Raising Boys World Article #2: Bathroom Humour

Happy Wednesday all!

Today I am happy to announce that my second article for Raising Boys World has been published!

Please see my post and link to my first article "Oh Boy!" here.


My next article is all about boys and their love of bathroom humour. Burping, farting, the male anatomy...you name it...they think it's funny! Here it is...and I hope you enjoy!

My Boys' Sack of Nuts and Balls  By: Lora Rossi  (February 29, 2012)

Thanks to Tara, Renee and everyone else at Raising Boys World for their ongoing support!

Smiles,

Lora

That's Silly!

Life is too frickin' short to be so serious all the time peeps!

You need to learn how to relax, to dance, to laugh, to joke around!

Like Mr. Silly here.

I have to remind myself of this a lot...as I tend to be a little intense...but I love me a good laugh...I just feel awesome to get that belly jiggling!

(OK...maybe the belly jiggle thing feels...well...like I need to do more crunches...but you know what I mean!)

Having young children is a great reminder of how to be silly and it's health benefits. And it is great to encourage the natural silliness in your kids...as long as the "there is a time and a place" lesson goes along with it.

A silly face made out of silly putty.

For example, my mom was over taking care of my older boys when I was stuck in bed pregnant with broken feet and they came up to my room for a visit with their jean shorts on their heads.

I asked them, "Why are your shorts on your heads silly boys?"

And they said, "Nana said it was 'wear your jean shorts on your head day!"

And so it was. It was simple, but the boys loved it.

You see, it helped me growing up to have parents who could enjoy the lighter side of life.

No this is not a giant chia pet. This is my silly Dad with a lovely "fern-fro".

My brothers and I caught a bit of the silly bug from them too.

My bro Paul enjoying some silly time with his son Rowan.

And I find myself encouraging my kids to be a little less serious sometimes. Especially Julian, who tends to be quite stoic.

Serious Julian giving new meaning to "cone-head".

Noah, on the other hand, is a silly-man at heart.

...or a dragon.

My husband has also learned to bring out his silly side. He rarely does this in public, but he does have a habit of belting out random, annoying songs from the 80's at home.

Let us pause for a moment and distinguish silly from stupid.
 Singing songs from the 80's? Silly.
Not wearing a visor whilst playing hockey? Stupid.
Hence the nice Nike swish shiner under his eye.

I even try to make lunch and dinner silly sometimes.

Just letting go, having a bit of fun and being an example to your kids is healthy. Showing them that life is fun is important. Engaging them in enjoying themselves is all part of what growing up in a happy home is all about.

Some music, some peanut putter containers and you have a mini stomp party!

Dance a little.

Noah never stops dancing! Broken arm? No problem!

Jump and play a little.

A hose + a trampoline = silly fun!

And let your kids see you smile.

I promise...they will smile right back at you.

Smile...or fish face!

Smiles,

Lora

Safe or Sorry?

I have always been a pretty "play it safe" kinda gal.

What I mean by this, is that when I look back at how I have lived my life thus far, I have pretty much gone through my different "stages" so far in a fairly predictable fashion.

I am so safe, in fact, that I have never had green hair. I did used to wear tights with stripes though.

I graduated from high school.

I went to University.

I graduated from University.

I got a full-time "real" job.

I met and dated my husband.

I got married.

We bought a house.

We had a baby.

We had another baby.

We waited a while and then had another baby.

Throughout this, I stayed at home a bit and worked my way up the "work ladder" - increasing my pay, moving around a bit, going from entry level to Manager to Director in predictable succession.

Ta-da!

I have not done a lot of travelling. Most of the travel I have done has been for work.

I don't feel like I have taken a lot of risks.

But I must say, I think I have taken more "baby step" risks over the past little while than I have in the past. I know this is because I am older and perhaps a little wiser. I am understanding more how short life is and that it is not to be wasted. I get that living a life that is authentic is important if you wanna be happy.

Me lookin' all happy and snappy.

Now saying one is a "risk-taker" is all relative.

