How to be popular with your kids

You've probably noticed that I've been out of touch lately.  For any of you who read my family blog as well, you'll notice that it's horribly out-of-date as well, with no new pictures from the summer, no write up on our vacation and no updates on what the kids are doing.

It's not you, it's me. Honestly.

I've been insanely busy these last few weeks. We were at the cottage for the second week of August, and just a couple of days before we left, I got not one big contract, but two. Both require what feels like a million hours of work and both are due within days of each other. Like tomorrow ( a deadline I won't entirely make, through no fault of mine) and early next week.

So, in an effort to squeeze every single minute out of every day, I've been working like crazy. And still trying to do things with the kids. But, they hung out with a sitter twice last week, and this week they hung out with grandparents.

So, how am I popular with my kids when I haven't had any time for them lately. Easy:

Give them all day Wednesday with granddad (so mommy can work), then give them all day Thursday with grandma (so mommy can work). Grandparent time is fun for both the kids and the grandparents, so there's no guilt on my part of shuffling them off and neglecting to spend time with them.

Oh yeah, and when all that grandparent time is done....the way to really put the icing on the cake of making you popular with the kids is to take them to McDonalds for dinner (because daddy is going to the Jays game tonight and won't be home for dinner and I don't feel like cooking).

So, avoiding your kids for two days and then neglecting your duties of making dinner for them is a sure-fire way to be popular.

Who knew?

One of my favourite places

We were at the cottage last week. I say 'the cottage', although it's not our place -- it's a place we rent. But this is the third summer in a row that we've rented this cottage and the fourth year that we've rented from the same guy (the first summer, we rented on this property, we rented the cottage next door.)

It's two cottages owned by a guy. The cottages are more or less hidden from each other by trees and each have their own private beach. What they share is their waterfront --which is huge. So in reality, when we rent this cottage, we have a huge property, with a huge sandy beach and about 50 yards of private waterfront that is shallow enough for the kids to walk in all the way to the dock.

It's just outside a small town about 60 kilometres north of Huntsville (or about 3 hours north of home). It's quiet, it's relaxing. There's absolutely nothing to do there. And I love it. It's one of my favourite places to be.

And the kids love it. Because to an adult, there's absolutely nothing to do there (which is heaven) but to a kid, there's everything to do there (which is heaven).

So while I spent the week reading an entire book, working on my latest scrapbook in the evenings, getting out for three good runs and, of course, playing with the kids in the water and the sand, they spent the entire week running around the property, burying each other in the sand and spending hours upon hours in the water.

So as I sit here today (Monday) buried in work (I have two big contracts right now with short turnarounds) and surrounded by mountains of laundry and unpacked bags, I think back to my view from the porch last Monday, and rather wish I was there instead of here:

Only 51 more weeks until we can go back.....