Going with the flow.....

Well Christmas came and went this year and we managed to celebrate as much as we could though it did not go as planned....I am still sick...a very bad cough, that is better but is still lingering.... Lots of snow that has interfered with some plans even as it makes things festive.  Matteo's gifts were low key though one is still to be delivered...thematically this was an arts Christmas....a painting easel which never got put together when I got sick the week before Christmas.....it is up in my studio so hopefully at some point Matteo and I will be upstairs doing some artwork together...which was the plan but so little energy these days.....

...Anyhow we never managed to make it to our Church to take a look at the Nativity...which I really wanted to do....I'll have to see if I have energy to get there on the weekend....trying to keep the focus on the spiritual for our sakes.  As for Santa, Matteo kept insisting that that little purple bear was from Santa so he didn't seem too impressed with any other deliveries.  So in some ways it was a very low key Christmas at our home anyhow.  Matteo had a great time at my sister's on Christmas day and was thrilled when he got some a Thomas bathtub train and boat, and some talking Thomas, Percy and Victor trains....  Of course the pyjamas and clothes etc.... mommy appreciated.

What I wil remember most are the walks in the snow that I took with Matteo.  On Christmas eve we walked around the neighbourhood enjoying the Christmas lights...Matteo loves Christmas lights....then on Christmas morning we went for another walk and it was wonderfully quiet and we wished any neighbour we saw, a Merry Christmas.  Today after our mini blizzard, we took a walk, mostly to un - snow the car and get it off the street, and then we went for a long walk at Matteo's insistence...he did not want to go home...kept saying "no home"...so he enjoyed walking and playing with snow....and wanted to stay out longer. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed those walks!  Hope for a few more before the holidays are finished.

The other thing I loved was Matteo trying to sing a couple of Christmas carols....Frosty and Jingle Bells were favourites....if I'm able to, here are a couple of videos I managed to get.

Frosty the snow man.....

Jingle Bells....

Santa 2012....

Well we tried to go back to the Santa we visited last year and again Matteo was fascinated by the train and little village set up they had.  He was warming up to Santa and went from saying he wanted to visit him and no, he didn't.  Sadly even though there was lots of space and we weren't interfering with anyone else getting through, one of the women, sort of us asked to move away!  Not impressed esp. as I was considering buying the fruit cake they had on display...but nope, if she couldn't have a little more patient with a little one, then we would reconsider where we'll go to see Santa next year.  Santa on the other hand, came up to Matteo and gave him a candy cane and the package of stickers and small gifts that he gives to all children who see him....so that was nice.

Santa 2012 will have to be the Santa Matteo reluctantly sat with at our annual Calabrian Christmas party.  As you will see below, not the eager visit but he loved /loves the little purple bear (have I mentioned how much Matteo is into his stuffed toys...a number of them sleep with him, including this new bear)....so for Matteo Santa gave him the bear and he holds him dear.

Croup at Christmastime....(again).....

....What a week....Matteo and I have both been sick...started with croup which was a deja vu to last year's croup and a high fever, and a very different weekend than we planned. Then just as Matteo was about to head back to daycare, mommy got sick, and was it ugly...still is, but much better.....  Needless to say, all those plans to get things done the week before Christmas were put on hold and /or cancelled...Matteo still has a cough and I'm able to manage things much better but feeling very low of energy and enthusiasm...even the snow wasn't helping until I got to Matteo's daycare and saw this wonderful snowman....and when I went inside Matteo started to sing a bit of Frosty to me.  So that helped to lift my spirits....so for now all I'm hoping for is a healthy Christmas!!

Cookie time....

 

Sleepy time....

Remembering the women.....

December 6th is the anniversary of when Matteo and I flew back from Vietnam after his adoption.

It is also the anniversary of the shooting of women in Quebec at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal...sometimes referred to as the Montreal Massacre.  On our journey home that year, as I have on every year since 1989, I think of those women.

It is therefore very appropriate and no coincidence that the 16 days of Action against Gender Violence are set during this time.

As the mother of a boy, I know that violence against women is taught and begins with how we socialize our boys and girls.  It is very important and is critical if we are ever to change attitudes.  I saw a posting the other day where students were complaining/protesting that their university was inviting girls to workshops on how to avoid being raped instead of holding workshops for the boys on how to not rape.  This is what society likes to do, blame the women for being raped, instead of looking at how we teach boys and men that rape is acceptable when they need to learn that it is not. Rape and violence does not begin with women but with men. More needs to be done to hold workshops to deal with the attitudes that the boys and men have and their responsibility, and not the other way around.

This is the attitude shift that is needed.

Boys need to be raised to know that it is not acceptable to be violent, and specifically it is not acceptable to be violent towards women. Rape is not about sex.  It is about violence and power.

I am doing my best to raise Matteo with positive attitudes, though I am afraid of the socialization he will get through the many messages out there that I have no control over.  However on this eve before this anniversay, I always think of the women in Montreal. I will never forget the comment published in a newspaper by a friend of one of the victims.  She said "She had a dream of becoming an engineer. What was wrong with that?"   Those words were pivotal in my life and because of them I was able to go on and make different choices than what I had been planning.  Dreams are important and following those dreams, regardless of obstacles or problems is something I hang on to.

Those women were denied their choice at life and dreams.  I will continue to remember them and continue to embrace and do my best to fulfill my dreams, in respect for them and their memory, and not take dreams for granted.

Oh Christmas Tree....Oh Christmas Tree.....

December 1st - World AIDS Day

On this occasion I wanted to share this blog World Moms Blog where another blogger Hike, Blog, Love that I've been following has had an article posted.  Some things to consider on this day.