Old dog, new tricks

Make no mistake, I am not an old dog, but for the sake of the idiom, it does refer to me.

When my own kids were growing up, I was, in many ways, a strict disciplinarian.  I set the limits -- tried to do so using safety and fairness as the guide, and after explaining them to the kids, kept them whenever possible.  It was definitely a 'parent in charge' style of life around the house.  Choices for the kids were at a very simple level.

Joanna and Sham's household is much more kid-oriented in that the children have much more input in what goes on either for themselves or for the adults.  It is certainly not the way I was raised, nor the way our kids were raised, but it works for them.  There ARE many different ways to raise children and while some are obviously not good for the kids in the long (or short) term, the majority of parenting styles which caring and intelligent adults adopt, nurture healthy and happy kids.  Every path has some bumps, but for the most part, it goes along quite smoothly.

But those few bumps.  Kieran is 4 and has definite opinions about things, sometimes at odds with what the adult supervising has in mind.  My fall-back position is to be a strict rules enforcer (Driver) and have that run over people, but that is not the way K has been raised, so something has to change.  I cannot change the situation, but I can change my reaction to it.  I told K that Oma will not yell or argue when he says 'no' or does not want to comply, she will walk away.  The two instances where I have used that in the last 2 days, he has not ended up screaming or crying, but cooperated after a few minutes.  I did not make a big deal about his change, but reinforced that Oma loves him very much.  Admittedly, these were situations where walking out of the room was possible and there will, of course, be times when that is not possible.  How will I deal with those -- don't know yet, but I know it will be with a love for the child foremost in my heart.

Today's photo is from the Museum of Natural History -- awe inspiring!

The (really) Good Life

There was a commercial which claimed that "Happiness is yelling BINGO!"  Well, not for me, but for some of the people I encounter down at the Bingo hall, it must be.  But, knowing what it is that makes you happy, is a very helpful analysis of oneself.  (You got to have a dream, if you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?)  There are many ways of expressing the positive outcome of figuring out what you want to do as a vocation, what you are really looking for in a partner, what style of house you want to live in, right down to what treats are the most satisfying.  And for each of us, it is different.

Sham, my handsome son-in-law, has found that the essence of a treat for him is chocolate covered almonds -- he likes cookies and cakes, enjoys fruit and wine, is known to indulge in frozen yogurt, but the one, single item to fulfil his day, is chocolate covered almonds.  (There is a hierarchy of these confections, and he has deemed the ones from Harrod's 'superb'.)

How much more contented we all would be if we figured out what we really liked and then concentrated on that.

I have been enjoying my ultimate dinner this week -- good bread and good cheese.  Beside the stinky blue and the gooey brie, there has been a Irish stout cheddar.  Life is really good!

Race Day!

Well, the weather forecasters in UK have about as much credibility as those in Canada.  The rain that was supposed to stop by 8 am continued in lighter and heavier incarnations all day.  (Try keeping 2 kids dry in a playground when all the surfaces are wet.)

Anyway, Joanna raced this morning and came in the top half of her age category.  Her times were a bit longer than she had hoped, but the transitions were long.  She looked really strong thoughout -- we were on the bike route where she did 3 loops and then the run loop was twice around the Serpentine.

The house is proving to be even better than we figured it would be.  I can't imagine the two kids in a hotel room for this whole time.  Here they can run off their energy, eat far more leisurely then in a restaurant, be separated from the adults to sleep, have more toys around, etc.  It is an excellent way for a family to travel.

Just want to say again,

how incredibly amazed and proud I am by Joanna's accomplishment.  She is WORLD CLASS!!!

London Transport Museum

There are many website which give lots of ideas for what to do with kids in London.  Many of those are for children slightly older than the 4 and 2 that we have.  Just looking at things isn't interesting enough, so we have to search for the interactive on topics which will engage Kieran -- Clara is interested in anything her adults play up.  So, today, it was the London Transport Museum just beside Covent Gardens.

That was the subway stop we took as our destination and the museum did not disappoint.  Models and reconstructions from the 1900s to today were available for kids to drive, ride, climb, watch.  A superb outing!

Joanna took her bicycle to the transition zone this afternoon.  She needs to be there early tomorrow --before the first racers starting at 8:00, to get the rest of the transition stuff ready, though she doesn't race till 9:10.  Here cheering section will be out in their special shirts and with their canadian flags.  Go Joanna, Go!

The first race

Wednesday was the first of Joanna's races -- a warm-up (if you can call the chilly swim 'warm') for the serious race on Friday.

