DAILY SNACK
Just now.
I sat L’il I on the floor
Beside her brother and in front of the tv.
Yeah, that’s right.
Then she fell forward and all I heard was,
THWACK!!
Baby head against hardwood.
Then the crying.
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Author: Rebecca Cuneo Keenan
Rebecca Cuneo Keenan is a writer who lives in Toronto with her husband and three children.
Every once in a while you find something that is enjoyable for both you and your children and good for them, too. And if you can actually enjoy it in your own home without having to shell out for “an educational program that’s fun for the whole family,” then all the better, right? Imagine if said activity could also be done with the kids tucked into their beds and then send them sweetly off into the night. Perfect.
Politicians have pulled on working parents’ heart and purse strings only to let them down hard once again. During the 2007 election campaign, the Dalton McGuinty-led Liberal government of Ontario had pledged to turn the province’s half-day kindergarten program into a full school day with before and after school care by September 2010. This would mean no more shuttling kindergarteners to and from daycare and school. It would lift a huge financial burden off working parents’ shoulders and allow even more parents to work outside the home. It would represent an institutional commitment to early childhood education and an acknowledgment of the value of families in our society. It would have, rather, because it ain’t going to happen.
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Naptime
DAILY SNACK
We tread lightly into the bedroom.
I whisper in her ear, gently close the drapes, and carefully lay her in the crib.
The cry is ripped instantly from some dark and pain-filled place deep within the soul of a baby.
It fills the room and echoes through the neighbourhood.
She arches her back and thrashes from side to side.
This is our new thing, apparantly.
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Charisma
DAILY SNACK
We sat at the window seat of our local family restaurant last night.
L’il I was in a high chair directly facing the window.
I kept spooning jarred green beans into her mouth.
Passers-by would stop and smile and wave at her.
Some even came in to eat because they saw my baby girl.
Every table in the place stopped to comment on how sweet she is.
It does a mommy proud.
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Recession Woes
I can’t remember the last time I bought clothes for myself or the kids without bee-lining it directly to the sales rack. I can’t even remember the last time I bought something that wasn’t absolutely (or pretty damn close to) necessary. Before we had kids, my husband and I used to enjoy eating out at nicer restaurants on a regular basis. We don’t do that anymore. We use generic brand diapers (or wash our own) and have mostly given up on organic groceries. When Young C asks for a treat while we’re out I usually just tell him that I don’t have enough money for treats today. He seems to get it.
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Shake It Baby
DAILY SNACK
“Dance with your Reeny Reeny, Reeny Reeny Roo,
Dance up high and dance down low.
Dance to the side,
And wiggle waggle woah.
Dance and you dance ’till your dance is done.
That was just so much fun.”
Look our Raffi, here I come.
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Poetry Glacé
DAILY SNACK
We were eating our dessert at the kitchen table, when L’il I woke up.
She’d been having digestive complaints and I helped settle her back down to sleep.
I returned to the table and sat down next to Young C.
He said, “And there he was, eating his ice cream.”
“It’s a poem, Mom.”
Wow. It sure is. “I like your literary sensibility, C.”
“Thanks, Mom. I like your ice cream.”
My mother-in-law really loves a picnic. She is an extreme picnic-er. I’m talking multi-course gourmet meals: smoked salmon, shrimp, scallops, lobster, a selection of cheeses and artisan bread as appetizers; a mixed grill or even prime rib for a main with baked potatoes and several vegetable sides; and finish it with a selection of fresh fruit and homemade pie. I know, yum. But it’s not easy. (It’s not even always fun … shh … don’t tell Donna.) There’s carting everything to the picnic site, for one. Then there’s the elaborate set-up and tear-down. There will inevitably be bugs or wind or rain or rabid dogs or any combination thereof. One thing’s for sure, though. You will never forget those meals.
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Four Alarm
DAILY SNACK
“I’m just going to take a shower,” I tell him. “You can call for me if there’s an emergency.”
“If it’s not an emergency, then just walk to the bathroom and tell me what you need.”
I can barely hear him over the sound of the water.
“MOMMY!!! IT’S AN EMERGENCY!”
I turn off the water. “What is it? Is the baby still sleeping?”
“My firetruck fell off the chair.”