#notbuyingit
Okay. So I am usually not one to get all worked up about shit like this, but for some reason today, this is really, REALLY bothering me.
I opened up my email this morning and the first thing that I saw was this.
It's the new Halloween Ad from Gymboree.
And according to the fine folks at Gymboree, my girl's choices for Halloween or dress up are Pixie, fairy, flower or bug and my boy, well, he gets to have an awesome job. Now, you've all seen my girly girl and you and I both know that she would gladly choose any of the above girl costumes. But what if the EMT or the Astronaut picture was of a girl model instead of a boy? Would she perhaps choose one of those instead?
This kind of advertising is not just happening at Gymboree. Old Navy's gender stereotyping for Halloween is just as bad, if not worse. They actually have a separate Toddler Boys and Toddler Girls section for costumes. Really Old Navy, save us Moms that extra click and just have them all in the same section!
I mentioned this on Twitter this morning and had a nice conversation with a young man named @traviswallis. When I said that I thought it would be nice to see some girl models in the ads wearing the dragon or astronaut or pirate costumes, his response was this:
And that right there... THAT is the problem in our society!
90% of {North} Americans wouldn't buy it!
And we wonder why there is gender inequality in our world?
It starts the minute they are born. Pink and blue, dolls and cars, Barbies and Superheroes. It's in ALL the advertising that is supposedly aimed at us, the parent consumers, but is in actuality totally aimed at our kids!
Now some of your may be saying, but why does this matter Natasha, you can just let your daughter choose whatever costume she likes and not worry about whether it is a 'boy' costume or a 'girl' one. To this I say, really? Have YOU tried to dress an almost 4-year old girl lately (or 6-year old boy for that matter)? Trust me, I have very little say in what they wear these days and both my daughter, and her older brother, are very aware of the separate Girl and Boy sections at stores when we are shopping. It's not that easy to say it doesn't matter when it is presented like this right in front their very impressionable young faces.
In my opinion, this kind of advertising just solidifies the media messages that YOU, my girl, are just supposed to be pretty, pretty, pretty and YOU, my boy, get to be all kinds of different and awesome and worthy things.
And that kind of gender-based messaging just doesn't fly around here and is NOT gonna happen or be let into this house!
Sorry Gymboree, Old Navy and whoever else wants to continue to advertise to me (and my kids) like this.
This Mama is #NOTbuyingit!
And my kids are both different and awesome and worthy of a whole lot more than your pithy portrayals of what girls and boys want to be for Halloween!
{end rant}
Natasha~
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Post #18 on Day 19 of the Summer Blog Challenge.
Have you visited these other fine bloggers lately?
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
Tired and dirty
I am so tired. Ridiculous, can't keep my eyes open, can't think straight tired.
And I am not the only one.
Little C woke up at 7:30 AM, went back to bed, woke up an hour later and is now back in bed sleeping again.
Looks like some kind of bug may be hitting our house or maybe our long days in the sun are catching up to us.
Either way, today is turning out to be a stay at home, watch movies and maybe bake something kind of day.
It is also the day that landscaping starts at the Natural Urban Home and I have been jokingly refering to my street at #hysterialane on Twitter because of all the cutie patootie young men who are topless and working up a nice sweat in my yard and will be doing so for the next few weeks!
If anyone wants to bring over a thermos of sangria and help me 'supervise' from the deck, just let me know.
Cheers,
Natasha~
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This is technically yesterday's post. Day 16 of the Summer Blog Challenge. I was just too damn tired to post it last night.
Please visit the healthier and less dirty old lady posts from the other challenge participants!
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
But, but, but....
I was supposed to write a different post tonight. {Sorry Z, I decided that I wanted to think on that one a bit more.} Instead, you are going to get a look at the emotional turmoil that is a mother more than half-way through summer holidays, about to send not just one, but both of her babies off to school in less than three weeks!
Here we go...
I am anxious for summer to be over and to get back to the routine of the school year
but,
I don't want summer to end, because we haven't done all that I had planned for us yet.
~
I love our carefree days and NOT having to live by a schedule
but,
I miss MY schedule and any time for just me.
~
I want to have crazy summer nights out with my girlfriends
but,
My evenings are the only time I get alone with Natural Urban Dad.
~
At the end of our days, I am touched out, talked out, and I need a time-out
but,
At the end of our days, all I want is to cuddle them as they fall asleep,
breath in their just-bathed smell and memorize every small detail of them at that very moment.
~
I want Summer to be over.
I want Summer to never end.
~
I want them to grow up.
I want them to stay like this forever.
