Me as a Mom

I always knew that I wanted a family. I played house when I was a little girl, stuffed pillows up my shirt to pretend that I was having a baby. The one thing I never pretended or thought about was how my kids would see me as their Mommy.

I was born with Cerebral Palsy that affect my left arm and leg. When I was little, I wore a metal brace on my leg to help me from walking on my toes and when I was 5 years old, I had surgery to lengthen my heel cord so that I would walk properly. So, now, unless I'm tired and my leg drags, its almost undetectable. My arm, however could not be corrected and so I have limited mobility and strength in my hand. It doesn't straighten all the way and my hand is bent inward. I don't call it a "disability" because I've never known any different and it's never stopped me from doing anything that anyone else does. It was never an issue when I was growing up and it wasn't an issue for Blair. In fact, when we were dating and he reached for my left hand, I knew I'd found a keeper (no one had ever held my left hand before) and its one of the reasons that I love him and feel lucky to have him in my life.

It isn't really an issue now, either. The only reason I think about it is when I'm with my kids. I don't clap my hands like other Mommies and I don't want Nicholas and Claire to clap like I do, I want them to clap "properly". It might sound stupid or superficial to some people, but it's what I think about. Blair says that they will and do clap their hands "properly" and that they love me because I'm their Mommy. I can't hold their hands with my left hand when we go walking and I have some trouble with tying laces and strings. I think Nicholas is starting to recognize that it is different because he once told me that my "hand doesn't work very good" and then he pretended that his hand was like mine. But we talked about it a bit (as much as you can with a 3 year old) and I'm sure that we'll discuss it again later.

I hope that I raise my children the way that I was raised; that the only limitations a person has are the ones they place on themselves.

Just something that I was thinking about today......

Our day at the "Maquarium"

We decided at 8:30am this morning that we'd drive to the Vancouver Aquarium. We probably should have planned to go instead of it being a last minute decision, because we didn't leave until 9:30am. Blair said that if we left earlier, we'd have hit rush hour traffic. Anyhow, we left at 9:30am and got to the Aquarium and parked by 10:45am. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes and all Nicholas could say was that we had to hurry because "the maquarium would be closed" and he couldn't wait "to see the dolphins, belugas and touch some sea stars" (On the ride into town, Nicholas said that he wanted to touch the dolphins, whales and seals. We told him he couldn't do that because it wasn't allowed, but that maybe he could touch some sea stars or sponges....to which Nicholas replied "Yes, I can because sea stars and sponges don't have noses or mouths, so they liked to be touched by little boys") Did I mention that he's 3?!

Anyway, as we were waiting in line to get in, I told Nicholas that he could go and walk about and of course Claire had to follow. So, as they were walking about by the sculpture of the whale, Nicholas fell or tripped and opened the scab on his knee or the third time. Of course I didn't have wipes or a band-aid, so Blair took him into the washroom, cleaned off the blood and brought him out again. While Blair ran back to the car to get our first aid kit, someone from behind us offered me a band-aid and the Mom from the family in front of us offered to hold Claire while I tried with some difficulty to open the band-aid wrapper with my fingers and teeth, wipe away the blood and cover the "owie" Once the band aid was on, it was magic and all was better. Now, I wish I had my cell phone to call Blair and tell him not to bother with the first aid kit.

Once inside, we went straight to the dolphin habitat and got ready for the show. Nicholas squeezed up front with a nice couple and their young son to watch the show. He let out squeals of delight as the dolphins swam, dove and jumped in front of him. The other mom asked her son "Do you like this honey?" and Nicholas replied "Yes!" She got a chuckle out of that. Claire, meanwhile watched the show a top Blair's shoulders and was more interested in her snacks than the show.

After the dolphins, we walked around a bit, looking at the rest of the aquarium and then went out to the beluga habitat to eat something. Nicholas was watching the belugas and then got distracted by a seagull, whom he called "Mr. Seagull". He was concerned that "Mr. Seagull" needed a snack and some water, so when he dropped part of his snack, Nicholas threw it at the seagull and when Blair can back with water and fries, he spilled water on the cement so that the seagull could drink. Again, he's 3!

Once we had made sure that we had seen all that we wanted to see, we left the "maquarium" and headed for home. As we walked back to the car, a family in front of us said "That's the boy who hurt his knee" Somehow, I don't think we'll ever go anywhere unnoticed with our children.

It was a busy day, but we all had fun and we'll always remember the day we spent at the "Maquarium"