She was off early in order to get her transition area ready for changing from the swim to the run.  The Serpentine is the water part of Hyde Park.  It is fairly extensive right there in the middle of London just behind Buckingham Palace.  It is also the home of hundreds of pigeons, ducks, geese and swans.  (Joanna said we did not want to know the condition of the water.)  The run course was around one section of the Serpentine and she did 2 laps so though we couldn't tell which swim cap was hers, we did see her running in her Canada uniform.  Go Mommy go!  The kids were most vocal in their support of Mommy, but their interest lags quite quickly, so it was a great thing that one of the several playgrounds of Hyde Park was very close.  Also, right there was a practise ring for the police horses and two delighted them with some jumping. The rest of us were delighted with Joanna placing the top Canadian woman in her age group!

Joanna's best friend Menaka flew in Wed. morning and joined us for dinner and then the Opening Ceremonies which took place in Trafalgar Square -- nicknamed Triathlon Square for the next 4 days.  There was big stage with loud music, lots of people milling around, a light rain the whole time, a parade of flags and lots of cheering.  The British team is, of course, the largest.  The other big groups are from USA, Canada and Mexico.  Not exactly a big Olympic production, but a fun time.

Bus, ferry, ship, subway

For those of you who don't know, the reason I am here in London with Joanna and family is that Joanna is a competitor for Canada in her age group at the World Triathlon Championships.  So for her, today was some swimming, running, cycling, and registering for the preliminary swimming race tomorrow.  Sham and I had the kids to ourselves.

We got the one day transit pass and then the kids kept talking about the double decker bus, so we hopped one of those which went through the center of the city and over towards St. Paul's.  It was a short walk to the Tower of London and Tower pier.  Here we caught a ferry and took it across the Thames to the south side where the HMS Belfast is anchored.  She is a WWII cruiser with 12 big guns and more smaller ones.  Being a floating museum, we had opportunity to climb all over from the bridge to the brig to the guns, through the kitchen and to the seaman's quarters.  Both kids loved it but particularly Kieran who is boat obsessed currently.  (He came back to the house and immediately made a Belfast out of lego and explained all the parts to his mom when she got back.)  Clara liked watching the birds and other boats out on the river, so a good time was had by all.

We found our way to London Bridge station and took the tube back to the house.  It is a good public system and for 7.30 pounds for the day pass, a good deal.  (Kids under 5 are completely free).  A little sprinkle did not deter us from heading to the local playground in Hyde Park -- also gave us a chance to scout out the best places to view Joanna's race tomorrow.  And, the ducks and geese are most obliging to gobble the excess bread one has in one's pocket.

Joanna and Sham are out to dinner this evening for their 8th anniversary.  I remember that wedding so well and now 8 years have gone by.  If one didn't see the kids and how they are growing so quickly, it would be almost impossible to believe the time has gone so fast.  Happy Anniversary and may you have many, many more happy years together.

London for residents

We are once again renting a regular house on a normal street in a residential area of a big city.  It gives one much more of an authentic slice of life here, so we look at it from (more of) a resident's view.  (We are not resident enough to get a key to the local private garden, too bad.)

Well, today the view was quite rainy -- not really the 'less than 1 mm' forecast by the weather network, but a light misting giving way to a more serious dribble by early afternoon.  The rain cancelled the parade in front of Buckingham palace, but the kids did get to see some horses, though not to hear the band as they march for the changing of the guard.  We visited the Royal Mews -- carriages and horses, for which there was, thankfully, no line up.  (The queue for visiting the Buckingham Palace staterooms was very long, but who is interested in just some fancy furniture and pictures.  Certainly not a 4 year old and a 2 year old -- if you can't bounce on it.)

Yesterday, the arrival day, was fairly hectic, but all the connections with cab drivers and rental agents went smoothly -- thank you Joanna for your great organization.  No one had managed to get a lot of sleep on the plane, (Clara had a total of 1.5 hrs)  so it was an exhausted group which went to bed shortly after dinner and bath and slept well all night.

The house is well located -- just a few blocks from Hyde Park where most of Joanna's racing will happen later in the week.  We are on a quieter side street so there is very limited late traffic noise.  It has a living room, dining room, kitchen, half bathroom and garage on the ground floor; two bedrooms and a full bath on the second floor and a very large bedroom wih ensuite full bath on the 3rd floor.  Clara has her own room on the second floor with Mommy and Daddy next door.  Kieran and I share the top floor space.  There is TV, internet, washer/dryer, dishwasher, frig and stove with oven.  I cannot guess at the age of the building, but there are many styles of structures in the area from many eras.

We find ourselves close to Sloan street -- every name brand fancy designer has a shop on this street, and just beyond that, Harrod's main store with all that entails.  I don't think there are many bargains to be had.

I am being faithful about wearing shoes inside the house and the boot when I go out.  It does make walking more of a chore, but with a stroller and buggy board on the back, I am not lagging behind.  So far it is the puddles which make for a problem.

And for dessert this evening, we stopped at Harrod's for some ultimate chocolate choices: for Shammie, for Clara and for me!  (Joanna is taking notes for after her race)