~
Sigh,
Natasha~
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Day 15 of the Summer Blog Challenge!!
HALF-WAY!
Go! See my friends. Comments and sharing is nice too!
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
folk fest friends
At 11 o'clock at night when I am taking down my tent in the dark, at least one of my children is having a meltdown of epic proportions and you see me trudging back up to the South Gate at the top of the Edmonton Folk Festival hill with all of our day's paraphernelia, you may wonder to yourself, why does she DO this? I was quite late to the Folk Fest game for an Edmontonian. I did not discover the amazing joy of this weekend until my early 30's. And then I was HOOKED! The music, the hill, the LOVE and yes, the beer tent. It's all just so good.
It is not an event that Natural Urban Dad enjoys (he likes to call it the Hippy-Gypsy festival and likes toilets that flush way too much to even step on the hill), but it is something that I love and that I wanted my children to love.
Why?
Because yesterday, we were sitting in front of a group of twenty-somethings at Stage 6 and one of them started helping L make a grass tower. He told me how he took his first steps on this particular hill and has been coming ever since, first with his family and now with his friends.
So don't look at me trudging up the hill and think, why not just leave the kids at home? Think WOW, what incredible memories and life experiences and MUSIC that mom is sharing with her babies! Expereinces that one day they will share with their own babies, or with someone else's little one building a grass castle on the hill!
Feeling the hippy-gypsy love of Folk Fest!
Natasha~
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This is my Day 11 post for the Summer Blog Challenge. I say it counts because I totally wrote it all in my head last night.
Check out the other posts from these fine folks too!
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
what I did on my summer vacation-part one
This year we had a HUGE family trip planned. The in-laws have been on us to join them for a trip to Singapore for a few years now. We figured that the kids were old enough to remember such a trip and we did not have any major projects (ie, the Natural Urban Home) on the go. The flights and hotels were booked, travel vaccines done, and our days all planned with the amazing and wonderful sights to see and places to visit in and around Singapore and our planned side trip to Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
And due to circumstances WAY beyond our control (suffice it to say that CANCER can SUCK IT!) we had to cancel our trip. The day before we were supposed to leave.
I had to break this to the kids on the Friday before our planned departure. Yeah, that was not fun. They cried, they asked why so many times I stopped counting. And they were so, so disappointed.
I felt that we could not just cancel outright any chance of us taking a family vacation this summer and so I hit the interwebs to find a suitable (and relatively close-by) alternative.
Maui? No, the flights were just too much.
Mexico? The Carribean? Nope, surprisingly most all-inclusives are rather costly in the summer months.
So I started to look closer to home.
And then it hit me.
Vancouver Island.
My parents have been yammering on for years about this place on Vancouver Island that they love and visit as often as they can. In my mind, I somehow pictured tit as the Canadian version of Boca Raton and just dismissed it as a retirees haven of golf and well... more golf. And more imporantly, neither I nor the kids have ever been to the Island, so it just made sense.
It looked like the perfect spot for us to get away for a week and just chill.
I am talking about the lovely little town of Parksville, British Columbia.
I headed over to VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and started to look for a nice cottage to rent for the week.
And two hours later I had our flights booked (on Westjet of course) and I found and reserved a great fully-equipped vacation rental just minutes from the beach.
We had a plan.
When the kids woke up on Saturday morning, we told them all about our NEW holiday plans. And because they are kids, they were just as excited about this trip as they were about the one to Singapore (which is still on the books for sometime in the next six months or so)!
We left on the following Monday and flew into Comox airport. We rented a ridiculously small, yet surprisingly roomy and EXTREMELY fuel efficient car (the Mazda 2) and headed to our final destination.
Parksville is this little wonderfully tourist-y kind of town on the east coast of Vancouver Island, 25-40 minutes from the airports in either Nanaimo or Comox and it is the perfect family vacation spot.
On our first day we headed to Cathedral Grove. A forest of ancient Douglas Firs that my kids (and my husband) loved. It was magical walking through the trees and watching L look for 'fairy houses' {giant mushrooms} and C trying to figure out how high the trees were. I personally loved all the moss-covered everything, it made me feel like I was in a Rivendell forest scene from Lord of the Rings.
On our way back from the forest we stopped for a picnic at the Little Qualicum Falls park and inadvertently took our kids on what turned out to be a 2.5 hour strenuous hike on some pretty rocky terrain (which we learned later is also bear country!). We got lost {twice} and eventually made it back to our car. All I have to say about this is THANK GAWD I had my toddler carrier. Now if only I had brought more water with us...
