Love From Maria

To be honest, today I lost my temper with Stetson. To be honest, I was so so angry. It may have been my angriest moment as a parent. The boys are now sharing a room and Stetson decided to start hollering and hooting about twenty minutes in to his nap. He not only didn't nap himself, but he woke up his little brother, Porter, and I was furious. To be honest, I raised my voice and then I started to cry. I rarely raise my voice or lose my temper. Rarely. That's not a brag, that's just my personality. But today I yelled. Today I sounded like my own mother, when she was angry. S L XL ​ ​ After our upset, cry and regroup, I sat the boys in front of the TV with a movie on and I went for a shower. In the shower I replayed it all over in my head. The yelling, the crying, the hugs, the TV, the lack of naps. To be honest, sleep is a huge trigger for my post-partum anxiety. When the boys refuse to sleep or wake up constantly or miss a nap or are late for bedtime... pre

S L XL ​ ​ In the past two months I have attended two intentional acts of neighbourliness. One was a softball game and the other a picnic. I wish I could say that the crowds were overwhelming and that these opportunities were well received and embraced by the community. In all honesty, they were not. Fewer folks than expected came out to these, which can be slightly disappointing. The funny thing is, the people who did come out had a really, really good time. They, admittedly, didn't know what to expect or if they would like it, but all feedback was positive. At softball we all were reminded of the simple joy of self-organizing and having a fun game, of trying something new and of reliving schoolyard recess when our softball game turned into kickball. S L XL ​ ​ At the picnic we braved the chilly fall morning, fog included, and felt the joy of sharing, sharing stories, homemade treats and laughter. We surprised people out for a walk by offering them some of our homemade tr

S L XL ​ ​ I spent my morning immersed in culture at Alberta Culture Days at Vivo. It was incredible - obviously I adore how the community can come together to create such a diverse and beautiful event. There was so much talent under one roof, so many languages, histories, beliefs and humans. But most importantly there was so much love and respect.  Although I thoroughly enjoyed all of the performances and displays my heart was completely filled by a conversation that I had with an amazing woman. She told me her story of where she is from, how she came to Canada and what that has been like for her. And while her story is not mine to tell, I can say that it made me truly recognized the difference that our loving, accepting and respectful Canadian culture means to others. Living in Canada means this woman is free to be who she is and free to believe what she does. Today there was no "Canadian" table, or dance or storytelling because Canadian Culture is all of those table