What-Shall-We-Do-Today Mornings

Leave a comment September 2, 2014 drworobec

PLEASE NOTE:
I will be expanding my practice to
include MORNING appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
effective Thursday, September 18th.

For more than five and a half years, I haven’t had to rush out of the house, amidst the madness of a morning routine. You see, I’ve been very lucky to be able to manipulate my work schedule around the needs of family life. And with young children, those needs have involved me at home every morning.

I don’t want you to get the impression that my mornings are wide open, because they most definitely are not. We always spend mornings out of the house and on-the-go, going about the daily ritual of teaching, building, and growing little minds and little bodies. We’ve done dozens upon dozens of registered programs over the years, and hundreds of playdates, playgrounds, and trips to the library. We’ve done Nursery School, swimming, skating, and story-times. We’ve done Early Years drop-ins, indoor playgrounds, and trips to the mall. We’ve done more day trips than I can count and more overnights than the norm, but we’ve never had a daily early morning deadline. No rushing kids through breakfast, no frantic searches for shoes and water bottles, no we-need-to-leave-five-minutes-agos. Until now.

Gone are the days of the pyjama-lounging, coffee-drinking, what-shall-we-do-today mornings. For nearly six years, this has been our luxury. But that all changes this week, as my son begins full-day Senior Kindergarten and my daughter starts Nursery School twice a week. Morning routines will begin. Clock-watching will start. I may even have to (gasp!) wake my children up.

I’m sure we will manage. I’m sure we will find our ‘new normal’. I’m sure we will scramble through September, only to find that October comes quickly. And soon, very soon after that, I will look back at September 2nd and not be so scared.

back-to-school-4

A Story to Tell

Leave a comment August 26, 2014 drworobec

I’ve discovered a new interest. Furniture. Yes, you read that right.

These days, I am finding my love for furniture that I never knew existed. But I’m not talking about brand new showroom furniture; quite the opposite, actually. I’m talking about antique-shop treasures, garage-sale steals, and by-the-curb finds. Pieces with character, with personality, with a story to tell.

As tastes in furnishings and fashions go, mine tend to run on the plain play-it-safe side of things. You could say that I’m an IKEA regular. But over the years, I’ve begun to scour home decor magazines and read blogs about interior design. I’ve started hearing about chalk paint and upcycling, shabby chic and repurposing, gel stain and van Gogh paint. Terms like distressing, built-ins, and Napoleonic Blue have become part of my vocabulary. My interest has been piqued.

I’m still very much a newbie, but now I have a couple of pieces in my home that most certainly have memories already attached.

My kitchen table and chairs.

I found these at a garage sale, and since we don’t have access to a truck, my husband and our neighbour actually walked this set the two blocks home. They went from looking like this:

To this:

It’s amazing what a new stain colour and paint can do.

But I most definitely did not complete this transformation myself. Instead, I hired a wonderful painter who specializes in custom-painted furniture. But regardless, my creative spark was ignited and I began to see the possibilities.

My son’s dresser.

We were recently given a beautiful dresser from my husband’s Aunt who passed away. With sentimental value built right in, my five-year-old and I completed a great weekend project.

Before.

After.

Now I’ve got my eye on Tropical Cocktail for our laundry cart. Stay tuned.

Just Jump

Leave a comment August 19, 2014 drworobec

Just jump, he said.

You can do it, she said.

1-2-3 go, they said.

But all I could see was the blur of a wooden plank, green trees, and muddy water. I could see others jumping, all around me, but it was like I was inside a glass jar. I could see out, but the noises were muffled. My senses were dulled. My vision was narrowed, my hearing was echoed, my tastebuds were coated with mud. Oh, but I could still feel. I could feel my husband trying to grab my hand to help me forward and my friends patting me on the back. I could feel the platform shake, the breeze blow, and the water spray. But mostly, I could feel fear. Overwhelming, all-encompassing, make-your-knees-buckle fear. The panic began to overtake me. I got weepy, my legs shook, my face went white underneath the mud.

But I had known about this all year, I thought. I did this last year, I thought. How can this fear possibly be gripping me yet again? But it was. And it did.

You see, I wasn’t always afraid of heights. In fact, I’ve bungee-jumped in Cairns, Australia.

Cairns-Bungy-Platform

I’ve done the reverse bungee at the Calgary Stampede.

Power_Shot_-_Reverse_Bungee_02

I’ve jumped off high-dives and cliffs, been down huge waterslides, and walked on suspension bridges. I’ve ridden on roller-coasters and drop-zones and tiny prop airplanes. I’ve cliff-jumped, climbed high ropes, and stood on roofs. But I’ve rarely felt fear like that.

You see, this weekend, I participated in the Tough Mudder with my husband and four of our friends. The Tough Mudder is a 10-mile Obstacle Course/Mud Run, which I also did last year. So I knew about ‘Walking the Plank‘, as the Tough Mudder Headquarters has so aptly named this obstacle. I knew about it, I thought about it, I worried about it. And yet, when it came time, the fear consumed me. Last year’s jump involved more than 10 minutes of me standing at the top, dozens of people chanting my name, and my husband climbing back up to jump alongside me. This year’s jump was less dramatic. I simply panicked.

I panicked and I climbed back down. I’m not doing it, I said. I can’t do it, I said. And so all my teammates jumped. And when they had continued on to the next aid station, out of sight and out of earshot, I climbed back up and jumped.

Just jump, he said.

You can do it, she said.

1-2-3 go, they said.

So I did. I can. Just on my own time.

Thank you, my team. xo.