Water, duck.

1 Comment April 16, 2019 drworobec

Perhaps we’ll start today off with a little zoology reminder. As you may know, a duck’s outer feathers are waterproof due to an oily coating that the duck secretes. This oil repels water and forces the droplets to roll off the duck’s back rather than making the feathers wet and heavy. This fact has become the basis of a little piece of advice we’ve been giving to our kids when they overreact.

“Water, duck.”

It’s a reminder to keep your cool, let it roll off your back, don’t sweat the small stuff. My kids are now ten and seven, and big brother likes to push little sister’s buttons from time to time; her overreaction can be swift and massive, leading to a cascade of sibling fighting. After one such outburst over Lego or TV volume or who got to use the front door key, we sat the kids down and had the water/duck talk.

It sunk in. They got it. And now when those episodes happen, we just have to say “water, duck” and it serves as a very effective reminder to think big picture and take a deep breath. It’s always been my ultimate goal to raise children who are happy, however that happiness is defined or manifests for them. Part of the water/duck talk was to explain to them how focusing on small problems only robs you of joy, steals your energy, and creates a feeling of unhappiness.

This is advice that I try to heed myself too, and something that’s come in very handy over the past two weeks. You see, today is day twelve without internet at home, as our service provider tries to fix an unknown issue- we’ve had four technician service calls, hours on hold on the phone, and stretches of days waiting for the next available 8-5 repair window. It’s still not fixed and we’re frustrated. But…….. water, duck. If this is the worst problem in my life then I’m doing pretty well. I’ve got wi-fi at work, Starbucks wi-fi down the road, and I can create a hotspot from my phone when I need to be online at home. Problem solved, onto bigger fish to fry.

I’ve seen far too many grown adults grumble about someone kicking their seat on an airplane, let a cold restaurant meal ruin their night, or complain about loud backyard neighbourhood gatherings. Water, duck friends, just let it roll off your back.

Focus your energy on the good stuff.

Choose happy.

This is the only picture I have on my phone that has a duck in it. Just go with it, okay?

Planting Time Seeds

Leave a comment April 2, 2019 drworobec

I thought I’d write a poem this time
Cuz my ideas have been low.
I like to bounce my words around
And speak aloud and slow.

I find it gets my brain stirred up
And makes me laugh in my head.
I feel just like my fourth-grader
As I review the prose ahead.

But the reality is, it’s been a long time
That I’ve been writing this blog,
This post is number two nighty-six
And some weeks it’s a bit of a slog.

I love to write and the feedback is great
Per month I’ve got thousands of reads.
But when push comes to shove, the real story is
I need hours to be grown from seeds.

Between hockey and skiing,
Now is lacrosse and baseball,
School pickups and dropoffs
It’s become quite the haul.

Time is tricky to find
In the balance as a mum,
I wish those time seeds
Could be planted with my thumb.

I’d grow some for RockTape
And the Burlington Runners Club,
My writing commitments
Could be grown like a shrub.

I’d plant some more seeds
For my New York training fears.
There’s that 42.2 looming
My first marathon in twelve years.

Let’s not forget date nights
Which are nearly non-existent.
And our evenings on the couch
Have been less than consistent.

There’s parent council meetings at school
And kids coaching to do,
We also have a puppy,
She’s sweet and her name’s Blue.

There you have it my friends
What I’m trying to say,
Is let’s see what happens
At least I posted today.

I’m at my kitchen table,
I booked an hour off the hook
To wrap my brain around ideas
And maybe finally start my book.

But all that I’ve accomplished
Is this three-hundred word poem.
Yet I’ve also built this life;
My family, house, and home.

So even though it’s busy,
Full of rush and multi-tasking
It’s what I’ve chosen, what I’m proud of,
And in that I will stay basking.

I saw this post on Instagram,
It’s the background on my phone.
I’m thankful for every piece of my life
But perhaps I need a clone.

Go Wild, Go West!

2 Comments June 28, 2018 drworobec

This blog post comes at you two days late, and with more than 7000km of travel under my belt; 6000km of it by plane, and over 1000km by car. Such is the Alberta way: road trips.

