Good, old fashioned, gay bacon.

It was a long day today.  Though I don’t think it would have seemed nearly so if I’d gotten more than two hours sleep.    But between hubby staying up late streaming video, the girl waking during the night, and the dogs getting me up bright and early… well…  it was one of those twenty minutes here, thirty minutes there nights.  And they don’t count for much.

Over all today was a good day though.  We didn’t win any more points, but I’m cool with that.  It’s nice to share the wins.  If the same dog(s) always win it can take the fun and sport of it out of the weekend.  More points is always nice, but not having anyone get discouraged is nicer.

After the show we tried to hit the laundromat…  but there weren’t any washers available.  I figured it would be busy, but didn’t expect a complete lack of free machines.  So we’ll make due until we can try again – probably on Tuesday in the late afternoon.

The kid and I played all evening.  And it was one of those imagination games where Mommy doesn’t actually have to get up and do too much to be completely involved.  Considering I’d been too exhausted to attend the volunteer appreciation supper the Avenue Community Center put on (that I was sooo looking forward to) there was no way I was getting involved in any active play.  I rather liked the game we came up with, as I could play it while laying in bed, half sitting up with a pile of pillows under my back.  LOL

The girl was a secret agent – Agent Omega was the name she chose – and I was her superior.  I ended up with the moniker Purple Bunny.  She’d come to me for missions, and I’d send her on hunts for clues, notes, bad guys, and to rescue Agent Stinky Daddy Pants who had gotten himself into trouble and needed an injection of “pure awesomeness” in order to resume his agent duties.  As Purple Bunny I did my absolute WORST British accent.  Back from my acting days, I’ve still got several accents I can pull out of my pocket whenever needed, but this was a new one…  purposefully awful, it kept the girl giggling.  It really was a lot of fun.

To top off our evening, we enjoyed a bit of good, old fashioned, gay bacon:

Mmmm…. yummy gay goodness

Nothing like a sour yet sweet, gay treat. 

Night everyone!  And may all your dreams be filled with bunnies, secret agents, Chihuahuas, and bacon (of the most gay variety).

A2Z – Gender Creative

 

The very first time I’d heard the term “Gender Creative” I was in a board meeting for Breaking the Silence (which was held in March).  Fran Forsberg, an amazing woman and dedicated volunteer, had used it to describe two of her children, and it clicked with me instantly.  Gender Creative – could there be a more perfect or beautiful way to describe a child who is, well… creative when it comes to gender?  I absolutely love the term, and hope it catches on like wildfire.  Having such a beautiful way to describe children who don’t necessarily fit into their assigned gender.

Children are too young to know how their sexual identities and desires will eventually shape them, but they often know right from the get go if their assigned gender fits or not.  Some children easily play in one or both binary gender roles.  Others feel at home solidly in one camp or the other (and it may or may not match their assigned gender).  Describing these children as Gender Creative allows them the freedom to experiment and play with their identities – as we should allow all children.

We should actively encourage our children to try on different roles, to play different parts.  We do this with little boys by encouraging them to pretend to be firemen, policemen, doctors, and race car drivers.  With little girls we encourage them to dress up as princesses, home makers, nurses, and ballerinas.  When we should be encouraging all our children to try on these different roles – regardless of their assigned gender or assigned sex.  I know I am equally thrilled when Lily-Ann dresses up as a cowboy, or tells me how she wants to grow up to play for the Blue Jays as when she wears a tutu and wings to school, announcing that she has decided to be Tinkerbell.  We play cars and My Little Ponies.

The point is that children SHOULD be Gender Creative.  It shouldn’t be the odd kid out who plays with gender, and finds it fluid and easily adaptable.  All children should have the freedom to find themselves without society forcing binary roles onto them.  It actually makes me sick to my stomach when I hear a parent tell a child “No, you can’t have that, it’s a girl toy” or “I’m not buying that for you, girls don’t play with action figures.”  It’s when the I’m-gonna-fix-the-world me comes out, and I can’t help but do a little educating – and I’m not always as polite as I should be.  Oh, I try to be…  but there are times when the beastly me comes out, and it’s pretty much always when I see a little kid just being their genuine self, and having that self squashed by a parent who so clearly doesn’t get it.

So, until we get to the point where society is able to allow ALL children to just be children – without forcing gender binaries on them.  Until then?  I like the term Gender Creative.  What a beautiful way to express how all kids should be free to be.

