Joe Perry Lake, Bon Echo Provincial Park
It was our family’s first attempt to stuff all our stuff into a canoe and camp. Irene and I used to do this sort of thing all the time. But it’s different now with a four year old.
The return of pinworms
Both readers of this blog may recall my older item about Mallory having pinworms. They’re back.
A bike ride
Not much of one, to be fair. Blackburn Hamlet and back – 53km all in. But considering I had to brush the cobwebs off the spokes of my road bike, I think it was a reasonable one. Yes, it’s been a long time since I got on my bike and rode, sans child.
Two wheels and pedals
So Mallory did it today. She’s riding her bicycle with pedals and no training wheels.
Pedals off: Mallory’s bike training part two
Taking Lou Arab’s advice, I removed the pedals. It took a little convincing. Mallory at first thought she had failed a grade. We’re still working on things.
Mallory’s bike training part one
Mallory asked me the other week to take the training wheels off her bike. I think it had something to do with the Franklin book we got about the little turtle learning to ride a bike. I recall being older when the training wheels came off, but then I also recall hearing somewhere that training wheels are rubbish for helping ride a bike.
In the mind of a four year old
Mallory and I were scrambling to get out the door this morning – well, I was scrambling, Mallory was evidently elsewhere mentally speaking – and we have the following conversation:
The ballad of Push Push
We have the outrageous fortune to live near the Rideau Canal, the world’s longest skateway. And as patriotic Canadians we’ve always believed we needed to skate and to pass on this skill to our progeny. Because skating is at the essence of our cultural identity. Sorry I’ll stop now. Actually, for me, it’s just that I don’t want my child to feel like a goof later in life because her parents never taught her to skate. It’s not a life and death thing like swimming, but it’s just… well, you have to do it. We were out skating with Mallory a few times last year, and she even got going unassisted for brief stints, but mostly it was a stroll on the ice in skates or stroller on ice.
Pinworms. Or, How Wikipedia spared my child nights of agony
So Mallory has pinworms. That explains a lot. What does it explain you may ask.
Kicked out of the nap
This is the wierdest thing. I’m sitting here in the living room, typing this while upstairs Mallory’s napping. The fact that Mallory’s napping isn’t the wierd bit. What’s wierd is that when I left her, she was wide awake.
Travel parenting
When we discussed how we were going to handle travelling with our three year old, Irene and I agreed that we were just basically going to have to throw all our rules and routines out the window. It has taken us some time, as we had a lot of then. But we’ve managed it.
Well, so much for that theory
Apart from a minor meltdown over having to bathe, Mallory had a fine evening. It ended quickly as she went to sleep in about 20 minutes. Apparently, administering ice-cream at around 5:30pm is all that’s required to avert the meltdown.
Napless in Ottawa
For the second time in a couple of weeks Mallory went napless today. I can’t quite figure out why. But I know what we’re in for.
End of co-sleeping: the self-teaching method
Mallory announced this evening that she wanted to go to sleep on her own. All by herself. No grown-ups. She insisted.
Mallory had a shower this morning
Mallory had a shower this morning. She’s experienced showers before. When we tried her at swimming “lessons”. It didn’t go well. So naturally I was surprised to hear Mallory say she wanted to have a shower too.
