Do it Again!

Sometimes I'll say or do something cool or funny for the kids, like giving them flips or blasting them with my hairdryer or reading The Book With No Pictures. Just a one-time thing for fun. ONE-TIME. We all have a little laugh, then we move on, or at least that's what I imagine.

I should know better. If it's fun enough, it'll never be just once. The kids will want it again and again until it's long past excessive. I'll be all, "Oh, ha ha, no, that was it, just once!" or "Maybe we can open and close the garage some more later," or "if I spin you again, I'll throw up," but that doesn't get me off the hook.

Take, for instance, this recent time I thought I'd amuse my friend's kid with a one-time bit of silliness:



I never learn. If the material is any good, there'll no moving on.

_____

PS: The Book With No Pictures is great fun, but it does involve pleading for the kids to not make you read it again, which guarantees that they will. Over and over. So if you go there, get ready to say a whole lot of "BA-DOONGY FACE!"

Summer Boredom?

August already! So, has the infamous "Summer Boredom" set in?

I know it applies to school-aged kids, but I still see it in my newsfeed often. What do do when the kids complain that they're bored while home for the summer?

My kids are only 2.5 and 4, but I wanted to offer you some tips that work wonders with them to get them motivated and inspired (whether or not it was my intent).

3 NO-FAIL BOREDOM BUSTERS: 

1. Gather toys for consignment or donation:

You've never seen a more intriguing treasure chest than the box of toys I foolishly thought the kids had long outgrown.  The bumbo was in our living room, actively used and fought over, for a good week. Panicked negotiations ensued over stacking rings. Big Bro rescued a cloth tunnel the other day because he was "still using it, but kept forgetting to use it".

2. Try to go somewhere.



Something about seeing your mother try to get you and your brother organized to get out the door must spark some creativity in the kids, because it's always when they're starting these major projects and elaborate games (well, then and bedtime). Then I feel like a heel for dragging them away, except only a few minutes ago they were rolling around in front of Peppa Pig and head-butting each other.

3. Clean up for company.

Hmm. There's Mama doing her Flight-of-the-Bumblebee tidy in anticipation of guests. Reminds me! Time to make a big mountain of crap in the living room or pull out all the pots and pans for God knows what. My favourite is the whole-roll-of-masking-tape track around the house that goes up the wall and seals the fridge shut. No offering the guests something to eat, either, I guess.

So, there you go. Three foolproof ways to get your kids bursting with creative ideas. You're welcome.

Ego Boost

With small kids, I don't always have the time to fix myself up each day.


That, and it's not too motivating (or practical) to put on the face and flat-iron the hair for a day of horsing around at the playground or digging at the beach. But I do try to be presentable in public.


There are those days, though, that I dub "run into someone I haven't seen in years" days (Murphy's Law. You know what I'm talkin' about. "JANET! You look... busy."). Those days I scare myself with a haggard close-up when I discover I've left the camera in selfie mode. The days I'd half-expect expect Stacy and Clinton to ambush me in the mall and chew me out over my dishevelled ponytail and overstuffed pockets, if What Not to Wear was still on (I loved that show. I'd still never wear a blazer for grocery shopping, but I loved the ideas).


On those days, I'm ever grateful I have some innocently honest children who don't hesitate to give me their observant commentary to boost my ego.

These are the sweet times when they rub your legs or scrutinize a spot on your arm with a look of "what the hell is THAT".


Yeah. This from the people who wear crocs on the wrong feet over footie jammies and keep a sticker on their foreheads all day. Thanks, guys.

Closet Door Slams and Donkey Slams

So we spent Friday at the emergency department at CHEO. Little Bro had his finger slammed in a closet door, and there was much bleeding and freaking out. Long story short, he needed stitches, and the finger is fractured.

His big brother did it, but it might not be what you think. Big Bro was trying to get away from a little sibling who was full of beans and gleefully trying to pinch him or poke his eye or who knows what, and I didn't step in fast enough. Big Bro runs into the closet to escape and throws the sliding door closed, and voilà, an emergency trip to CHEO.

