Own The Mornings One #Spoondrop At A Time

spoondrop

Mornings can be tough for everyone. But when you add kids to the mix, things get really hairy. Going from slamming the snooze to getting out the door on time can rival the hardest challenges you see on Survivor. You don’t just have to worry about yourself, you have to manage a perfectly executed assault for multiple people.

If you don’t? Breakfast is not eaten, teeth are left dirty and permission sheets are once again forgotten. Let’s not even talk about having the brain power to think about what is for dinner in 9 hours. It’s controlled madness in our house. Little talking, lots of doing.

We have it down to a science for the most part, but has always the one variable that can throw it all out of whack are the kids.

Time, Where Is It Going?

You know in movies when they want to make you feel like time is quickly passing by speeding everything up? Kind of like fast forward on the PVR. That is how life is moving lately.

Nothing makes me feel this way more than watching the boys grow up in every way possible. It’s amazing and sad all at the same time. They will never be the way they were yesterday and that happens every single day.

I really love the ages that we have right now. Harry is almost seven and Charlie is almost four. It seems perfect on so many levels. They are boys. Not toddlers or whatever you want to call a three-year old. They are full on boys that have many moments of love, hate and everything in between.

It’s all going too fast. Summer was a blur. Back to school came out of nowhere it seemed.

via GIPHY

A September to Remember

As we continue to roll down the hill known as summertime, all I can see at the bottom is busy. Most of it is a good busy, but it’s going to be busy nonetheless. September is a crazy time in general. Everyone is getting back into normal mode once Labour Day passes. Vacations are mostly over, kids are back to school, new TV shows start to pop up on screens and everyone is tired of the Olympics.

It’s a time of new everywhere and that is what is stoking most of the fires for our month.

Here are just a few of the events happening in September and even a few in October because, well it will all be a blur by then.

Tired of my crying yet?

In Our House It’s All About The Blue Jays #OurMoment

blue jays family

Dad did the Jays win last night?

Did Joshie hit a home run?

Did Pillar make a crazy catch??

Can we go to another game?

These are all daily questions in our house. From April until October, the Toronto Blue Jays take over the chatter in our family and it was a perfect storm of events that got us to that point.

First, our boys are of the age where baseball becomes fun and interesting. Harry (6) went to his first game two years ago and has been hooked ever since.

Charlie (3) just wants to do and like what his big brother likes, so it was easy for him to become a Junior Jay.

They play in the backyard. Harry has entered the world of organized teeball and baseball. Their Nana has been doing her best to promote her Jays fandom for years. It was bound to stick at some point.

Second, we moved back to Toronto in 2014. That meant hearing about the Jays in the news more. That meant actually being able to go to the games. That meant getting caught up in the hype very easily.

Third, that hype. The Jays are good. They are really good. That makes everyone excited to the point where we watch almost every game on TV now. I certainly did not do that a few years ago. Forget House of Cards, my wife and I end up watching Buck and Pat.

So you combine seeing the game through the eyes of your kids, being close to the action and the team challenging for a World Series and that is how it all went down.

Thank You Howard

harry at howard wall

There are so many variables that go into the makeup of who your kid becomes. As much as you try to control the narrative, manipulate each path taken and add your two cents to each decision, there are aspects you just can’t control.

One such variable that shapes a kid and sets them on a path is where they start school. I am not talking daycare or preschool or babysitting, I am talking full day, school. Where your kid starts going to school can have a huge impact on their love of school, how they learn, how they develop and who they become. It is the starting point for who their friends are, what types of teachers they like/dislike, the start of real stress and worry and really, the start of them becoming an individual person.

A Fractured Relationship Finally Ends

cracked mug

My second longest relationship is over.

The feelings are still raw as I write this but deep down I know I will be okay.

This morning after pouring hot water into my favourite blue mug, I walked away to let the brewing magic happen. When I returned, there was a large puddle on the counter and even dripping onto the floor? WTF? Did I miss the cup on my pour?

I lifted up the mug to investigate and there it was. A thin fracture throughout the entire mug. The cause of a slow leak. The end of a beautiful and lasting relationship.

Brother vs. Brother: Dawn Of Justice

brother-vs-brother

Not Fair!

I never got one.

Why did he get one and I didn’t?

Hey I never got to go first yet?

Your breakfast smells.

That’s’ my book.

Do these phrases sound familiar parents?

In our house these and more are yelled out daily and in varying degrees of anger, sadness and bitterness.

It’s just part of the war of words in the great battle of siblings and in our case, brothers.