Dwell on These Things

Bliss at the Speedpark

Today, we went on the much-dreaded annual shopping trip for school shoes. Les enfants are not born shoppers and we try to purchase as much online for them as possible (we've pretty much cleared out the Lands End overstock sale to get snowsuits and tights and other basics for a song). But shoes and haircuts require the children to put in an appearance. And sadly, the shoe places are not as bribe-friendly as the haircut places so it can be a bit of a trial.

(Heavy artillery enters, stage left.)

We decided to hit Vaughan Mills. With the promise of a rented double-decker firetruck stroller-thingy and a trip to Bass Pro Mills to look at the party barges, we figured we could sneak in a trip to Geox. 

The shoes were purchased incident-free (my son decided he had to have light up shoes and I began to fret as I was not aware they made light up shoes but they had one last pair IN HIS SIZE! Oh the universe was smiling on us today, my friends.) 

We celebrated with lunch in the food court and a trip to the NASCAR speed park.

The kids wanted to play games so we bought them some tokens. Once they figured out that the tickets won at the games could be traded in for prizes, they began playing with intensity. We were a little concerned that the larger prizes required thousands and, in many cases, tens of thousands of tickets and our five dollar token spend had yielded about thirty tickets. We started to work on setting realistic expectations ("those stuffed animals take a lot more tickets than we have but we might be able to get one of those cool rubber Madonna fan circa-1984 bracelets!") when a man and his older kids, tired of waiting in the line to cash in his tickets handed us all of theirs. Suddenly we had over 800 tickets and the nice lady behind the counter said that the kids could each have a kite even though we did not have quite enough points because they were really excited about the kites and that kind of joy is contagious.

We then paid if forward by giving our ununsed ride tickets (the rides proved to be a little scary) to a family coming into the place.

Bliss at the Speedpark. Who knew?

Bliss in Today's Parent

We are thrilled that our article Five Ways to Get Happy: The Beginner's Guide to a Life of Bliss appears in the September issue of Today's Parent magazine. We wrote this article at a time when it was hardest for us to write about happiness, yet most important for us to write about the subject. We thank the universe (and the good people at Today's Parent!) not only for the publishing opportunity but for the healing opportunity as well.

 

 

Happy Holidays

Today, we are dwelling on peace and joy. Happy holidays to all of our readers at Bliss Notes and Dwell on These Things.

Feeling Grateful

We got some positive information today from the pediatrician. There is nothing like having a health scare to make you feel grateful for the exact things you used to take for granted. Life might not be easy peasy lemon squeezy, but neither will it be unbearably hard. And for that we are incredibly grateful.

Finding Gratitude in Dark Corners

I never have trouble feeling grateful when times are good. When worries creep in, it's harder to feel that way. But even in the midst of it all, there are always small kindnesses that stand out. An employee at a fast food restaurant who knows when your child needs a toy even though he's sitting sipping juice from the donut shop across the hall. Nurses who make you feel like they have all the time in the world even when you know they are run off their feet. Playroom workers who make your other child feel like a star.

The corner won't be dark forever, but right now I am particularly thankful for the tiny points of light.

Thanks and Giving

We hope all of Bliss Notes's American readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We adore Thanksgiving because the focus is on food and family. Also, Oprah tends to rerun one of her happy, get-a-tissue-people episodes: in this case, about paying it forward.

It seems like there is about a six hour window between carving the turkey and lining up to get a discount on a big screen TV, but this year we are hoping that -- if nothing else -- the turbulent economy will keep more of us home feeling thankful.

While we are in this mood of thankfulness (Canadian Thanksgiving was in October but I took in the holiday via people's Twitter feeds), we always like to do some giving. Right now, our friends at Savvymom are raising $20,000 to buy 50 crib mattresses for Sick Kids, Toronto's internationally renouned children's hospital. They are a third of their way toward their goal and we'd love to see them exceed their target.

We've found that nothing cements our gratitude better than sharing the abundance and Savvymom has made it easy to give. Click here to donate to their holiday crib fund.

An ode to public school and Girl Guides

Last winter we moved from a very urban environment (we could walk to the museum but also had to explain to our children that the grizzled man lying in the alley drinking out of a brown paper bag was not, in fact, Santa Claus) to a very suburban feeling one. If it were not for the fact that I can be at the CN tower in 10 minutes, I'd swear I'd somehow ended up on Wisteria Lane.

Part of the move was an attempt to find for our children the type of upbringing we'd had in 1970s suburbia. Rather than shuttling our kids from private school to a bevy of enriching activities, we wanted them to be able to just hang out in front of the house or on the playground (with us supervising from the wings, of course).

By George, I think we've done it.

I am totally convinced that we've stumbled a time machine that has transported us back to Leave it to Beaver -- only June Cleaver is sporting Lululemon instead of a housedress and pearls. Most of the kids attend the local public school and after school, they, well, hang around. They swing on monkeybars, practice dance routines, chase each other and craft swords out of sticks. Occasionally they get into a tussle and they learn to work it out. They even play tether ball. Tether ball! I swear that any day now a game of TV tag will break out and they'll be shouting "Love Boat," "Fantasy Island" and "B.J. and the Bear." If it weren't so awesome, it'd be eerie.

In keeping with my "let's all just pretend we live in Don Mills circa 1980," I've signed my daughter up for Sparks -- the youngest division of Girl Guides. They all wear little pink outfits and work diligently on their songs and their crafts. They get badges for things like "Going Outside," "Being Healthy," and "Being Me." It's pretty great. I'm a little bit bummed out that when she moves on up to Brownies, she will not be sporting the slightly military-esque chocolate brown shirtdress of my youth (how fabulous was the belt with attached change purse and pencil), but am thrilled to see her get as excited about old-school, low-tech fun as I was.

Now, all I need to do is dust off my recipes for deviled eggs, bundt cake and pineapple jellied salad.

Modern Maternal Manners

My newest writing adventure is serving as the Etiquette Expert over at Sweetmama.ca. In my first column, I look at the relevance of etiquette in 2008. I manage to work in references to Lord of the Flies, Pretty in Pink, and the role of etiquette in practicing gratitude. If you have any burning etiquette questions, shoot an email over to expert@sweetspot.ca.   

Thank you

Today I am feeling especially grateful for mid-afternoon chats with BFFs who make you laugh until you are crying.