Monkeys and Elephants and Giraffes... Oh my!
I took the kids to the Telus World of Science today and we went to see the IMAX movie "Born to Be Wild". [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYxqQODBfEo[/youtube]
You HAVE to see this movie. My kids loved it.
I loved it. A lot!
All day, all I have been thinking about, is how incredible those two women are to have devoted their entire lives to these precious and amazing animals.
And all day I have been day-dreaming about somehow doing the same thing.
There it is. My secret. My 'I wish I could do that when I grow up' desire.
I wish I could rescue and care for wild animals. Big, endangered, majestic, beautiful, jungles of South America and plains of Africa animals.
And the thing that you need to understand is that this wish didn't just start today.
In 2005, Natural Urban Dad and I took THE trip of our lives.We were invited to the destination wedding of a dear friend.
The destination? East Africa.
So off we went on the adventure of a lifetime to this incredible wedding in Dar Es Salaam and then a week-long safari through Northern Tanzania. The whole trip was magical. And terrifying and eye-opening and spectacular and so many other big words that I can't think of right now.
I mean I stood at the very spot dubbed the 'Cradle of Mankind' for Pete's sake! It doesn't get much more incredible than that!
In the end though, it was all of the wild and wonderful animals that we saw on our week long safari through the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Crater, that made the most lasting impression on me.
My love of all things giraffe was born in Africa. They were one of the first animals that we saw driving into the park that first day. The only thing I can relate it to is that scene in Jurassic Park when they see all the dinosaurs for the first time and they big sauropods are walking by almost in slow motion. Seeing a herd of giraffes doing that not 50 feet in front of us was like that, but way, WAY, better!
Going to Africa was our last big hurrah trip. Our chance to do something truly adventurous before we started a family. These thoughts about family may have been heavy in my mind the whole time we were on the safari, because every chance I got, I took pictures (FILM pictures, I must add) of baby animals. Baby elephants trying to keep up with their mommies and aunties, baby monkeys grooming themselves, baby hippos resting on their mamas backs, fuzzy baby giraffes trying to reach the tall branches on the Acacia trees. I would make our guide Ali, stop the Land Rover each and every time we came upon a baby anything so I could get yet another shot!
Heck I even took pictures of animals MAKING babies!!
I loved that trip so much and I promised myself that when we did have kids, and they were old enough, we would do it again. Watching the movie today and seeing the looks of wonder and awe on my babies faces just solidified this desire even more. Natural Urban Dad and I talked about it tonight and agreed that yes, we will all make this trek once again in a few years time.
I think, in an ideal world, everyone should stand at the 'Cradle of Mankind' at least once in their lifetime and be humbled by it and truly understand where we all come from and that we are all connected. And everyone should see all of these magnificent animals in their natural habitats to really know what it means to be 'born to be wild' and know why that matters.
Because it changes EVERYTHING.
At least it did for me.
Asante sana,
natasha~
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Day 22 of the Summer Blog Challenge and now all I want to do is plan our next trip!
Let's go see what these people are up to...
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
It's just a little spilled pickle juice
Silly title I know, but it is what it is and since I don't want to go to bed both mad and without writing something tonight... Here is a short list of things I am grateful for today.
1. My little girl and her two favourite friends having a tea party and two almost 6-year olds who needed the door closed so that they could play big boy imagination games.
2. Spinilates. It does a body good.
3. The lovely eye-candy that is the sweaty, shirtless men, working hard to give me a back yard. I know, so sexist of me, but WHATEVS...
4. Two-step oatmeal muffins that the kids can essentially make themselves and the ensuing house that smells like fresh baking.
5. Day Three of Natural Zen Mama. No yelling, no screaming, actively listening and stopping the busy-ness to just play.
6. Being photographed and photo-bombed by our children!
I need to get to bed before midnight. My mind and my body both need rest.
Goodnight all,
natasha~
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This is Day 21 of the Summer Blog Challenge!
10 Days left!
Go see what everyone else has been up to today.
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
#notbuyingit-part two
I wrote a post last night about how I was upset about the gender stereotyping that occurs at stores like Gymboree and Old Navy for Halloween (and all year long really) and I made a terrible and glaringly awful mistake in that post. I forgot about the boys.
And it is because I totally got called out by this comment from reader Dave (highlighting is mine), that I am writing this now.
...gender stereotyping starts much too young and invades far too much of our society. As bad as it is for the girls who want to be an EMT or Astronaut, and it is really bad, it is even worse in the opposite direction. That’s right, if girls are highly stereotyped as ‘Pretty’, then the degree of stereotyping aimed at boys is far, FAR worse. It is so bad that it is not even recognized as stereotyping – indignation is expressed against the lack of images of girls as pirates or dragons, but no mention is ever made of the lack of boys as butterflies or flowers. The image of girls in traditional ‘boy’ roles may be having trouble breaking into the mainstream, but the image of boys in traditional ‘girl’ roles is almost universally viewed as “queer”, “gay”, or “immoral” to the point where it is never seen and virtually never mentioned – I note that it is not mentioned in your own blog. If we want to see gender equality, then both sides of this inequality have to be addressed...
To be perfectly honest, I didn't quite forget about the boys, I was thinking about them the whole time I was writing the post and struggling with my own ingrained stereotypes.
Because here is the thing...