Late last week, my kids and I took advantage of some soon-to-expire Westjet vouchers and hopped on a plane to Calgary for six days of soaking up family and friends and exploring Southern and Central Alberta. (Unfortunately my husband couldn’t join us, since he’s a teacher and the school-year has not yet wrapped up in Burlington.) I grew up in Sundre, Alberta, an hour’s drive Northwest of Calgary, but until I was ten years old, I lived in the tiny village of Hughenden, about 100km west of the Alberta-Saskatchewan border. I still have lots of relatives in and around Hughenden, so this trip was a chance to see many of them and to give my kids a taste of their heritage. My children are older now, and at nine and six, they’ve got improved stamina for car travel and a bigger interest and awareness of their surroundings. So while they’ve been to Alberta many times, it’s usually a Christmas visit, and it’s usually centred around Grandma and Grandpa’s house. This trip was the opposite of that, and we put in more than ten hours of car travel, slept in three different beds, and threw in lots of coffee and cookie visits with their Great Aunts and Uncles for good measure.

Our first adventure was the Sundre Pro Rodeo. Sundre hosts a three-day professional rodeo annually, on the third weekend in June, so if you want a true Western experience, this is it. And….. since I’m not one to do things halfway, I registered my daughter as a mutton bustin’ contestant. For those non-Albertans reading this post, mutton bustin’ is a children’s rodeo event, whereby five and six-year-olds who weigh less than 50 pounds can don a hockey helmet and ride a sheep across the rodeo arena. Hang on the longest, win a prize. I’d prepped her for months; YouTube videos, storied descriptions, and promises of fun and accomplishment. My city girl was about to get a country girl experience. After taking in the local pancake breakfast and the main street parade, we headed to the rodeo grounds, and in true Sundre Rodeo fashion, the infield was a mud pit from the rain the night before.

Undeterred, my brave girl stood above the chutes thirty minutes before her event, and we scoped out the sheep, who were corralled and waiting. The grandstand began to fill, the rain-jackets and hoodies came off, and after a lot of hurry-up-and-wait, it was time. Into the chute I climbed, onto the sheep she went; the whistle blew, the gate opened, the sheep ran. Fast. If you’re picturing this scene in your mind, you can now picture a sheep darting across the mud, then slipping and falling onto its side, with a little girl still attached; orange rubber boot in the air, she only let go when the sheep got up. rodeo discussion She came up crying, upset not about falling off, but about being covered in mud. As I’d hoped, dry clothes and a trophy quickly changed her tears to laughter. Oh, what a show-and-tell she will have at school today.

Our next adventure took us to Provost, Alberta, my birthplace, to visit my Aunt and Uncle’s farm. We spent two nights there, under the big prairie skies, and had more fun than I can describe within my word count here. Ironically, my kids missed their end-of-the-year field trip to a farm earlier this week, but got an up-close-and-personal look at a working farm instead. We checked on the cows, played with the cats, and rode the ATVs for miles across wide open spaces. We breathed in the fresh Alberta air and watched a storm roll in across the prairie, we shot slingshots and pop cans, rode in tractors and played cards and boardgames and shuffleboard. I saw my childhood flash back through them, saw life come full circle, saw the next generation see and feel and taste my memories, my nostalgia, my experiences.

I should also mention the several Aunts and Uncles and small towns that we stopped in throughout our 1000km of travel; we drove by the house I grew up in, we visited two cemeteries to see my grandparent’s headstones, and we climbed the big dinosaur lookout in Drumheller. I saw dozens of high school friends, ran on my favourite trails, and threw rocks along the riverbanks where I learned to skate. Our final night in Alberta was spent in Calgary with my brother and his family, who had also joined us in Sundre earlier in our trip. We filled up on pizza and ice cream, playgrounds and cousin hugs, neighbourhood walks and familiar streets.

All in all, this week was about roots. These people, these places, these experiences; these are the components of me. And while my life has changed dramatically over the years, their importance and value remains, so sharing these people and places with my children is something I’ll cherish forever. You know, roots and wings and all that…..