Television and other unnecessaries

August 19th, 2008

I called our local cable/internet/telephone provider today and got our cable cut off. I have hardly turned on the TV all summer and it just didn’t seem worth the extra expense now that my maternity leave is over and I’m left on my own to keep up with my bills and I hardly have any income at all. I don’t advertise for my slings, I depend only on word of mouth, so I don’t sell a lot of them. Halifax is also a pretty small city and there’s another company that’s got her slings in most children-oriented stores up and down the coastline on this side of the province. Good for her, bad for me. She and I actually went to the same high school, coincidentally, but there is one big difference between us: she’s not even a mom! Pshaw! There are lots of pictures of her on her website and she’s carrying a doll in each one of them.

Anyway, so the television is gone, which is good (we download all of our shows anyway), and it brings down the monthly bill from $135 to $88.

Clive and I live off of cash, advice taken from Till Debt Do Us Part. We have glass jars on our counter for Fuel, Fun [which is always empty] and Food. We keep costs as minimal as possible, spending an embarrassing $300/month on food (that also includes household needs and at least one restaurant trip), nothing on fun and allocate $50/month for fuel (which I know we more than double because Clive plays hockey once a week outside of the city, which probably adds another $40-$50 to his fuel budget and I travel to see my mom at least twice a month which adds another $40 to my fuel costs).

Ash still doesn’t cost us a lot of money. We cloth diaper so we don’t spend a cent there, we don’t buy new clothes, we do buy him organic fruits and vegetables, but he still doesn’t eat a lot so that’s probably only a couple of dollars a week, we don’t buy him new toys (I did buy a $1 cloth doll today that was second hand and will be used for sling demos as well), and he’s happy to empty out the stove drawer of all its pots, bang on my bongo drums, help me with laundry, go for walks, and read books all day (which we buy second hand for $0.25 each at the local Salvation Army).

I’ve decided to stay at home for as long as I can. I haven’t even began to research day cares. It’s not a smart decision, financially speaking, AT ALL, but I can’t imagine having to leave him yet. I’m just not ready. Maybe I’ll work again when he’s two, before having the next baby (which I’d like to start trying for when he is two), maybe I won’t have to, if G Slings really takes off, which I hope it will.

My sister says she has no idea how we’re able to spend so little on groceries, whereas I look at her and how much money she and her boyfriend spend and I have no idea how they’re able to EAT that many groceries. I’ll end this entry with a question for you readers: How much money do you (think) you spend on groceries each month? How many people does that amount feed? How to you budget for your food, if you do at all? I’m really curious.

Great Advice, CNN

August 15th, 2008

Within a recent article about a child dying from Shaken Baby Syndrome, they list the following steps:

How to deal with crying
Steps to take if a baby is crying and you are getting flustered:

• Lay the baby on its back in its crib
• Put the crib rails up
• Leave the room
• Close the door
• Distract yourself with relaxing activities for a few minutes
• Call a friend or relative to take over if necessary

Source: Dr. R. Daryl Steiner, Akron (Ohio) Children’s Hospital

___

WICKED, CNN! Great advice! Let’s ignore our children instead of figuring out what’s actually making them cry in the first place.

I can totally understand the frustration from a crying baby (Ash cried a lot in his first couple of months because of gas issues and us not figuring out how to burp him properly), and just NEEDING IT TO STOP RIGHT NOW, but really? Closing the door on the child and going into a different room? Is that REALLY the best option?

I mean, I guess it is if you’re seriously thinking about harming your child, but there’s got to be a different and better way to do things, right?

Dear Ashden: Month Eleven

August 9th, 2008

Dear Ash,

You’re 11 months old today! HOLY COW. This has been a crazy month, one where the focus was mostly on your father and I- who tied the knot. I’d been planning our wedding for about four months during your naps and when you go to bed for the night, and the day was everything I’d hoped for and more. Now we’re an official family!

You’re changing daily now, and I can hardly keep up. You’re growing leaps and bounds mentally these days, and you learn new sounds and words and you understand me more and more every day. It’s absolutely amazing to watch, and it makes me so excited for the day and I’m really going to have to stop swearing so much. I knew this day would come, but I’m not sure I’m ready for it!

