s third birthday. Yes you read that right, my baby is three. Well now she tells me that, “I’m a big girl now, but don’t worry mama, I’ll always be your baby.” Yes you will be. We are so lucky to have a healthy, smart, funny little girl full of personality and yes sometimes attitude. She definitely speaks her mind and lets you know who is in charge. There are days that this drains me to the core, I won’t lie, but on the other days it makes me so proud. I want her to be feisty and fiery. I want her to challenge and always question in order to learn. I want her to have compassion and the courage to speak her mind.

My wishes for her as she enters her third year are: first and foremost health, because without our health we are nothing. Secondly I hope that she can see the love that her father (along with so many family members and friends) have for her and bring that with her in everything she does. Remember that she’s good enough when the other little girl doesn’t want to play with her. Remember that she can climb the rock wall when it looks so scary through her little eyes. Remember that she can sound out that word in the book, as she tells me, “I want to read it mommy.” And thirdly, I want her to grow. Obviously that is a given you’ll say, she’s three of course she’ll grow. But I mean more than in height and weight. I mean into the little lady that she is becoming. I mean into the compassionate child who wanted us to help the birdie stuck in the neighbours vent on the side of the house; who wanted us to go back when we saw the ambulance wheeling out a lady from her house, to make sure she was okay. This is what is important in life. You can have all the money in the world but if you don’t have your health, you aren’t surrounded by love and you don’t have compassion, what is the point of living?

Happy Birthday Little Lady. I love you to the moon and back. And yes, you will ALWAYS be my baby!

Roula

October 6, 2016October 6, 2016

Friendship

I recently had a friend who is very popular on social media tag me in a photo of us. He stated in the photo that we’ve been friends for 20 years. This photo prompted an acquaintance to message me asking me what the secret was to being friends with someone for so long. I wrote back saying that I actually had friends that went back more years than that and not to sound to cliche but in order to have good friends you need to be a good friend. Friendship should be easy when you’re together. It should be comfortable. But never think for a moment that friendship is without work. The older you get the harder it is to coordinate schedules, spouses, children, jobs, etc.

This conversation got me thinking about those people who I know I can count to on anything. The people who if I texted in the middle of the night (because really who calls anymore) would respond ASAP. The people who you don’t have to explain your feelings to because they’ve been through the roller coaster of life with you and they just know so you can pick up where you left off and keep going. I am so fortunate to be able to say that I have a few of those people. I hope they know that the feeling is mutual and they have this friend in me as well. Don’t get me wrong, I have also had friendships slip through my fingers. It seems that every 7/8 years a friend cleanse happens and people go their separate ways. At the beginning it really bothered me. I wanted to know what I did and what happened. Now at this phase of my life I realize that it just happens. People grow apart. People don’t want to put the effort in, and that is okay. I’m a believer when one door closes another opens and I have had many amazing people come into my life since I’ve moved to this country. Nothing can replace those 15, 20, 25 years of memories from my ‘forever friends’ but I can tell you that these newer friendships I have no doubt will be just as amazing.

I leave you with a few of my favourite friendship quotes:

Roula

December 23, 2015December 23, 2015

Seriously Penelope…is there a Santa Claus?

Okay if you personally know me you know that I do my darnedest to Christmas shop throughout the year. I have no patience for what comes out of humanity in December and mostly after the 20th of December. The pushing, shoving, profanity spewing adults all trying to get the same parking spot, toy for their child, coffee so they can make it through the day. Regardless of if you celebrate Christmas or not, you’re dealing with this craziness, and Canadians are the nicer people. I am wondering if I’ve lost my American edge or I’m just getting older and realize it all doesn’t matter.

I know that tomorrow night and Thursday, I’ll have more photos than I can count on fingers, of people’s trees lined with gifts underneath. Then photos of jubilation on the faces of family members once they open those gifts. But really, truly, is that what we have become? What I ask myself is when was the last time these people put the phones down and had a real moment with their families? When did our lives have to become open books in order for us to get through the day? You might think I’m being judgmental and perhaps it is coming across that way but ladies and gentlemen, my wish for you this Christmas is to create real memories. Put the phones down, put the video apps away and capture the smile on your children’s faces. Ingrain that in your memory. Take a moment to smile at the people who are around the tree with you, you never know when it might be your last Christmas together. Leave the wrapping paper strewn on the floor and enjoy the hugs and kisses the morning gives you. And for my friends who are spending Christmas alone this year, know that in a house in the suburbs outside of Toronto, in Canada, as I drink my morning coffee on Thursday, I’ll be thinking of you and thanking God for bringing each of you into my life.

I leave you with my RDKism: “You never know when you might miss the actual moment because you’re too busy trying to prepare to capture a possible moment.”

Roula

January 6, 2015January 5, 2015

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Amazingly we entered 2015 with a sense of calmness and peace in our house. Who am I kidding?!? There was a baby crying, toys thrown all over the floor, music blaring. Oh wait that was January 1st. On New Year’s Eve we were all tucked away in our beds by 10:30 and I honestly wouldn’t have had it any other way.I won’t sit here and bore you with my plans for the new year. Plus no fun in reading it all in advance, you’ll have to wait for it to play out week by week.

The one thing I’ll tell you is my goal is to care. I guess I should explain. Of course I care about my family, friends, etc., but I need to stop caring about the fact that they breakfast dishes aren’t done and put away by 10am (or at least that’s what my hubby tells me 🙂 ). I have to care less that the beds aren’t made and that there are toys across the living room floor. That is my goal not only to myself but to my little girl. Crazy to believe in a few months we’ll be celebrating a birthday and yes the planning has begun. I want to take these last few months before the big 0-1 and cherish them even more. So if you come to my house and find some crumbs from the apple, spinach, banana muffin I baked for my LO, or if you see the coffee mugs still in the sink at 1:00pm, I’m sorry. I was too busy getting hugs and kisses from my little one to notice.

Wishing you all a great 2015. Remember this is not a dress rehearsal so make today count!!

Roula

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?