SOS Mom Life

Unapologetically quirky 🇨🇦 moms serving up #unfiltered #unedited tea #selflove #bodypositive #mentalhealthadvocates #momofboys + #loverofdogs

[sosmomlife]

This Girl is Fire....literally....ouch

*Warning there are some graphic photos in this post

Last week I was home sick, Andy was working nights and Hudson had a baseball game. I didn't want to go, I hadn't left the house in 5 days because I felt so crappy, but who am I to disappoint my kid who had already missed 2 games because of his illness the week before. So 20 min before we had to leave I made us all hot drinks... hot chocolate for the boys and since I was trying to be healthier and drink less coffee a hot chamomile with lemon and honey tea for me. I remember setting the lid on top of my Starbucks travel mug and saying to myself "don't forget the lid isn't screwed on" as I walked away to let my tea steep. Fast forward 20 minutes, boys weren't grabbing their stuff so I filled my hands with water bottles, sweaters and hot chocolates and then caught a glimpse of my lone travel mug, and as any mom would do to save a trip, scooped up my cup in the crook of my left arm. As they say in show biz, "the rest is history," including my skin that literally melted away before my eyes. The pain was like nothing I have ever experienced. I'm telling you labour had nothing on this, it was the most excruciating thing I have ever felt and I was all alone with my boys. I didn't want to freak out in front of them so I ran to the washroom. My sweet sweet Hudson got me a cold wet cloth and said "deep breaths mom, put this on." How he knew to get me that cloth and try to keep me calm is beyond me. I knew this was bad and I would need to go to emerg so I called my sister. I instantly broke down in sobs... ok ok I was hysterical.... the pain was just too much and I couldn't hold it in anymore. My sister said she was on her way with my dad, they live 30 min away. I then figured I should probably call Andy. Some may wonder why I didn't call him first and honestly it's only because at first I was hoping I wouldn't need medical attention. So Andy decided he was turning around and coming right home.

My sister took me to St. Mary's General Hospital where I was fairly quickly triaged and moved into the waiting room. After a couple of hours (which trust me is an amazing wait time around here) I was seen by the doctor, skin peeled away, declared I had 2nd degree burns with some deep penetrations and told they had referred me to a plastic surgeon who would follow up for a consultation to see if I would need a skin graft.

The next couple of days were a bit of a blur. I started having some lovely pus secretions on Friday, so quickly got in touch with a doctor and had a prescription for antibiotics filled that afternoon. FYI, If you're in Ontario and you don't have a doctor or your family doctor is unavailable contact pulseoncall.com for non-emergencies. It is covered by OHIP and you get same day telephone service from an Ontario doctor.

I still felt sick so everything was even more of a struggle. I was still taking pain meds for my arm and my entire body was aching from my sickness. I hadn't showered in 3 days which for me is a huge deal, even when my boys were newborns I never missed a shower. This was next level "feel like shit." Thankfully the antibiotics did double duty and after the second full day on them my head had cleared up, the pus was slowing down and things were might I say, looking up? I mean wasn't I due for an upswing in life?

What I have found most interesting is the differing responses from males and females when I retell my story. The women, mostly moms, all understand why my hands were full and I was scooping up my travel mug with my arm. Us moms don't have time for multiple trips. When we go grocery shopping we carry all the bags in at once. The men on the other hand, questioned why I would ever carry anything in the crook of my arm like that. I'm not even exaggerating that every single male asked me why I would do that. They clearly have no idea what it's like to have their hands full and be in a rush...lol.

It's been a crazy week and a half, but thankfully the plastic surgeon said no surgery is required as my burn is healing well so far. I go back in 2 weeks for a follow-up but I am confident that other than some wild scars I am going to be alright. I'm also going to stick to my unhealthy coffee addiction that even when black is still no where near as hot as boiling water.

[sosmomlife]

SOS Back to School Lunch Hacks...with a side of Snacks!  Beyond Granola Bars!

Heyyy! Kristin here.  It's that time of the year again.  Time to go back to school! For some people it's the most wonderful time of the year.  For me, it's bittersweet.

