HRM Parent Blog

by guest blogger, Deanna Cogdon Miller

"I want what I want and I'm going to get what I want." The words hit me like a ton of bricks as I looked across the counter at my five year old. With arms crossed and an angry look on her face she continued, "You know what else, I'm going to cry until you give it to me."

And so began our first major power struggle.

The night had started off like any other. We had come home from work to lots of hugs and three happy kids. We had supper and then she asked if she could play some games on the Disney Jr website (a recent discovery of ours). We said she could for a few minutes before it was time to start getting ready for bed. When bath time came, I let her know it was time to shut down and as I somewhat expected, she ignored my first request. She then ignored my second request and so my third was followed by a ‘please turn it off or mommy is going to turn it off for you.' Once again it was ignored and so I did what I think most parents would do - I shut it off.

The dramatic reaction that ensued could have won her an Oscar. You know how sometimes you can pick up other neighborhood baby monitor feeds through yours? I found myself thinking if anyone can hear this they are going to think I'm a horrible person as they listen to her screaming and crying and repeating phrases like ‘no mommy no' and ‘please stop mommy I promise I'll listen now'.

As my husband took the other two kids upstairs and I finished cleaning the kitchen, she sat herself on the stool across from me and made the statement I opened this post with. She sat there screaming and crying, refusing to move until I turned the computer back on. After about 20 minutes she picked up a pen and some paper and I thought we were going to have a breakthrough. She drew something and then slid it over to me - it was a picture of a sad face and a mad face, I asked her if this was how she was feeling and after she responded with a yes, I drew my own sad face and a happy face. I explained to her that I was sad about what was going on too and that I was looking forward to being happy together again. She calmed down for a minute and then in a quiet voice asked if she could play the games for a few more minutes before bedtime. I said no and the screaming began again. Ding! Round two.

By this time I needed to go upstairs and help get the other kids to bed. I told her I was heading up and that she could join us whenever she was ready. As I left the kitchen, she followed me and flopped on the floor at the base of the stairs screaming at me in a deep voice that sounded like something from a horror movie. I just kept walking. Ding! Round three.

She was not impressed that I calmly removed myself from the situation and true to her word, she cried through getting her pyjamas on, she cried through brushing her teeth and she cried big time when I explained that she had lost her stories for the night because this whole tantrum had taken all of her time. The whole ordeal lasted about ninety minutes before she eventually cried herself to sleep.

I have to admit that I hated that night. I hated seeing her so upset, I hated walking away from her when she was upset and I hated not having our usual stories and cuddles before bed. And as the inner me felt like it was crumbling, the outer me raised her arms in victory. Knockout. Match one goes to Mommy.

Deanna lives in Dartmouth with her husband and three children. When she's not reading stories, dancing to ABBA or burping a baby, she works in communications for Bell Aliant.

1. The Museum of Natural History is welcoming some of the world's most exotic animals with the exhibit Life Under the Canopy - Animals of the Rainforest . Organized by Little Ray's Reptile Zoo, the exhibit will make its national touring debut in Halifax with 10 live animal habitats displaying a variety of animals that live in the rainforest including tarantulas, snakes, tortoises, amphibians and common marmoset monkeys, one of the world's smallest primates. 2. In the mood for a little road trip? Hundreds of Bald Eagles come to the Sheffield Mills area of the valley each year, and their community hosts this event to share these spectacular birds with anyone who is interested. Take a drive down and check out Eagle Watch! 3. Happy Chinese New Year!! There are two celebrations of the Chinese New Year this weekend; the first is the New Year's celebration at the Seaport Market on Sunday and the other is the Families with Children from China Nova Scotia Chinese New Years Celebration , also on Sunday! 4. Are you pregnant and exploring the idea of breastfeeding your baby? Robyn Berman invites you to join her on Sunday for an informative and interactive presentation on breastfeeding called Breastfeeding 101! 5. Hey, it’s winter! What an awesome time to get together as a community and celebrate all the fun winter brings. So head to the oval on Saturday for the Carnival on Ice . It will be packed full of free family fun with skating, face painting, live urban art, mascots, and cookies and hot chocolate for all. Bring your family and your energy, they’ll supply the rest!

