a peek inside the fishbowl

01 Oct, 2007

Insane in the brain

Posted by andrea tomkins in: Easy ways to make kids happy

This photo sums up our weekend:

 Bouncy mouse

… which was great. Non-stop fun, in fact.

Mark was in Montreal so I was doing the single-parent thing. I can’t even begin to itemize the stuff the girls and I did. Perhaps I’ll do a photographic round up later on, but now I’m waaaay behind and my head is spinning.

This morning – somewhere between the gym and my latte – I realized something. When the kids were very small, taking them out somewhere (anywhere!) used to be more work than fun. Parents, you know what I mean, right? Depending on the event, you had to calcuate the work:fun ratio and then decide if you had enough energy to take it on.

Well, I realized that some time ago that the work:fun ratio changed, and now it’s actually in my favour. When did that happen? It must have been around the time we waved goodbye to the diaper bag. (?)

Travelling around the city with the kids in tow is not that much work anymore. And it’s suddenly become much more fun. I’m cool with that.


6 Responses to "Insane in the brain"

1 | porter

October 1st, 2007 at 10:36 am

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Yep…I’m at the stage where I question if it’s more work than fun. I think it’s more grumble, complain, exert, then so much fun it’s worth it..yahoo, and then grumble, complain, exert again. Oh well, pros and cons of each stage I suppose.

It’s not only the diaper bag, it’s the car seats and necessary hand holding (whether or not anyone wants to) and the assistance that is required with everything.

2 | Jennie

October 1st, 2007 at 11:31 am

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Geez! I wonder what my parents said about me :)

3 | DaniGirl

October 1st, 2007 at 11:48 am

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I’ve been noodling a post to this effect – parental excursions are actually fun now! – for a while. I remember my first trip out with both of them by myself, simply to WalMart, of all places, and how terrified I was. And now, I’d take them for a weekend getaway by myself… I love their company, and you’re right, it’s not “work” anymore.

So why the hell did I sign up for the third again, just when it’s getting all fun and easy?!?! Sucker for punishment, I guess…

4 | mamatulip

October 1st, 2007 at 2:32 pm

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I’m at the stage now where going out with my four-year-old is more often fun than not, going out with my two-year-old is fun but a bit of work, but going out with them TOGETHER is still more work than fun.

LOVE that picture!

5 | amy

October 1st, 2007 at 8:25 pm

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love that you told off those mombuzzers! You are awesome- I clicked over there and saw yr comment- I was going to say the same. Yr great!

6 | The Veggie Vixen

October 2nd, 2007 at 11:53 am

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That’s so good to hear. I keep telling myself that soon we can travel light but I sometimes wonder if I think it to just feel better. Yesterday I went to the mall without a diaper bag and it was liberating.

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My name is Andrea and I live in Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Sunny who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. During the day I work as a freelance writer. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

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