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- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
I was thinking the other day whether Torre is at an advantage or disadvantage in being my first child. As a plus, he gets much more undivided attention than kids with siblings, everything he does is new and exciting and amazing because we've never seen a baby learn to walk or climb before. I have pretty high self-esteem and I'm sure much of that comes from the support and positive reinforcement I have enjoyed throughout my life from family and friends. Hopefully the same is true for Torre growing up - I want him to absorb all the amazement that we feel towards him and internalize it to always know that he is precious.
However, as the oldest, Torre is exposed to my least polished-by-motherhood self: my most selfish, most anxious, most inexperienced version of parenting. Obviously I'm doing my best, but I feel like I will improve and grow with time and experience, and any future children we have will benefit from that. Maybe I'm over-optimistic about the trajectory my personal growth is on, but I do think he's at a disadvantage in this sense. I thank God he's so resilient and cheerful and forgiving even after moments when I don't have the emotional stamina to put his wants before mine (he wants to be in my arms to see what's happening up on the counter, while I want supper to get made so I'm not hangry). For what it's worth, I think I do pretty well at putting his needs before my needs, but I feel like this can only digress into insecure ramblings. I'm a good mom, but I could be better, let's move on.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Thoughts
This video captures a social experiment: a hidden camera records how people respond to the sight of a shivering child (don't worry, he's an actor) with no coat at a bus stop is Oslo, Norway. The goal is to raise awareness and funds for a campaign to provide coats to Syrian children. The idea is that in the winter time, displaced children in Syria need coats just as much as this young boy, even if you don't see them shivering.
By the end of the video I had tears streaming down my face, which was no surprise since I have come to terms with how motherhood has changed me.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Book Reviews
I went back to work this week, which meant I blasted through this book during my commute! It was a great read for the subway - short chapters and not too in-depth, plus it's a very relevant topic for the week of Valentine's Day :)
The Happy Wives Club was an idea that Fawn Weaver came up with after feeling discouraged by how marriage is portrayed in the media and how it is treated by our culture in general. She was happily married, but it seemed that at every turn she was bombarded with the message that it was only a matter of time before everything unravelled. www.HappyWivesClub.com is an upbeat blog dedicated to positively changing the tone about marriage around the world. It began with Fawn's invitation to a few close friends who passed the invite along and has now grown to include over 600 000 members (her goal is a million!).
The book Happy Wives Club chronicles Fawn's travels through over 18 cities on 6 continents to meet and interview happy wives to learn their marriage secrets. These women come from different backgrounds, have different histories and lifestyles, but so much of their advice boils down to the same principles; happy marriages do not happen by accident. Fawn is a great storyteller, and I have a bit of an itch to travel after reading about the exotic cities she experienced, but even more interesting than reading about the food, architecture, history and smells of her travels is the refreshing perspective that all around the world there are marriages that really work: husbands and wives who laugh together, encourage each other, support one another and go to bed happy at the end of each day together.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Neighbours
Pirates on the Farm, by Denette Fretz, is an entertaining children's book that teaches a poignant lesson on loving your neighbour. The publisher recommends this book for children ages 4-8, although I think even that age range could be stretched depending on the child. The story is beautifully illustrated (by Gene Barretta) and extremely engaging, through the humorous portrayal of what happens when a crew of pirates moves in to a proper southern community.
Using the perspective of the daughter in the family who lives next door, the author does a great job of showcasing different responses through the different family members: the little brother wants to join in on all the pirates antics, the mom wants to move out of town, and the dad accepts and helps out his new neighbours but doesn't lose his own identity in the process.
When the town locals finally band together to kick the pirates out of town, a heartwarming twist makes this story not only a parable about accepting others but truly showing the love of Christ.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
It is Torre's birthday, and I'll not spend it blogging :P
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Parenthood
I've been wanting to pull a post together on baby etiquette - that is, how non-babies should interact with babies. The thing is, it mostly ends up being my pet peeves and weird stories that have happened over the past year, and how am I to know where to draw the line between what freaks my baby out and what I just project onto him because I think you're way too excited to see him.
Babies are different too, as are parents, so if I made up the top ten rules for how to meet my baby, it might not be quite right for the adorable kiddo you see in the grocery store. So instead, I have condensed all my almost-a-year of experience to one piece of advice to keep in mind when you are meeting a baby:
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
A friend on facebook posted an article about this ad campaign to help single mothers, and I think it really relates to my last post on incarnation.
I don't spend time reading gossip magazines except for the headlines while I wait in line at Walmart, and I don't watch celebrity news either. But I think this is a great ad campaign because it highlights an important truth:
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Incarnation is one of the strongest pillars the gospel has to offer: that God himself became a man and lived among us.
Incarnation is also one of the strongest demands of the gospel: if God has loved us enough to fully immerse himself in our world, then we as Christ-followers have no reason to hold ourselves back. The goal of the Christian life is not escaping this world, although the temptation to do so takes many forms, and it's easy to get off track.
I'm wondering today if I might be a little off track.
When Matt and I first moved to this apartment, one of our goals was incarnation - we prayerfully chose to move from a basement apartment in a rich neighbourhood to a building near our church that people tend to not move in to. We did not come here to be saints - the relationship with our former landlady had soured, and Matt's commute was almost an hour by transit, so there were practical reasons for moving closer, but our hearts' desire was also to contribute to transformation in our neighbourhood by our presence.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Torre and I were having a dance party this afternoon, and one of the CDs I played is by an indie band called Under Everyone. Matt and I met this guy on our way out from a Jason Mraz concert, selling CDs for whatever people would pay. His band had come up to Toronto in a van and the CD money might go to cover gas money and it was very living-the-dream in a way that gives parents cold sweats. So we gave him $10 and listened to the CD in the car on the way home, and it was really fun! The CD is called Tropical Timez - it is kind of Jack Johnson meets Jason Mraz in style.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Life
Happy New Year! While this is often a time of year to set resolutions and dream of all our hopes for the year to come, my transition from 2013 to 2014 was a reminder that even the best-laid plans are never a sure thing. Goals are great, but so can be going with the flow. We all know that flexibility and patience are easiest to come by when you don't really need them, but when everything is going wrong, resigning yourself to your fate sometimes looks close enough. Let me explain...
Matt and I spent Christmas and the week following with his family on the East Coast. We had a fabulous trip with just the right mix of catching up, fun with family, delicious food, quality time together (mostly hours and hours of driving, which is often when we have our best conversations!), and finally some rest as we spent a lazy day at his parents' house before flying home. Except the night before our flight Matt started throwing up, and it was clear by morning that we were not going anywhere, much less driving an hour to the airport and flying two and a half hours home.
I cancelled our flight and did my best to enjoy our extra day with Matt's family. Torre played happily, chased the cats and pulled CDs off their shelves. I did a load of laundry, called my parents, slept and visited in between checking on Matt who was doing his best to keep some liquids down and catch some sleep. Instead of playing board games with friends and counting down to midnight, we lay on an air mattress in the dark and prayed it wasn't a huge mistake to re-book our flight for Jan. 1 - the day with the lowest price and most available seats, but also a gamble whether Matt would be able to travel so soon.