Day Two was filled with more tourist-y sights and we headed out to the famous Goats on the Roof Old Country Market in nearby Coombs. It is an eclectic little place to visit, with lots of cute shops, a fabulous {and very crowded} market filled with all kinds of imported and local foods and gifts and yes, there really are goats munching away at the living roof of the main building. We also found the giant limestone statues and carvings a block over, while completely odd and out of place, rather awe-inspiring. And for some reason, my kids were particularly drawn to these ones.
We visited the Butterfly World and Gardens on the way back and although the kids thoroughly enjoyed it and I got to fool around with my new macro lens for my iPhone, the price to get it was rather steep and the kids were quite obviously DONE!
Day Three was declared a beach day and we headed out in the morning to stake our spot on Rathtrevor Beach. With the tide out in the mornings at least a kilometre, small pools of water get warmed by the sun and you can spend your whole day exploring the ocean floor and finding lots of great treasures. The kids dug a huge trench and just sat in it for the longest time. We tried to walk to the ocean's edge, but a kilometre trek at the end of a day in the sun was too much for everyone and so we headed back home for a nap instead!
After our much needed nap and discovering that when you offer to put sunscreen on your husband's back and he says "Don't worry, just do my shoulders." you SHOULD NEVER LISTEN TO HIM (um, hello sunburn!), we headed to Parksville Beach to check out the sand sculptures created for the Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition and Exhibition. The sculptors get a truckload of sand and 24 hours to create their masterpieces and then they are on display for the next 4 weeks. We all got to vote for our favourite one and the competition was tough and provided some awesome inspiration for our next beach day!
There really is so much to do in and around the Parksville area on Vancouver Island that you can't go wrong with a family vacation there. Check out this great website for a lot more information about what to do, where to stay and more while in the area. I have 4 more days of fun to share with you, but this post is getting quite picture heavy. I will post Part Two later this week and I leave you tonight with this.
My little monkey man climbing around at the COOLEST playground ever!!
What about you? Have you vacationed or explored a new part of Canada for the first time this year? Where should we go next?
Natasha~
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Today is Day 10 of the 31 Days of Summer Blog Challenge.
Please visit the posts from my fellow bloggers and encourage them to keep going by commenting and sharing!
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
A letter to my daughter.
My dearest L, We've started talking about it.
About you growing up and getting to be a big girl now.
I see you taking so many steps and leaps into life that only a few short months ago, I know would have been impossible for you to navigate.
Today, I dropped you off for your first ever day of summer camp and I was SO worried. I was worried that you would not want to participate. That you would not let me leave you there with your camp leaders for the few hours of fun and learning.
But I was wrong.
You put that bike helmet on, told your Bike Camp instructor your name and with a big smile and a wave back at me, took off with the rest of the kids.
I stuck around for a bit, just to make sure you settled in OK {and to be honest, more for my peace of mind than yours}. But there was really no need, because you my girl, ROCKED IT!
And I am so proud of you.
We have also started talking about you going to preschool in the Fall and how when that happens and because you will be such a big girl then...
...that we are going to stop nursing.
And I know that you my beautiful girl will likely be far more OK with this decision and transition than me, the grown up. For you it is another milestone. A stepping stone on your amazing flower strewn path of life and a beginning of a new phase of self-discovery. For me it is going to be something a little different.
It is an end of something for Mommy. Something that has meant more to me than I ever, in my wildest dreams, could have imagined it would mean. And I may be a bit sad about it.
But I know in my heart that it is time. It is time that we both take those big girl steps and grow up a bit. You into the super-girl preschooler that I know you are going to be and me into the mama of two KIDS and no longer the mama of babies.
I hope that one day we can both look back on these days fondly. That you will remember nursing and how it made you feel. How you liked to snuggle into me, take a deep inhale and say that I smelled like boobie-breasts - your sly little hint that you wanted to nurse.
I want you to know that this experience with first your big brother and then you, has shaped me in more ways that you can imagine.
Nursing you has made me a more patient mama. A more present mama. And a more pragmatic mama too. YOU made me just BE in a way that I wasn't doing before you. And I am not sure I can ever thank you properly for that.
I see so much of myself in you my girl. We look similar, we have similar mannerisms, and yet, there you are, your own little person. Your creative spirit, your sillyness, the way you thank me every night without prompting for "making a delicious dinner" and for the way you hold my hand so tightly when we are out and about.
There are so many things about you that make my heart swell and I know that this is a list that is just going to keep on growing as you do too.
And although you are leaving the realms of baby and toddler-hood behind and taking me with you, know this my child...
You will always be my beautiful baby girl!
Love you forever and ever and ever,
Mommy~
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This is my Day 6 post for the Summer Blog Challenge. Yes, yes I know.. it's a day late.
