Looking After Mum

{On Sundays guest writers share their personal stories.  My hope, and theirs, is that we will be able to consider someone else's perspective and therefore understand one another more. Also, it is a place for support so that if you are journeying this road, you will know you are not alone. This intimate piece shares some heartfelt and important advice for those that are caring for family and friends. I am so thankful to Emily for sharing this here. }  

Thankful Thursday

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Practicing gratitude, yo.  Here we go!

The Stress and Success of Family Photos

I have many memories of my dad setting the timer on the camera and running to get into the photo just in time for the camera to take a photo of his backside. Repeatedly.  He videotaped most of our childhood–even waking us up at 2 AM pretending it was time to get to school.  He's a sentimental pest.  Although I'm not a pest (I married one), I have definitely inherited the desire to capture photos of my family.

What Everyone Should Know About Graves' Disease

When my second son was about eight months old I felt like I was coming down with the flu. Normally I could run five km's and suddenly I could barely walk one block– my muscles were weak and sore. The symptoms progressed quickly: elevated heart rate, insomnia, hair loss, brittle nails, massive hunger, diarrhea, hand tremors, and sweating. I was losing weight rapidly (close to 20 lbs in three weeks) despite eating numerous meals each day and snacking throughout the night. Some people suggested I had anxiety and it did feel like it but I knew it was something more.

I felt terrible and within two weeks I finally had a blood test that confirmed that I was in a hyperthyroid state and my T4 was not even really existent. Although they were not sure if it was Postpartum Thyroiditis or Graves' Disease, they started treating it with PTU which is an anti-thyroid medication that was safe with breastfeeding. I was also given beta blockers to help my heart rate come down–oh, how I loved the beta blockers. I finally felt like I could relax for a little bit as my resting heart rate had been over 100 for weeks!

Respect the thyroid!

How to Hug a Porcupine: Parenting Tween Tips

I feel like we finally just got everyone sleeping through the night and now we're on to this whole new stage: The Preteen Years. I know how hard things were for me being a teenager so if we can work on developing their self-esteem and building a stronger relationship with them now, that should help our kids as they transition through these stages. Our son could be heading off to university in eight years–that's not a whole lot of time left to invest in him before he leaves (and hopefully it's not far!).

I recently read How to Hug a Porcupine: Negotiating the Prickly Points of the Tween Years to gain some insight into this stage. This book has some great ideas and although I wouldn't say the examples were always realistic, I did think it was helpful and I would love to share some tips with you.

Thankful Thursday

Time to practice some more gratitude.  This week I am thankful for:

Celebrating Nya's Fourth Birthday

This long weekend we celebrated Nya's fourth birthday.  We started out on Saturday by going to the Greater Vancouver Zoo.  We have an annual pass that is good until October and like to go about once a month.  It is a great place for our kids to run around as it's completely safe.  Our Little One was with us this weekend and is a major fan of the train so we were sure to ride that too (it's included in the pass.)  All four out of four kids were happy which was unusual and very appreciated!

The Benefits to Offering Your Kids Choices

It can be hard in our every day life when we feel like so many things are beyond our control–personally it can make me feel nervous and uncomfortable; how am I supposed to know what to expect next? Now imagine being a two-year-old where you are told when to eat, what to wear, when to go outside, what to say, and when to go to bed. Of course they are going to struggle with this as they feel they have no say. Often they express their frustration through tantrums, screaming "No!" or running away from the situation.

One key thing to remember is to give them choices.

Our Infant Development Worker encouraged us to use this for our Little One and it has been so helpful– how did I not integrate this more frequently before? I don't mean "Put on your shoes or go to Time Out" I mean, "Do you want your brown boots or your sparkly shoes?" or "Do you want apple slices or yogurt?" I will hold the items in front of them to help them decide by combining visual and audio.  I use options on my bigger kids, too. "Do you want a shower now or at 6 pm?" The shower will happen on this day but they have some say in the matter.

What are five benefits to giving choices?

Thankful for my Perfectly Imperfect Body

*Every week I do a Thankful Thursday post and this one is a bit different–still thankful but more of a Thankful Thursday: Body Edition*

This week involved honouring the ten year anniversary of my mom passing away from breast cancer, running a five km race, finally buying a bikini after eight years of thinking about it, and hearing of yet another (way too young)  woman being diagnosed with cancer.  What do these all have in common?  It's all part of the journey leading to an appreciation for this perfectly imperfect body of mine.  Throughout my teen years I struggled with feeling fat and equated that with being undesirable.  In my 20's and 30's I journeyed through an autoimmune disease, TMJ dysfunction, and a body that looked and acted differently after three pregnancies, three C-sections, and breastfeeding for four years (you know what that means.)

Just because other people have it worse does not mean that I can't feel frustrated when my body doesn't do what I feel it should or when it looks differently than I'd prefer.  However, I also know that if we want to appreciate the body that we have, we need to practice gratitude and be gracious to ourselves. So here's me being grateful for this body of mine...

The Burger Realization: Decision Fatigue

“What would you like on your burger?” “Whatever you want me to have” was the reply to my lovely chef of a husband. By the end of each day, I cannot make another decision. I will eat whatever is on that burger and enjoy it because the energy I save from not thinking about it can go towards eating my food. I feel like a negotiator, counselor, teacher, coach, dentist, doctor, and taxi driver, which requires non-stop thinking and problem solving. From figuring out how much Clash of Clans is okay to play (and is he old enough to play?!), reminding my kids to wash their hands, contemplating the best method for dealing with meltdowns, trying to find a lost field trip form, teaching a child how to tie shoes, figuring out who is driving each kid where and when, and explaining why they should have more than a banana for dinner, I am done.