I Don’t Make my Kids Make their Beds

Leave a comment September 29, 2015 drworobec

messyhair

I don’t make my kids make their beds.

There, I’ve said it. It’s like admitting a dirty little secret. So I’m airing my dirty laundry, and there you have it: I don’t make my kids make their beds.

I grew up being expected to make my bed daily, and I am actually quite a neat-freak, so this fact is a bit out of character for me. But truth be told, I don’t make my own bed either (unless tossing a duvet across it counts….. and even that only gets done half the time). The reality is, it’s just not that important to me. Life is very full and very busy and I am having too much fun going to the park or heading to work or reading with my kids to be worried about unmade beds.

It took me awhile to become comfortable with this fact. I often get stricken with the ‘I-shoulds’, and being okay with unmade beds seemed to go against what parenting books would advise. But as life got busier, one child turned into two, and my caring-what-other-people-think declined, I came to peace with my choice. I do have some stipulations with this decision; I have taught my children how to make their beds, and I will quickly pull up the covers on a disheveled mess before company comes over. But the reality is, in my day-to-day normalcy, unmade beds are a staple.

And I’m okay with that.

This sign hung in my laundry room for many years, and sums up my parenting philosophy quite nicely…

Jump on the Bandwagon

1 Comment September 22, 2015 drworobec

In September of 1993, my parents, my brother, and I flew from Calgary to Toronto for a week-long family vacation. This was a big trip for us, and we did all of the typical Toronto touristy stuff, including the CN Tower, Niagara Falls, and a Blue Jay game. And in 1993, Blue Jay fever was in full swing, as it is now. In fact, I distinctly remember that an usher offered me $50 for my ticket as I went to the concessions halfway through the game. Believe me, twenty years ago, $50 was a lot of money for a 14-year-old, and it cemented in my mind how lucky I was to be there.

I grew up in a sport-loving family. Family vacations were often planned around sporting events, and you could always find us at the hockey rink or the golf course or the track. So I come by my love of sport honestly, and baseball ranks right up there on my list of favorites. I have vivid memories of chasing down foul balls for a quarter at Shorncliffe Lake (It’s in Alberta. It’s great and quaint and nostalgic.), getting hit in the forehead with a pop-fly as a teenager, and trying to meet some like-minded friends as a Burlington newcomer in the Burlington Women’s Fastball League.

I’ve been a Jays fan for many years, and I’m thrilled with this season’s success and all the buzz, #cometogether hashtags, and YouTube parodies that have come along with it. In my work, I talk to a lot of people every day. In fact, that’s one of my favorite parts of my job; I like learning about people’s backgrounds, their interests, and their opinions. So it’s no surprise that lately, a lot of my conversations revolve around the Blue Jays. Most people that I talk to are feeling the excitement, and either jumping on the bandwagon or enjoying the success that their fanship hasn’t felt in more than twenty years. But there’s a handful of people who feel a bit annoyed with the sudden increase in Jays fans. This, I do not understand.

The conversation often goes something like this:

Me: “Have you been watching the Jays lately?”

Them: “Yah, and I can’t stand all of these people coming out of the woodwork and jumping on the bandwagon. Where were they for the last twenty years? Why now? C’mon, they’re not real fans.”

Me: “Excuse me for a second, I just need to go grab some sharper acupuncture needles.”

Okay, not really. Attention, Regulatory Board, that last part is NOT true. All of our acupuncture needles are equally sharp. Ahem. (Awkward silence).

My point is, I think the bandwagon jumpers are wonderful. I think there’s strength in numbers. I think there’s an excitement, an energy, a city, even a country, cheering on their team. I think there are kids being inspired and fans being grown.

Jump on the bandwagon, I say, there’s plenty of room.

I’ll save you a seat.

Catch your Breath

Leave a comment September 15, 2015 drworobec

There’s something about a day of puttering around home that really makes my heart sing. Sunday was a day of exactly that, and now I feel like my world is back to spinning on its proper axis.

Life has changed a lot for me in the past couple of weeks, mostly centered around the move that I’ve been blabbering on about. Add to that the back-to-school chaos that we’ve all experienced, and I’ve felt very out of balance lately; I seemingly haven’t been able to catch my breath. But there were several things that helped me catch it this weekend. The first of those things being friends.

I competed in a CrossFit competition on Saturday afternoon. It was an all-female event comprised of teams of three, and there were more than one hundred women involved; nearly half of that hundred were members of my gym. The event raised money for Love the Snatch, a cervical cancer foundation started by someone gone far too soon. I spent the afternoon cheering, chatting, laughing, and sweating. And when I left, my heart was full and smiling. Can hearts smile? Yep. They can, and they do.

And then there’s my Sunday. Some IKEA assembly for my work-with-my-hands side, some country music for my feels-like-home side, some coffee for my I-love-coffee side, and heaps upon heaps of family time for my this-is-what-life-is-about side.

And so, my friends, the world continues to turn, doesn’t it? Even when change is happening fast and furious. Even when we can’t catch our breath. And when balance is restored and my breath has been caught, these guys are always there to go for a walk or read books or help me make dinner, and make me feel right back to normal.

I love these guys.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
~ Maya Angelou