I Love Sundays!

Another fabulous Sunday with the family!  Ever since we started setting aside Sundays to do something special with the family they’ve become awfully wonderful.  And while it’s not always easy coming up with something we all want to do, AND that sticks within a small budget, it’s worth a little work finding things.

Today we headed down to the Saskatoon Farmer’s Market for some early afternoon treats.  Baked goods, home made ice cream, and greenhouse produce – always a hit with our family.  Then we hopped in the car and headed out to the Forestry Farm Park and Zoo for an outdoor adventure.  Because, let’s face it…  taking a four year old and a 17 year old to the zoo together is ALWAYS going to be an adventure.  LMAO  Especially with Damon and I along for the ride. 

We made a snowman (yes, at the zoo).  Made a whole row of snow angels.  Had an hour long snowball fight (it lasted nearly the entire time we were there).  Found a huge branch on the ground buried under the snow and made a bunch of wands from it.  We wrote in the snow.  Cast spells on one another.  And giggled at the baby lion cubs as they climbed on their mother.

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That? Oh! That was just me… getting my Gleek on!

That’s right.  It’s true.  I’m not embarrassed.  I’ll own up to it.  I totally Gleeked out tonight.  Yep.  My husband, daughter, and I sooo got our Gleek on.

We’ve got quite a few singing games for the Wii, but our favourites have to be the Karaoke Revolution Glee games.  I grew up doing musical theatre, and it never really got out of my blood.  If it hadn’t been for the fact that I got sick, my life would have taken a very different path.  The stage was my first love, and I openly admit that it still holds sway over my heart today.  So when I get the chance to sing with my baby and my baby daddy?  I totally take it!

Go get yourself a mic, you can pick up a used one at places that sell pre-owned game equipment for super cheap, and get your bad self a copy of one of the Karaoke Revolution Glee games.  Whether or not you watch the show, each game has a great mix of songs, and even if you can’t sing, it’s just fun to belt it out and laugh at yourself for a while.

Through my daughters eyes…

This afternoon, the wee girlie picked up a pamphlet I had sitting on a side table, and rolled it up like an old fashioned pirate’s scope.  She then proceeded to peer through it, and began listing off things she could see.  It wasn’t long into this little adventure that she asked (while staring straight at me through her paper spyglass) “Know what I’m looking at Mom?”

I grinned widely at her, and gave her a goofy look.

She continued, “I see blonde hair and blue eyes.”

“Are you looking at me?” I ask, feigning surprise.

“Nope.  I’m looking at Daddy.”

“What?!?!” I exclaim.  “That sounds like the Mommy to me.  Does your Daddy have blonde hair and blue eyes?”

The girlie giggles, knowing full well that her Daddy has dark hair and is the only one of us without blue eyes.  “Yes, he does.”  She continues, “I see blonde hair and blue eyes.”  Still giggling.

“That sounds like Mommy.”  I scrinch up my nose, wrinkle my brow, and give her a goofy sideways look.

“Nope.  It’s Daddy.  He has beautiful lips and pretty skin.”

“What?!?!?  Are you SURE that’s your Daddy.”

“Yep.  It’s Daddy.”

By now she’s absolutely busting a gut, and I have to admit, despite the fact that we are being completely silly?  I’m feeling awfully lucky having a daughter that sees me the way she does.    Yep.  I’m a pretty Mommy…  pretty freakin’ lucky to have her as a daughter.

Busy, busy day.

Spent the morning with the wee girlie.  Playing, cuddling, colouring, eating, getting ready for pre-k…  Then the afternoon was devoted to Green Party business, including chairing an executive meeting.  In the evening we picked up my sister Jewles, and headed off to the library.  Following that it was over to my parents for some supper, where we helped my Dad navigate through the maze of uploading media on his Mac and iPod.  Put the wee girlie to sleep.  Then worked on Christmas presents and played on facebook for a wee bit.  Now, laying in bed, girlie beside me, posting on the blog.  Whew.  LMAO

Tomorrow morning will be much the same (and my favourite part of the day because it’s just me and the girl), in the afternoon I’ve got presents to work on as well as some scrapbooking business to attend to.  Then it will be off to my parents place to help decorate the tree.    Sooo looking forward to that.  Because we’ve just got the tiny half tree that hangs on the wall (will share a picture when we put it up) I really do enjoy helping set up my parents tree.  And I’m sure Lily-Ann will too.

