Yay for spring!! And a mommy lesson learned...

Well, it's nice to finally see some warm weather outside! We've had our annual 'moment' where we fall in love with our yard all over again. And 5 out of 5 kids are LOVING the outdoors! Phew! I was starting to think we'd raised couch potatoes!!

The downside of the new found love of outdoors is that my fool proof, back deck time-out location is now completely ineffective. Nobody is crying at the back door, promising better behaviour, if only I'll let them back in. They just go and play. Whatever...as long as I don't have to hear all the 'he's hitting me!', 'he took my tiger', 'he's sitting in the same room as me!!' crap, I guess I'm happy, right?

Here are some pictures of a trip to Victoria Park in Galt. I gave the kids each a bag and sent them off looking for 'treasure'. And I've been cleaning 'treasure' out of my van and house ever since!! haha! But they had so much fun!


bags full of leaves, pine cones, rocks, and other 'treasures'




There is actually a giant hole where that tree used to be in the ground. Seth found it!




Just hanging out! Loving that Jamie is hangin' with the big kids already :)


On a different note, today was disappointing. I was disappointed with myself mostly. Jamie, at 14 months old, has never been to the doctor (except immunization). This is a big deal in my mind. Long before this age, all 4 big kids had prescriptions for puffers. We were far from regulars at the hospital, but we definitely had our share of wheezies. Jamie...not once. Could not ask for a healthier kid. BUT, I also have learned a thing or two over the past 6 years about how to deal with things at home. Determining what I can treat at home (and how) and what requires a doctor or some drugs I can't buy over the counter, is a fine science and I think I've mastered it. So yesterday, when Jamie and Jake both looked like monsters with green slime oozing from their eyes, I was in no rush to see a doctor. Warm wet cloths, Polysporin drops...who needs a doctor? They both looked much better by bedtime. And come morning, when Jamie was stumbling around like a brand new toddler that just drank a sippy full of rye, I still felt that I could manage. After all, even if there was an ear infection brewing...I've got a little concoction here for that too. But I let myself get talked into the 'better safe than sorry' argument that fills waiting rooms everywhere. Despite the fact that she was crying and miserable in the waiting room, and putting on a perfect performance of a poor sick child, I knew full well she was just mad I wouldn't let her play with the kleenex box and still felt like an idiot for being there. Long story short, I was right. I had called telehealth about the oozing green gunk and she told me I was doing a great job from home, keep doing what you're doing. And I got the same story from the doctor's office. Keep on keeping on...she's fine. And I didn't need a doctor.

So, the moral of that story is...use your mommy intuition. That's what it's there for! I've learned a lot of tricks and tips for home treatment and red flags for when a trip to the ER is needed. I use telehealth as an extra opinion and a source for more tips & tricks. But in the end, you know when you know...and nobody knows better than the mom. Lesson learned. (BTW - none of this is intended to imply people shouldn't go to the dr...just saying I shouldn't have because I knew she was okay...and you know your own kid better than anyone else, so make your own decisions).