I love school, hence becoming a teacher, but I don't love the added pressure that comes with all things school related, especially lunches.  With Boomerang Lunches now being a must for where we are...my blood pressure is rising as I write (being a little over dramatic)...with all garbage coming home, I pledge to get my act together...again a little over dramatic. The idea of packing lunches have me all geared up.

As some of you know I dread all things requiring organization + preparation but there is no way to avoid the task of making lunches.  The damn kids need to eat, right?! Hahaha.  To alleviate my stress I sent out an SOS to our followers, asking for their tried + true lunch hacks. 

First, let me say there is comfort in knowing I'm not alone in feeling the pressures of back to school + second thank you to those who sent us the great lunch tips + tricks to share.

I figure this crowd is beyond granola bars, yogurt tubes, apple sauce cups + all things packaged.  We've been there, sent that. But those staples get old quick.  At least that's what I hear from my guys. They want what their buddy has...you know, those gourmet meals I didn't pack! Lol!  This year their lunches will the ones coveted...that's if I follow the hacks sent in.

A hack a lot of followers swear by...when I practice this tried + true tip I too find it works to ease the load...ALWAYS make lunches ahead of time!   Second top tip is get your kids to make + pack their own lunches, with at least one veggie + avoiding added sugar. The idea behind them making their own lunches is when kids make their OWN lunch they are more likely to EAT it.  Let them pack that gourmet meal they have been drooling over. Winning!

Shout out to the followers who suggested prepping + packing lunches on Sundays.  Cutting up veggies, washing fruit + making "freezer sandwiches" were all awesome tips.  What's a freezer sandwich you ask!  Only the most brilliant lunch hack ever!  Make these genius gems ahead of time using slider buns.  Pop those bad boys in the freezer + take out the day you're going to eat them. They are fresh + ready to munch on by lunch time. 

Homemade lunchables with wheat crackers, cheese + lunch meat was one of the top five suggestions from followers along with sending leftovers in a hot thermos.  Leftover ideas included pasta + sauce, meatballs, soup, + waffles with maple syrup. 

Speaking of leftovers, let's talk about an easy way to make suppers work for next day lunches. For example, chicken is the supper that keeps on giving in our house. Whether added to salads or devoured in wraps, chicken, lettuce ceasar + ranch salad dressing are staples.  Doesn't hurt to get a Costco sized bag of bacon bits either. Hahaha.   Let's not forget about pizza as a fabulous leftover.  Whether you make it from scratch, use up some flat bread or English muffins, pizza, any way you slice it is as delicious the next day cold as it was the night before hot.

The versatility of cooked ground meat, whether beef, chicken or turkey, should also not be over looked.  From a bowl of taco salad, to wrapping up some soft tacos or even straight up nachos, kids love the idea of all things tacos...at least my guys do. 

Frozen fruit is also a great addition to any lunch.  By the time lunch time hits the fruit is still cold but thawed enough to enjoy.  Pineapple, mangos and peaches are some of the ones mentioned by followers.

Now it's time to get our prep on.  Wrangle up the kids to make the grocery list, considering they are the ones now taking ownership of their OWN lunches.  They've got this.  You've got this.  I've got this.  And if I've got this, you definitely have this.  Cheers to back to school...including lunches :)

[sosmomlife]

Hudson’s Journey

Hey all!!! It’s Andrea here.  I’m sure many of you are trying to figure out how to navigate this crazy change in our world.  Some of you have children at home and are trying to juggle “home schooling” amongst other things, like your own work, a new baby, a partner who has been laid off, etc.  This week our school board officially rolled out distance learning so this meant my husband Andy and I were going to implement more structure to the day.  I’m a teacher and he is off of work right now so this should be easy, right? 100% WRONG!!!!  Here’s a little story of our oldest who has been through a lot and battles with his emotions and abilities every day of his life. 

