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It Is Perfectly OK to Let Go

October 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Being a Chinese, I know “perfectly” what 10-10-10 means (which, by the way, didn’t happen at all this past Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, because my internet was down the whole time) — perfect act at perfect time in perfect place.  That, can really wear you down.  I, for one, was caught up in that “being perfect manifesto”.

Not too long ago, I slightly (meaning without realizing it) dislocated my shoulder, and it ended up developing into tendinitis but I still thought I could keep things together, because you know, there are so much to do and I need to keep going, and be perfect.  That’s right.  Then, over the long weekend, everything sort of collapsed; I can’t perform daily functions as woman, wife or mom because my left arm simply dropped, has killer pain caused by sudden movement.

I am learning to let go.  Trust me , this is not a easy task at all, for CFO, a.k.a. Control Freak Officer, like me.  And here is what I’ve learned;

All women Are Beautiful

As woman, we put on skin/hair/beauty care products,  we try to stay in fashion, stay with trends, the dress the tops the skirts, and the shoes the boots the flats.  With my arm operates at 23% of capacity, I decided as long as I am clean, I am likable.  Assuming every woman is beautiful, I just want to be a good woman, a woman.

All Wives Are Amazing

As (not desperate) wife, we clean the rooms, we mop the floor,  we wipe the counter top and  we vacuum the whole house. We run errands, shop groceries, empty dishwasher and fold laundry.  With my arm operates at 23% of capacity, I decided as long as my house is clean, it is livable.  Assuming every wife is amazing, I just want to be a good wife, a wife.

All Moms Are Super

As mom, we make breakfast, we pack lunch, we tend their homework and we follow the daily routines cause we have to stick together.  We go on the field trips, we participate the teacher-parent interviews, we sit in the school concerts, we even help with their school projects if you know what I mean.  With my arm operates at 23% of capacity, I decided as long as my kids are clean, they are lovable.  Assuming every mom is super, I just want to be a good mom, a mom.

Sometimes, well, o.k. most of time if you let go, you are actually doing yourself a favour, and doing people around you a (huge) favour.  And the beauty of it is, once you let go there is NO let down.  I am going to practice this every day now, how about you?

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Playhouse Disney Review & Giveaway

August 6, 2010 By 6 Comments

You can grow up with Playhouse Disney, and I really mean it.  I am thrilled to be part of Playhouse Disney Canada Blog tour, offered by Mom Central Canada.  For excitement like this, I just can’t tell the girls until I have the stuff in hand.

Some of you may know, my girls are 6 and 8, at the stage where they can be little princesses or young ladies, depends on the mood of day and the tasks I ask them to complete :)   However, that is never the case when they watch Playhouse Disney, they are just like two dolls sit quietly, eyes glued to the TV with mouth slightly open, so cute ! They love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Imagination Movers, the first one brings back all the memory they have with Disney and the later, inspires their creativity in so many different ways.

Watching TV is a special treat in our house, and I’ve always been very selective about what’s on.  As a parent, I am confident about the programming when my girls watch Playhouse Disney, I know they get the most of entertaining and learning at the same time.  I also like their website, we can play games together or the girls can do different activities by themselves, it’s another way to engage kids for learning while playing; and again, I feel pretty safe and secure letting my girls go on the site because the contents are age appropriate and Disney has done a good job addressing the privacy concerns.

So not only can you grow up but also grow old with Disney, wouldn’t it put a smile on your face when hear someone singing “M–I–C-K-Y M O U S E” ?

After watching the 5 full episodes from the Playhouse Disney DVD I received, the feedback from my girls? “They are awesome but too short !  They need to be LONGER !! “  Now I invite you to participate in this giveaway so you can enjoy it too ! :)

Giveaway

Win a Playhouse Disney prize pack which includes;

  • Playhouse Disney DVD with 5 full episodes (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Imagination Movers, Special Agent OSO, My Friends Tigger & Pooh).
  • Magnetic Pen
  • Sticker Sheet
  • Crayons and Colouring Magnet

More Information

  • Open to Canadian residents only. You may enter this giveaway on multiple blogs but are only eligible to win one prize package as part of the Playhouse Disney blog tour.
  • Giveaway will run until Wednesday, August 18th at 8pm EST
  • Winner will be chosen via Random.org.
  • Winner will have 24 hours to reply to my e-mail with their name and address or another winner will be chosen.