The paramedic asked, "who's taking it worse, him or Mom?" ... it's true, I was a wreck. It was so upsetting to see his tiny finger mangled, and to see my sweet boy endure frightening stitches and x-rays and not understand what was happening or why I wasn't rescuing him from it all. I just wanted to wrap him up and hug him forever.

The very next day, he's back to chasing his brother for funsies again. So he hasn't learned a thing. Just today, I heard myself saying, "No donkey slams! [Big Bro] said no!" As if he was doing it because he thought he had consent...

(FYI, Donkey Slams are apparently whacking your brother with a plastic donkey while yelling "DONKEY SLAM!".)

Yes, younger siblings can be pretty feisty at times. Big Bro is not the only big sibling in my circle that ended up with an enthusiastic Mike-Tysonesque bite mark from a wrassling session gone wrong.

I can even still see my own little 6-year-old sister stomping off to the shed in her Garfield nightie to get the axe to teach us a lesson (in her defense, we were giving her a hard time). She couldn't lift the axe, so she brought in the saw instead. Ah. Childhood.

The boys are quite fond of each other, and Little Bro is sweet and affectionate. It's just that he's two, and very much so, and lives life with feeling. So we're working on reading cues and knowing when to rein in the shenaningans. Hint: Brother screaming "AGH! DON'T! PINCH! MEEEE!" is one example of such a cue.

I got Karen Katz's No Biting! from the library. I liked it in my teaching days for how it redirects many hurtful behaviours. For instance, you can't hit your mom, but if you're in a hitting mood, you could hit a drum! What about kicking? Not the dog, but go nuts with a ball! Spitting? Sure... when you brush your teeth. (Obviously not an in-depth read on how to deal with feelings, but it's a good start)

Little Bro loves that book and asks for it often, predicting all the appropriate answers.

(Note his bandaged finger)

Trampolines are apparently okay hilarious to bite also...

Is there a Katz book that colourfully illustrates that you can't belt your brother with a bus just because you named him "drum"?

Touchy Feely

Kids learn a lot about their world by touching. Poking, turning things around in their hands, squishing, squeezing, shaking, seeing how far something can twist or pull before-- oops.

I mean, that's why you see so many Sensory Bin ideas  on Pinterest. Young kids love to touch stuff.

It's true, and it's a wonderful thing. But sometimes it feels like you've taken an octopus to the restaurant.

Reaching limbs everywhere. So much tactile learning in a toddler's reach radius. Restaurants, earring displays, produce pyramids... It's irresistible. Touch touch touch. No Impulse Buy rack goes unfondled if they have something to say about it.

It doesn't always stop with toddlerhood, either. but we went to the National Gallery a while back on a Family Pass. I think it's great for kids to experience all sorts of places in the city. Naturally, as good citizens, we also need to observe the required respectful behaviour. When it comes to the art gallery and all of their irreplaceable works on display, Just Looking with Eyes is a big part of it.

Actually, Just Looking with Eyes is pretty much all of it. That's a lot to ask of a four-year-old in a place full of colourful, shiny, textured, dangly stuff. Big Bro didn't find it easy.

And he did.

TBT: Engagement

It was my anniversary last weekend; well, mine and Hubs'. Six years and counting. So I thought I'd share this blast from the past that feels like both yesterday and a lifetime ago.

At our wedding reception, we featured a framed cartoon (drawn old-school, with a felt pen and markers on real paper) featuring the story of our engagement. Yes, we even had a cartoon at our wedding. Hubs was familiar with having a starring role in my work by then.

We'd been an item for a year at that point and were spending the weekend at a gorgeous spot in Wakefield, Quebec. Hubs suggested that, since dinner wasn't for a while yet, we should go check out the falls and take pictures.

Lovely idea, I thought. Let me get my camera (back when we took a separate camera)! Of course, I get there and am all overcome by the majesty and get in full-on picture-taking mode. Go figure. But Hubs had other plans and I was not making it easy.

What I MEANT by "are you serious?" was "is this wonderful moment really happening right now? Am I really seeing what I think I'm seeing?" not like, "ugh, seriously?" but he likes to give me a ribbing about it, retelling it like I practically booted him over the falls. But, I mean, it DID kind of come out of nowhere, like "hey, that sure is a lot of water-POW! RING IN YOUR FACE".