That cutie (ya ya I may be biased) in the picture above is Hudson. He will be 8 in June. Just before he turned 4 I took him to watch a baseball game and as we were walking beside 3rd base (outside of the diamond) a ball came hurdling across the field, hit the top of the fence and smacked Hudson right in the head. He dropped so fast and I was terrified. I will never forget the "clunk" sound; like a coconut cracking open. I was terrified but he was conscious and settled down after about 10 minutes. He was very clingy so we called EMS just to check him over and make sure he was ok. They came, did a quick assessment and left it up to me to decide if I wanted him to go to the hospital.  By that point he was acting himself so I figured I would just monitor him and if anything got worse I would take him to the ER. I did question why he didn't have a goose egg  (I always heard that no goose egg could be a bad sign, but the EMS responded with "ya that's weird." They pretty much made me feel like I wasted their time so off I sent them not wanting to be “that crazy mom.” As the day progressed Hudson went from playing hard outside to wanting to lie down every couple of hours. I thought it was the heat or that he didn't sleep great the night before.  That night I had him sleep with me and he was very restless. He kept waking up and saying that his head hurt a lot where he got hit but then he would go back to sleep.  The next morning he seemed pretty good other than not wanting breakfast (which isn't normal) because his tummy hurt  (which is normal for my dairy sensitive boy). He went to his first t-ball game (I know I know...what were we thinking taking him to play baseball) in the morning but came home and crashed hard on the couch. He was off and on all day and we questioned taking him to the ER but then he would get up and play like he was totally ok.  At 6 pm after noticing his entire left side of his head was swollen I decided to call Telehealth to get their opinion and they said to take him to the ER immediately.  They always say that so I still wasn't too worried. Hudson slept the whole car ride to Stratford General and when we arrived he was happy and hyper. The waiting room was so busy that I contemplated leaving. Hudson was putting on a show for all the other "patients" Re-enacting how he got hit in the head by the ball.  I definitely thought we would be sent home because he seemed totally fine.

We got called into a room before a lot of people who arrived before us. We didn't wait long before the doctor came in to do an assessment.  Right away the doctor felt the swelling and said it's a boggy hematoma meaning he has a break in his skull. I was shocked and terrified but the doctor assured me that most of the time its small and no big deal. It will heal on its own she said. She sent him for a CT scan and I was told I could be in the room to watch the images of his little skull and brain..or as Hudson says his "big" brain.  The first images started coming up and all of a sudden I was asked if I wanted water and taken out of the room. I instantly knew something was wrong but tried to wait calmly for Hudson to come out.  They had previously told me it would be about an hour before the radiologist looked over the scans but within 5 minutes the doctor came to see us.  The scans showed a significant break in his skull and a small bleed on the outside of his skull. I started imagining the worst and stupid scenes from Grey’s Anatomy started rushing through my head. I was so scared and upset but I knew I had to calm down so I could call Andy and give him the news.  The neuro team in London was going over the scans and transportation was being arranged to take us to Victoria University Hospital in London. Hudson in all of this was still happy and entertaining anyone who came to see him.  Before we left I was assured that Hudson would be fine  because we made it past the crucial first 24 hours. We spent 48 hrs in London for observation and had the greatest healthcare team supporting us throughout the entire ordeal. The next month we were on high alert and Hudson had a couple of seizures (which is common after a concussion). We spent the next year going for check ups every few months with the Neurologist in London. Everything went great so Hudson was released at the one year mark. We thought we were in the clear, but don't let that fool you, the paranoia of our kids getting hit in the head or falling and hitting their head is extremely high to this day. Ugh!

Fast forward to a year and a half ago when Hudson started grade 1. Since the "accident" Hudson's behaviour had definitely changed, he could barely remember anything that happened the day before, let alone a week before. He was super fidgety, always touching his face and wiggling around on chairs. We would ask him to do 3 things and he would forget everything we asked him after he walked away. We were often annoyed and frustrated and we were struggling with managing his "lazy-like" behaviour. I knew there was something else up but people kept assuring me he was acting like a “typical” boy.

