1871 to 1880

1871. Wednesday playdates.
1872. Sam, Vava, & co playing in the rain.
1873. Warm peanut butter cookies.
1874. Sam adoring airplane rides.
1875. Vava dancing in circles.
1876. Taking some time to update my schedule.
1877. Honey Dijon for dipping.
1878. Sam and Vava snuggling me on the couch, vying over the privilege of turning pages.
1879. Vava still not asking for a bottle.
1880. Sam drawing an airplane!

1861 to 1870

1861. Vava showing me which one of us was addicted to her bottle schedule.
1862. Spending most of the morning outside.
1863. Sam speaking kindly to Vava, and offering to push her around in the toy car.
1864. A great walk, stroller-free!
1865. Perfect presents for Sam and Vava.
1866. After-supper playdate.
1867. Sam wanting me to read my Bible instead of watching him.
1868. Snuggles with my grown-up girl.
1869. Grocery shopping.
1870. Laughs with Patrick.

1851 to 1860

1851. Kids sleeping til 8!
1852. My norwex cloth making coffee-tornado cleanup a quick task.
1853. Monday playdate.
1854. Sunshine.
1855. Vava blowing kisses at the birds.
1856. Sam catching himself before falling down the stairs.
1857. Special visitors with baby offsock.
1858. Yummy leftovers for supper.
1859. Vava playing goodnight instead of going to bed.
1860. Showering and laughing with Patrick.

1841 to 1850

1841. Sunrise peach in the sky.
1842. Sam and Vava not crying or fussing when going into Sunday school.
1843. Being reminded that Jesus is our peace, our hope, forever.
1844. My belly popping out like crazy: hello baby ♥.
1845. Vava eating a huge lunch.
1846. Sam's adorable excitement over pretzels.
1847. Yummy watermelon and yogurt, both on sale.
1848. Sam's "night mama, I love you."
1849. Friends for supper; laughs and cheesecake.
1850. Patrick greasing the squealy hinges :) hooray!

1831 to 1840

1831. Patrick getting a chance to sleep in.
1832. Sunshine.
1833. Vava's delight, wearing shoes outside for the first time in her walking life.
1834. Market with friends.
1835. Thai sausages.
1836. Kisses from Vava through the posts of the banister.
1837. Shopping in Target sans enfants with Chrissy.
1838. Silly supper with sleepy Vava and hyper Sam.
1839. A movie date.
1840. Birds flying home, strong and beautiful in the sunlit sky.

1821to 1830

1821. Adorable kids happy to be woken.
1822. Timbit treat for a scary drive.
1823. God telling me to put the shovel in the trunk ... and I needed it three times.
1824. Hearing sweet baby's heartbeat!
1825. Having help for the third getting-stuck.
1826. A deep-sleep nap.
1827. Patrick's patience with my oversleeping lateness.
1828. Finger-food Friday, fun supper. ♥
1829. Yummy treats and a good movie.
1830. Good conversation and momderstanding.

1811 to 1820

1811. Two squirrels chasing each other in perfect timing with the music I was listening to ... my own private Merrie Melodies. :)
1812. God answering before I called.
1813. His funny and amazing bank.
1814. Friends.
1815. Sam getting the homemade popsicles from the freezer, running them under hot water, and removing his favourite colour, all by himself.
1816. A chance to straighten my closet.
1817. Kids calling Pad Thai spaghetti.
1818. Vava wailing because she had to come in for supper ... then gobbling everything.
1819. Running into Stan at superstore.
1820. Snuggles with Patrick.

1801 to 1810

1801. A friend's kindness.
1802. News of a new baby arriving! ♥
1803. Sitting on the deck in the sun while the kids played.
1804. Summertime planning.
1805. Patrick buying pomegranate juice and gingerale ♥.
1806. Grabbing a relaxing shower while both kids ate breakfast.
1807. Sam loving supper and asking for a third helping.
1808. Having all the dishes washed and garbage out before dark.
1809. Sam pretending to watch tv - Gru playing ball - before falling asleep.
1810. Reading in bed. :).

1791 to 1800

1791. Your help, every hour.
1792. Your name, precious from the lips of my children.
1793. Food - enough, and yes, more than enough.
1794. Friends and chats and nice visits.
1795. Books.
1796. Paper and glue.
1797. Coffee.
1798. Sam asking Patrick to whistle, and staring with disappointment & confusion at the result (ooh - he meant wrestle).
1799. Having my mama on speed dial.
1800. Stillness.