Even though Natural Urban Dad and I have not purposely focused on anything particularly gender specific for our children, we are the parents of a superhero, dinosaur, Transformers, and Hero Factory loving boy and a puppy dogs, unicorns , Hello Kitty and fairy loving girly girl. Now that is not to say that at any given point in our house there may in fact be a tea party happening with fairies, puppies AND Transformers all enjoying a sip or two kids running around the house roaring like the scary T-rex's that they are while wearing their baby dolls on their backs, but for all intents and purposes I am a mama to two kids who A) love each other a whole lot and B) who have pretty specific and somewhat traditional likes and dislikes.
And why wouldn't they?
I am quite the girly girl myself. I like to wear skirts and dresses and jewelry and have pretty shoes and painted toenails and all that jazz. I like to have tea parties (or coffee playdates as we mamas like to call them) and go shopping and I happen to have a love of all things fey as well.
{Case in point: My new sparkly 'Goddess' shoes!}
And Natural Urban Dad is a {ridiculously gorgeous} superhero nerd, who loves his comic books, will never wear pink (although a nice lavender is OK) and firmly believes that all of life's important lessons can be learned from the likes of Superman, Spiderman and The Avengers.
{And it is a key factor in his decorating choices as well.}
Somehow, without quite meaning to do so, not only have we have created two incredibly lovable and beautiful little creatures, but we have also quite literally created them in our own images!
This is not a bad thing at all, it just means that I need to be a bit more honest about my own thoughts and feelings about gender inequality and stereotypes that exist in this world and in the reality that is my kids lives as well. Am I still upset about the ad images and marketing that kids stores use? YES! Absolutely. Costumes are just that, costumes. To be used to inspire imagination and role play and for kids to pretend to be anything they want to be. Be it a flower, a bug, an astronaut or a dragon. But like Dave said, until we address this from both sides of the gender coin this inequality and stereotyping will continue unchecked.
No one illustrated these points better than my dear friend Alex in this incredible post about her son and his wings! Please read it and know although I am still #notbuyingit from Gymboree, Old Navy or any of the 'girl' this and 'boy' that toys and products that companies keep shoving down our throats, I will likely have a Minnie Mouse and a Zombie on my hands come Halloween this year.
Of course, because he is my son, that zombie may in fact be a daddy zombie wearing his baby zombie in a carrier on his back.
Who knows....?
Till tomorrow,
Natasha~
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This is Day 20 of the 31 Days of the Summer Blog Challenge.
Comments and retweets and sharing makes us all feel special.
Go do some of that over at these blogs too! Thank you.
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
#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
Let there be shelves
Natural Urban Dad may not always be the handiest guy around, but when he sets his mind to do something, he finds a way. He chose this weekend to furnish our storage room with shelving and I am thrilled with all of his hard work. Including the multiple trips to Home Depot because he miscalculated and needed to get a few more pieces of plywood or more screws or a new drill!
So with lots of help from his dad and the kids too, what started out as this.
Soon became this.
Which then got moved into here.
...and now it is my job to organize it all!
Wait...
Whose bright idea was this again??
Good night all.
I guess we all know what I am doing tomorrow!
Natasha~
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HA! Post #19 DONE!
Okay....
Carry on.
Summer Blog Challenge.... yadda, yadda, yadda
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
18 things that I think about EVERY Day
Since I can't remember the awesome blog post idea that I had only hour ago is, I am taking a page from @Schmutzie's playbook today and I am going to give you a list! So here ,in no particular order, is a list of 18 things that cross my mind daily...
1. Why is there not a specialty coffee delivery service/van/company? Seriously, someone please get on that!
2. Why is it that my kids can remember EVERY SINGLE bad word I say, but can't remember where they put the toy they were playing with not 10 minutes ago?
3. Did anyone else secretly wish that Victor Newman was their long lost father when they were growing up?
4. Why are there so many damn spiders in my NEW house!!??
5. I really need a pedicure and a massage. At least bi-weekly.
6. How exactly does one know if the hundreds of dollars spent on anti-aging products are actually working?
7. What the heck is for dinner tonight?
8. I really wish I could remember where I put those fancy new hair twisty clips/bobby pin things that cost me twenty bucks!
9. How on earth did I get a bruise THERE?
10. Should I cut my hair REALLY, REALLY short?
11. Crap, I forgot to take my meds again.
12. I really hate our dining room light. I must get to the lighting store this week to find a new one.
13. I should really just bite the bullet and register for that creative writing class and commit to this THING!
14. What is it about setting goals that scares the shit out of me?
15. Nope, there is absolutely NO chocolate in this house. Don't even think about going to look for any!
16. I wish I could speak Mandarin.
17. Please God, don't let me screw up too badly as a parent and mess them up too much! Just enough to not be boring human beings.
18. (And this one I am adding because it is ALL I am thinking about now!) I am going to go to Costco and buy a VERY LARGE supply of post-its so that I never forget a great post idea ever again. {Thanks to @MrLady for the suggestion. I predict a very colourful computer screen/desk/kitchen counter/bedside table from now on!}
Now, carry on with your day.
Hugs and kisses,
Natasha~
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This is Day 18 of the Summer Blog Challenge.
{And in the spirit of full disclosure, this is post #17 for me. I promise, I WILL catch up.}
Check out what is going on with our other fine bloggers.
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