After a couple of months in class I had a meeting with Hudson's teacher to discuss his progress and behaviour. I mentioned the head injury he had sustained and the thought of possible ADHD and she thought it might be a good idea to have him psychologically assessed. We went through the lengthy process of a psychological educational assessment and received a thorough analysis of him. Everything the psychologist explained made so much sense: low executive functioning skills, low average working memory, low average processing speed, extremely low visual perception and fine motor coordination, broadly average academic skills, high average oral skills and finally anxiety due to the need he feels to please everybody. It was a huge eye opener for Andy, but wasn't as surprising to me, being in the educational world has exposed me to a number of students with these exceptionalities. It did however make me feel like an ass for thinking my child was not listening and being a lazy jerk whenever I asked him to do a list of things (ie. get ready for school).

Since Hudson was 6 at the time of the assessment the psychologist would only provide a provisional diagnosis of ADHD as his brain is still developing as well as due to the uncertainty of the impact he might have from the brain injury. We spoke to a neurological psychologist about doing a neurological assessment but he said at Hudson's age the results and recommendations would be the same as his previous assessment so to just wait until his next assessment at 10 when he can better communicate his thoughts and feelings.

With the current assessment report we received we were able to get an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) created for Hudson at his school. This IEP will stay with him throughout his educational journey as it is needed. The staff at Hudson's school have been so amazingly supportive. They have been following his psych ed assessment recommendations which includes things like, more breaks, strategic seating (close proximity to teacher and good choice of friends), more time to complete work, chunking of work, more oral testing and no repetitive tasks if he already shows he can do something.

I wish I could say that knowing his limitations has made us better at parenting him but in all honesty it hasn't. Sure we check ourselves more but the frustration and annoyance is still there. Some days more than others. I have actually just put a reminder in my phone for the start of each month to re-read Hudsons psych ed assessment and Occupational Therapist report. Just reading it again to write this blog post reminded me of so many things I had forgotten and was treating Hudson unfairly with: "you just have to do 20 min of work...why can't you just do 20 min and then be done....if you spent all the time that you have been sulking typing you would be done by now...." and so on and so on. Sigh. It's a learning process for all of us and I just need to keep telling myself the way I tell him that practicing what is hard is the only way it will get easier. So I will practice my patience as I help him practice working through his challenges and in between we'll go play some sports because we're friggin’ awesome at that.

~Andrea

[sosmomlife]

March 20, 2020

Kristin here.  Kudos + thanks to Andrea for posting her powerhouse of a schedule with point system. I remember when my guys were the age of her boys, they would have eaten all that fun stuff up.

Right now we are still working on our original low key March Break plans: cleaning, organizing + getting outside. Next week + beyond our schedule will look a little different but our aim will remain the same: provide a loosely structured day with lots of life skills learning...doing what needs to get done without comparing or complaining.

Our guys, 10 + 12, have been challenged with doing one, out of the ordinary, chore a day, like helping clean out the container cupboard, organizing closets, donating old books + toys.  Really we just want them to help out where they can.  The idea is to establish ownership + pride in accomplishing a task that helps everyone...especially mom!  We are trying to stay focused on what we can do in our own homes rather than complain about what we can't do outside of home.

SOS Help-Out Ideas for Tweens + Teens:

•Organize closets + drawers.  Encourage kids to take out anything they don’t love, doesn't fit or didn’t wear over the winter. Bag up donations + organize the clothes being put back.

•Cupboard action. Take it all out. Get out the vacuum + clean them out.  Ask for input from your kids about whether items are used. Keep only what you use.

•Vacuum under the cushions. For the kid who decides to take on this task they just might find some money...purposefully placed as the reward for offering to do the task.  Fun, right?!

•Get outside!  Fresh air + sunlight is good for everyone.  Hike. Do yard work.  Have a fire. Roast hotdogs.  Make smores.  Reward that yard work!

•READ!  Get online and download ebooks or audio books from your library or school.

•Play with your space.  Give some ownership the rooms your kids use. Rearrange furniture or swap a chair from one place to another. Change up that old play room + give it new purpose. 

