The Balancing Act - A Blog by A Canadian Muslim Mom

A Tantrum at Costco

Thus far, I've been pretty lucky when it comes to tantrums.  My kids have never really been into the the screaming, lying-on-the-floor, kicking and wailing kind of thing.   They're  more of the whining sort, which is equally painful in its own way.

However, this was not the case at Costco on Tuesday.  On the weekend, we ran out of everything simultaneously - razors, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent - you name it.  I lured the Girl into the van to accompany me with promises of a  Costco hot dog.  We made our way and I was quite pleased to have the company  - groceries/supplies shopping stopped being fun for me a long time ago, and it was nice to have someone to chat with along the way.

We finished our shop and began to wait in line which was, to my dismay, adjacent to the aisle of bulk candy and gum.   I should have known this meant trouble.

If you ask my Girl what her favourite thing in the world is, she will respond without hesitation, "Gum...and make-up.  I've gotten her gum a few times, but am not crazy about where it usually ends up in my house (the bathtub??! gross.)  So, the Girl notices the Aisle of Gum (literally, bulk boxes of gum that must have contained 1000 pieces each) and declares, with wide, wide eyes, "I want gum." I said no to her - "That's way too much gum.  I'll buy you a smaller pack later."

Clearly, the mere fact that one could physically possess that much gum was just too much for her to bear.

She started to sob as if she'd been beaten.  I refused to give in.  People around us quickly became uncomfortable and irritated. There's nothing worse that feeling like others are critical of your parenting abilities.  I could see from their faces that they thought I should just buy her the bloody gum.  But, how could I do that? What lesson does that teach - behave monstrously and you will be rewarded? No way.

So she cried through check-out, then all the way to her school, then at school, where she told her friends and teacher in the coat room that I was mean.  I dropped her, went to my car and cried. Sometimes this is really hard.

When I picked up the Girl from school, she said she was sorry and I knew she was.  But, the discomfort of the incident lingered with me all day. 

Airport Musings

We came back from Calgary a month ago.  At the Calgary airport, the person in front of me in the check-in line was wearing these:

 

Okay, I'm definitely in "casual" mode most of the time, but come on. Pink flannel Minnie Mouse pyjamas are NOT ACCEPTABLE TRAVEL CLOTHES!  Pyjamas on airplanes are one of my pet peeves.

Also, I continually horrify myself with my inability to travel light. It's just that I'd rather have everything just in case....our flight gets delayed and we need more clothes, an unexpected event comes up for which we need the right attire...when packing I err on the safe side.

So inevitably, my husband gets severely irritated whenever we go through check-in and our backs are in all marked "HEAVY" with those bright green tags.  I don't think it's unreasonable for a family of five to have 5 suitcases for a 2 week trip?

Fitness and Health: Learning from the Past

Sorry for the delay since my last post!  January blaaahs, combined with some technical difficulties prevented me from writing sooner. 

As you may know, I've been discouraged about my inability to "bounce back" fitness wise after my third child.  I've been trying to think back to when I was fit, and what I did differently then (the 90's).  The fact is, I was in shape because I worked damn hard at it. I exercised vigorously, ate properly, and maintained good, healthy habits.

Somewhere, along the way, I lost track of these healthy habits.  Of course, multiple pregnancies exacerbated the problem, but I think it started before then. Stress, induced by work, losing my mom, and other factors caused me to turn to food as a comfort and outlet.  At some point, chocolate and sweets became my therapy and this, I think, became an addiction.

I made a list of some of my healthy habits from the past, and have been trying to reincorporate them into my life. I love the newness of January, and the ability to start afresh with a new year.  Here are some of my fitness and nutrition resolutions for 2009. I'd love to hear some of yours too - please share!

• Do some kind of exercise every day. I've got a treadmill in the basement, and no matter what, I get on there for at least 30 minutes a day.  At the end of the week, that's 3.5 hours of walking/running!

• Dessert is a luxury not a necessity.  I got into the bad habit of always having a "treat" after dinner, whether it be a cookie, chocolate or a dessert.  My kids get invited to lots of birthday parties, and I found myself always helping myself to a piece of cake and whatever other treats were offered.  Now, dessert is a luxury - something to be consumed only once in a while so as not to trigger that addiction that I know lies within me.

• Fiber, fiber, fiber.  In university, my apartment building had a shopping complex with a great health food store. I used to buy these dried soups made by Nile Spice (see image below)- black bean, lentil couscous, sweet corn chowder, minestrone - that I would have for lunch every day.  Each soup had about 12 grams of fiber and would keep me full, easily, until dinner. I recently rediscovered these soups at Loblaws and they're still great at keeping me satisfied for up to 3 hours.

• No butter on bread. Period.

• No pizza, fries or ice cream.