Abundance and Lack

There's a link to a collection of pictures that I've seen tumbling around on Facebook lately - kids and their bedrooms from around the world.  It's a really fascinating peek into different cultures and every picture tells a silent story about the value those cultures place on possessions, comfort, children and their place in the family, wealth, and individualism.

I was a little disturbed by the commentary (not provided by the photographer), that said (my paraphrase) those of us who had more should try to provide the same opportunities that we had to children who are being raised without.

Why would I find that disturbing?

I'm disturbed by the cultural arrogance of assuming that children who aren't raised with material abundance are somehow lacking something.
And I get it, how someone from our culture would think that - and would think they're being philanthropic, even, for their desire to see others raised in similar circumstances.  But we forget that every person looks at life through their own cultural goggles.  And our culture worships the concept of more - we scorn the idea of enough.

In our culture of material abundance, where children are showered with more toys and lessons and more clothes than necessary, we look with pity and fear at a childhood of scarcity and family-supporting labour.  We pity children who share bedrooms and sleeping space with siblings and parents.  We carry around the gluttonous idea that children should be given everything, the more everything the better.  But there are cultures (certainly no less valid, though strange to western understanding) where the goal is not personal abundance.  Children are raised to contribute early to the family's well-being, and are seen as producers, not (solely) consumers, long before they reach adulthood. I think that must be a much healthier state of soul than being raised on excess.

I'm not disagreeing with the idea of helping those in need - I love and celebrate generosity!  But sometimes I think we have it backwards ... that we're the ones in need.  We need to grow up as contributors - not greedy recipients.  We need to grow up knowing the relationship between labour and earnings.  We need to know the joy of being needed and useful and the value of working as part of a family.

We're a lot poorer than we think - no matter how comfortable our bedrooms, or how filled with stuff they are - if we measure the value of a childhood by the number of toys our children have.

1781 to 1790

1781. Vava enthusiastically throwing kisses at seagulls.
1782. Sam giggling as he told me that he put orange juice in Vava's hair.
1783. Taking the kids to Chapters for a playdate.
1784. Maple macchiato.
1785. Vava's snuggles.
1786. Sam's selfies.
1787. Patrick cleaning while I napped.
1788. Sam kissing me awake.
1789. The look of utter need in Vava's eyes when she saw Zebra after an afternoon of laundry-separation.
1790. Easter presents for the kids from their grandparents.

1771 to 1780

1771. Sleeping in while Patrick manned the kids.
1772. Cuddling in bed with Vava.
1773. Getting tons of kisses.
1774. Going for a drive and sharing timbits.
1775. Finding the frosted-glass window cling I was searching for.
1776. Finding pretty curtain ties and making our dining room bright.
1777. Napping long this afternoon.
1778. Grocery shopping with the kids.
1779. Sam asking God for more kids to come to playland, and they did.
1780. Working in the kitchen with my One True Love.

1761 to 1770

1761. Snuggly couchy morning.
1762. Cake for breakfast. It's Good Friday ... :) can't think of a better reason to rejoice.
1763. Remembering our Saviour's sacrifice.
1764. Napping all afternoon.
1765. Maternity pants.
1766. Company for supper.
1767. Sam and Vava ♥.
1768. Surprise note on the fridge.
1769. Cleaned kitchen!!
1770. Four-day weekend ... ahhh.

1751 to 1760

1751. A nice visit with Diane.
1752. Chatting with my sister.
1753. A morning with Sam while Vava slept in.
1754. Playgroup.
1755. A nice grocery trip with the kids.
1756. Quiet afternoon, lots of time to read.
1757. Patrick coming home for a 4-day weekend.
1758. Taking the kids out to play together.
1759. Sam being gracious when another kid was mean.
1760. A goodbye visit from Micah.

1741 to 1750

1741. The kids wearing Patrick's hats because they missed him.
1742. Backyard full of smiling kids.
1743. Friend's generosity; a new baby seat & stroller.
1744. Hot tea after a chill.
1745. Cream cheese sugar-cookie squares.
1746. Vava bringing me my earrings, saying "ee-wing, get on!"
1747. Patrick cleaning up while I rested.
1748. Clean and fragrant kids after a much-needed bath.
1749. Reading friends' poetry.
1750. A warm blanket my mom made: the best kind of long-distance hug.