Mandatory Entry

  • Leave a comment telling me what your child’s favorite Playhouse Disney show is.  If you don’t have Playhouse Disney then leave a comment telling me your child’s favorite Disney movie.

Optional Entries

  • Go to Playhouse Disney on Facebook and subscribe to the newsletter. Leave a comment saying you have done so.
  • Follow me on twitter and tweet about the giveaway using the hashtag #PlayhouseDisneyCanada (can be done once a day, don’t forget to leave a comment with the direct link to your tweet)

Disclosure – I am participating in the Playhouse Disney program by Mom Central. I received a Playhouse Disney prize pack to facilitate this post. The opinions on this blog are my own.

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A Patriotic (sort of) Trip to Ottawa

July 27, 2010 By 3 Comments

So back in June when we celebrated hubby’s birthday together with Father’s Day, I sort of put the message out there saying that we are going to Ottawa/Montreal in the summer, not quite sure how would it happen but usually that’s the way works in our house.  I pick up the signal, a hint or something hubby mentioned casually, and just keep pushing and pushing till it come true, man, we really are a perfect couple, push-and-pull, that is what I mean.

We were in Ottawa for 5 days, it was a lovely family trip.  The girls have never been in long car trip, the longest by far was from Mississauga to Niagara Falls, (which we may go in August  but will see) so this five hours drive is new to all of us.  We prepared everything from wrist bands to prevent car sick, to snack for munching, from audio story to in-car entertainment (music  and DVD, that is), combined with frequent stops, we finally survived and arrived in our hotel, Courtyard Ottawa.  As you can see two happy campers here :)

The next day was Parliament Hill day, literally.

Our hotel is just about 10 minutes walk to the Hill, and we were there by 9 o’clock in the morning to pick up tickets for Parliament tour so we can visit inside the building after the Change of Guard.  We went on the Rideau Canal boat tour in the evening which the weather was perfect, travelled along the Ottawa river, experienced the Nation’s Capital from both land and water, it was so relaxing with the breeze.  Highlight of the day was MosAika Sound & Light Show On Parliament Hill in Ottawa , you can have a peek of the video, it is simply magnificent !!

Canadian Museum of Nature was a day full of woo and ahh from the girls, so much to see and so much to do that we didn’t get out until 5pm.  We enjoyed the AQUA special exhibition, with “A Journey Into The World Of Water“, it shows us there is a lot need to be done to save this planet, and we are all responsible for taking action to ensure that everyone has access to safe water, in sufficient quantities, today and tomorrow.  The girls were also mesmerized by Blue Water Gallery, Mammal Gallery and Bird Gallery, and of course Frogs – A Chorus of Colours too.


Canadian Museum of Civilization is an educational place, not only for school-aged kids but for immigrants like us too.  We get to learn the history, people that made Canadian history and Canada’s First Peoples .  We also watched the 3D movie “Sharks”, that so many species of sharks are endangered or critically endangered, my 8-year-old hyper sensitive Laetitia came out claiming, “We should all stop eating meat because that’s killing animals, well if you can’t stop, you should at least eat very little meat !” Certainly, this is a great challenge for her 6-year-old carnivore sister, Emmanuelle.

On our last day before heading back to Mississauga, we stopped by the Royal Canadian Mint and got a taste of how the coins were made, also got to hold the 20+ pound gold bar which is the heaviest ever ! LOL.

So why do I say this family trip is sort of patriotic?  Because as close to the Capital, I really feel we are so fortunate to live in this  wonderful country, so proud to be Canadians again after the 2010 Olympic; I see abundant talents with amazing achievements, and I get teary everything I sing “O Canada”

Special thanks to Denise Breau, Cluster Director of Sales and Marketing at Residence Inn & Courtyard by Marriott Ottawa, who reached out to me on Twitter and gave us special rate.  The room is spacious for two queen beds, and very clean, which is the the first the foremost when I walk into any hotel room.  It has pool and whirlpool on site, plus fitness centre, so we absolutely take advantage of the facility whenever we can throughout the day.  With the HST and everything, we used the discount on our daily breakfast, it saved us substaintially :)

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A Happy And Proud Mama

May 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

This post should have been published shortly after I came back from Taiwan, but life always has something unexpected in it.  No, I am not procrastinating because this is not chores, it’s just that clients started calling and works started piling, then the computer broke down and I realized I haven’t backed up my trip photos…,

until my 6-year-old utter out the other day,

So, during my trip back home I witnessed what everything my mom and mother-in-law did for me and my family, suddenly realized that I am doing the same for my girls if not more even though I was often in disagreement with my mom and MIL.  Being a daughter and being a mom are really interrelated and is just amazing how I rediscover myself this way.