It's National Literacy Day and we're celebrating with this super easy home made bookmark that's great for even the youngest kids to make. 

What you'll need:

card stock, scissors, hole punch(s), glitter, glue stick, ribbon, packing tape

Directions:

1. Cut paper into a rectangle sized to fit a standard book

2. Use glue stick and glitter to make a design on one side of the paper

3. Wrap bookmark with strips of packing tape so that it extends over the edges.

4.  Rub over top of bookmark to smooth and secure tape, especially around glitter areas. Use scissors to trim excess tape around the edges.

5. Use scissors or a corner hole punch, to decorate each corner of the bookmark. 

6. Punch a hole in the top of the bookmark and tie a piece of ribbon through the hole to complete the bookmark.

Happy Reading!

It's been a busy week and the weekend is shaping up to be even more hectic so it's a good time to share this easy chicken casserole that I've been making since my university days. 

Ingredients: 

Cooked chicken, cubed (from 4-5 bonesless, skinless breasts)

1 can of cream of chicken soup

2 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tsp curry powder

salt & pepper

1 pkg frozen broccoli florets

grated cheddar cheese

crackers or bread crumbs

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a square glass dish.  Spread broccoli over bottom of dish.  Mix together chicken, soup, curry, mayo, salt & pepper and spread over broccoli.  Cover with crumbled crackers or bread crumbs.

Bake for 30 - 35 mins.  Cover with cheese a few minutes before removing from the oven.  Serve over rice or pasta.

Enjoy!

The market goes up and down and so does your stress level. Are you uncomfortable with your investments or confident their value will be there when you need it? Investing for the future and the future of your family can be tricky. There are so many things to consider, including how much investment risk - the potential for your portfolio to decline in value over the short term - you're comfortable with.  

To help you get a solid read on what's right for you, here are some tips for separating facts from feeling to create a comfortable portfolio that works.

Take your time to make the right decisions based on your personal risk level  Carefully assess the investments from which your portfolio will be constructed. If you are uncomfortable with risk, focus on capital preservation and income generation in a portfolio comprised mainly of the more stable fixed-income type investments. As your capacity for risk increases, add equities for a potentially higher rate of return and potentially higher volatility.

Determine your personal capacity for investment risk

Ask yourself fact-based questions like this:
What is my investment timeframe? If it's less than four years, don't invest in
higher risk assets. If you have an investment horizon beyond ten years, experts believe that you should invest in a more aggressive portfolio because historical trends show that, over the long term, you will benefit from a higher rate of return with ample time to recover from short-term volatility.

 
Ask yourself feeling-based questions like this:
Can I sleep soundly at night?  Regardless of your investment horizon, the way
you feel in the short term when the markets go through a severe decline will not change.  Feeling-based questions should serve as a tool to prepare you for what you should expect and focus your logic and emotions to identify a consistent pattern of how you perceive investment risk and what you are realistically capable of withstanding.
 
The biggest mistake investors make is to overstate their comfort level with risk because that often leads to abandoning their investment strategy at the first sign of volatility.  When you choose the right strategy from the start and stick with it, you will be rewarded over the long term.  

Of course, you should revisit your portfolio and investment strategy as conditions and your financial and life goals change to keep it in tune with you.
 
With so many different types of investment products, different asset classes, different industries and countries, determining the right strategy can be daunting.  Get help from your professional advisor and ask them if they can provide you with an investment questionnaire, which is a great tool for identifying your personal risk level and creating a framework for constructing a sound, well-diversified strategy for you.

Call us to find out more about how The Plan™ can help you prosper now… and over time.  Investors Group – Halifax, NS. (902) 423-8294.  www.investorsgrouphalifax.com