1731 to 1740

1731. Taking the kids for a walk in the sunshine.
1732. Girl Guide cookies.
1733. Chatting with my heart-sister.
1734. Going to the dentist ... more than an hour of relaxing alone while Patrick manned the kids. :)
1735. Coming home to excited kids waving from the window.
1736. Friends playing with the kids after supper.
1737. Vava pretending to be asleep, then shouting "up!"
1738. Patrick going to the store and buying Hawkins for me.
1739. Having all the housework done early.
1740. A hot shower.

1721 to 1730

1721. Kids being kind to each other after a cranky start to the day.
1722. Monday funday.
1723. Sam kissing my belly and saying hi baby!
1724. Patrick's funny texts.
1725. Having such a nice energy auditor.
1726. Playing outside on a chilly afternoon.
1727. Bruschetta and sausages for supper.
1728. Vava eagerly running up to a man in the mall and declaring "hi!"
1729. Dinosaur-ing the nice lady in Target.
1730. Kids not fighting bedtime at all.

1711 to 1720

1711. Vava cuddling with Patrick, looked like she had his giant feet - belly laughs.
1712. Greeting at church this morning - so many friendly faces!
1713. Vava in her sparkly pink shoes.
1714. Sam playing gleefully with friends after Sunday school.
1715. Going out with a dress and a sweater - no boots or jacket!
1716. Leftover lunch.
1717. Delightful nap.
1718. Playdate supper..
1719. Catching up on my poetry challenge.
1720. Lounging, happy, with my One True Love.

1701 to 1710

1701. The kids' excitement over Sam's new bed.
1702. Playing at Chapters and getting treats for the way home.
1703. Watermelon making everyone happy.
1704. Patrick taking a nice walk while the kids napped.
1705. Sam being so pumped to go to the sitter's.
1706. Friends for dinner.
1707. A poutine bar.
1708. Gorgeous pregnancy pics ... ooh I can't wait to meet our friends' precious darling!
1709. Rich chocolate cake.
1710. Good conversation and relaxation ... ahhh.

1691 to 1700

1691. Sam and Vava being happy and silly together in the car.
1692. A Moby wrap from a friend, for snuggling our sweet ray of sunshine in October.
1693. Reading the same Bible plan as Patrick.
1694. Pampered Chef orders arriving!
1695. Patrick setting up the new bed all alone.
1696. Running into friends while grocery shopping.
1697. Rubicon Pomegranate juice on sale. Mmm best ever.
1698. Sleepy hugs from Sam.
1699. Vava going to bed with Sam's new underwear on over her pyjamas.
1700. Hearing Spirit in the Sky and singing along with the kids, windows rolled down and sunshine pouring in.

1681 to 1690

1681. Getting the garbage to the curb on time.
1682. Playgroup fundate!
1683. Sam declaring "so happy now!" when we pulled in to Little Giants.
1684. Taking the kids to see Patrick at work.
1685. Beautiful miss Vava rocking Sam's old motorcycle jacket.
1686. An unexpected phone call from my brother ... and Sam thinking it was Grampie's voice he heard :).
1687. Sam being so excited to buy a new Percy-train he couldn't eat or drink.
1688. Sam referring to the dump as the dump truck.
1689. Getting rid of a whole bunch of broken junk and stuff!
1690. "There's two-a-dem!" Sam's comment on Vava making a friend her size at the store. ♥

1671 to 1680

1671. My kind and even-tempered husband.
1672. Trucks hauling away snow from the intersection: hopefully no spring flooding in our basement!
1673. Sam seeing me pull the chairs away from the table, and automatically pulling the vacuum from the closet.
1674. Playdate Wednesday in the park.
1675. Kids gleeful in puddles.
1676. Afternoon visit and peanut butter cookies.
1677. Kids playing on the deck.
1678. Patrick barbecuing the perfect burgers.
1679. Sam and Vava chasing each other around the house and giggling.
1680. Sam showing me he was full by pretending his belly was so big it made him fall over. Skinny lil comedian.