These are just some ideas. There is so much your kids can help with.  For the most part they really don't mind helping, especially if they know there is something in it for them.  Rewards like delicious snack and maybe, just maybe some tech time go a long way.  The skills + sense of responsibility you are establishing are equally as important + valuable as those lessons taught at school.  Just the opinion of this teacher ;)

[sosmomlife]

Quarantine Schedule

It’s Andrea here.  Just trying to figure out how to share my schedule and points system that I made for my kids.  I was able to copy and paste from .rtf so the format of my actual schedule looks different but hopefully still easy to read.  My boys are 5 and 7 and can get pretty squirrelly in an unstructured environment.  Since we have 13 days left of Quarantine and who knows how many more before schools open back up I thoughtI would make a loose schedule to try and keep the kids in order.  I’ve added a points reward system as well so that they will be a little more motivated to stay on track.  Fingers crossed this actually works.  Here is a copy of the schedule I made as well as the Point System I created:

Kids Schedule

7:00 am - 9:00 am

Wake Up

1. Brush teeth

2. Get Dressed

3. Calder Feed Wallace

4. Eat Breakfast

5. Empty Dishwasher

6. TV/iPad

9:00 am - 10:00 amAcademic Time

Read book 10 min

Worksheets and Videos 20 min

Hudson - Keyboarding without Tears 5 min

Calder - Monster Math App 15 min 

Calder Keyboarding without Tears 15 min

Hudson - Dreambox or Monster Math App 15 min

10:00 am -11:00 amCreative Time!1. Drawing/colouring2. Model magic3. LED/battery projects4. Magformers5. Lego building11:00 am - 11:30 pmLunch11:30 pm -12:30 pmOutdoor time

Build a fort

Ninja Lines

Throw a ball around

Road Hockey

Help mom and dad with yard work

12:30 pm - 1:15 pmAcademic Time

Home Reading or Monster Teach Read App 15 min

Journal Writing - 30 min.

1:15 pm - 2:00 pmGo Noodle

Yoga

Workout

Dance

2:00 pm - 3:00 pmOutdoor Time

Build a fort

Ninja Lines

Throw a ball around

Road Hockey

Help mom and dad with yard work

3:00 pm - 3:30 pmCreative Time

Drawing

Colouring

3:30 pm - 4:00 pmChores

Clean up desks

Clean up living room

Clean up dining table

4:00 pm - 4:45 pmElectronic and Play Time

iPad or PS4 - 20 min

25 min Toy Room play

4:45 pm - 5:15 pmChores - Tidy up at least 10 things!

Clean up Toy Room

Clean up Basement

Hudson Feed Wallace

5:15 pm - 5:45 pm Dinner

Eat

Put away dishes

5:45 pm - 6:30 pmOutdoor or Toy Room Play Time

Road hockey

Backyard play

Lego

Toys

6:30 pm - 7:45 pmWind down Time for those who listened and followed schedule!Bed time for those who didn’t listen or follow schedule!

Bath/Shower

Snack

movie

7:45 pm - 8:00 pmBed Time for those who listened and followed schedule!

Brush Teeth

Read Story

Pom Pom Points System

Welcome to the Pom Pom Points System!  Each pom pom equals 1 Point.

How Do I Earn a Pom Pom?

Follow every block on the schedule

You must earn 22 pom poms to get wind down tv and regular bedtime time

How Can I earn extra Pom Poms?

You can earn up to 17 extra pom poms each day by doing the following:

If you don’t argue or complain to mom and dad during each block of the schedule you can get 1 extra pom pom

If you resolve your arguments with each other without using your HANDS or FEET you will get 1 extra pom pom

If you achieve all 22 STANDARD pom poms you will receive 5 extra pom poms that day.

What Can I do with Extra Pom Poms?

5 extra pom poms = 5 min electronic time (during lunch)

15 extra pom poms = $5 towards a new book or science toy

Every morning you must submit 22 pom poms into the boot.  Any extra pom poms you have you can keep.  If you do not have 22 pom poms in the morning you will pay the difference you owe before bedtime.  

Apps we like: