The Registration Frenzy

Do you ever have one of those moments you regret instantly? Those ones that usually involve a 'send' button? Yeah, I had one of those yesterday.

Any mothers in North Vancouver know what I'm talking about... it's North Van Rec Registration Day. Now I am the first to admit we here in North Vancouver have one of the best, most comprehensive, recreation commissions anywhere. We have access to a host of programs across a wide range of facilities, all at prices that are highly subsidised by our local government. It's accessing those programs that can be a bit tricky.

The Fall Leisure Guide comes out early to mid August every year and showcases the myriad programs available for September through December. Well this year the magic date was August 20th: the date when registration began for the aforementioned programs.

Big-man and I decided we needed to get mini-man back into swimming lessons. He's quite the swimmer now - able to swim unassisted with water wings on and will willingly put his face in the water and blow bubbles. He also will swim under the surface of the water from one of us to the other and will jump in and swim up to the surface on his own (okay end bragging here). Now because he's still under 3 (he's actually a little under 2 1/2) he has to be in the parent participation program: Tiny Splashers. We decided, along with my mother-in-law (hereby referred to as 'Nona') that he would take a weekly lesson with Nona. As such, I ended up having to brave the repeated redials in order to get him in for the desired day/time slot.

I started calling at about 6:58am. Dial, busy signal, disconnect, talk, redial, busy signal, disconnect, talk, redial... I finally got through and put on hold at about 7:07. I was excited it hadn't taken as long as I'd thought it would, though 10 minutes of dialing feels like longer than it is. So there I was trying to get dressed while holding a phone to my ear and listening to CBC radio (couldn't they pick something a little more upbeat at that time in the morning?!), trying to fix lunches and get mini-man breakfast. That's a lot of multi-tasking. Not only that, but I was also trying to speed up the process by refreshing their online registration system in order to see if I could get in faster that way. Every couple of minutes a voice would come on saying something to the effect that they appreciate my business and that I'd be served faster if I hold rather than dialing back. About 7:22 it happened...

I heard an awful clicking sound and my heart sank. I got hung up on. I mean, it even sounded like someone picked up my call and put the receiver down on the base... no joke. I lost it. I can't even explain how angry I was in that very moment. I'm ashamed, really. So what do I do? I go online. I go to their "contact us" page and find a form.

I have to say, that level of anger is not a good thing to have when writing an email that someone is going to actually receive. I do believe I didn't use any profanity, but I really came off as a jerk. Not only that but the moment after I submitted the message I got through to their online registration form and was finished about 5 minutes later.

Once the registration was over, I had forgotten about being disconnected. I was just happy the entire process was over and in only about a half an hour... not too bad all things considered. It was only later that morning while sitting at my desk at work did I remember what happened. Actually it was upon receiving a phone call that I suddenly became keenly aware of what a jerk I'd been. "Hello..." I answered. "Hello. This is Ann Greenwell calling from the North Vancouver Recreation Commission..." oh no! I'd forgotten... Not only had I been extremely rude in my email to them, but the woman calling me used to be a business connection of mine when I used to place advertising in the Leisure Guide. Oh no. I don't know if she remembered me or recognized my name and/or phone number, but that just goes to show you should really think twice about voicing your opinion in the heat of the moment.

Lesson learned. Hopefully...

A Mommy Milestone... The Play Date

Wow. Someone actually left their kid with me... that was a very new experience for me. I don't think I've been responsible for someone else's kid in over 10 years at least, and at that time it was my ex-boyfriend's kids. Anyway, big-man decides to go out shopping for a new flat panel HDTV with a friend of his. Well his friend has a 3 1/2 year old son... anyway, he left his son with me while they went out. I was terrified lol!

Actually, when they left I didn't even know how old this kid was. I knew his name, that was it. I didn't know if he was potty trained or not, though I assumed he was - and very much hoped he was. I didn't know when he had last eaten, whether or not he had any allergies... oh man, was I nervous! Mostly I was scared that he was going to freak out and want someone who knew him and there would be no one around but me to deal with it.

The two boys quickly settled into playing together and had a great time. It didn't hurt that I basically imposed no rules lol, but give me a break here, I'm a first-time play-date-er.

Sidenote: Please disregard the state of my coffee table; I assume it's easier to just sand off the junk when my kid is older than to try and keep it free from stains, markers, spilled food and beverages etc. Besides, I like that the stains on the table offset the large quantity of play doh that is currently gluing the carpet fibers together beneath it.

Trucks, cooking utensils, duplo blocks and play doh... all were a hit. Then they got a little unruly and had a hard time sharing the coveted play doh machine that squirts out any number of noodle-like shapes. So I figured what better way to entertain two small boys than a couple of knives...

Okay, for those people who also worried about my parenting skills after reviewing my "Mama's Mean" video (some people worried that my son would try and drink anything out of a squirt bottle because I'd allowed him to suck on a water spray bottle once), I'll add a caveat: these are toddler knives and there's not a sharp edge to be found.

That said, I just read a great post on The Art of Manliness called "Quit Coddling Your Kids" and found Gever Tulley’s lecture on “5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid Do", which suggests that letting your kids play with knives is a good thing.

Anyway... my first play date was a great experience. Little buddy didn't eat a thing, though he did accept a glass of juice during his stay. He turned down a couple of my suggestions to use the bathroom, but turns out he was wearing a pull-up, so no harm done. He was sad to leave, which I suppose suggests his afternoon didn't suck entirely... turns out his parents don't know any other people with kids his age as they're new to the area, so mini-man's first experience of having a friend over to play was a good one for both of them.

While over all the experience was positive, I am more certain than ever that I need to replace my 780 square foot apartment with a large house... preferably before the next play date.

Amazing Baby Drummer

Here's my cool find of the day.



Here I thought I was going to be well ahead of the game with plans to get mini-man a drum kit for Christmas this year... he'll be almost 3 by then. Maybe I should have got it last Christmas, I don't know.

I'm amazed at how quickly kids pick stuff up if you only take the time to nurture their curiosities.

A Little Funny

So I was just on YouTube uploading a new video and noticed that some people have apparently decided I have uploaded a funny... it's from a while ago, but I thought I'd add it here to spread a little more laughter.



I think it's dangerous to be too strict with parenting.

Finally Friday

I have to say I'm quite stoked that today is Friday. The night before last the mini-man was up half the night crying. Every time I'd put him back in bed he'd be quiet long enough for me to lie down and start drifting off before he'd start in again. By midnight I was ready for the funny farm, but he finally fell asleep thank God!

Yesterday Daddy took off work to stay home with him and get him to a doctor. I had strep throat last week, so I knew what was happening to him immediately. So I'm grateful for answered prayers in that we got him started on antibiotics the same day he started complaining of pain... I didn't get any until day 3 and by then I wanted to die, so I'm grateful mini-man didn't have to go through that kind of pain - not to mention there would have been no sleep for the duration either.

So with mini-man happily munching chewable amoxicillin and seemingly back to his regular night time sleep routine, I'm excited today's Friday. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful weather, and it's Lynn Valley Days so we're going to have fun watching the parade tomorrow morning. My band is also playing in the morning before the parade and having a year-end wrap party in the evening that I'm really looking forward to. Perhaps will get my stuff together enough to post some photos at some point.

Family Time

... About that whole "seeking balance" thing... today is a great day! My wonderful mother-in-law came over this morning (with my sister-in-law... must give credit where credit is due) for breakfast and to hang out with my amazing mini-man while my big-man and I went to church together... on his crazy-fast GSXR-750 crotch rocket :D fun! I think ours is the only church that really should have bike parking. It's starting to amass a following of leather-clad rocketeers who serve the Lord lol!

But again I digress... fun times. I haven't been on his bike in quite a while. I've become a bit of a nervous nelly since becoming a mom over 2 years ago, but I guess that's a God-given instinct: protecting your life. The mini-man thought it was very cool that mommy was getting on the back of daddy's motorcycle. I think he wanted to come too, but there's no way. He's not riding until he's at least 42.

So this afternoon we're headed out to enjoy the sunshine by the pool, sipping cool beverages with friends while caked in SPF 50 and enjoying inflatable things filled with water and bits of grass and such... you probably know how it is. I will do my best to relax while running around trying to make sure the mini-man doesn't fall in the in-ground pool, but instead sticks to the inflated variety. I should wear a hat.