1661 to 1670

1661. Seeing my sleepy face first thing in the morning, a worried Sam asking "you okay mama?"
1662. The sun wreaking havoc with the snow :).
1663. My kids rejoicing in the slush puddles and lighter jackets.
1664. Going to see the trains and finding a moving one when we arrived.
1665. My brave kids walking through waist-deep snow to play on the slides.
1666. The way Vava cries at coming inside, no matter how long we spend outside.
1667. Vava blowing kisses at the airplanes overhead.
1668. Sam shoveling the back deck, a few icy chunks at a time.
1669. Tackling the back stairs with Patrick.
1670. Relaxing with cookies and milk.

1651 to 1660

1651. Sam waking up chipper and ready to play.
1652. Patrick going to work for us ♥.
1653. After two timeouts for hitting, Vava transformed her slap mid-swing into an energetic point.
1654. Sam picking up all the blocks before naptime.
1655. An unexpected nice visit.
1656. Assurance that other moms are fighting the same repetitive battles.
1657. Vava falling asleep happy, book in hand.
1658. Sam's bedtime snack & snuggle.
1659. Such a great gymbook.
1660. Laughing with my love.

1641 to 1650

1641. Vava and Patrick cuddling in his sleeping bag this morning.
1642. Sam wanting to be just like Grandpapa, with a "scarf" too! (A tie hehe)
1643. Vava getting tangled in her dress on the stairs, and Sam taking her hand to help her to the top.
1644. Vava being so excited that she was wearing a dress like mama.
1645. Wearing shoes instead of boots for the first time in a long time.
1646. Lunch with Grandmaman and Grandpapa before  they left.
1647. Playing in the park with the kids.
1648. Intrepid Vava tackling a giant puddle fearlessly.
1649. Sam telling the other cars on the road "can't catch me!"
1650. Played-out kids falling asleep instantly.

1631 to 1640

1631. Quiet snuggles with Vava in the super-early morning.
1632. Sam and Vava playing together in the sleeping bag.
1633. Taking the kids to the park.
1634. Drive-thru lunch.
1635. Sam and Vava exclaiming "whee!" as we drove over the train bridge.
1636. Running errands sans enfants.
1637. Catching up on laundry.
1638. Papa Gerry surprising us and arriving before supper!
1639. The kids falling asleep easily after a full day.
1640. Sam telling me he was "so more happy!" after eating supper.

1621 to 1630

1621. Shoveling with my sillies.
1622. Vava eating snow.
1623. Sam's bliss at playing with his giant outside digger.
1624. Lebanese takeout, thanks to aunt Diane.
1625. Ladies who lunch ... after the toddlers go for naps, anyway.
1626. Pastries and earl grey.
1627. Putting my feet up.
1628. Vava falling, Sam asking kindly "you okay, Va?"
1629. Patrick soothing Vava when she woke in the night.
1630. Cozy new hoodies ... thanks, mama c!

1611 to 1620

1611. Diane's Thursday gift. ♥.
1612. The kids waking up to a visit from Grandmaman!
1613. Vava wearing her helmet backwards inside just for fun.
1614. Playgroup :).
1615. Friends from afar.
1616. Going to an appointment without the kids.
1617. A lazy evening watching YouTube cuteness and chatting with my mother-in-law.
1618. Making shadow puppets with Sam.
1619. Seeing my belly grow like crazy.
1620. Making it into the second trimester ... hooray!

1601 to 1610

1601. Sam's bright brown eyes and wild beautiful hair.
1602. Sunshine! Scarf and sweater weather ... well, a warm sweater.
1603. Playdate Wednesday!
1604. Vava demonstrating her determination ... and learning when she must say sorry.
1605. Talking with my dad and mom ♥.
1606. Working on baby names :).
1607. Having fun friends over!
1608. Buying cool kitchen tools :).
1609. Snuggling down into cozy blankets.
1610. Patrick. ♥

1591 to 1600

1591. Finally spilling the beans on Facebook about ...
1592. The baby the baby the baby!
1593. Sam making noise at naptime. I ask him to be quiet so Vava could sleep ... he keeps on talking, but covers his ears.
1594. Vava dancing to the page-turning music in her audio book.
1595. Both kids falling asleep in my arms (not at the same time).
1596. Day 1 of April's poetry challenge.
1597. Dancing with the kids before bed.
1598. Patrick doing the dishes.
1599. Patrick being Patrick.
1600. Patrick loving me ♥.