This is me skydiving. Yeah. Anyways. As if.

Some people may look at me and my life and think I am a coward or boring or full of fear.

Some may look and think I am a dare-devil.



Things like leaving my "real job" to be at home with my kids and write was a pretty big risk. For me.

For others, that may seem like no big deal.



One thing I don't want, is to look back on my life one day and realize all of the things I didn't do or try or experience.

But more than that, I don't want to look back and look at all the money I have made or all the accolades I have received or all the people I know.

I want to feel connected. To feel like I have made a difference. To feel like my life meant something both to me and to others. Especially those that I love.

I want my three boys to look at me and think "I am lucky to have that woman as my mom." This is the single, most important thing to me.

Me and one of my three boys.

I want my husband to look at me and think "I am lucky to have that woman as my wife." This, as well, is right up there.

I keep using this picture of my husband and I. I think I need to get some more pics of the two of us together done.

I want my close friends to look at me and think "I am lucky to have that woman as my friend." As you can see, there is a pattern here.

Lars and Sars - lifer friends.



Relationships - real, passionate, messy, wonderful, difficult relationships - are what life is really all about.

I could travel the world, work until I drop, get rich and famous, wear designer clothes, get a bunch of plastic surgery so I look like Barbie...we all could - but what would we be risking...what would we be losing...in the process?

Tempting...however...no.

I am not saying you can't have a mix of all the things you want in this life. Your life is what you make it.

But keeping my priorities in order is something I struggle with and try to think about every day.

And I would rather be hugged with caring arms wearing a paper bag than lounge in the sun on a fancy boat all alone.

Nothing like hugs in bed with my little guys!

Maybe that makes me feel safe. Maybe that makes me boring.

But I would risk anything to look back and feel love.

And I'm not sorry about that at all.

Smiles,

Lora

Little Lessons

"Once children learn how to learn, nothing is going to narrow their mind. The essence of teaching is to make learning contagious, to have one idea spark another."

- Marva Collins

As a mother, I try and use everyday situations with my children as learning opportunities whenever they arise.

"I'm starving!", they will say.

"No, actually, you are not", is the lesson here.

You are hungry, but you are not starving. This is an opportunity to talk to them about what it really means to be starving. This opens up a chance to discuss children just like them who actually don't have enough food to get the nutrition they need to grow and to thrive.

"My legs are tired!, they will say.

Yes, I am sure they are. So are mine.

But we HAVE legs. Some people are not so lucky. Some people are born without legs. Some people have diseases, disabilities or have had accidents that have rendered their legs unable to walk. To run. To jump.

"I'm freezing!, they will say.

Well, you are probably cold...let me get you a sweater and turn up the heat.

Some people don't have cozy sweaters or a roof over their head. They are freezing. Some don't have the loving arms of a Mommy or a Daddy or a loved one to put around them to warm them up.

Of course, these are only a few examples of many I could mention.

And guess what?

Where are our children learning these phrases? When is the last time you have said you are starving,  that your legs are tired or that you are freezing?

I think I said all three in the past few days.

And I am trying to catch myself.

I complain that my baby is crying, and yet he is healthy.

I talk about being tired all the time but know that in the grand scheme of things, I really don't know what the true meaning of tired is.

I bitch about having a bad hair day when some are losing theirs in clumps because of chemotherapy.

Do ya see where I am going with this?

I know everything is relative. I know we all have bad days are that we are all allowed to vent. If you read this blog regularly, you know that I do on occasion.

But words are powerful.

Words are opportunities to learn and to teach.

There are thousands of little lessons to be taught and to be learned every day.


We just need to pay attention.

We just need to be present.

We just need to take everything as an opportunity to open up the lines of communication with the people in our lives...our children...our friends...ourselves...so that we gain more perspective of just how lucky we are.

Lucky for what we have instead of unlucky for what we don't.

Because we all have many things to be grateful for.

And that is a lesson we need to learn over and over again.


Every single day.

Smiles,

Lora

A Monday...err...Tuesday Chuckle!