It was very sweet though. Ironically, I didn't think to get a picture of us then.

So anyway, there you have it. I ended up finding a bit of cartoon material there, too, even in one of my best memories.

Michel Lauzière at the Children's Festival

Earlier in the Spring, I was contacted by the Ottawa International Children's Festival and invited to take my family to a show of our choice in exchange for cartooning about our experience. How's that for an awesome deal? I was honoured and psyched all at once.

In case you aren't familiar with it (and I wasn't, before this year), The Children's Festival is a yearly outdoor celebration of "the best in live performing arts for children," featuring world-class performers as well as a variety of on-site activities for kids and families. Man, Ottawa's such a great city for raising kids, isn't it?

We went early in the day so we could check out the goings-on around the grounds before the show. I was most excited to see the Luminarium (an inflated world of light and colour!) and the Instrument Petting Zoo. I'm all about any exposure the boys can get to musical instruments. I took mental notes for activities I know the Brobeans will appreciate when they're older, too.  

When picking a show, it wasn't easy to decide which performance would be best to see with my two boys under 5. There were many options suitable for younger kids, including theatre and acrobatics combined with live music. Luckily, the festival's website included videos for many of the performers, so we could get a sense of what they would be like. I wanted a show with lots of visuals for the kids (and for cartoon material, natch). In the end, we decided on Michel Lauzière, the Master of Unusual Comedy. *I* was excited to see it. Never mind the kids.

We were one of the first in the circus tent, which meant we got some nice third-row-centre seats on the bleachers. Great seats for viewing, not-so-great seats for getting out of there if one of the kids doesn't make it, we realized as the venue filled to capacity. Uh oh. Before the show, they were starting to get restless:

This wasn't looking good. (what is it with this kid losing footwear out in public?). 

But, once Mr. Lauzière came onstage and showed us his Dishophone-- a big rack full of various mugs, plates and bowls-- and started playing a tune on it with a wooden spoon, the kids perked up like meerkats. 

What a great show! Lauzière has performed all over the world, in many languages at that, and is truly a world-class performer. Not only is he engaging with the kids, he's an incredibly talented inventor, musician and comedian.

Lauzière has MacGyvered crazy instruments out of household items, and he plays them-- and not like the lame-o coffee-can drums or shakers I've made at home. Better than that. He wears his instruments. He plays them by shooting them with water pistols, by blowing plastic darts through a tube or by just moving around with flair.

I tell you, you haven't lived until you've heard the Peter Gunn theme played with a turkey baster, plastic spoons, and a peanut butter jar being beaten by a shoelace on a rotating machine (aptly named the "toc-toc", if I recall). 

Click to Enlarge

The show was almost an hour long, and though my kids were up and down at times in their seats (sorry, kid in front of us, that my toddler kept attempting to rub your head) they were captivated nearly the whole time, which says a lot for 2- and 4- year-olds.

In fact, all the kids (and adults) in the audience were laughing, clapping along and interacting with Mr. Lauzière right up to the finale. I was hoping he would bring out the suit of horns I'd seen in the videos (AKA the Hornophone), and I wasn't disappointed. I'd see this show without kids. 

As an aside, I'd like to apologize to Mr. Lauzière: remember that toddler that briefly burst into tears during your 12 p.m. Tuesday show when you took out your broom-and-ketchup-bottle instrument? Yeah. That was mine. He'd gotten his leg stuck somehow when I was too busy being enthralled by the performance. It wasn't about the music, I swear. 

When we got home, Big Bro was all inspired musically. He treated his parents to his own one-man music show, complete with myriad shakers and bells and TWO (count 'em) kazoos.

It was... um... also good. I think I got a nosebleed.

Afterward, I encouraged him for some reason by taping a bunch of the instruments to his arms and legs, so we had our own little Master of Unusual Comedy in our living room. It was unusual, alright. If you saw a kid out on a balance bike Tuesday night with maracas and a tambourine masking-taped to his leg, that was also mine, and it was homage to the memorable performance of Michel Lauzière.