At the beginning of your eleventh month it was very hot at night and I sent your father to buy a fan for the bedroom so you didn’t get too warm. It was love at first sight, with you and that fan. Oh man, you loved looking at it, feeling the air, and when I would then blow on your face to show you what a fan does, you giggled like crazy. Within a couple of days of me blowing on your face, you were also blowing in response to my question, “What does a fan say?” Now when I turn on the fan, you blow back at it. It’s very entertaining to watch.

Throughout the month you’ve also learned how to “mooo” when asked what a cow says, and now you even recognize cows in books and will moo when you see them. Within the past couple of days you will also make “monster” noises when you want to play Baby/Mama/Papa Monster (a throat guttural noise), or when asked what a monster says. I keep expecting you to come out and meow or woof or choo-choo when I ask you what a cat/dog/train says- maybe by next week.

Also within the past couple of days, you’ve started saying, “beh” about everything and anything. Dog? Beh. Cat? Beh. Telephone? Beh. Good night. Beh. Beh Beh Beh Beh Beh. Look at that! Beh. It’s quite comical, actually.

You haven’t really picked up on sign language very well, despite your dad and I being consistent with it since you were five or six months old. You have, however, created your own sign language for brushing your teeth. You take a loose fist and move it up and down over your mouth, which is actually quite similar to the actual sign. You love brushing your teeth, so we take turns doing it- I do it properly for you, and then you take control and basically just bite your toothbrush. Brushing your top teeth is a bit hard though because you tilt your head back, so I have to put your up against the wall so you can’t tilt too far back.

You had your first (three) haircuts this month. I trimmed around your ears before the wedding, your bangs one day, and then when it was pointed out that you had a bit of the dreaded mullet, your father trimmed the back of your hair while I pinned you down/distracted you. Your hair is still very long, but here’s what it looked like before I cut your bangs.

The biggest event of the month was your parents wedding, of course. I was a bit scared about your nap schedule being wonky (which is was) making you grumpy and not very fun to be around, but you were actually quite okay! You loved being around all of these new people and in a new place. You made friends with everyone who tried, especially your extended family who were visiting! It was great to see you with your grandmother LaLa and Papa John, your aunt and uncle Tina and Brian and your cousins Myah and Caleb, and even your great aunt and second cousins- Amanda, Rebecca and Sarah. Everyone just loved you. I wish that there was a way to see everyone more often. I feel sad that they don’t get to see you as much as my side of the family does. Especially for Tina who cried when she was saying her goodbyes to you. Plans are in the works to go to Ontario next spring or summer to visit everyone. We’ll go before you turn two so that we don’t have to pay for your plane ticket, haha. Just think of how different you’ll be the next time they see you! Luckily we have the internet- they get to see you whenever they want to.

The wedding was great, and you and your grandmother were the first people down the aisle. I called her the morning of the wedding to ask if she’d do us the honour of bringing you, the biggest love of our lives, down before anyone else, and of course she accepted. You were dressed like the rest of the men in the wedding party- an untucked white dress shirt, grey pants and bare feet. You were so beautiful. I can’t say you paid much attention to the wedding ceremony itself, you were in the front row flirting with people behind you and distracting us with your squeals of delight. When the Justice of the Peace brought you up in the ceremony, it was the only time our eyes welled with tears. You are our pride and joy, and the thing that binds your father and me together for the rest of our lives. How lucky we are.

I, no, WE love you!

The day after the wedding you took your first steps! Marc, Nicole, your father and I were sitting on the deck of our cottage, encouraging/tricking you to walk by yourself, and you did it! We couldn’t convince you to do it again, you much prefer to be on your hands and knees (which is just fine with me!), but you did it. All of us were so proud. Even though all of us were taking turns trying to get you to walk between us, you ended up walking between me and your dad.

We’re a great team, the three of us. Every day you learn something new and every morning I get so excited to see how you’ve changed overnight and how you’ll change throughout the day. I can hardly keep up. Feel free to slow down a little, everything is moving a bit too fast and I feel like I’m forgetting everything. I want to take in as much as I can.

You make me appreciate every single day.

Love,
Mama