Is it something I said?

Okay, a person could get an inferiority complex or feel really rejected, but not me! I am hoping for great things! Because....three houses on my street have gone on the market. The houses in question are as follows:

House 1(directly across the street) SOLD
Very elderly woman, children put her into a nursing home. She's been bedridden for years, I've only seen her once in the four years we've lived here.
Still no info on who bought the property.

House 2 (across the street-two houses down)
Single mom with two kids(kids are rather strange, never play outside, the Mom's a real bitch never smiles or says hello to me, walks right by and ignores me, I really have no clue what her problem is)

House 3(right next door)
Family of four, two kids, one in high school the other in university. They're moving because the wife got a job transfer to the suburbs. I'm sorry to see them go, they're very friendly and nice neighbours.

My fervent hope and that of my kids is that families with young children move into those homes. Our street has mostly families with older children or empty nesters, we need kids. We need the street to be alive with their playing and sounds of their laughter and chatter.

This past weekend they played with their only friends on the street, two girls aged 7 and 9. They had a great time, they made limeade and sold it for a quarter. They also helped me plant some flowers and while they were digging found lots of rocks which they cleaned off and also tried to sell....needless to say they still have buckets of rocks...anyone want a grey one with black spots, it's really pretty! Whenever they saw prospective buyers with kids viewing the houses they got very excited and happy and yelled "hey, they've got kids" it was very sweet. Keep your fingers crossed!

I remember when I was growing up, there were lots of kids in the neighbourhood. The rule was that as soon as the streetlights went on you had to head home. We were usually running around with no supervision and having an amazing time...so sad that my kids can not experience that type of freedom.

Soccer anyone?

This past weekend flew by and so did this week, where did the time go? We had a great weekend, we saw most of our immediate family and had great food, what more could you ask for?

GirlChild and two of her friends are on a soccer team being coached by M. and the two other moms. They had their first practice tonight and BoyChild wanted to go along, so....I have the whole house to myself and I have some time to blog.....woohoo!

Come spring in Toronto, soccer gets into full action mode. BoyChild loves playing soccer and played on a team for the first time last year when he was four. Let's just say it was a "learning experience"....learning how to lose gracefully, that is. It's definitely not competitive at this level, they don't even keep score, but when your team gets scored on time after time you kind of figure out that your team may not be doing so well. BoyChild had a really, really hard time losing. As we kept trying to tell him "it's not about winning, it's about having fun and learning how to play" Well, he wasn't buying that logic or reasoning, he just wanted to win and let us know in no uncertain terms "Losing is yucky, I want to win!" He has his first game next week....if his team loses we'll see whether being a year older has made any difference.

We've been very lucky so far, we haven't encountered any fanatic or nasty soccer Moms or Dads. There have been one or two parents who are a little intense but for the most part everyone has been pretty supportive and positive. I wonder if all the nutty parents are too busy acting crazy with their hockey playing sons and daughters that they don't bother with soccer? Hmmmm...now there's an idea for a study.

I think it's great that my kids love playing sports and learning new skills. Such a change from me. I am such a klutz, I was the kid who got picked last at gym. I hated gym. If it involved running, hand and eye coordination or throwing, it was not a pretty sight. My sister once tried to comfort me and say it was because our parents were always so busy working they didn't have time to play catch with us or other sports to help us develop our skills....this is all true, but she didn't have a response when I pointed out the fact that she was pretty good in most sports, she didn't make all the teams, but she did make some teams and wasn't always tripping over her own feet. Let's just say I am very happy that my kids inherited their father's coordination and sports skills.

So, I am the cliche, a "soccer Mom" and proud of it. They learn how to be part of a team and how to win and lose gracefully as well as run around and just have fun and that's what being a kid is all about.

Happy Mother's Day

I forgot it was Mother's Day when I first woke up until my husband turned to me and wished me a "Happy Mother's Day". My husband brought me the newspaper and I got to actually read some of my favorite sections in silence and without interruption....bliss!

After about an hour BoyChild and GirlChild burst into the room to give me hugs and kisses and said my presence was requested downstairs in the dining room. The table was set beautifully and we had a wonderful breakfast of slightly burned pancakes and bacon, it was delicious.

M. and the kids are in the backyard now playing soccer and baseball, while I get to actually write a post while the sun is still shining.

We took M.'s Mom out for lunch yesterday and we will be taking my Mom out for lunch today, so I won't have to cook any more meals this weekend, yahoo! Why can't every Sunday be Mother's Day?

To all the Moms out there I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day, you all truly deserve a special day full of love and pampering.

Party, party, party

We had BoyChild's 6th birthday party, let me clarify, today was his "kid's" party. At last count he will be having three celebrations to mark the occasion of his birth. Before you start thinking he is incredibly spoiled, the second party that we are hosting will be held tomorrow but it is also in honor of the following people:

1. my incredibly wonderful, amazing and awesome husband M. whose birthday is on May 14th.
2. my brother-in-law, S., whose birthday is on May 7th.
3. my brother-in-law, C., whose birthday is on May 31st.

Yes, my husband and his brothers all have birthdays in May, which means an incredibly expensive month...not to mention Mother's Day and did I mention that my nephew's birthday is on May 10th. The third party for BoyChild will be on May 9th, his actual birthday. My best friend J. and her family will come over for dinner and help celebrate the big day.

The kid's party was a huge success, there were no broken bones, no tears, no wet pants, no temper tantrums....we had it at Bulldog Interactive a really cool new gym for children. There are exercise bikes that are attached to video games, in order for the video games to work the kids have to ride the bike. They have a rock wall that's like a vertical treadmill, so it is constantly in motion, the kids love it, they get quite a workout. They have a big open space so most of the kids played soccer, ball hockey and basketball.

But something happened that was rather annoying. One mom as she was bringing in her daughter asked if the younger sibling could also attend the party...I said I was really sorry, but the space wasn't really appropriate for two year olds and the only other two year old was BoyChild's cousin.....little did I know what would happen next....Two more sets of parents brought siblings to the party....siblings that were not invited.

One of the moms, she brought two of her other sons, an eight year old and a two year old. She did have the good grace to apologize and give me some long complicated story about thinking the party was a "public" party meaning that the space was also open to non-invited guests who could pay to use the equipment,etc....it was not a "public" party we had paid the extra fee to make sure it was for our own "private" use....First of all, why wouldn't she have asked me prior to the party whether the party was "public" or "private"? As she was telling me her long story it became apparent that the reason she had brought her other two children was that they had begged to come with her and she didn't want to tell them "no"...I told her it was fine and not to worry there would be enough pizza and cake for everyone...

The second parent brought two of his other children, a 3 month old baby and his three year old daughter....again, did not ask before hand if this would be all right, just showed up with all the other children.....Again, I was very gracious, welcomed everyone, I didn't say a word about the fact that siblings hadn't been invited, I even held the baby for a while....

Am I wrong to feel rather annoyed, it's not that I was worried about running out of food or anything......I'm just like my mother this way, always have way more food than is needed, I would feel awful if we ran out of food. It's just the fact that if my children are invited to parties unless my other child's name is on the invitation, the other child just doesn't show up and expect to get in on the fun....a lot of party places have strict limits to the number of children in the facility or per party, also a lot of places charge per child, so an extra two, four or six children really adds to the final bill. All right, I feel better now, I've vented. I guess these other parents just needed a break and wanted a fun place for all their children to enjoy. The best part of today was that BoyChild had so much fun and he loved playing with all of his friends, I loved seeing him laugh and play, he's getting so big, but he'll always be my baby.