I’m dieting.  Actually, just trying to cut down on sugars and carbs, and you know what? Things are going pretty good. That is, until I turn on my computer and go online.

Everywhere I turn, someone has posted another picture of food.  Seriously…do we really need to see that you baked 50 cupcakes for the bake sale, a completely vegan entrée or that carb-filled pasta recipe that you got off Pinterest? I’m sick of it, my diet hates it and now I am suddenly craving chicken fettucine alfredo.  Thanks, thanks a lot.

I swear that people think more about posting pictures of their food online then they actually do about eating the food they just wasted hours preparing and let’s not forget, sprucing up and choosing the correct sepia filter and vignette on Instagram.

What I find most irritating is all the people out there that post their photos of food on Facebook.  Really??? Unless you are a world-renowned chef or are actually going to drive a serving of that casserole you just baked to my house, please do not post it for me to see.  I, frankly, just don’t care that you seem to have time to cook a gourmet dinner while I am scraping together a box of Kraft Dinner for my 4 kids as we rush to yet another hockey game after school. Oh yes, I forgot, you must be a SUPERMOM because you posted that photo for everyone to see!

So here I am, urging you to please consider all of us tired, busy, dieting moms out there that just don’t have the time to arrange, Photoshop and upload a daily photo of our meals. When I cook a meal….I want to EAT it, not scrapbook it!

Young or old.

Beautiful or plain.

Big or small.

Loud or quiet.

Every girl is born believing she is a princess…because she is one. From day one, each and every girl is a princess. She should be told that she is worth something, worth everything.  She deserves to be listened to, respected and admired. She should know deep in her heart that she has the power to change the world no matter how tiny she may be. She should know laughter and tears, and she will learn from her mistakes.  She will know power. She will also know failure. Most of all, she will know love.

She is a princess and never let her forget that.

Trepidation sets in as she slowly trudges upward to reach the peak.  Glancing down, she looks at me and raises her eyebrows as if to say, “Are you sure this is okay?” Gathering courage she waits at the top, situates herself just so, and tightens her grip.  One more glance downward, she lets her fear go and pushes slowly off.

Her eyes dance, anxiety vanishes as she lets out a squeal. SWOOSH! She passes me and I can’t help but smile. Her excitement is contagious and brings me back to my youth.  The days and nights spent in my back yard, climbing snow covered mountains and sliding down to new territories.

Adventure awaits.

It all begins with a heavy snowfall…and a laneway that needs to be cleared.

Today is not just a normal Tuesday at our house. It seemed normal for the most part, kids went off to school, my husband and I headed out to our jobs, a doctors appointment, dog walking, dishes and laundry were thrown in there too.  But today is different. Today is Pancake Tuesday!

I love Pancake Tuesday! I’m sure there are lots of moms out there that love it too.  Do you want to know why? It’s not because eating breakfast for supper is probably the most exciting and unexpected thing to happen to a meal in our house for a long time.  It’s not because pancakes are super easy to make, and let’s not forget super easy to clean up too.  It’s not because I am Canadian and love anything smothered in maple syrup sweetness.

It is because it is the only meal this week that I didn’t have to sit and decide what to make for supper.  There were no thoughts at noon about what to make, what I need at the grocery store, or whether I had all the ingredients.  There was no scanning of Pinterest to see if I could come up with a neat, cool-looking recipe.  There was no foraging through my cupboards to see if we even had anything suitable for supper that night.  There was no worrying about whether my supper was within my ‘points’ or calorie intake. There was no thoughts at all about supper.

There was just pancakes.

I took a moment to check my ‘to-do’ list today.  It’s wasn’t that bad.  Typical stuff, such as, groceries, school lunches, hockey schedules etc.  Not that overwhelming really, until I realized that this was just one of my so-called ‘lists’.

I didn’t realize I was a closet list maker until I prepared to get ready to leave on a weeklong vacation.  We had packing lists, grocery lists, schedules, detailed lists for the in-laws and my parents, emergency lists and the dreaded work list.  Day-to-day, I do everything on most of these lists, without ever needing an actual list.

I go to work every day and don’t need to worry about whether stuff will get done because I will be there tomorrow to finish it.  But going away is different. I have to get a week’s worth of work done ahead of time, forward my emails and transfer my calls, complete deadlines and sort out any problems that may arise while I’m away.  This actually wasn’t too bad; I have great co-workers that I know will step up if there is a problem.  The work list wasn’t too bad.

