Monthly Archives: July 2012

I am finally learning…

Posted in Reflections by

The Bloggy Dare writing prompt I’m writing about today is “I am finally learning…”

I am finally learning the wonders of wearing yoga pants. Yup, my conversion to 100% SAHM is almost complete…I LOVE my yoga pants! I should clarify that, at this time of year where we are experiencing 30+˚Celsius weather (approx 90+˚Farenheit), plus humidity, I’m not wearing yoga pants per say, they are more like yoga capris. They truly are the easiest thing to throw on in the morning, and they are comfy all day long.  When I have meetings to attend, I will put some more effort into my clothing by wearing “respectable” capris (with heels if I’m not having to chase after the kids too) but otherwise, my morning choice is “which pair of black yoga capris am I going to wear today?”.

I realized the other morning that I ONLY have black yoga capris…no other colour, and as a result, I’m pretty much always wearing a black fitted t-shirt too. I have EIGHT black fitted t-shirts, all with different necklines and of different sizes but nevertheless, I have EIGHT of them!  People are probably starting to think I only have one outfit that I keep wearing every single day.  Ugh.

The question is, what am I going to do about it?  I could donate all my yoga capris  to get them out of my home and then they aren’t even an option in the morning, but I won’t. I could “report myself” to TLC’s What Not To Wear, but I won’t. I could buy entirely new wardrobe but, I won’t.

So, until then, I’m just going to happily wear my yoga capris. If only wearing yoga pants would motivate me to actually do yoga more often than once every couple of months… ;)

 

Guest post – #WeightedBlankets Rock!

Posted in Autism/Special Needs, Things I'm Excited About by

A few months ago, we won a weighted blanket for my son. I’ve been chatting with the owner of the company (Jodi) and I love her story so I asked if she would like to share it on my blog so, here it is:

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I started making blankets a few years ago by accident. One of our older sons went on a missions trip to Kentucky into the Appalachian Mountains. I had just bought a new sewing machine and was trying to learn how to sew, and how to quilt. After a brief lesson, we sat down and made not one, but 50 quilted blankets. Our son called from Kentucky and said, “Mom, could you make 50 more?” And so it began.
 
Just this year in January, I was asked if I knew how to make a weighted blanket.  A blanket is a blanket right?  Well not quite!  Once I learned what they were, I did a lot of research into them.  I kept wondering…what good could a blanket do? (I still to this day have never seen another one in person, besides the ones I make.)  But, the realization hit me that our three special girls might benefit from them too!  The first blanket I made turned out perfect!  (Of course it did, God, once again, had His handiwork in when we were designing this pattern.)   I snuck it upstairs to our daughter’s room at midnight to put it on her for a surprise when she woke up in the morning.  To my surprise, she was awake!  She said, “I can’t sleep again, mommy.”  She saw the blanket and her eyes lit up.  I placed it on her and she said, “OH!  It feels so good!  Thanks mom!”  The next morning she told me that she had fallen right to sleep.  Every day I asked, and every day she said the same thing.  I knew then, that there was something to this!
 
The two blankets I was initially asked to make?  She reported back that her 18 month old was now sleeping through the night, and her 4 year old said it felt like a great big hug!  Wow, what was going on?  Others had to have these, but more importantly…others had to be able to AFFORD these.
 
I knew that this was what God had in store for me, this was to be my mission.  I was in bed that night and just as I was falling asleep, God gave me the name…Weight On Me.  I jumped out of bed, and our facebook page was born.  The next day as I was walking through the kitchen, He gave me the verse Isaiah 40:31 “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
 
Once again, Wait On Me.  I got it.  :o )  As I Wait upon the Lord, and provide for others through this Mission, He will provide for me.  Our home philosophy has always been, if you want to get a blessing, you give a blessing.
 
In the first five months of production (We launched 2/1/12), we have made approximately 80 blankets that have gone from Coast to Coast across the USA in 15 states, to Canada and Australia. Some of them for a few Therapy Clinics for Autism, Sensory Processing Disorders and even Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The feedback has been overwhelming! Children are sleeping through the night. Adults with Fibromyalgia, and victims of near-fatal car accidents who live with chronic pain for years now without restful sleep, are sleeping. Autistic children are calming and sleeping. Cancer patients are relaxing, resting, sleeping. A Williams Disease child-sleeping and napping who wont let go of her favorite weighted blanket, and who just calmly sat for a coast to coast car trip for their move. Story after story warms my heart. Some send pictures for me to keep. I get so excited to see their beautiful faces. “My blanket babies!” These are not just autism blankets, they are for so many people! Anyone who needs to feel safe and secure, anyone that needs a little help with sleep, or anyone who just needs a hug once in awhile, would love – and does love a weighted blanket! 
 
Weighted blankets are extremely expensive through many places.  Sometimes as much as $200-$400. We try to keep our prices low so everyone can afford them.  Our custom blankets start at $59 and no size is over $93.  Our first goal is to bring blankets to children and adults that need them. We have very little and sometimes no profit margin. All profits that are made on the blankets, go right back into Weight On Me. I hope to keep things going that way as long as I can, because this is not my mission, and it’s not about me…..it’s about those who need it and it is about the simple things that God has put in our lives.

__________________

You can contact Jodi at makemyblanket@gmail.com, through her Facebook Page, and also her website.

Most Important #Relationship – Shoes or Self?

Posted in Reflections by

I was in a waiting room earlier this week and someone complimented my shoes (they are my newest fabulous purchase if I may say so…and even better they were only $5!). The conversation ensued:

Me:     I’m taking advantage of not being with the kids

Her:    My kids are full grown but I can’t wear heels anyway.  Besides, I have no one to impress.

