The Gift of Experience

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My son is turning seven this week.  I wrote a post about him two years ago, on the eve of his 5th birthday.  Now five seems like a distant memory, and I have a seven-year-old full-blown boy on my hands.  If you’ve got a child in your life, you will understand the disbelief I’m feeling that another year has flown by.  Time speeds up exponentially when you’ve measure it through the growth of children.

We hemmed and hawed about what to get him.  With Christmas just past, hand-me-downs from older cousins, and the blessing of a comfortable life, there isn’t much that he actually needs.  And while I do think that birthdays are a chance to venture beyond the “need” category and into the “wants,” I felt the unease of excess creeping in.  My heart lies in minimalism and I didn’t feel good about buying more “stuff” just to checkmark a box on the birthday to-do list.  So we did what we often do; we got him a gift of experience.

We surprised him with tickets to Monster Jam in Toronto and dinner at a restaurant afterwards.  Our Sunday was spent with two very excited children, riding the GO train, enjoying the monster truck action, and having a special birthday dinner.  The four of us were together the entire day, adding to our memory banks and learning more about what makes our children so very special, so very unique, so very much our most precious gifts.  We will remember this birthday.  And he will too.

Happy birthday to the kid that’s changed my everything.

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Oh my, what a year it’s been.

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Oh my, what a year it’s been.

My 2015 has been incredible, and I owe a lot of that to you.  Yes you, the people reading this blog and supporting me in all things along the way.

It began with you voting me Burlington’s Best Chiropractor in February:

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In June, you voted me to be Burlington’s community representative, and carry the Pan Am flame along Lake Ontario:

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In September, my family moved into our “forever home“:

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And all the while, I got to be at Burlington Sports & Spine Clinic, doing what I love to do.  Again, thanks to you.

GRATITUDE.

Project Winter

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My kids are now 6 and 3, rounding the bend to 7 and 4.  Beyond the baby stage, there’s no more naps, no more diapers, no more babies in our house.  And while I may or may not have cried when we took down the crib last year, I am excited for what this new chapter of parenthood brings.  Enter skiing.

I grew up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains and skied many times a year.  But I wouldn’t say that it ever became a passion of mine; I do love the outdoors and the exercise and the scenery, but the actual skiing part is a medium on my list of loves.  And lately, my distaste for Winter has grown.  You would think that an Alberta-girl would be used to sub-zero temperatures, but my theory is that I got my quota of Winter as a child….. these days I freeze solid in November and don’t thaw out until April.  “Embrace the winter,” my mother says, “there’s nothing you can do to change it.”  Sigh, I’m trying.

You probably already know my views on keeping kids active, and skiing seems like the perfect way to accomplish that goal through our long Canadian winters.  Plus it’s a great lifetime sport, a way to have fun together, and a justifiable excuse for hot chocolate in a ski chalet.  So we’ve made the investment.  My husband and I just purchased full ski gear (Merry Christmas to us!) that we hope will last for many years (as did my previous 1989 Salomons), and we plan to rent equipment for the kids for this, our inaugural ski season.

I’m calling it “Project Winter” and we’ll see who wins the battle between myself and Mother Nature.  We’re embarking on the ski-family journey of two hours to get ready, three runs on the bunny hill, forty-five minutes to complete a bathroom break, and sleeping kids on the drive home.  And if you see my husband, ask him about the time I left him stranded on a ledge at Sunshine Village in Banff….. on the day he proposed…..

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