Now, I’m going to share a photo of the girlie playing at the library.  Then I’ll be playing a bit of Warstorm on FB.  And nighty night.  LOL  Just me and the dogs awake in the dark (Damon is up on the desktop computer). 

Playing at the Library!

The first snowman, snowowl, thing…

Today, during our walk to school, the wee girlie and I were playing catch using snowballs.  It’s only a six block walk, but we usually allow ourselves a half hour to get there because…  well…  because you can just have a lot more fun that way. 

–

“Hey!  Lily-Ann…  check out this move.”

The wee girlie comes running over, and watches, utterly amazed as I take a snow ball and roll it through the damp sticky snow covering the field.  The little, tightly packed ball, quickly grows to double, triple, and quadruple it’s original size.

“This is how you start a snowman.  Wanna build one with me?”

You can almost see the wheels begin spinning in her little mind as her eyes widen.  With the enthusiasm only a pre-schooler can muster, the girl bursts  forth with “Yah!”

And thus our little snow adventure began to take shape.

–

So, on the way to school we built a snowman in the park.  Which is cool enough on it’s own.  It was the wee girlie’s FIRST snowbeing.  We didn’t have carrots or raisins or twigs… but we did have lots of leaves – so they worked for making a face.

On the walk home though, it got even better.  We talked Carissa and her Dad into building some more with us.  In the photo below you’ll see the two super long paths the two larger snowballs made as us two grown-ups pushed them along.  I made the bigger one.  LOL  …but I didn’t have to pick up mine.  Carissa’s dad on the other hand, did have to pick up his, and nearly crashed into the original snowman after dropping his on the ground where it broke in two.  Snow is heavy.  Damp snow especially so. 

The new snowbeing is an owl, I was told.  Or at least what the two girls perceive a mythical snow beastie of an owl to be.  I loved it!

And even the broken half of the second large ball of snow ended up becoming something…  a baby snow creature.  Thus our original snowman became snowmother.  So snowowl, snowmother, and snowbaby now sit in the park by our house waiting to greet us during our walk to school tomorrow.

Working on the snowowl

Discussing what would come next.

The whole snowfamily.

Run, run, run through the pumpkin maze

The wee girlie had her first ever class field trip.  As it turned out, she needed both her Daddy and I to be there with her.  LOL  But it was a nice trip, and I’m grateful that neither of us had to miss out on it.  It was kinda special that we were both able to be there.

This photo is a little quirky, but I love it.   Hope you do too.

Run, Run, Run!

If you remember Carissa from an earlier blog post (where the two girls were holding hands on the way to school) that’s her with the adorable toothless grin.  She and Lily-Ann are too cute for words!  LOL  I’m so thrilled that the wee girlie has picked such a wonderful girl as her bestie.

For those of you who are “friends” with me or “friends of friends” on Facebook, I’ve got a whole album there from todays trip to the pumpkin maze.  It really was a nice time, and I captured some really cute moments.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=458734842352&set=a.458733677352.241763.532787352#!/album.php?aid=241763&id=532787352&page=3

On our way…

Just playing around on our walk home from the wee girlie’s school.  As you can see, she went to school dressed up like a fairy (tinkerbell to be precise).  She loves picking out her own clothes, and if the worst that ever happens is she occasionally goes to school dressed as a fairy, a princess, or a pirate, well…  in my mind, that’s just fine. 

On our way...

 

As parents it is important for us to guide our children, but we have to be careful that in our guiding that we don’t take over.  Having choices to make for themselves helps build their sense of self, and can help to build their confidence and slowly prepare them for the larger decisions that will come their way in the future.  We need to allow our little ones to have fun, and to look a little silly (from a grown-ups prospective), and to support the choice they’ve made in doing so.

Lily-Ann felt great about herself in her costume, and had a real sense of pride over having made her clothing choice herself.  I love watching her check the temperature each morning and then going through her closet to decide what would be best.  Occasionally she needs a little nudge from me towards something more weather appropriate, but generally she does really great. 

Rolling down a hill…

Somehow, somewhere, the simple act of rolling down a hill goes from being an act of pure elation to one that…  well…  is inconceivable.  (yes, I watched The Princess Bride recently)  So here is the wee girlie, finding joy in one of the simplest of ways.

Goofy kid. 

rolling, rolling, rolling...