Please visit my fellow bloggers and Psst... we all REALLY enjoy your comments!
Zita at The Dulock Diaries.
Meaghan at MagzD Life
April at This Mom’s Got Something to Say
Aramelle at One Wheeler’s World
Jessica at 2plus2X2
and Liam at In the Now
World Breastfeeding Week: Reason #576...
...that {extended} breastfeeding works for us.
Instant comfort for little Miss L after her first wipeout on her new bike.
Before:
After:
It is always more than just food.
Especially now.
To find out more about World Breastfeeding Week 2012, please check out the site HERE.
Now what about you? How has breastfeeding made parenting easier for you {and your babies}?
Natasha~
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This is Day Three of the #31Days of Summer Blogging, AKA the Summer Blog Challenge.
Check out the contributions of our other participants today.
April starts her alphabet-inspired posts over at This Mom's Got Something to Say.
Meaghan is the daughter of a cop... and is thankful for the job they all do for US at MagzD Life.
Zita is probably still writing... check her post out soon at The Dulock Diaries.
And Liam is trying to recruit more suckas to do this crazy challenge!!
Learning to ride and learning to let go
After your first day of cycling, one dream is inevitable.A memory of motion lingers in the muscles of your legs, and round and round they seem to go. You ride through Dreamland on wonderful dream bicycles that change and grow. ~ H.G. Wells The Wheels of Chance
My son learned to ride his bike a few weeks ago.
And neither his father nor I had very much to do with it.
I enrolled Little C in the Pedalheads Bike Camp and after seeing the results of this week long, 2.5 hours a day camp program, I know that it was the best thing for all of us.
For one thing, they took the training wheels of his bike on the first day! (I know for a fact that I wouldn't have done that for a long time because I would have been the one afraid to, not him!)
By the second day, he was riding about 10-15 feet on his own and at the end of the week, all he needed was a little bit of a push and off he went riding at least a block.
Every day he would come home and was just so proud of himself and also a bit "Meh, no biggie mom, just ridin' my bike."
And every day, I wondered if I was missing out somehow on this milestone in my child's life. Wondering if it should be me or his dad doing the teaching.
Then I would remember myself and my son and our personalities and know that there is no way that I would have been able to have the patience to do it and that we would have just ended up frustrated with each other and someone would very likely be in tears at the end of it (me!).
I think this is simply one more lesson I am learning as a parent.
Know thy limits.
I could have spent hours all summer trying to teach my son to ride and I know that it would not have been fun for either of us. Instead I chose to send him to bike camp, to learn with his peers, to be pushed without the pressure of Mommy or Daddy hovering over him and to be so proud of something that he accomplished on his own!
In fact, he had so much fun and I was so impressed by the program, that I am enrolling both him and his sister in one more week before the summer is out!
Every single day I learn more and more about this parenting gig. I see around me the kind of parent I want to be and I also see the kind of parent I don't want to be.
I don't want to be that parent that pushes my kid so hard that every lesson ends in tears. I want him to want to do the activities that make him happy (not me) and I want him to feel a sense of accomplishment doing them. I also don't want to be the parent that is overly present and always there to pick up the pieces. And this may be a lesson for further on down the road, but I don't want to raise an entitled little shit who knows that mommy and daddy are always gonna bail him out of whatever mess or mistake or hiccup he faces in life. I want him to learn to pick himself up and learn from his mistakes and do better the next time around.
I DO want to be the kind of parent that instills a sense of work ethic in my children. And by work ethic, I mean, you get what you give. Give something your best shot, try your hardest and you will get the rewards. Often that reward is just the smug self-satisfaction of knowing that you did that something... ALL. BY. YOURSELF! Trust me, for a five and a half year old, this is BIG! And for my little perfectionist (sheesh is he ever his father's kid!) this is GINORMOUS!!
So next week, there I will be once again, the mom on the sidelines, drinking my grande soy latte and watching someone else teach my kids the finer points of balance, brakes and biking like a pro! And I am good with that.
I am learning what it is that I am good at as a parent and THIS, is just not one of those things.
It's called delegating people! Don't hesitate to do it... even as a parent!
See you on the bike trails!
Natasha~
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This post is Day TWO of the Summer Blog Challenge.
Check out these other posts from my friends joining in on the fun.
Zita gets very personal and has some news over at The Dulock Diaries
Meaghan has a confession and a colourful addiction at MagzD Life
April gives us the low down on her "new" parenting method at This Mom's Got Something to Say.
and Liam's BS meter went off the charts over at In the Now.