It's Monday and I thought you may need a smile and a laugh.

Actually...it feels like Monday and I posted this as "A Monday Chuckle", until I realized that yesterday was a holiday (Family Day in Canada)...and it is actually Tuesday!

So I had to come in and edit my post...but the link will read "A Monday Chuckle".  So you get a 2-for-1 chuckle special!

Oops!

Many of you have probably seen the "Walk Off The Earth" cover of Goyte's song "Someone that I Used to Know".

If not, I used it as an example of teamwork in my post Smells Like Team Spirit, so you can watch it there.

This is a parody of that video.

So make sure you check out that post and watch the original, then watch this.

Pretty funny!

(I told you that guy in the middle sounded like Peter Gabriel!)

Oh...and the original by Goyte is awesome...and so is the video. They need some attention too...so here it is!

Smiles,

Lora

Happy Family Day Canada!

"A Happy family is but an earlier heaven"

 - George Bernard Shaw

A few years ago, a new holiday was created in Canada called "Family Day".

Family Day....EH!

Now, I am the first to say that Canada is a cool country to live in...but how awesome is that!?!?

Yes, I am a proud Canadian. EH!

This is a national holiday dedicated to spending time with family.

It falls in February...the perfect time to break up the dreariness of the winter and add a little warmth and a nice little break.

While Canada is not on par with some European countries, I must say, we are ahead of the United States when it comes to putting family first in some ways.

For example...Family Day!

For another example...we get an entire year of maternity/paternity leave when we have or adopt a baby.

Yes...that's right. A whole year. Moms and Dads can split it up however they feel meets their needs.

I took the whole year for all three of my boys. I got paid by the government which is nice...but some companies top that up.

Unfortunately, I have worked in the not-for-profit sector ever since my first son was born, so my employers did not...but the benefits from the government were enough to allow me this precious time with my babies.

I love an excuse to show you yet another photo of my babies!

Anyways...back to Family Day!

What a great concept!

This year, my husband and some friends will be renting some ice so that they can skate and play hockey with the boys together.

Having a full ice rink to do this with friends is a rare thing indeed here in Canada as ice is expensive and it is always booked up for hockey practices and games as well as figure skating, etc. My boys are very excited to be able to enjoy this time with their Dad.

Hopefully in the next year or two, our youngest Drew will be able to join in on the fun. And I guess I will have to get my skates on as well!

I used to figure skate as a kid...but with all the time that has passed combined with my foot and ankle injuries of late, skating is not too high on my priority list...but because my boys love it so much, I would like to be able to at least participate.

This is me going for a leisurely skate.

One thing that we really need to improve on here in Canada...and take our lead from Europeans...is the amount of vacation time we get here.

That reminds me, I have to watch this movie again!

Most full time jobs start with two weeks vacation...which is clearly not enough in a 365-day period. Many European countries get 6 weeks. We don't get that here unless we have been at a company for a long time and/or we are in a major, big-ass position.

We all work hard no matter what we do, and we all need breaks. Come on Canada!

Come on dude! EH!

At least let's take the breaks that are legally ours. I know when I was working full-time I often took my hour lunch break and worked through it.

I would grab something to eat when time allowed and 9 times out of 10 would mow down at my desk as I worked away. This is not healthy and certainly did not leave me refreshed to start my afternoon off well.

This looks about right. Except I rarely listened to my iPod.

I know when I was on a health kick a few years back, I started eating a healthy lunch and then going for a walk on my break. What a difference this made! It set the tone for the rest of my day...and into my evening shift as "mom and wife" at home.

Yes, I became one of those women in a business suit with running shoes.
Sexy look, I know.
Luckily I am at an age where I don't really give a flying frick through a rolling donut.

Because EVERY day is family day. They are not holidays...but we need to remember what our priorities are and we need the energy to be attentive to our families in the evening.

Hanging with Julian!

So, hooray for Family Day!

But let's all take a look at how we live every OTHER day, to make sure our families are an important part of those ones as well!

Smiles,

Lora