One Mom's Journey

My daughter is 3 and a half.  The other day she says to me, "Maman, I cannot wait to be bigger so I can work" - to which I replied "you aren't aloud to grow up that fast".  I don't know what the fascination is for children to want to grow up and work, or grow up and be like Mom and Dad, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with us being their most influential role model.  They see us do all sorts of incredible things that they can't to do yet.  That being said, a lot of what our children learn is through watching and listening to us. You know what is sad?  Is that most of us fail to see that, and we continue to rush through life and miss all those moments where our kids are being kids.

My goal going forward is to try and stop the rush and teach my kids about the truly important things in life.

1. Family is the most Important Thing you will Ever Own not Toys or Cars or HousesIn todays day and age, with soaring populations and global warming, and traffic and sicknesses, you just never know from day to day what is going to happen. They need to learn to not take family for granted.
2. Having Fun is better than winningSounds so cliché and to be honest, I cannot believe I want to teach my kids this - my husband and I are super competitive people, and so our kids have inherited double the competitiveness...it is trouble, I foresee it - so I plan on teaching them that fun is way better

When my hubby asked me what I wanted to do for Valentine's day, I told him flat out - stay home - order in and make it special for the kids too.  Once they go to bed, we can have our true Valentine's day (minus wine for me...boo).  He was apprehensive at first because we always do something, but this is the first year we don't have any support - the parents are all out of town, and we have never hired a baby sitter...and I am not starting on Valentine's day.

Here is what we are doing and it might be fun for all you others who are in the same boat.

#1  - Taking the Day off Work

Yes - I am doing it.  Why?  So I can have a nice relaxing morning while the kids are at daycare - then pick them up early and make some Valentine's day crafts.  Maybe hit up

My Mom and Dad have always done such a great job to make Valentine's day special for the kids.  Every Valentine's day growing up (as far as I can remember) I had a little gift of chocolates and a hand written note wishing me happy Valentine's day from Daddy.  Being Daddy's only little girl, I sure felt special.

Mom always had homemade cupcakes decorated special for Valentine's that were so delicious.  I often helped her decorate them.  The best part is they have continued this tradition with my baby girls, and have made it special for them in turn.  I love it.  To me, family and tradition is a big part of Valentine's day, and so I am passing on a few crafts for you to do with your little ones this year.

A Variety Of Printables

Spoonful.com has generously posted a variety of printable coloring pages, activity sheets, 3D candy boxes featuring your favorite Disney characters, and of course a mailbox full of printable Valentines Day cards.

I think we are all pretty much in the same boat.  We live busy lives, and we have young children that require supervision when we are away.  Well, it is time to admit to ourselves that we need date nights.  Here are 10 signs you are in need of some serious one on one time with your partner.

10. You Dread your Daily Routine

Every day is the same old. Wake up, get dressed, gets kids dressed, feed, clean etc. Fill in the blanks with how your daily rolls out.

To brief you, I traveled from Toronto to Cancun - 3.5 hours with a husband, teenage boy and 3 and 1 year old girls. We booked a Sunquest vacation and flew on West Jet. We stayed at the Gran Bahia Principe - Coba resort in Riviera Maya. This will be a very detailed review of all aspects of the vacation.

Booking with Sunquest:

We are 5 in our family - one of whom still sleeps in a crib. Sunquest would not let us stay in one room only, because the capacity was 4 people. Therefore we were charged for two rooms at dual adult occupancy. Started my vacation off on the wrong foot. Sunquest would not make it work, even though 1 of our children was still in a crib. What did that mean? Our vacation that was originally going to cost us for 2 adults, 1 teen, 1 child and 1 baby(free) now cost us 4 adults + 1 baby(free). Crazy, we are talking a HUGE difference here!

Next - our toddlers/baby suitcase was left behind in Toronto. We were left without any children's clothing and baby necessities for 40 hours. You could only imagine the horrible situation that put us in.We were allocate $200 to spend on necessities, we have yet to see how quickly we receive our reimbursement. Also while on the resort, the Sunquest rep was extremely difficult to locate in guest services, and was rarely there during his 'so called' hours.

West Jet