Well, a small reflection (maybe 1%) of my 8 years parenting gripes before the trip were more like this;

How can I not be tired when

  • my 5 year old who should be sleeping through the night keeps calling and I can’t get 3-hour straight sleep;
  • I just want to have a quiet moment when my 8 year old and 6 year old drama queens are singing and dancing High School Musical or Hanna Montana in the background, for the 12th time of last hour and there’s no earplug in the house;

How can I not be frustrated when

  • I only ask a simple yes/no question (i.e. Are you done your homework yet?) and got 15 minutes of show down of ” you know what happened at recess? Rena and Jess got into fight then carried into the classroom, so the whole class was discussing how to respect friends and so the teacher asked everyone to write a short paragraph about it and I have lots of  great ideas about it and I just need a need paper and sharp pencil and…”
  • My 5 year old still forgot to flush the toilet when she finishes, after I’ve deliberately told her 2,190 times (three times a day for 2 years) ?

How can I not be worried when

  • My super hyper sensitive 7 year old  comes home the first day of school and told me that, she has been called names and no one wants to play with her ?
  • My 6 year old had general anesthesia for her dental surgery and was in the operating room for over two hours as opposed to the original 45 minutes?

It’s when I snap this picture that a light bulb went on…

How can I not be happy when

They insist kisses, hugs and say “I love you” every night before sleep no matter what had just happened 2 minutes ago,

How can I not be proud of when

Knowing that they are healthy, growing happily and soon they’ll be greater than “The Great Wall of China”.

I decided to reward myself on this year’s Mother’s Day, and these are my best gifts. :)

What about you? What are you proud of being a mama? What will be your Mother’s Day gift this year?

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A Job I Didn’t Apply For

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

You may have seen this, someone sent it to me as I told her I needed to pick up the girls from school when she wanted a good chat, this is just too funny.

Would you still want the job if you knew all about this?  For those of you who know me, I definitely would !!  Shocking ?? I know !!!

PARENT – Job Description

This is hysterical. If it had been presented this way,
I don’t know if any of us would have done it!!!!

POSITION :
Mum, Mummy, Mama, Ma, Mom
Dad, Daddy, Dada, Pa, Pop

JOB DESCRIPTION :

Long term, team players needed, for challenging,
permanent work in an
often chaotic environment.
Candidates must possess excellent communication
and organizational skills and be willing to work
variable hours, which will include evenings and weekends
and frequent 24 hour shifts on call.
Some overnight travel required, including trips to
primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in far away cities!
Travel expenses not reimbursed.
Extensive courier duties also required.

RESPONSIBILITIES :

The rest of your life.
Must be willing to be hated, at least temporarily,
until someone needs $5.
Must be willing to bite tongue repeatedly.
Also, must possess the physical stamina of a
pack mule
and be able to go from zero to 60 mph in three seconds flat
in case, this time, the screams from
the backyard are not someone just crying wolf.
Must be willing to face stimulating technical challenges,
such as small gadget repair, mysteriously sluggish toilets
and stuck zippers.
Must screen phone calls, maintain calendars and
coordinate production of multiple homework projects.
Must have ability to plan and organize social gatherings
for clients of all ages and mental outlooks.
Must be a willing to be indispensable one minute,
an embarrassment the next.
Must handle assembly and product safety testing of a
half million cheap, plastic toys, and battery operated devices.
Must always hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
Must assume final, complete accountability for
the quality of the end product.
Responsibilities also include floor maintenance and
janitorial work throughout the facility.

POSSIBILITY FOR ADVANCEMENT & PROMOTION :

None.
Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills,
so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE :

None required unfortunately.
On-the-job training offered on a continually exhausting basis.

WAGES AND COMPENSATION :

Get this!   You pay them!
Offering frequent raises and bonuses.
A balloon payment is due when they turn 18 because
of the assumption that college will help them
become financially independent.
When you die, you give them whatever is left.
The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that
you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

BENEFITS :

While no health or dental insurance, no pension,
no tuition reimbursement, no paid holidays and
no stock options are offered;
this job supplies limitless opportunities for personal growth, unconditional love,
and free hugs and kisses for life if you play your cards right.


** AND A FOOTNOTE ‘THERE IS NO RETIREMENT  –  EVER!!!
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