Me:     I don’t either. My man lives an hour and a half away. I wear them for me. They make me happy.

After thinking for a moment, she said:      “I’m happy too, but that’s because I’m not in a relationship.”

We both laughed, and my name got called for my appointment.

 

Her comment has been nagging at me since. I’m not sure how being or not being in a relationship should determine someone’s happiness. If my marriage taught me anything, it taught me that you can’t look towards and rely on someone else to make you happy because, if you do, your happiness is only short-lived.

 

I recognized her disheveled physical state from the first 6 months after my marriage split up. I was so task-oriented with my kids that I just threw on whatever clothing was clean-ish and none of it fit because, as I came to realize, there’s this thing referred to as the “divorce diet”: magically 20lbs falls off you even when you’re eating nothing but pizza and chips.  Stress is a great diet but NOT healthy so I don’t recommend it.

 

I was scared to spend time alone during the times the kids were at their dad’s. I made sure my “free time” was scheduled for weeks in advance so I wouldn’t have to be alone. Quickly, I burnt out. Being a fulltime mom for the first time in my kids’ lives, managing my son’s behaviours and therapies, and going through the emotional turmoil at that the end of a marriage, I was completely spent…and it showed. 

 

Our apartment was completely cluttered, laundry was never folded, dishes were everywhere, things still weren’t unpacked 6 months after our move, no space in the kitchen to cook, etc.  So, I scheduled a day with a girlfriend to help me declutter. I was thankful to not be “alone” since the kids were at their dad’s, we got rid of tons of stuff (donating most of it, some of it just had to be thrown out or recycled), and she determined what was “acceptable” and “presentable” in my wardrobe.

 

After this, I started to slowly feel better and tried spending time out of the house…on my own, doing things other than running errands.  Around this time, I had an epiphany. I had been looking to others to determine my happiness: my husband, my friends, my kids, etc. It hadn’t/wasn’t/wouldn’t work. I had been trying to be the wife and mother that my husband expected of me (his frequent snide comments like “A 30 year old mom of twins should or shouldn’t…” sure didn’t help). Ever notice how much guilt comes along with the words “should” or “shouldn’t”? I digress…

 

That same girlfriend came back a few weeks later to do another purge with me and we decided it was time to get rid of all my flat shoes (except for the slip-on sneakers, black sandals and brown sandals I needed to chase after the kids). My ex-husband was shorter than me by 2” so I always felt self conscious wearing heels with him. I reinstigated my minimum 6’ rule for dating (I’m 5’10”) and said goodbye to my flats.  The only thing left were at least 3” heels…and it felt fantastic! After I learned it was “ok” to wear my heels when there wasn’t a reason, or as my waiting room friend said “to impress someone”. The fact that my man loves them and encourages me to wear them is just icing on the cake. At the end of the day though, I wear them for me.

Words My #Children Say Incorrectly

Posted in Daughter, Son by

Bloggy Mom’s Blog Dare hasn’t updated writing prompts for a couple of days now so I thought I would go back and look at old ones, and have chosen: “Words my children say incorrectly”.

When the kids were younger, my daughter used to say “Whack-um” instead of “You’re welcome”.  She is missing both of her top front teeth, so there are a number of mispronounced words but even with her front teeth, she still says “fank-you” instead of “thank you”.  Now that she’s done Grade 1 in French Immersion, she surprises me with her understanding of the language and especially that when she sings to herself, it’s often in french. Total mamma pride!

My son says “straws-berry” instead of “strawberry”; and “maaa-mee” instead of “mommy”  – it’s sssooooo cute!  Honestly, because he’s just started talking on a reliable basis, I LOVE listening to anything he says!

 

The Wonder of a Weighted Blanket (#Autism)

Posted in Autism/Special Needs, Son, Things I'm Excited About by

In the Autism community, we are very well aware that Autism and sleep do NOT go together.  I can probably count on one hand the number of times my son has slept through the night more than 2 nights in a row. Some nights, he can get himself back to sleep fairly quickly (within a half hour) but the majority of nights, he’s up for what I call his “Autism party”, which means he’s up and playing in his room for anywhere from 2 – 4 hours, which also means I’m awake for that time too.  I’ve tried everything I could think of, including taking everything out of his room so there’s no incentive to play between 1am and 5am. My research brought me to weighted blankets, but honestly, as a single mom, the price (along with shipping costs) was too much.

A month ago, Weight on Me – Weighted Blankets held a contest on Facebook. It was so popular that initially the winner could win two weighted blankets, and quickly Jodi (the owner of Weight on Me) added a 2nd place prize of winning one weighted blanket.

Part of the contest was to have other people “Like” your comment, and “Like” Weight on Me’s Facebook page. I entered the contest, posted on my personal Facebook, moms groups, and other groups I belong to.  I was completely overwhelmed by the help I received from friends, online friends and friends of my friends. Over 200 people helped us win 2nd prize – HUGE thank you to each and every one of them!

My son surprised me by choosing a Spiderman blanket (there were other fabrics I thought he would choose over the Spiderman one, but at the end of the day, he’s still a boy!), I ordered it, and within a week, we had our blanket:

 

Most amazing of all…my son has slept through the night EVERY NIGHT (except for one where he got up to go to the washroom so that doesn’t count…he went right back to sleep) since receiving the blanket!! 

I’ve chatted with Jodi via email quite a bit since the contest and she herself has an amazing story so we’ll be sharing her story next week too. I just love that she sees every blanket as being a “hug”.

So, THANK YOU again to everyone who helped my son and I finally sleep!!