It’s the everyday stuff that I do without even thinking or even making a list.  I get the groceries, do laundry, dishes and housework, feed the cat and dog, chauffeur the kids to hockey and other sports, make sure homework is done and many, many more tasks on that invisible list I do every week. I have had to make lists for other people to do while I’m away, and frankly, I am terrified and overwhelmed just looking at it.  Do I really do all that stuff every week?  I feel guilty asking other people to fill in for me.

I looked around at the multitude of lists before me. Hand written lists on the backs of old envelopes (don’t laugh, you do it to), lists on my dry erase board, lists that I have actually emailed myself so I would forget, scribbles on the calendars, notes for teachers, I have lists coming out my ears.

With all these lists you would think that I would be super organized and everything would run so smoothly that I wouldn’t need to worry about anything when I go away for a week. Yeah, right! Chances of me forgetting to add something or do something on these lists? 100%

Especially because I usually forget to add ‘read the list’ or ‘bring the list’ to the bottom of all my lists…

I’d like to say that 2012 was a momentous year for me, but that would be far from the truth.  2012 was…well, it just was. No big changes or surprises.  No life altering events.

However, on New Year’s Eve as I looked over at our family lounging on the couch after watching movies late into the night, I thought to myself, ”wow, look how much we’ve grown!”

They may not have been momentous, life altering events, but we have grown.  How easily we forget all those small moments that shape our life.  My youngest started Kindergarten, learned to skate and is becoming an outstanding artist.  She regularly stars in the uber exclusive art shows hosted in the kitchen at the famed “Fridge” venue.

My second youngest has already surpassed both me and my husband in piano skills.  I’ve been told, that even at just 7 years old, she can chord like no tomorrow.  I am still trying to figure out where that ‘cord’ is on the piano that her teacher keeps talking about…I’m pretty sure our piano isn’t plugged into anything.

My shy, second oldest child has blossomed into a young lady. She faced her fear of public speaking this year when she was chosen to say her speech in front of the entire school.  She wasn’t nervous at all and that was more of a mountain for her to climb than I will ever realize.

My oldest will be hitting into teen years soon.  He’s playing pee-wee hockey, which means body contact. It also means that I have a few more grey hairs and probably some minor heart pulpitations that I never had before.  Boy, has he grown this year…and I’m not just talking about the amount of food that he now forces into that bottomless pit of a stomach he has.  I mean, he has REALLY grown..almost as tall as me, almost.

My husband has grown. Grown up, I mean, really.  All it has taken has been a few minor health scares this year to really put his life into perspective.  He values what is important and realizes that work will always be there tomorrow, it can be put off to make time for the really important stuff…family time.

Yes, we have all grown.  I have grown to realize that we are constantly growing and sometimes we need to take a step back from life to really watch it.  These may not have been super exciting or life altering events, but they were growing experiences.

I can’t wait to see how much we grow in 2013!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Qt5hZAO90

Exactly! This is why I have the Boxing Day Blues.  I have to wait a whole year to enjoy memories like this!

• The Boxes- Yes really, the boxes. But also the plastic, the twist ties, the tags, the wrapping paper and the presents that were in those boxes. All of it makes my head spin! Does anyone really need all those presents? Who do you think has to clean up all of these toys and this mess? The kids rip open that Barbie doll they got from Grandma, spewing wrapping paper, plastic holders, elastics and those teeny-tiny shoes that will never have the privilege of being on Barbie’s feet because they got flung under the couch when it took two men and a pair of scissors to rip Barbie out of the box.
• The Sugar Crash- Boxing Day is like the boxing ring at my house.  The bell goes ‘ding’ and the fights begin. Kids don’t have to behave, that darn Elf on the Shelf isn’t watching them anymore and Santa is probably down on a tropical island somewhere drinking a fruity cocktail out of a coconut.  All that chocolate, candy and sweet foods are catching up with them and the sugar has reached their tiny brains. They are bouncing off the walls, starting fights with their siblings and I’m pretty sure I heard one of them growl when they thought I had got too close to their candy cane. I think the Christmas Sugar crash just might be worse than the Halloween one, but I don’t know, ask me on November 1st.
• The Reality- After I am done cleaning the mess from when the Christmas tornado ripped through my house leaving bits of wrapping paper, tinsel and sparkles (yes, there are sparkles everywhere, I have no idea where they come from), and I have tucked my sugar-filled munchkins into bed, the reality sets in.  This is it.  Christmas is over.  Now I have to wait a whole year to see the excitement in my little ones eyes when they come downstairs and see that Santa has visited, hear the laughter and squeals as they open their gifts, or watch as they sneak that one last goodie from the dessert table.

Yes, this is why I have the Boxing Day Blues.